A Discourse of the Two Covenants, Book 1 · Chapter 5
CHAP. V. All thoſe that are in Chriſt are tranſlated from under the firſt Covenant.
Col. 1.13, Who has delivered us from the power of darkneſs, and has tranſlated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son; or, the Son of his Love.
SECT. I. A Scriptural account of this Tranſlation.
§. 1. NOW we come to ſpeak of the laſt Branch conſiderable in this Covenant, and that is a mans tranſlation out of it: Wherein there are four things to be conſidered: (1) That all that are in Chriſt are tranſlated out of the firſt Covenant, and under it no more. (2) The nature and manner of this Tranſlation. (3) The aboliſhing of the firſt Covenant, by a mans tranſlation out of it, and the introduction of a ſecond, by which the former is made old. (4) The ſubſerviency and ſubordination of this firſt Covenant in many reſpects unto the Covenant of Grace, as Hagar, even then when under the notion of a Covenant, it is aboliſhed to Believers. The firſt of theſe we ſhall deduce out of theſe words, when we have opened them unto you. In the latter part of this Chapter there are mainly two things we are to conſider; (1) The honour of our Redeemer. (2) The manner of our Redemption. The honour of our Redeemer is ſet forth from verſ. 15, and the manner of our Redemption, verſ. 13, 14; and that in many particulars. Here we may obſerve, (1) The condition, wherein the people of God are before their Converſion: [1] They are under the power of darkneſs. [2] They are out of the Kingdom of Gods dear Son. (2) Their condition after Converſion, They are freed, there is deliverence, &c. and there is tranſlation unto the Kingdom of his Son.
1. By nature every man is under the power of darkneſs, even the Elect of God as well as others. The word is foreign, which does properly ſignifie right and authority over any thing. Man did by the firſt temptation ſell himſelf to the Devil, and as it were made a vertual covenant and compact with Satan: and as it's ſaid of Ahab, Quod venditur tranſit in poteſtatem emptoris.He ſold himſelf to work iniquity; ſo it is with all by nature. And therefore God in judgment gave man over unto the power of Sin, and therein to the dominion of Satan; and then Satans godſhip came in, and he became the god of this World, and the Prince of the power of the air. By darkneſs is meant in Scripture, ignorance, ſin and miſery; and of all this darkneſs, Satan is the Prince, and has the power, he is the ruler of the darkneſs of this world.Epheſ. 6.12. Condemnandi & dominandi This power of darkneſs is double; there is a condemning power, and there is a ruling power, that makes a man do the works of the Devil, and that brings forth fruit unto death.
Now how comes Satan to have a condemning power? the power of death it is by ſin: and how came ſin to have a condemning power? it is by the Law, 1 Cor. 15.56. that is,Heb. 12.14. the Law as a Covenant. So that all the power Satan has it is by ſin; and the power that ſin has it is from the Law, as a Covenant being broken. So that every Elect child of God is by nature under the Law as a Covenant, for condemnation and irritation; and by this means is under the power of ſin, and under the dominion of Satan. Now a mans deliverance from this is by conqueſt and by power: for it is in the Greek foreign, to deliver a man by force and ſet him free. Rom. 7.24.When man had no ſtrength to deliver himſelf, but muſt have lain and periſhed under this power for ever; yea, had not ſo much as an ability of will to deſire deliverance; and when all the powers of darkneſs were put forth to keep a man under, and Sin and the Law and Satan did their utmoſt; the ſtrong man armed kept the houſe; then Chriſt a ſtronger than he breaks in, deſtroys ſin and death, and him that had the power of death, that is, the Devil; and by this means the Law has no power, Sin has no ſtrength, Death has no ſting, and Satan has no dominion.
But man being under the power of darkneſs, he is out of the Kingdom of Chriſt, which is a Kingdom of Righteouſneſs, and free Juſtification, Rom. 14.17. He is free from this, for he is under the power of darkneſs or condemnation, becauſe under the power of the Law, and under the dominion of him that has the power of death, that is, the Devil; and Chriſts Kingdom is a Kingdom of light and holineſs, but they are under the power of darkneſs; ſin having by their Covenant dominion over them, and they being by Satan led captive at his will, and being acted by the ſpirit of the power of the air, &c.
But all that are converted are under the Kingdom of Chriſt, as it is a Kingdom of Righteouſneſs for matter of Juſtification, and as it is a Kingdom of Grace for the matter of Sanctification and Life; and whoever comes under this Kingdom, it is by Tranſlation; and they are thereby delivered from the power and the authority of the one, as they are tranſlated into the other: and the word in the Greek foreign, does ſignifie, to put a man out of one condition into another, and to change a man from his former ſtate in which he was; as Luk. 16.4, My maſter puts me out of the ſtewardſhip, &c. And the Septuagint do uſe it commonly for tranſplanting a man out of his native ſoil, (as they do that plant Colonies from one Country to another) and ſuch a Tranſlation is here meant; that whereas before a man was under the Kingdom of Satan, and the condemnation and dominion of death, now his ſtate is changed; that is, by the change of his Covenant, and he is tranſlated (or tranſported) into the Kingdom of Righteouſneſs and Holineſs. This is the Tranſlation that is here meant, a change of a mans ſtate, through the change of his Covenant; upon which follows the change of his image, and the change of his nature alſo. A man is tranſlated into it, (1) As a Kingdom of Righteouſneſs, by the change of his Covenant. (2) As a Kingdom of Holineſs, by the change of his Image.
Doct. All thoſe that are in Chriſt have a change of their ſtate, they are tranſlated out of their former Covenant. Here are two things to be ſpoken to: (1) That the Scripture does ſpeak of ſuch a Tranſlation or change of Covenant. (2) The neceſſity of ſuch a change, and the reaſons and grounds thereof.
Rom. 11.24.§. 2. Firſt, the Scripture does ſpeak of ſuch a Tranſlation, or change of Covenant. Says the Apoſtle, Rom. 11.24, For if thou wert cut out of the Olive-tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good Olive-tree: how much more ſhall theſe which be the natural branches, &c. Abraham is called the root, becauſe after a ſort the Covenant began in him, and therefore he is ſaid to be the father of the faithful, and all that grew by nature upon this root, they were the children of God; and the natural branches unto whom the ſap and ſweetneſs and fatneſs of the true Church, all the Promiſes and Priviledges of the Covenant of Grace did belong; and thoſe that were truly under this Covenant they were not broken off, but ſome of them that were under it by profeſſion only, they were for their ſins, in judgment, broken off; and the Gentiles that were wild Olives, ſtrangers to Abraham's Faith and Covenant, they were grafted in, that is, taken into the Covenant of Abraham, which is the root upon which they were ingrafted, and are made partakers of all the Promiſes and the Priviledges of the Covenant of Abraham, as if they were the natural branches. Therefore here are men that are wild Olives that are ingrafted, here are branches broken off that are ingrafted in again. So that in Converſion there is an Ingrafting, a Tranſlation of a man from one ſtock to another, from one root unto another, and that is by changing of a mans Covenant; for it is by his Covenant only that Abraham is his root, &c. Some indeed are ingrafted only by an outward profeſſion, ſome by inward implantation into the inward and ſpiritual part, ſome into the outward priviledges of the Covenant only, but ſome partake of the ſweetneſs and fatneſs of the true Olive-tree,Joh. 5.24. &c.
