A Discourse of the Two Covenants, Book 3 · Chapter 1 – Chapter 2

A Discourse of the Two Covenants · Book 3 · Chapter 1 – Chapter 2

p. 241CHAP. I. Gods part of the Covenant doth conſiſt in Promiſes.

SECT. I. What Promiſes are: why and how the Covenant of Grace doth conſiſt of Promiſes, and of what.

HAving ſpoken thus far of two general heads, (1) the Perſon that made the Covenant, and had the firſt great hand in it, and that was God, and therefore it's called Gods Covenant, and not mans, I will eſtabliſh my Covenant between me and thee, (2) the perſons with whom this Covenant is made, and that in a threefold ſubordination; [1] with Chriſt as Mediator, as a publick perſon, as the ſecond Adam, [2] with Believers in him, [3] in them with all their ſeed: Let us now come to look into the nature of this Covenant more particularly, and examine the eſſentials thereof. There are three things that are ordinarily diſtinguiſhed by Divines, a Law, a Teſtament, and a Covenant; A Law depends upon the abſolute Soveraignty of the Law-giver, and requires ſubjection, whether the perſons commanded conſent to it or no; and ſo all the Laws of God do depend upon the abſolute Soveraignty of God, as he is a Law-giver, able to ſave and to deſtroy: A Teſtament is grounded only upon the Will of the Teſtator, bequeathing of ſuch Legacies freely without requiring the conſent of the party to whom they are bequeathed; but a Covenant differs from them both, in this, that it requires the conſent and agreement of both parties, and therein each party binds himſelf freely to the performance of ſeveral conditions each to other. Cocceius doth ground it upon that place Heb. 8.6. A Covenant eſtabliſhed upon better promiſes, and he defines it thus;foreign. Divina legiſlatio promiſſionibus ſancita. It is a Law that God eſtabliſhes upon Promiſes: and therefore implies two things, ſomething on Gods part, which is the promiſe, and ſomething on mans part, which is the duty, and unto both theſe conſent of parties is required; Gods conſent unto the promiſe, and mans conſent unto the ſervice; and therefore by a Synecdoche the name Covenant is applied unto both parts of theſe, and both of them are called the Covenant. (1) The Covenant is ſometimes put for the Promiſe of God, which is the Covenant on Gods part:Exod. 34.10.Exod 34:10 Behold I will make a Covenant before all thy people, I will do marvels: the meaning is no more but voluntaria promiſſione me obſtringo, &c. I bind my ſelf by a voluntary promiſe. This is my covenant with thee, Eſa. 59.21.Isa 59:21ſays the Lord, My Spirit that is put upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, &c. Numb. 18.19. All the heave-offering of the holy things, which the children of Iſrael offer unto the Lord, have I given thee and thy ſons by a ſtatute for ever, it it a covenant of ſalt for ever, before the Lord. It is ſpoken only of the free promiſe of God made unto Aaron and his ſons in reference unto the Prieſhood. (2) The Covenant is ſometimes put for the command of God, in which he doth require a duty from man. Moſes was with the Lord in the Mount forty days and nights, and he writ upon the Tables the words of the Covenant, Exod. 34.28. foreignExod 34:28the ten Commandments; and it's common in Scripture-acceptation, to put the command of God and the duty of man under the name of the Covenant of God. So that there are in the eſſentials of the Covenant two things, (1) there is the promiſe on Gods part, which is Gods part of the Covenant, (2) there is the duty on man's part in reference unto the command of God, there is mercy and duty, and mutual conſent of both.

p. 242We ſhall begin with the Convenant on Gods part, that we may ſee what of his free grace he doth oblige and bind himſelf unto; though it's true, he is debtor to none, any further than his own free grace makes him ſo.Deus promittendo ſe debitorem fecit. Auſtin. Now Gods part of the Covenant conſiſts in promiſes and rewards, and mans part of the Covenant conſiſts in ſervices; and in theſe two are the eſſentials of the covenant, and theſe will be our three general heads to be ſpoken to.