Chriſt ſays, He that believes in him that ſent me ſhall never come into judgment, but is parted from death to life. The word foreign, ſignifies a paſſage from one place to another. And Joh. 3.14, He is paſſed from death to life. There is a twofold ſtate of death and life, and there is anſwerable a double paſſage, a relative mutation as to a mans Covenant, and a phyſical mutation as to his Image; Rom. 7.1, 2, 3, The law has dominion over a man as long as he liveth: the woman is bound to her husband as long as he liveth, but if her husband be dead, ſhe is looſed from the law of her husband, &c. It is a dying, or a being divorced from the former husband, that gives her liberty. All the Ancients do generally make the Law the husband, from which a man being dead unto the Law is divorced: and ſome Modern Divines (as Beza and others) make ſin the husband, as being irritated by the law; but the thing is much the ſame: and a man being ingrafted into Chriſt is freed from the law of the husband. It is alſo a being redeemed, and the main of our redemption lyes in it, Gal. 4.5. as Chriſt was made under the law, ſo we were under it, now he was under it as a Covenant to fulfill the precept, and to ſatisfie the curſe; and he did this that he might redeem us that were under the law in both theſe reſpects; ſo that looking upon the law as a Covenant, Chriſt is ſaid to redeem us from being under it; changing a mans father and his mother,Mich. 7.20. Luc. 1. Gal. 4. and growing on another root, and belonging to another ſtock, as it is ſaid, Rom. 4.15, Abraham the father of us all, that were before ſtrangers unto Abraham; therefore it is ſaid to be his mercy unto Abraham, and his oath unto our forefathers, and Sarah the mother; whereas before we were the children of Hagar. All men by nature are under the law, children of the bond-woman: for the two Mothers are the two Covenants; and ſo long as a man remains under the firſt Covenant, he is the ſon of the bond-woman; but we that believe are as Iſaac, foreign.children of the free-woman; being diſcharged of the hand-writing of Ordinances which was againſt us, and contrary to us; which Chriſt took out of the way, nailing it to his Croſs, &c. This …lotting out of Ordinances, Chryſoſtome and Oecumenius underſtand not only of the Ceremonial Law given by Moſes, but alſo of the Moral Law, and the Law of the forbidden fruit given to Adam, &c. and ſo Zanchy and others, &c. Though ſome other late Divines will underſtand it of the Ceremonial Law only, which I conceive it cannot be, becauſe it is ſpoken for the conſolation of the Gentiles, that they were delivered from this hand-writing of Ordinances, under which they never were. So that this change of Covenant is in Scripture ſet forth by being cut off from the former root and ingrafted into another; a change or paſſage from a mans former ſtate, a being dead to a former husband, a redemption from a former bondage, an alliance to another father, and having a bond cancelled that was againſt a man by its exacting and condemning power.
SECT. II. The neceſſity of a Tranſlation from the firſt Covenant.
1. THE neceſſity of this Tranſlation is manifeſted ſeveral ways. 1. From the nature of the Covenant as it is broken, and mans miſery under it; for the Covenant in ſelf is unchangeable and eternal, as well as the Covenant of Grace; and it ſays for ever, This do and thou ſhalt live; it ſtill ſays,Gal. 4.4, 5. Curſed is every one that continues not in all things written in the Law to do them; the ſoul that ſins ſhall die. And to eſtabliſh it Chriſt was made under the Law, that the righteouſneſs of the Law might be fulfilled in us; and what the Law ſaith, it ſaith unto them that are under the Law ſtill. So that while men continue under it, their former husband lives unto them, and the hand-writing ſtands in force againſt them: here is the benefit by Chriſt, a man may be tranſlated out of it, and ſo there may be a change of a mans Covenant, not by a change of the Covenant it ſelf, but by a change of the man, and his deliverance out of it.
Now ſo long as a man continues under this Covenant, (1) It promiſes no life but upon condition of perfect and perſonal obedience; it calls upon thee, To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy ſtrength; the ſtrength that I gave thee at firſt: and the man that doth them ſhall live by them. There is commutatio perſonae, a commutation of the perſon, by the Covenant of Grace; but this Covenant ſaith not that the obedience of another ſhall be accounted his unto juſtification and life, and ſo Juſtification is foreign, impoſſible by the righteouſneſs of the Law; for by the Law no man can be juſtified; and in this it is weak through the fleſh; ſo that whileſt a man continues untranſlated, he can never be juſtified by the imputed righteouſneſs of Jeſus Chriſt, which can profit him nothing, becauſe in the ſenſe of the Law it is not his own righteouſneſs.
(2) It is a Covenant without a Mediator: Chriſt indeed is a Mediator, but it is of the new Covenant; the firſt Covenant was faedus amicitiae, a Covenant of friendſhip, made with man in innocency; where there was no diſagreement; and Gal. 3.20. A Mediator is not a Mediator of one, &c. So that ſo long as a man is under the firſt Covenant, what benefits ſo ever there are to be had by the Mediation of Chriſt, he muſt go without them, either in reference to the preſentation of his perſon, or to the acceptation of his ſervices; for in the Covenant under which he ſtands a Mediator can have no place.
(3) In this Covenant there is no promiſe of pardon; but If thou doſt well thou ſhalt be accepted, but if thou doſt evil ſin lyes at the door; and there is a curſe upon every tranſgreſſion, every ſin thou committeſt, every diſobedience has a juſt recompence of reward; ſo that as long as a man does continue under this Covenant, he muſt bear his own ſin, and there is no hope of pardon for him, becauſe under this Covenant God has promiſed no pardon. The aim of God was the glory of his Juſtice, and therefore the Lord deals with men as in Courts of Juſtice: if there be a Capital crime committed, the Judge does not examine whether the man be penitent or no, and if he do repent, then there is a pardon for him; but whether the offence be committed or no, guilty or not guilty; and ſo Juſtice does all without reſpect unto a mans after-repentance. If thou haſt ſinned, the firſt Covenant ſays thou art a child of death; and when a man ſays, I have ſinned, it is the Covenant of Grace only that ſays, the Lord has put away thy ſin; but under this Covenant there is no pardon to be expected.
(4) This Covenant promiſes no Grace: for it was made with man in his primitive condition, when he had Grace anſwerable unto all the duties that the Lord required of him; he had a power to perform all duties, and to reſiſt all temptations, and this is ſuppoſed in every duty that is required, and in every ſin that is forbidden; ſo that all the promiſes of Grace and ſtrength that are in the ſecond Covenant, a man can never have benefit by, for they belong not unto the Covenant under which he ſtands unleſs he be tranſlated.
(5) It is a Covenant that every ſin breaks, and being once broken it can never be made up again. So the Apoſtle tells us, Rom. 5.16, By one offence guilt came upon all to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences to juſtification. Adam's ſin was but one offence, and yet it brake his Covenant, and brought guilt and death upon all his poſterity, and that for ever; and his Covenant could bring death, but never juſtification and life any more, ſo that no man that has once ſinned could ever live by that Covenant any more: but it is not ſo in the Covenant of Grace, becauſe it brings in an everlaſting righteouſneſs, that ſin can never ſpend; and therefore though there be many offences yet the Covenant is not broken, but that juſtification and life may be had therein; and the more ſin abounds, the grace of the Covenant abounds much more; as ſin takes occaſion by the law, ſo grace takes occaſion by ſin under the Goſpel.