Firſt, Gods part of the covenant doth conſiſt in promiſes; ſuch is the covenant that he made with Abraham, wherein he does promiſe to be a God unto him, and to his ſeed after him; and this will appear in four things. (1) Becauſe in Scripture we find the covenant and the promiſes to be put for one and the ſame thing: Gal. 3.16. To Abraham and his ſeed were the promiſes made; and this I ſay, that the covenant confirmed before of God in Chriſt, the law that was four hundred and thirty years after could not diſannul, or make the promiſe of none effect. And hence it is called the covenant of promiſe, Eph. 2.12. which though ſome of our Divines do put, and may be not unfitly, as a diſtinction of the covenant of Grace, into two branches,Ball of the Covenant 4. p. 27. the covenant of promiſe, and the new covenant, taking this for the covenant made with the Fathers before the exhibiting of Chriſt in the fleſh, who did only ſee the promiſes afar off, and ſaluted them, Heb. 11.13. and therefore they are called the children of the covenant and of the promiſe; Act. 3.25.Acts 3:25yet the truth is, ſo long as there is any one part of it unaccompliſhed, ſo far it will be the covenant of promiſe, and conſiſt in promiſes ſtill, till Gods people do come to Heaven, and receive the happineſs and the inheritance of the covenant, which the Lord has now promiſed to the Saints. (2) A people taken into covenant with God are ſaid to be intitled unto the promiſes, which before they were ſtrangers unto,Rom. 9.4.Rom 9:4 and could claim no intereſt in; when God took the people of Iſrael into covenant with himſelf, and they became unto him a peculiar people and treaſure of all the people of the earth, then unto them did belong foreign, the worſhip of God and the promiſes, which all the other Nations of the Earth could lay no claim unto; and upon this ground all thoſe that are confederates with God, and taken into covenant, they are called the coheirs of promiſe, becauſe they have a title unto all thoſe great things which God in covenant has ingaged himſelf to beſtow. (3) When the Lord doth perform any promiſe, he is then ſaid to keep his covenant, and to remember his covenant, to perform his mercy promiſed unto our Forefathers; when he did fulfil his promiſes he remembred for them his covenant: ſo that as when they do tranſgreſs his command, that being part of his covenant, they are ſaid to break covenant with God; ſo when the Lord does not perform his promiſe, he is ſaid to break the covenant,Pſal. 89.39. Zac. 11.10.Ps 89:39 and to make it void. (4) The end of the covenant is but to inherit the promiſes, all the Saints are ſaid to be the Sons of Abraham, becauſe they are taken into the ſame covenant with him, with whom God did eminently make the covenant; and for this cauſe the children of the ſame covenant are called the Sons of Abraham; and Heaven, being the ſame inheritance that Abraham had as the end of his covenant, and the ſame that all the Saints enter into, it's therefore called in reſpect of them, Abrahams boſome, they ſit down with Abraham in the kingdom of God, that is, having the ſame reward of their covenant that Abraham had; and that's nothing but the promiſed inheritance, they do inherit the promiſes:Heb. 6.12.Heb 6:12 ſo that all the glory that the people of God have in Heaven, it's nothing elſe but the accompliſhment of promiſes, it's both a purchaſed and a promiſed poſſeſſion: it is true, that one ingredient of the covenant is Law, but that belongs unto the covenant as it contains the rules of our ſervices, and the covenant on our part, and not to the covenant on Gods part; for to make a Covenant is ſimply an act of Grace, whereas to give a Law is ſimply an act of Soveraignty and abſolute Dominion.

Here my purpoſe is not to handle the Doctrine of the promiſes in the extent or full latitude thereof, but only ſpeak of it as it refers mainly unto the point in hand; Firſt we will conſider what a promiſe is, It is the declaration of the eternal purpoſe of God concerning good things to come, which he doth ingage his faithfulneſs freely through Chriſt, to beſtow upon his people.

Eph. 3.9.Eph 3:91. I ſay it's a declaration of Gods eternal purpoſe: the purpoſes of God are ſecret, and hid in his own breaſt only, theſe are Myſteries hid in God, that is, while it remains only in his own purpoſe, and is not diſcovered unto the creature; and this purpoſe of his, as it is the ground, ſo it's the rule of all the good that he intends to do unto his Saints; he doth call them according to his own purpoſe and grace, 2 Tim. 1.9. It's true, we read of a promiſe made before the world began, Titus 1.2. but it was in reſpect of the covenant that paſſed between the Father and the Son, and could not be formally made unto the Saints, but is ſecret in his own thoughts and purpoſes; and theſe thoughts of God to us-ward, as they are innumerable, ſo they were exceeding delightful to the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, Pſal. 40.5. How wonderful are thy works, and thy thoughts to us-ward, &c. but the breaking forth of this purpoſe of God is ſeen in his promiſes. There is a double conſideration of the will of God, p. 243(1) voluntas propoſiti, his will of purpoſe, (2) praecepti, of precept: there is the will of God that he would have us do, and the manifeſtation thereof is his precept; and there is the will of God which he himſelf will do, and that is expreſſed in Prophecies that he will accompliſh, and Promiſes that he will fulfil. And there is a great deal of difference between this his revealed will, and his ſecret will; for the whole will of his precepts is revealed, and therefore the Apoſtle ſays he has declared the whole counſel of God, Act. 20.27.foreign. and there is enough to make the man of God perfect, perfectly inſtructed to every good work; and much of the will of his purpoſe what he will accompliſh is revealed alſo; though much of it be ſecret in the breaſt of God, yet all the Prophecies he will accompliſh, and all the promiſes he will aſſuredly fulfil: as he has declared his whole will concerning mans duty, what he ſhould do, ſo he has alſo declared his whole will concerning all the good he doth purpoſe to do for men; and this declaration of the will and the mind of God is called the promiſe of God.

2. Promiſes are of good things to come: threatnings and promiſes are both converſant about things to come, but threatnings are about evil things to come:Heb. 11.7. Zac. 1.6. Zeph. 2.1, 2.Heb 11:7Zeph 2:1Zeph 2:2 Noah being warned of God concerning things not ſeen as yet, &c. And promiſes are of good things to come: Joſh. 23.14. You know in all your hearts, that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God ſpake concerning you, &c. As when the Lord doth perform any word of his, it's ſaid, he doth cauſe it to ariſe, he has confirmed his word, Dan. 9.12.Dan 9:12excitavit or ſurgere fecit, Calvin; he has cauſed his word to ariſe: ſo when it is not performed, it is truly ſaid to fall. David ſays, Thou haſt ſpoken of my houſe a great while to come. All the great promiſes that God made to David are of things to come, and therefore David ſays,2 Sam. 7.19.2 Sam 7:19 Surely goodneſs and mercy ſhall follow me all the days of my life. As it was the happineſs of the people of Iſrael, that they had in the Wilderneſs a Rock that followed them, not only for a preſent ſupply, but for a future proviſion;1 Cor. 10.1 Cor 10 ſo are the promiſes alſo unto the Saints in mercy received, they have the glory of the Lord going before them, and his promiſes to follow them; they have the glory to be their rereward; they are compaſſed about with mercy on every ſide; they have goodneſs that goes before them in performance, and mercy that follows them in promiſes, as the rereward; that as a wicked man …gh there be evils tnreatned fall upon him here, yet they are but the firſt-fruits, … …cium Divini judicii, the prejudgment of Divine Judgment, but the main of the evil thin… …e threatning is to come; ſo though godly men have much good that they receive a… …ſent, yet the main of it in the promiſe is yet to come.

3. Unto the performance of theſe, though they be made freely, yet the Lord does ingage his faithfulneſs by virtue of the Covenant. If we look upon the promiſes in fieri, in making, ſo we muſt look upon his free grace only; but if we look on them in facto eſſe, as made, ſo we muſt have an eye unto his faithfulneſs; his love and mercy is the only reaſon of making promiſes, but his faithfulneſs and truth is the ground of keeping and performing promiſes: as it's ſpoken of his promiſe made to David and his houſe, for thy words ſake according to thy own heart haſt thou done theſe great things, that is, of thy own free grace and unexpected Love; becauſe thou wouldſt have mercy: and yet it is Mercy to Abraham, but it is Truth to Jacob, &c.Mic. 7. v. ult.Mic 7 and therefore Auſtin calls the promiſe Chirographum Dei, Gods Bond; it is the bond or hand-writing that God has given the creature to aſſure him of Heaven; ſo that as the Apoſtle calls the Law Chirographum contra nos, Col. 2.Col 2a bond againſt us, ſo are the promiſes the bond that is for us, becauſe they do ſpeak God to be with us.