(6) It is a Covenant that can never quiet and ſettle the Conſcience, but let a man walk never ſo exactly, and take never ſo much care to do his duty in all things, and let him live the holieſt life that ever any man did upon earth that was a ſinner, and he will be always in a doubt and full of jealouſie of God, whether he will accept him or no; as it was with the young man in the Goſpel, he had lived a very exact life according to the rules of a Phariſaical righteouſneſs; for he could ſay, All theſe things have I kept from my youth; and yet he was not quiet,Gehennam horribiliter timuit. he came and kneeled down to Chriſt and ſaid, What muſt I do to inherit eternal life? what lack I yet? And ſo Luther ſaid, he did endeavour in all things to walk according to his Conſcience, and yet he ſays, I feared Hell terribly, &c. And this is the difference that the Apoſtle makes, Rom. 10.5, 8, he prefers the righteouſneſs of faith before that of works, upon this ground, becauſe that of works is full of ſcruples and doubtful enquiries, Who ſhall aſcend up to Heaven? Doubting is the fruit of the Covenant of works; and therefore Bellarmine muſt come to his Tutiſſimum, for unto men ſince the fall the fruits of the firſt Covenant are only doubting and anxiety: but faith tells a man, Chriſt has deſcended into the deep to make ſatisfaction there, and he is aſcended up on high into Heaven there to prepare a place; and there is nothing wanting for a mans ſalvation that Chriſt has not done, which frees a mans Conſcience from thoſe inward perplexities which the Covenant of works leaves a man intangled in. This is the firſt ground of the neceſſity of being tranſlated out of this Covenant, for ſo long as a man is under it this is his miſery, if he look for life it muſt be by his own righteouſneſs as without a Mediator; and if he ſin, there is no pardon for him, and if he be to do duty, there is no grace; if the Covenant be once broken it is broken for ever, never made up again, for the leaſt offence; and a mans Conſcience can never be ſatisfied and quieted, till he does anchor upon Chriſt Jeſus, who is the rock of ages.
§. 2. If God will deal with man in a Covenant-way, he muſt be tranſlated out of this Covenant, if he ever hope to receive any benefit by the ſecond Covenant; for no man can ſtand under both Covenants, no more than he can be born of two Mothers, Gal. 4. the two Covenants are there compared unto two Mothers, and the Covenants are two roots; and 'tis impoſſible if one grow upon the one root, but he muſt be cut off from the other. I do confeſs that an unregenerate man, that is for the ſtate of his perſon under the Covenant of works, may have many outward benefits and priviledges from the Covenant of Grace. As (1) They are preſerved by it; for it is by the ſecond Covenant that the world ſtands, and it is for their ſakes that are heirs of bleſſing therein, Iſa. 42.6, He is given as a Covenant to the Nations to eſtabliſh the earth; and it is by the Covenant of Grace to the Kingdom of Chriſt that the curſe of the firſt Covenant is not preſently executed upon wicked men. (2) Wicked men have this benefit by the Covenant of Grace, they have the Creatures to ſerve them; he makes the Sun to ſhine upon the juſt and the unjuſt. Mat. 5.The Creatures are made ſubject to vanity by reaſon of him that has ſubjected them in hope: it is a vanity of ſervice and ſubjection unto the neceſſities of unregenerate men, which is a benefit that they have by the ſecond Covenant. (3) They have an imployment by Chriſt Prov. 8. it's ſaid, By me Kings reign; and that men are ſet in honourable places, and do ſervice in this Kingdom of Chriſt. Saul was made a King, and Cyrus, and Judas was an Apoſtle. (4) They have great gifts given them by the Spirit of God diſpenſed in this Kingdom, which is only by the Covenant of Grace: they are inlightned, made partakers of the Holy Ghoſt, taſte of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come; they may propheſie in the name of Chriſt, and in his name caſt out Devils, and do many great works. (5) They have great priviledges given them, they are called the Sons of God, they have the Law and the Promiſes, they may live in the Church and claim an outward right unto Ordinances, and the offers of Grace as belonging unto them. Abraham's ſon Iſhmael was circumciſed as well as Iſaac, and he had an outward right unto it, and ſo all external Church-priviledges Hypocrites may have a right unto, as Judas had among the other Diſciples, being undetected. (6) They may have for all theſe ſervices great Temporal rewards; labouring in the Lord's Vineyard they ſhall have their penny. Cyrus a Heathen Prince, yet doing works for God, he ſhall have a Kingdom for his reward; and Nebuchadnezzar ſhall have Egypt for his hire; great honours and rewards before men, riches in abundance, that they may waſh their ſteps in butter: Iſhmael had the dew of Heaven, and the fatneſs of the Earth. Theſe and many other benefits unregenerate men may have by the Covenant of Grace, who yet for the eſtate of their perſons are under a Covenant of Works: only unto all godly men they are all given as a bleſſing, and unto them that are unregenerate men they are all given as a curſe, and will be a means but to ripen their ſins, and add unto their account and condemnation; and therefore though a man may have many external benefits by the Covenant of Grace, who for the eſtate of his perſon is under the Covenant of Works, yet he cannot ſtand under both Covenants.