4. All this is through Chriſt, both making and performing, 2 Cor. 1.20. ſo it is in him that the promiſes are Yea and Amen: as all the precepts of the Law, though given to us, yet they are principally required of Chriſt as our ſurety, and the tranſgreſſions of them are laid upon him; ſo all the promiſes of the Goſpel, though they be made unto the Saints, yet they be primarily made unto Chriſt as our head, and repreſentative; for as we have heard, he is the ſeed with whom the covenant is made, and he is given unto us as a covenant: ſo he is primarily the Heir of promiſe: and as in reſpect of poſſeſſion,Eſa. 49.8.Isa 49:8 we enter into his inheritance called our maſters joy, ſo in reſpect of the promiſe and reverſion, we come under his covenant, and ſo partake of his inheritance, and have no further any promiſe made to us, than as we are one with Chriſt, and no promiſe is performed to us but by virtue of union with him; and therefore it's Chriſtus in aggregato, Chriſt myſtical, that is the proper ſubject of all the promiſes; and their accompliſhment is to himſelf, as the head, and to the Saints, as the body.

§. 2. Why doth Gods part of the Covenant in this life mainly conſiſt in promiſes? It's true that theſe promiſes ſhall end in performances, and Heaven is the accompliſhment of all the promiſes; it is a promiſed, as well as a purchaſed poſſeſſion, when the Saints are all gathered p. 244home, all the promiſes ſhall be at an end; and therefore in that reſpect faith ſhall ceaſe; for the object of it ſhall be taken away, and therefore the acts of it muſt needs come to an end: though it's true, that the habit of faith, as well as all other graces, being a part of the image of God, and the new creation of Chriſt, is of an eternal nature; but yet the Lord does mainly dwell with his people in a way of promiſe, and the covenant on his part doth run in promiſes.

1 Cor. 2.5, 7.1 Cor 2:51 Cor 2:71. The life that the Saints live in this world, muſt be a life of faith, and not by ſight; there is another life (though we live by faith and not by ſight here) that in glory is reſerved for us, and another manner of living, and the main objects of faith are the promiſes, Rom. foreign.4.19, 21. He ſtaggered not through unbelief. He did not reaſon pro and con about it, becauſe faithful is he that has promiſed, and he will alſo do it, he is able to perform. It's true, there is a faith that reſts upon the whole Word of God as true and good, and ſo the ſoul receives it; but yet the object of faith by which the ſoul reſts on God is mainly the promiſe: ſo that as obedience is the Law written in the heart, ſo alſo the object of faith is the promiſe written in the heart: the Lord lets in the promiſe, and the ſoul reſts thereupon; and if the Lord had not dealt ſo in a way of promiſes, our life could never have been a life of faith.

2. They are the great grounds of our hope, and thereby the Lord will ſweeten our obedience: he doth not give forth a bare command as an act of Soveraignty, but he adds thereunto a promiſe as an act of Grace; Heb. 6.18. The Lord willing to ſhew the heirs of promiſe the immutability of his counſel, confirmed it by an oath, that we might have ſtrong conſolation, who are fled for refuge to the hope ſet before them, which hope we have as an anchor to the ſoul. And the Anchor is caſt under water, and takes hold of ſomething that is not ſeen as yet; for if I ſee it, why do I yet hope for it? Now though it's true, a godly man ſhould not yield obedience meerly for reward, yet a man may have reſpect to the recompence of reward; and though it is true that this ſhould not be the great thing that ſhould launch them forth in duties of holineſs, yet this is a good wind to fill the ſails, the Lord letting him ſee, that there is an inſeparable communion of Gods glory and our good alſo, duty and mercy … hand in hand; and that the Lord requires no duty, but it is for our good always, t… he may perform unto us the promiſe that is annexed thereunto. There is an amor merc… … love of reward that is not mercenary; Heb. 12.1.Heb 12:1Chriſt had the joy ſet before him, that did ſweete … ſufferings, he had a glory and a poſterity promiſed him; and Moſes had reſpect alſo to the recompence of the reward. Heb. 11.25.Heb 11:25And the Apoſtle ſaith, 2 Cor. 4.18. While we look at the things that are not ſeen, that is the ſcope and the main aim of the ſoul in all our obedience, active or paſſive, and by this the Lord doth delight to ſweeten our way.

3. The promiſes are the great means of the ſouls purification, 2 Cor. 7.1. Let us purge our ſelves having theſe promiſes, and perfect holineſs. And by theſe great and precious promiſes we are made partakers of the Divine nature. The promiſes are the Treaſury of all that grace that God doth intend to beſtow upon his people, and from thence do the Saints fetch it;Iſa. 12.3.Isa 12:3 for they are the wells of ſalvation, and it is by this that the ſoul is fitted for the performance: there is a being made meet, and 'tis the promiſe that made them ſo, as a mans beholding of God in himſelf doth transform him perfectly into the image of God,Col. 1.12.Col 1:12 2 Cor. 3.18. ſo beholding God in the promiſe does transform a man by degrees into the image of that holineſs that is in the promiſe. A man looking upon himſelf ſees his heart as a barren wilderneſs, as empty of grace as the firſt Chaos was of form and beauty: Now he ſays, what is impoſſible with man is poſſible with God, and the ſoul ſucks a promiſe, and is thereby changed into the image thereof.

4. That they may be the rule of the prayers of the Saints; for his will muſt be the rule of our prayers, as well as of all other acts of our obedience, the precepts of the one, and the promiſes of the other: we muſt ask according to his will, if we hope to ſpeed; and therefore our prayers ſhould be nothing elſe but preſſing God with his promiſes; and thereby we put his bonds in ſuit before the Throne of his own grace; ſo doth Jacob, Lord this is that which thou haſt ſaid, Return into thy own country, and I will do thee good: and ſo doth Nehemiah, Neh. 1.8.Neh 1:8This is that thou haſt promiſed unto thy ſervant Moſes. A ſoul that can bring unto God his own promiſe, and can plead it before God, has a certain argument, that it ſhall be fulfilled. It's the great ground of the prayer of Chriſt, and of his Angels and Saints in Heaven, for the Angels do pray, and ſo do the Saints in Heaven, the ſouls under the Altar cry,Dan. 4.16, 17. Zac. 1.Dan 4:16Dan 4:17 How long Lord? Rev. 6. and they have no ground to offer a prayer to God, but meerly the promiſe of God, and therefore all their prayers are prayers of faith to this day.

§. 3. The promiſes of God in Scripture are of two ſorts, ſome are abſolute, ſome conditional, and the grounds of theſe diſtinctions of promiſes are theſe. 1. There is a twofold p. 245love of God unto the creature, (1) antecedent Love, that is ſet upon the creature, for love ſake and out of his own free choice and election;Rom. 9.18.Rom 9:18 he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy; and upon this are grounded all abſolute promiſes: (2) there is a conſequent Love, as the Lord delights to crown the acts of his own Love in the creature, having wrought his own image he doth love it, and delight in it, more than in all the reſt of the works of his hands, and this is the ground of all conditional promiſes.

2. Abſolute Promiſes are not formally made unto us, though they be fulfilled in us, but unto Chriſt; for no promiſe can belong unto him that is not an heir of promiſe; and though a man be ſo in the Election of God, yet he is not actually ſo till he be united unto Chriſt; and therefore it is unto him that all the abſolute promiſes do belong. If we look upon man in a ſtate of Nature, ſo there are abſolute promiſes of grace for a mans converſion; but look upon a man in a ſtate of Grace, and ſo there are conditional promiſes that do belong unto him for his conſolation and ſalvation.

3. In abſolute promiſes the creature is meerly paſſive, and there is no prerequired condition in the creature for the accompliſhment of it; it's perfectly an act of Gods grace to the creature to promiſe him to be his God, to pardon his ſin, and take away his heart of ſtone; there is no concurrence of the endeavour of the creature in it; for all the works of God in this k…l are a new creation: but in conditional promiſes there is a condition prerequired in the creature, and there is an actual concurrence of the creature to their performance, without which God will never perform the condition; he that converts thee without thee, will not ſave thee without thee; we muſt be built as living ſtones in the Church of God.