§. 3. God will deal with him ſtill as he did in his Creation in a way of Covenant and Stipulation, and not in a way of abſolute Soveraignty and Dominion and he will keep both on foot, and exerciſe both together. In mans Creation God did ſome things by way of abſolute Dominion, he gave him what being he pleaſed, and appointed him to what end, and gave him what Law he pleaſed, and placed Adam as the common root, the repreſentative head, and put all his poſterity under him, as thoſe that were to come under his Covenant, and to ſtand or fall with him: and as the Covenant made with Adam and us in him, is …n act of Soveraignty, ſo the act of Imputation of his ſin or righteouſneſs is an act of Soveraignty alſo. But God did not deal with Adam in this way only, but alſo in a way of Covenant, giving him a command, and promiſing life and bleſſedneſs upon his obedience; and all the Diſpenſations of God in his Government unto men ſince, have been by vertue of, and according unto the Covenant. Whilſt man ſtood all the bleſſings he did enjoy were by vertue of the Covenant God made with him; and ſince his fall, all the curſes that he has undergone are the curſes of the Covenant. So unto man in his fall God will deal with him ſtill the ſame way; there are ſome acts of Soveraignty and abſolute Dominion which he has reſerved to himſelf, he gives man what Law he pleaſeth, and according to his own pleaſure changes and abrogates Laws as he will; and he has out of his own abſolute Soveraignty appointed the ſecond Adam to be the head of the regenerate, and he does as an act of Soveraignty make a Covenant with us in him, and accounts us one with him, and by a Soveraign Imputation counts his Righteouſneſs ours, and our ſins his, and calls things that are not as if they were. But yet though he will keep both ways of Government in his own hand, yet he has declared himſelf that in his ordinary way he will rule man by a Covenant, and according unto the rules of that Covenant he will diſpenſe himſelf in mercy or in wrath, according to the Promiſes, or the threatnings thereof: and though man has fallen and broken the firſt Covenant, and therefore now God might have dealt with him in a way only of Soveraignty and Prerogative; yet the Lord will keep himſelf unto a Covenant-way, and will ſo deal with man again; and therefore man having broken the firſt he will eſtabliſh the ſecond Covenant. And the grounds why God will deal with man ſtill in a Covenant-way are theſe:
(1) Becauſe the firſt Covenant ſtands in force upon all men out of Chriſt unto eternity, as it appears; becauſe by that Covenant ſin is imputed, and the curſe of that Covenant is inflicted unto eternity. (2) Becauſe that under this Covenant all that remain muſt periſh, for as many as are under the Law as a Covenant, are under the Curſe; wherefore the Lord has inſtituted a ſecond Covenant, which all that are in Chriſt ſhall remain under. And though …here be ſome difference in circumſtances, and in the manner of adminiſtration, yet it is for ſubſtance the ſame from the fall unto the worlds end. There is indeed a Triplex Aera, a threefold account, or three ſeveral periods in Scripture of the Covenant of Grace. [1] As it was made with Adam after his fall, promiſing the ſeed of the woman, and life and ſalvation in him; and this is therefore called the Covenant of Promiſe, Epheſ. 2.12. [2] As it was more fully revealed after Chriſts coming in the fleſh, Heb. 8.6, 7. ſo the Covenant as to the Fathers being in the Promiſe, is called the firſt Covenant, and as performed, and Chriſt exhibited,foreign, Heb. 8.10. In quo nihil merito potuit requiri poſt dies veteris teſtamenti exactos. Par. the ſecond. Yet the firſt Covenant comes ſhort of the ſecond in two things: Firſt, becauſe imperfect and only in Types, and Typical repreſentations. 2. Becauſe the people kept it not, neither were made perfect by it, but God found fault with them for their diſobedience, &c. [3] As it ſhall be more gloriouſly revealed at the calling of the Jews, when the Lord ſhall make this Covenant with them, that is, take them into this Covenant again, and call them my people who were called Loammi; and this is their grafting in again, Rom. 11. as the Gentiles were grafted in upon their rejection, and therefore Iſrael under this Covenant is fitly called by ſome Iſrael ſurrogatus, &c. And of this Covenant with Iſrael, who are the natural branches, to whom primarily all the Promiſes do belong, does the Lord ſpeak, Ezek. 34.25, The dry bones ſhall live, and they ſhall dwell in their own land, wherein their fathers dwelt, they and their childrens children for ever; and my ſervant David ſhall be their Prince for ever; and I will make a Covenant of peace with her, and it ſhall be an everlaſting Covenant; and I will place them, and multiply them, and ſet my ſanctuary in the midſt of them for evermore, my tabernacle alſo ſhall be with them; yea, I will be their God, and they ſhall be my people, &c. (3) All the mercies and deliverances that God has given his people have been by Covenant ever ſince the fall,Luk. 1.72. he ſent Chriſt into the world, a horn of ſalvation he raiſed up, (that is, glorious and victorious ſalvation) in the houſe of his ſervant David, to perform his mercy promiſed to our forefathers, and to remember his holy Covenant: he pardons their ſins, and ſubdues their iniquities, and carries them into the depths of the ſea; but it is to perform his truth to Jacob, and his mercy to Abraham, which he ſwore unto our forefathers from the days of old. And he writes the law in their hearts, and ſanctifies them to himſelf:Jer. 31.33. A new Covenant will I make with you, I will take away the heart of ſtone, and I will write my law in your hearts, &c. Gen. 6.18.And ſo for all temporal mercies, God delivered Noah from the flood that deſtroyed the world of the ungodly, but it was by a Covenant; I will eſtabliſh my Covenant with thee, and thou ſhalt come into the Ark, thou and thy ſons, &c. God brought Iſrael out of Egypt, Exod. 6.4, 5.but it was by their Covenant; I have eſtabliſhed my Covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, Zach. 9.11.the land of their pilgrimage. And afterwards delivered them out of Babylon, the pit in which there was no water; But it is by the blood of the Covenant. He did nouriſh the people of Iſrael in the Wilderneſs, and fed them there; but it was becauſe he was always mindful of his Covenant. There were many that did not fear him, that were wicked, but he fed the wicked for the ſake of the righteous, their meat was given unto them that fear him.Pſal. 111.5. So that the Diſpenſations of God in all ages have been by vertue of, and anſwerable to a Covenant.
§. 4. A man for the ſtate of his perſon cannot ſtand under both Covenants, becauſe the one is contrary unto, and makes void the other; ſo the Apoſtle reaſons, Gal. 2. ult. If righteouſneſs be by the law, Chriſt is dead in vain. Though in ſome reſpects the Law may and doth ſtand as a rule, and as a hand-maid to the Goſpel, as Hagar to Sarah, and ſo in ſubordination; yet as a Covenant, and in co-ordination it cannot ſtand ſo; for the one doth actually deſtroy the other, and make it void; for if the ſecond Covenant take place, the firſt Covenant is made void; and if the firſt Covenant ſtand, there is no place for the ſecond. And this will more fully appear if we conſider the direct contrariety in the Terms of theſe Covenants.
Tit. 3.5.1. The Righteouſneſs of the firſt Covenant is in our ſelves, the works of righteouſneſs that we have done; and he that doth them ſhall live in them; but the righteouſneſs of the ſecond Covenant is the righteouſneſs of another; Chriſt is the end of the law for righteouſneſs: Rom. 10.4.Finis perficiens, ſed non interficiens. Aug. all the righteouſneſs of the Law is fulfilled in him. It is in the Ark that the law is laid up; and the righteouſneſs of the Law is in him alone, and in no other elſe to be found, made ours by Imputation only, thereby we are made the righteouſneſs of God in him, 2 Cor. 5.21. Now a man cannot be righteous by his own righteouſneſs, and by the righteouſneſs of another, 1 Joh. 5.11, 12. A man cannot have life in himſelf and in another, and therefore the one deſtroys the other.
2. In the Covenant of Works acceptation is firſt of the works, and afterwards of the perſon, for the works ſake; and ſo does the diſpleaſure of God begin firſt with the work, and then redundat in perſonam, it redounds upon the perſon; and therefore God ſpeaks unto Cain, Gen. 4.4, If thou doſt well thou ſhalt be accepted: there is not acceptation of the perſon if there be any imperfection in the work, Gal. 3.10, Curſed is every one that continues not in the law, &c. becauſe of a failing in the work there is a curſe upon the perſon.Haec doctrinae noſtra ſumma quam docemus, & profitemur: perſonam priùs Deo acceptam & opus fieri acceptum ex perſona. But in the Covenant of Grace the perſon is firſt accepted, and the works for the perſons ſake. God had a reſpect unto Abel and to his Offering; and this indeed is even the ſum of the Goſpel, that the work is accepted for the perſons ſake: but if the acceptation of the perſon be grounded upon the works, it is contrary to the Goſpel, that ſays, The acceptation is firſt of the perſon, then of the works.