4. There is a double ſtate of Faith, a ſtate of Recumbency or Affiance, and a ſtate of Aſſurance; and the promiſes of the Goſpel are ſuited unto both theſe ſtates. A man that can ſee no grace in his own ſoul, he comes to the promiſe for grace, and reſolves to caſt himſelf upon it, he does …e to Chriſt that he may have life, and caſts himſelf upon the promiſe, that his ſins may be pardoned: and the truth is, in this doth properly the application of faith in a mans firſt converſion lye, in leaving a mans ſoul with the promiſe, that he may receive grace and pardon; not in believing that Chriſt is mine, but in relying upon him, and giving up my ſelf to him. There is a kind of perſonal Application, and that is direct; and there is an axiomatical Application of faith, when the ſoul being in Chriſt, and having received grace, is able to ſee and to conclude its own intereſt. Unto faith of Recumbence the abſolute promiſes do fitly ſuit. But there is a ſtate of Aſſurance, when the ſoul looks into his own heart, and finds the image of Chriſt written there, and ſees promiſes made to a broken and a believing heart, one poor in ſpirit, and he finds the condition in himſelf, and now all the conditional promiſes come in with comfort to him, who before could taſte no ſweetneſs in them, becauſe he could not find in himſelf the condition.

5. There are two ways of aſſurance anſwerable to the twofold witneſs of it: there is a witneſs in Heaven, and there is a witneſs alſo in the heart. (1) There is an immediate teſtimony; Rejoyce in this, that your names are written in heaven, ſaith our Lord: again the Lord ſays to a man, Be of good chear thy ſins are forgiven thee, and thou art greatly beloved. Such immediate teſtimonies there have been given to the Saints; and ſurely the bowels of the Lord are not ſtraitned.1 Joh. 5.7.1 John 5:7 Thus there is a teſtimony of the Spirit that is diſtinct from the witneſs of water and blood; the Spirit is the ſeal in both, but in the one he is the ſeal of his Office, and in the other the ſeal of his Officers; a particular ſeal and a privy ſignet: in the one he teſtifies the love of all the perſons, and there is teſtified that his own love and the love of God is ſhed abroad in the heart, there is illuminatio quaedam è montibus aeternis, an illumination from the eternal mountains, as Gerſon ſpeaks. (2) There is an Aſſurance that comes from the witneſs of a mans own graces, the Spirit of God witneſſing with our ſpirits. Now the firſt aſſurance is in an abſolute promiſe, I am thy God, thou art greatly beloved, thy ſins are forgiven thee: and the latter kind of aſſurance is in a conditional promiſe, the Lord diſcovering to a man the ſigns of grace in his own ſoul, and the glorious works of the Spirit of Chriſt upon his inward man, conforming him to the image of Chriſt.

6. The great difference between the firſt and ſecond Covenant lay in this: the promiſes of the firſt Covenant were all of them conditional, being given unto grace received, and did ſuppoſe grace in the perſon to whom they were made; but there were no abſolute promiſes to give grace: that Covenant did ſuppoſe grace, but it did not give grace. But under the Goſpel, as there are promiſes of reward of grace received, ſo there are promiſes of giving grace, where there is no grace; and herein lies the great glory of the promiſes of the new Covenant, and the grace of them, it gives grace, and then it crowns grace; and therefore they are ſaid to be better promiſes.

p. 2467. Abſolute promiſes have their degrees of accompliſhment as well as conditional; though a man has a right to them all at once, yet the Lord doth perform them by degrees to us; there is no promiſe that is fully and perfectly accompliſhed till we come to Heaven; our juſtification is not perfect till then; our iniquities are then perfectly blotted out, when the time of refreſhment ſhall come; then a man ſhall be perfectly acquitted from all ſin for ever, and have an abſolute ſentence paſt upon him by God, and in his own ſoul for ever. As the Lord did give his Son by degrees, and yet there is a further giving of him, when he that is gone before ſhall come again, and fetch you; alſo there are degrees of giving of the Spirit, and there is yet a further degree to come, when the weak ſhall be as David; ſo the Lord will be your God hereafter more eminently than he has been, in giving you not only grace, but glory. Now as the Lord doth take up and poſſeſs the ſoul to himſelf as his habitation, ſo he does more and more become a God to that ſoul, who is never perfected till he come to glory, till he enjoy him as he is.

Ʋſe 1 §. 4. 1. Look on the promiſes therefore as precious, and ſtore thy ſoul with them; for they are all that you have to ſhew for an intereſt in God in this life; that by which you hold your inheritance, all is in promiſes: the richeſt adornment and furniture that the ſoul can have in this life, is grace and promiſes; and therefore have thy inward man filled with them.

Ʋſe 2 2. Upon all occaſions ſtay thy ſinking ſoul upon a promiſe, for it's as firm as the faithfulneſs of God, and it's grounded thereupon. If there be any truth in the Covenant of Grace, it lies in the promiſes of it on Gods part, and we ſhould obſerve the performance of promiſes as we do of prophecies:Pſal. 144.Ps 144 as Auſtin ſays, Ingrate, Legis debitum cernis redditum, & non credis promiſſum, Ʋngrateful wretch, thou ſeeſt the debt of the Law paid, and yet believeſt not the promiſe.

Ʋſe 3 3. Look unto all the promiſes for their accompliſhment. The heirs of a promiſe have a great happineſs that they have ſuch an inheritance; It's …er be as low as Hell with a promiſe, Ego quidem ſine Verbo ne in Paradiſo optarim vivere, at cum Verbo etiam in inferno vivere ſacile eſt. Luth.than with Adam in Paradiſe without it: For it's in the promiſes of the new Covenant in which the glory and the ſtability of the Covenant lies; but if they be ſo ſweet and precious in the contemplation, and in the working of faith upon them while they are in hope only, what muſt they needs be in the fruition? The Wiſe man ſays, The deſire accompiſhed is ſweet unto the ſoul, there is an unexpreſſible ſweetneſs in it, when the deſire comes it's a tree of life: it is foreign vitarum, of lives, there are all lives in it, and it ſets a man as it were in Paradiſe again. And this is one thing that will make Heaven the ſweeter, becauſe it is a perfect accompliſhing of all thoſe promiſes with which the ſoul was feaſted and entertained here with the hopes of in its pilgrimage:foreign. Chryſoſtom. for Chriſt will be the ſweeter when we come to Heaven, becauſe having not ſeen him, yet we loved him here; and we ſhall find him to be the ſame Chriſt in all things that before we heard him to be in the Goſpel. And ſo the ſociety of the Saints, Abraham, Iſaac, and Jacob, and all the reſt of the Saints in Heaven, ſo much the more precious will they be, by how much our hearts have been taken with any of them while they lived here: and for this cauſe the promiſes may well be called precious,2 Pet. 1.4.2 Pet 1:4 2 Pet. 1.4. the word is foreign, and ſignifies either precious or honourable, to him that believes he is precious, 1 Pet. 2.1 Pet 2or an honour; (1) as they are the price of his blood, who was the Saviour of the World; (2) as they are the evidences of our inheritance, and all we have to ſhew for Heaven; (3) as they are inſtruments of purification and ſanctification.2 Cor. 7.1. 2 Pet. 1.4.2 Cor 7:12 Pet 1:4 But (4) they are ſpecially precious in this, [1] that they are Gods part of the Covenant; [2] this has been the happineſs of the Saints, and the contrary is noted as an imperfection in their condition here, Heb. 11.13. Theſe all dyed in faith, not having received the promiſes: it's ſpoken of the ancient Saints, of whom it's ſaid ſome of them attained promiſes, and others of them received them not, but only ſaw them afar off, and ſaluted them, &c. and to attain promiſes is reckoned with ſtopping the mouths of lions, and quenching the violence of fire: and hereby there is more of God made known, Exod. 6.3. By the name of Jehovah I was not known to them. It's ſpoken in reference unto the accompliſhment of the promiſes, and their attaining of them, there is ſomething further that God diſcovered, and his name Jehovah further manifeſted to the Saints: [3] ſpecially in our times upon whom the ends (or as ſome render it) the perfections of the world are come: for as the great harveſt of the Church ſhall be in the latter days of the world, ſo there ſhall be the great harveſt both of prophecies and promiſes: for the ancient Prophets did ſpeak of good things to come, but it was manifeſted unto them that they did not adminiſter for themſelves, but for us, 1 Pet. 1.12. they ſhould be gathered to their Fathers, and never live to ſee the good things that the Lord would do, but ſhould dye in the Wilderneſs, as many of the ancient Saints of Iſrael did, and never inherit the promiſed Land; for all the things that the Lord hath ſpoken ſhall have their accompliſhment at the ſound p. 247of the ſeventh Trumpet ſhall the Myſtery of God be finiſhed.Rev. 10.7.Rev 10:7 They are glorious things that the Lord has ſpoken of the latter days of the world, and it's a great unworthineſs and lowneſs of ſpirit in Saints, that they ſhould be content and ſit down ſatisfied whilſt they go without any part of their inheritance, and that they ſhould think much of any thing they have attained, ſi dicas ſufficit, &c. It's true, that we are leſs than the leaſt of all his mercies, and we ſhould think every one of them great to expreſs our thankfulneſs, but we ſhould not think any of them great to nouriſh our ſlothfulneſs. He that has an intereſt in the great God, muſt ſtrive to have his heart formed into a holy greatneſs of mind: there is a lowneſs of ſpirit that does no ways become men that have high hopes and high expectations, to be content to go without any thing that God has promiſed: he has promiſed not only truth of grace, but growth, as the willows by the water-courſes, ſtrength of grace, ſtrengthned with all might according to his glorious power, comfort of grace, as the Apoſtle has it, to be filled with a ſpirit of conſolation, and to walk in the aſſurance of his love, and yet with all this he is never ſatisfied. There is a further promiſe, and that is an inheritance with the Saints in light; and therefore he can never reſt ſatiſfied till he come there, he forgets that which is behind, and does reach forward to that which is before, Phil. 3.12.