3. The Covenant of Works is a Covenant without a Prieſt, there is none to preſent a mans perſon, but he muſt ſtand before God in his own perſon: for the firſt Covenant was made with man immediately, there is none to bear his ſin, and there is none to offer his ſacrifice; for it was a Covenant made with man in the ſtate of integrity, wherein he needed none of theſe. Adam had no more need of a Prieſt in this eſtate than the Angels have; but now all unregenerate men that are under the Covenant as broken (while they do ſo continue) have no more benefit by a Prieſt than the Devils have, only to man there is a poſſibility and not unto them: but the ſecond Covenant is a Covenant with a Prieſt, and there is a threefold office of a Prieſt. (1) He does preſent their perſons, for he ſtands in their ſteads; he bears their names two ways, upon his heart, and upon his ſhoulders. (2) He offers a ſacrifice for their ſins, and does carry the blood into the moſt holy place, and doth ſprinkle it before the Mercy-ſeat. (3) He preſents their requeſts and deſires unto the Father, together with his own, upon the ſame Altar of the Godhead, which is the Golden Altar;Heb. 7.22. for he ever lives to make interceſſion for us.
4. In the Covenant of Works there is matter of glorying and boaſting in a mans ſelf; if a man abide in the Covenant, and the reward is of debt.Rom 4.1, 4. foreign. Indeed Adam might have come into the preſence of God, and have ſaid, Lord, I have fulfilled thy Commandment, I have done thy whole will, &c. And as the Lord Jeſus Chriſt did, I have finiſhed the work that thou gaveſt me to do; now glorifie me with thy ſelf, now juſtifie me, beſtow upon me the grace and life that thou haſt promiſed, &c. But under the ſecond Covenant there is no place for either, there is no debt, for all is of grace; to give the will and the deed, and to pardon the failings and defects of any thing we do; that we are accepted it is meerly of Grace. And there is no boaſting, for all is done by the ſtrength of another, and through the acceptance of another; For Chriſt is made to us Wiſdom and Righteouſneſs, Sanctification and Redemption, that he that glories may glory in the Lord, 1 Cor. 1.30. And ſo boaſting is excluded: by what law? not by the law of works, but by the law of faith, Rom. 3.27. For the ſoul ſays,Epheſ. 2.9. I was in the ſame condemnation with them that periſh, and the Lord had mercy upon me, becauſe mercy pleaſes him, not for mine own righteouſneſs, but according to his own mercy he ſaveth us, Tit. 3.4, 5. Now it is impoſſible therefore for a man to be under both Covenants, becauſe the terms and …he conditions of the one are contrary, and deſtroy the other.
§. 5. It may be asked, Queſt. Whether a godly man while he lives here having a double principle, the one from the firſt Adam, and the other from the ſecond Adam, he may not alſo have a double Covenant ſtate, and a double Image, partly the Image of the firſt, and partly the Image of the ſecond Adam, partly of the earthly, and partly of the heavenly? Why may not a man alſo ſay, that ſo far as he is fleſh, he is under the Covenant of Works, but ſo far as he is regenerate he is under a Covenant of Grace? For ſo ſome of our Divines have ſpoken of late, Conſider a regenerate man in his natural being, and ſo he is ever under the Law, and as often as he ſinneth is under the ſentence of death, but as he is in Chriſt ſo he is free from the Law by Grace, &c.
A godly man has a double principle, and this doth argue a double image; Anſw. and the corrupt principle that is within him is a remainder of the image of the old Adam, and the gracious principle is the image of the ſecond Adam begun in him. But yet this cannot infer a double Covenant, becauſe the Image reſpects his nature, but the Covenant does reſpect his Perſon. Now it is with a man as it is with Chriſt, there are two natures in him, and they have two properties, the one eternal, and the other in time; the one is infinite, and the other finite; the one mortal, and the other immortal: but if we look upon his Sonſhip, that is but one, becauſe it reſpects his Perſon, filiatio eſt ſuppoſiti filiati, filiation is of a perſon; ſo though a man have two very different natures in him of fleſh and ſpirit, the one from Chriſt, and the other from Satan; and in the one a man does reſemble God, and in the other the Devil, yet they argue not two Covenants, quia faedus pertinet ad ſuppoſitum, the Covenant belongs to the perſon.
2. A double Image may ſtand together: and though indeed they ſeek to deſtroy each other, the fleſh luſting againſt the ſpirit, becauſe they are contrary, yet it ſhall not prevail: But the two Covenants do actually, neceſſarily, and immediately deſtroy each other, becauſe the terms are contrary; and therefore unleſs a man may ſtand righteous before God in his own righteouſneſs, and in the righteouſneſs of Chriſt at once, unleſs he may be an heir of the Curſe and of the Promiſe, unleſs he may be juſtified and condemned, unleſs his ſins may be pardoned, and his righteouſneſs imputed, unleſs he may appear before God in himſelf and in another, he cannot be ſaid to be under both Covenants; for the terms of the Covenant are ſuch that they do neceſſarily deſtroy each other.
3. The change of a mans Covenant is a legal act, an act of God upon a mans being once in Chriſt, God does account a man as one under the Law no more, as God did count Abraham righteous, and counted him the father of the faithful; ſo that it is an act of God without a man and upon him, and this is perfect and may be at once; and a man is truly tranſlated out of the Covenant of Works, the firſt day of his converſion, and ſhall never be looked upon as one under that Covenant more:Phil. 1.6. but there is a good work in a man, which is the change of a mans Image, and that is perfected by degrees, and therefore the remainders of the old image do remain, and as God does make the Covenant of Works from which a man is delivered, a ſervant to the Covenant of Grace, ſo he does the remainders of the old image in a man alſo.
SECT. III. The APPLICATION.
Ʋſe 1 §. 1. THe Uſe is of Examination, whether a mans Covenant be changed or no, and whether he be tranſlated out of the firſt Covenant. There is no change of a mans Covenant but by union with Chriſt: for the Covenants were made with a double head, the firſt, and the ſecond Adam; and it is our union with them, that brings us under their Covenant. A man comes not under the Covenant of the Angels, he has not the righteouſneſs of the good, nor the ſins of the bad Angels imputed, becauſe he is not one with them; he that is in the firſt Adam is ſtill under his Covenant, and he that is in the ſecond Adam, is tranſlated from the firſt Adam: Rom. 8. 1 Joh. 3.24. Rom. 8.9.Now how ſhould a man know whether he be one with Chriſt or no; for he that is in Chriſt is no more under the Law as a Covenant, nor under the curſe.
Now hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us, becauſe he has given us of his ſpirit; if any man has not the ſpirit of Chriſt he is none of his. Now whereſoever the ſpirit of Chriſt is, it is a ſpirit of mortification, as Rom. 8.10. for Chriſts Spirit had the ſame end that Chriſt had, 1 Joh. 1.8. (1) A mans darling luſt is mortified, for a man converted hates every ſin, but eſpecially theſe; as a Deer that is ſhot is not quiet till the Arrow that has wounded him be taken out:Pſal. 18.23. Hoſ. 14.3. and the Pſalmiſt ſays, I was alſo upright before him, and I kept my ſelf from my iniquity. There is no greater ſign that a man is acted by the ſpirit of the Devil than indulging this way of ſinning. (2) A man conflicts ſpecially againſt ſpiritual ſins; for thoſe ſins make a man moſt conformable to the Devil: as for groſs ſins, reſtraining grace and a natural conſcience will go far to keep them under; all ſins are from the Devil, either, per modum ſervitutis or imaginis, in a way of ſervitude or image. Pride and contempt of God, and drawing others to ſin, and delighting in it, hating godlineſs in others, obſtinacy and impenitency, &c. theſe ſins argue whoſe children we are, That we are of our father the Devil, for his luſts we do, &c. Spiritual luſts are his image.
2. Where the Spirit of Chriſt dwells, the ſpirit of the ſecond Covenant, he is a ſpirit of Sanctification,Joh. 3…6. there is a renewing of the inward man; that which is born of the ſpirit is ſpirit; the ſpirit of God is not only water, but fire, which turns all into it ſelf; it is a ſpirit of Wiſdom, and a ſpirit of faith, love, meekneſs, and of a ſound mind, conforming the outward man, making him follow the Lord fully; he is willingly ignorant of no truth, he does not hide his eyes,Numb. 14.24. nor ſtop his ears from hearing of it, nor does he impriſon any truth in unrighteouſneſs; he will walk up to his light in every thing, though duties be difficult, to honour God, and own his people before the world, as we may live to ſee it a crime to countenance a profeſſion of godlineſs; yet this man that has received another ſpirit as Caleb had, can let the world ſee that all his delight is in the Saints; and though he ſhould be reckoned ſingular, and go alone with Athanaſius and Luther, yet he ſtill keeps on his way notwithſtanding all oppoſition, and lays out all that is in him, and dear to him for Chriſt; and if he periſh in a way of duty he periſhes,Luk. 11.21. he will venture life and all for God, as Nehemiah and Heſter did.
Ʋſe 2 §. 2. Hence we may ſee the ſinfulneſs of an unregenerate ſtate in this, That all of you that are ſo are ſtrangers to the Covenant of promiſe; and this is ſet forth by the Apoſtle as that ſtate of ſin in which the Gentiles lay before their converſion.Chryſoſt. Chryſoſtome ſays, that they were not only ſeparated from this Covenant, and without it, but wholly ſtrangers to it: and though as to the terms of the Covenant, we be not ſo great ſtrangers now, becauſe the Goſpel of Grace is made known to us, yet all they that do not accept of the terms of the Covenant, but do ſtand out in their unbelief, and do not imbrace the Lord Chriſt offered in the Goſpel, they are as truly in Gods account ſtill ſtrangers unto the Covenant of Promiſe, as the Gentiles were before the Goſpel was preached unto them: and let no man ſay, What are we all Heathens? will you put us into the ſame condition with them? Let me tell you, the Covenant of Grace has been offered unto you, and the terms of it plainly ſet before you: And they are, (1) God will be yours, if you will be his; he will be wholly yours, ſo as you muſt be wholly his, Cant. 6.2, I am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine. Bernard ſays, Mea non placent niſi mecum.Chriſt will neither marry a Widow nor a Harlot, Lev. 21.14. he will have the firſt Love, and the whole Love, Hoſ. 3.3, Thou ſhalt be unto me alone, and unto none other. (2) Thou ſhalt give all that is thine unto him, and he will give all that is his unto thee, thou ſhalt have an intereſt in what is his, but ſo as Chriſt will have an intereſt likewiſe in all that is thine; He …hat does not forſake all that he has, cannot be my diſciple; thou muſt follow the lamb whitherſoever he goes; thou muſt forget thy own kindred and thy fathers houſe; forſake, yea, hate thy …wn life if it come in competition with thy duty and love to Chriſt: for a man to be willing … reſerve any thing at his own diſpoſe, that he may enjoy a-part from Chriſt, it is a token … a falſe heart, and the Lord abhors it. To do as Ananias and Saphira did, keep back part … the price, reſerve ſomething that they would not give up, and yet pretend to give up all, …is abominable to God; and that man that does not conſent unto the Covenant upon theſe …rms, does not give the hand unto the Lord, and ſubſcribe with his hand unto the Lord, … 2 Chron. 30.8. he that is not willing to come and take of this water of life,Iſa. 44. Rev. 22. his name ſhall …e blotted out of the book of life, &c. If he do not accept of, nor conſent to the Covenant, …at man though he live in the Church, he is in Gods account as a Heathen, and a ſtranger … the Covenant of Promiſe, as truly as they that live at the furtheſt ends of the earth, to …hom the offer of a ſecond Covenant never came; and in ſome reſpects are worſe than they; …erefore we read that David calls the Ziphims, though they were the Inhabitants of Judah, Ezek. 16.3. Hoſ. 12.7. Amos 9.7. Iſa. 1.10.…rangers, and Sauls Courtiers, that were wicked men and perſecutors of him, he called Heathens; and Saul himſelf he calls Cuſh, and that (as one well obſerves) not without ſome …lluſion unto his fathers name, Cuſh an Ethiopian, Pſal. 7.1. and it's ſaid, Rev. 11.2, The …utward Court ſhall be trodden down of the Gentiles; which is meant of thoſe that receive the …ark of the Beaſt, and bear his image: for Popery is nothing elſe but Paganiſm under a …orm of Chriſtianity, and therefore ſuch are Gentiles in Gods account, and the Lord mea…res all with one line; He will puniſh all them that are circumciſed with the uncircumciſed, Jer. 9. ult. 8. 9.…gypt and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon and Moah, and all that are in the …ermoſt corners that dwell in the wilderneſs; for all theſe Nations are uncircumciſed, and all … houſe of Iſrael are uncircumciſed in heart, &c.
The miſery of not being tranſlated into the ſecond Covenant has been ſhewed many ways; …w we will ſpeak a little to the ſin of it, and that in theſe Particulars.
(1) Hereby thou endeavoureſt to make void the Covenant of Grace, and all thoſe glori…us thoughts that God had towards ſinners from everlaſting as the higheſt way to glorifie himſelf. He did therefore purpoſe it in himſelf, and from himſelf,Prov. 8.30. Pſal. 40.5. that he will gloriefie himſelf this way by a ſecond Covenant; and God delighted in it, and ſpent infinite thoughts about it; it's the pleaſure of the Lord, and all this thou doſt make void to thy ſelf by continuing under thy former Covenant, and if thou accept not the Grace offered in the ſecond. Now the Apoſtle ſpeaks of it as a fearful evil to make void the Law, but how great is their …vil that do their utmoſt to make the Goſpel void.
(2) Thou hereby at once fruſtrates the whole end of Chriſts coming into the world, for …he came into the world as a ſecond Adam with a Covenant, and an Image; and no man can partake of his Image unleſs he have an intereſt in his Covenant: for all the Promiſes of renewing the Image of God in man are not the promiſes of the firſt, but of the ſecond Covenant;Mal. 3.1. Heb. 12.24. Heb. 7.22. and it's he that is in Chriſt that is a new Creature, 2 Cor. 5.14. For he is given as a Covenant to the Nations. The Lord ſhall come ſpeedily into his Temple, even the meſſenger of the Conant in whom ye delight. So that the great end of Chriſts coming into the world is that he might bring in a ſecond Covenant, by which God and man may be reconciled, ſins pardoned, and the ſinner ſaved: and whoſoever is not tranſlated into this Covenant, Chriſt is come and dead in vain as to him.
(3) Thou doſt hereby reject and deſpiſe the greateſt grace that ever was ſhewed to the ſons of men; for God to enter into a Covenant with man in his Creation was an act of meer Grace. God might have required obedience, and have promiſed no recompence; for all was by right of creation due from man to God; but God did not owe any thing to man again, and yet this was but faedus amicitiae, a Covenant of Friendſhip: but when man had ſinned and become faedifragus, a Covenant-breaker, now for God to try man again by a ſecond Covenant, that it ſhould be a Covenant with man as a ſinner, is a far greater act of favour to be engaged to him,Iſa. 26.18, 19. and that upon higher terms and better promiſes: it's the admiration of all the Angels in Heaven that God ſhould ſo far honour a ſinful creature as to take him into Covenant with himſelf.
Jer. 13.11. Zac. 11.10.(4) This is much heightned by this that the Angels that fell were as capable of mercy as we, and Chriſt and his Righteouſneſs as proportionable a good for the Salvation of the Angels as he is for man, though they did ſin ex deſtinata malitia, maliciouſly and without temptation: Bernard.and ſo perire neceſſe eſt poenitere potentes: yet had the Lord ſet his thoughts of mercy upon them, and ſent his Son with a Covenant to them. The ſame Omnipotency that overcomes the heart of a man could have alſo overcome the heart of a Devil; but he did catch at Mankind when he let the Angels go, and never made them the offer of a ſecond Covenant; and this mans ſin is beyond that of the Devils, in that he refuſeth to come under this Covenant of Grace.
(5) Hereby thou takeſt the name of God in vain, and receiveſt no benefit by all his Ordinances and Promiſes, and motions of the Spirit that thou enjoyeſt.
[1] All his Ordinances: for to what end is the Miniſtry of the Goſpel ſet up and appointed by God, but only in the firſt place to bring men into Covenant with God? God is in Chriſt reconciling the world; and how is that done? why, by making a covenant of peace, as this ſecond covenant is called, Ezek. 37.26. And by perſwading men and treating with them to bring them under the bonds of this covenant;2 Cor 5.18, 19. for as the Apoſtle ſays, He has made us the miniſters of reconciliation: and all the offers that we make unto you of Chriſt, it is but to perſwade you to accept of him, as God has given him as a covenant to the Nations; and until you do accept of Chriſt in his covenant, and conſent to that, you can have no other benefit by him, that will be effectual to the ſaving of your ſoul. And as for all other benefits of the Miniſtry without this, they will never anſwer the great end for which the Lord appointed it. It were but a low end in a Miniſter to propound no higher thing to himſelf than this, that he might inform the judgments of men, and draw them to ſome outward conformity, or civilize men, and to do ſome duties to ſatisfie their conſciences; but our end ſhould be, that which God did ſend us for, and to count that we have laboured in vain,Act. 26.18. if we miſs thereof, and that is to turn men from darkneſs to light, and from the power of Satan to God: to tranſlate men out of the kingdom of darkneſs into the glorious kingdom of his dear Son: the greateſt mercies of your lives be offers of Chriſt and his benefits, which are all grounded upon the covenant of Grace.
[2] All the Promiſes do belong unto the ſecond covenant, and he has given us exceeding great and precious promiſes, 2 Pet. 1.4.whereby we are made partakers of the Divine nature. There are promiſes of pardon, and of grace, and holineſs and happineſs, promiſes of the life that now is, and that which is to come. There are conditional Promiſes, and there are abſolute Promiſes: I will be thy God, I will give thee my Son, and my Spirit, I will take away the heart of ſtone, and give a heart of fleſh. But the bottom of all theſe is the Covenant, and thereunto all the Promiſes of the Goſpel are referred; and therefore he that has no intereſt in the Covenant, he in applying a promiſe takes the name of God in vain: for if you be Chriſts you are Abrahams ſeed, Gal. 3. ult.and heirs alſo of the promiſe: If you are Chriſts, and are in him, your Covenant is changed, you then come under Abrahams Covenant; for it is in reſpect of this Covenant only,Rom. 4.16. Gal. 4.28. that he is ſaid, to be the father of us all; and if your Covenant be changed, you are heirs of the Promiſe: We as Iſaac are children of the promiſe, &c. And till a mans Covenant be changed, there is not a promiſe in the Book of God that belongs unto him; and whenſoever he does apply them unto himſelf, he doth wreſt the Scripture, and he takes the name of God in vain, &c.
[3] As for the Sacraments, whoſoever has not his Covenant changed, they can do him no good, for they are all of them added unto the Covenant of Grace as ſignes and ſeals thereof. In the ordinance of Baptiſm there muſt be foreign,1 Pet. 3.21. an anſwer, 1 Pet. 3.21. which I take to be an alluſion to the ancient manner of John Baptiſt, Luk. 3.10. the people asked him, and what ſhall we do? foreign.thereby implying a willingneſs to engage themſelves unto thoſe practices of repentance, and thoſe duties of reformation unto which John did baptize them; whence aroſe that ancient form in the Church in baptizing perſons by propounding unto them Queſtions, concerning Faith, Repentance, renouncing the World, the Fleſh and the Devil, and their ſolemn engagement and ſtipulation thereunto: which if it were in truth and from a good conſcience the perſon was truly baptized in the ſight of God, or elſe he was only baptized with water, and no more. So what was circumciſion but a ſign and a ſeal of the Covenant, which if it did reach unto the heart it was circumciſion;Gen. 17.13. elſe their circumciſion became uncircumciſion, for the men were not in Covenant with God, therefore Jer. 9.25, I will puniſh all them that are circumciſed, foreign Jer. 9.25.&c. foreign, or, Omnes circumciſes in praeputio, ſo it is in the Original, and ſo Montanus and others do render it, all that are circumciſed in uncircumciſion. Now it is by the Learned obſerved, that the Nations there named did thus circumciſe, but being a people out of covenant with God it was no circumciſion unto them; and though they were circumciſed, yet they were in uncircumciſion ſtill: and ſo the Jews, they were circumciſed, and in an outward Covenant, but yet their hearts did not conſent; and therefore though they were circumciſed in fleſh, yet they were not circumciſed in heart. So for the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, it is the New Teſtament in the Blood of Chriſt,Mat. 26. Zach. 9.12. and this blood is the blood of the Covenant; and therefore if thou be a man out of the Covenant thou haſt no right to it, it can do thee no good, but hurt all thy days. As Cyprian de Lapſis hath a ſtory of one, that when the people of God were receiving the Sacrament, came ſecretly in amongſt them to receive it alſo, Auſus eſt latenter accipere, he durſt take it ſecretly; and having taken the bread in his hand, Cinerem ſe ferre apertis manibus invenit, opening his hand he found it turned into aſhes: and ſo Gratia ſalutaris in cinerem, imo in venenum, fugiente ſanctitate mutatur; the ſalutarie grace is turned into aſhes, yea poyſon, &c. And therefore if ſuch a man receive the Sacrament, he takes the name of God in vain; for in Gods account he did never receive it, becauſe it is a ſeal of the Covenant of Grace, and he remains ſtill under the covenant of works.
[4] All the motions of the Spirit of God: as the giving of the Spirit doth belong to the ſecond Covenant: This is the Covenant ſays the Lord, that I will make with them, Iſa. 5.9, ult.my ſpirit that is upon them, &c. And it is the Goſpel that is the miniſtration of the Spirit, for it is Chriſt the Prince of the Covenant that doth ſend the Spirit: and what is the end of the Spirits coming? it is only to advance the Covenant of Grace: He ſhall take of mine, ſays Chriſt, and ſhew it unto you: that he may bring you into Union with Chriſt, and ſo into Covenant with God by him: and therefore it is the Spirit of the ſecond Covenant, and the healing motions, and ſtrivings, and impreſſions of the Spirit of God with man, are all to this end, to bring them within the bounds of the Covenant: and though they may receive many gifts, and common graces, and common works; yet the Spirit is grieved, reſiſted, and quenched, if this great work be not wrought, that the ſpirit may become a ſpirit of adoption; and all thoſe glorious works of the Spirit as a witneſs, as a ſeal, and as an earneſt, they do all come under the ſecond Covenant, and belong to the ſpirit as the ſpirit of the Goſpel.
[5] If thou be not tranſlated into the Covenant of Grace, thou art left in a remedileſs condition: for thy firſt Covenant being broken does bring thee under a curſe, and there is but one remedy againſt the ſting of the Serpent, and that's the brazen Serpent: there's no avoiding the curſe of the Covenant but by being tranſlated out of it; and this tranſlation thou wilt not accept of, therefore thou art in a helpleſs condition: for thy diſeaſe is mortal of it ſelf, and thou wilt not accept of a remedy, and ſo thou art left to the puniſhment of the firſt Covenants curſe, Joh. 3.33, He that believes not, the wrath of God abides upon him; not comes upon him only, but abides upon him. There is ira tranſiens, and ira permanens, tranſient wrath, and permanent wrath. All ſin brings a man under wrath, but there is no ſin leaves a man under wrath but unbelief, becauſe a man will not accept of peace, and reconciliation that is made to him. And let me tell thee, O ſoul, whoever thou art in ſuch a condition, thy miſery will be ſo much the greater, that thou haſt had a ſecond Covenant offered, and yet deſpiſeſt it, and in this Sodom and Gomorrah will come in againſt thee, and will condemn thee; for if they had had the offers that thou haſt had, they would have accepted of them, yet thou haſt rejected them: nay, the Devils themſelves will be brought in againſt thee for thy condemnation; and in this as thy ſin is greater, ſo will thy judgment be, for they never had an offer of any terms of peace made to them; they found themſelves ſhut up under wrath without hope, but thou haſt had offers and hopes all thy days; and this will be matter for that never-dying worm to feed upon at the laſt and great day, when the ſoul ſhall reflect ſeriouſly upon its by-paſt life: I neglected hopes and poſſibility, and it's now unrecoverable, though there was a time that the offers of mercy were made to me, and treaties of Grace made with me, by the common works of the Spirit of God, which I rejected; mercy was upon her knees to me, and I had as great poſſibility and probability to have found mercy as any other: there are ſome that lived under the ſame Ordinances and offers of Grace with me, and many of them had never the opportunities that I have had, and yet I ſee them ſit down with Abraham and Iſaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of God, and I am left out. And this will be the great miſery of many, I may ſay of moſt of the children of the Kingdom, they that live in the Church at the laſt and great day.
§. 3. We may hence ſee the happineſs of all thoſe that are in Chriſt, even in this, that their Covenant is changed, and it was unto David the ground of all his comfort, that God had made with him this Everlaſting Covenant: and well it might be, for it was the foundation of all his happineſs, and his ſalvation. But you'l ſay, Wherein lies the glory of this condition of a ſouls being tranſlated from their former root?
1. Being tranſlated into this Covenant, God is reconciled to thee; for the Covenant of Grace is a Covenant of Peace and Reconciliation, ſo that the enmity between thee and God is taken up, and he looks upon thee as an enemy no more.
2. Being taken into Covenant with God again, there do many ſweet relations grow out of the Covenant: for the Lord ſaith, I will be their God, and they ſhall be my people: and the Lord is not aſhamed to be called their God: he is our father and husband, and our friend, we have as truly by Covenant an intereſt in all that is in God for our beſt good, as the Lord himſelf hath for his own glory; his power is made over to us as truly as if we had infinite power, and his mercy as if we had infinite mercy, and grace, and wiſdom, &c.
3. Being once in Covenant, he becomes the ſon of God: a mans Covenant is a Covenant of Sonſhip, I will be their God and they ſhall be my ſons and daughters, &c. 1 Joh. 3.1. Behold what manner of love the father hath ſhewed unto us, that we ſhould be called the ſons of God: Gal. 4.18.and if ſons then heirs, in all the inheritance of Chriſt. Being ſons of the free-woman, it is thereby that we become heirs of the Promiſe; the inheritance is not by the Law, but by the Goſpel: if they that are of the Law be heirs, then Chriſt were dead in vain.
4. Hereby a man has a ground for his faith upon all occaſions, and a bottom for his prayers: it is the Covenant that is unto faith the Magna Charta, where all the priviledges and liberties of a Believer are found; and this Covenant is ſure, God is a faithful God, a God that will not lye, that cannot deny himſelf, Jer. 31.18, Turn thou me and I ſhall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God. Lord, do not abhor us for thou art the Lord our God, Jer. 14.21. And the Pſalmiſt hath reſpect unto this Covenant, For all the earth are full of the habitation of crueltie…. Iſa. 64.9, Remember not our iniquities for ever, behold we beſeech thee we are all thy people. And take them in the worſt terms, and when a man has even ſuffered ſhipwrack, yet the Covenant is tabula poſt naufragium, a plank after ſhipwrack, by which the ſoul is kept from ſinking: ſee it in our Lord Chriſt himſelf in that hour of the power of darkneſs, My God, my God, &c. how did Chriſt call the Lord his God: for as Chriſt is God, ſo he has the ſame eſſence with the Father, and he thought it no robbery to be equal with Him; but as Mediator he is God the Fathers Servant, and ſo the Lord is his God by Covenant. Pſal. 89.36, Chriſt ſays, Thou art my Father and my God. And Joh. 20.17. And he is no other way Chriſts God and Father but by Covenant: for Chriſt took a new Covenant-right unto God as Mediator. And as we come under the Covenant, ſo doth the Lord in him become our God alſo, and we have a right unto him; and by looking unto God in Covenant, the ſpirit of a Chriſtian is upheld in the greateſt ſenſe of wrath, when the Lord did bruiſe and grind him to powder, making his ſoul an offering for ſin. A man out of this Covenant has no ground for his faith, nor bottom for any of his prayers.
5. It is a Covenant that can never be broken, an Everlaſting Covenant, a Covenant of ſalt,Heb. 7. a Covenant that has a ſurety. Chriſt ſays, If he fail in any thing put it upon my account. And Iſa. 56.7, I know I ſhall not be aſhamed. One ſin did break the firſt Covenant, and it being broken could never be made up: by one offence condemnation came upon all, but by the free gift righteouſneſs comes upon all for many offences to juſtification, becauſe the righteouſneſs of the Covenant is a perfect and an everlaſting righteouſneſs; and upon this is a godly mans comfort mainly grounded. David by his ſin foreſaw that he had undone his Family, the Lord threatned him by the Prophet, That the ſword ſhould never depart from his houſe; yet he comforts himſelf in this, that his Covenant remained ſure. A godly mans comfort mainly comes in by his ſtate, much more than by his actions, and he comforts himſelf in the one, when he abhors himſelf for the other: and though God will judge for both, yet he will judge of mens actions according to their ſtates. Therefore whatever you do, give diligence to make your calling and election ſure, which can never be without a Tranſlation into the Covenant of Grace.