Queſt. But how ſhould we do to attain promiſes?

1. Be ſenſible of your want of them: we ſhould look over all the Paradiſe of the promiſes, and know that there is not a tree nor a fruit in it, but it's good for food, the fruit is for meat, and the leaves for medicine. See how far thou doſt come ſhort; look upon duty in the latitude and extent of it, for obedience muſt be univerſal; ſo you muſt do upon the promiſes, that your faith may be univerſal alſo. There ſhould be always in our eyes a ſight of ſomething before, unto which we ſhould reach out our ſelves, Phil. 3.12. God doth never accompliſh promiſes, but he doth uſe to make men ſee their need of them beforehand; they ſay, Lord, increaſe our faith, and Chriſt ſhews them the excellency of faith,Luk. 17.5.Luke 17:5 and their neceſſity thereof, that by this means raiſing their apprehenſions of it, and ſhewing to them their neceſſity of it; they might be prepared to receive it, as the Lord was ready to beſtow it: we go without many promiſes, becauſe we ſee no neceſſity of them, and therefore our ſouls ſit down quietly without them.

2. Get a ſtrong faith; for it was by faith that they did attain the promiſes, Heb. 11.33. and it muſt be ſuch a faith as muſt ſtay the heart, and fix the eye upon the promiſe, and thereby ſupport it under all the ſeeming oppoſitions and improbabilities or impoſſibilities unto an eye of reaſon, or an arm of fleſh: it muſt cauſe a man to cloſe his eyes againſt them all, in the matter of juſtification: there is in faith an excluſive reſolution againſt all other ways and means of righteouſneſs whatſoever; ſo there is in this alſo againſt all things that from ſenſe and reaſon may be offered or pretended to the ſoul, to weaken the power of the promiſe of God therein.Rom. 4.19, 20.Rom 4:19Rom 4:20 In Abraham there was enough that he might have taken in to have diſcouraged him, but yet foreign, he did not admit a diſpute, he did not take in a conſultation of fleſh and blood: when men have ſo conſulted fleſh and blood, their faith has failed them. God had promiſed his people a deliverance, but they ſay our bones are dry, and our hope is paſt,Ezech. 37.11.12.Ezek 37:11Ezek 37:12 we have no more reaſon to expect the accompliſhment of ſuch a promiſe, than that we ſhould ſee dry bones revive and ariſe out of their graves. And the people of God have had their hearts always to fail them, when they have looked off from the promiſe; as Peter when the wind aroſe, and he begins to ſink, he crys out, Lord ſave me; and Martha ſaith, By this time he ſtinketh; and the Iſraelites ſay, The ſons of Anak are there, &c. As whenſoever the people of God begin to turn away their eyes from the holy commandment, then their hearts fail them in point of duty; ſo it is when they look off from the holy promiſe, then their heart fails them in matter of faith, and they caſt away their confidence; for every promiſe carries with it an obligation laid upon the power of God to accompliſh it: our faith gives us a title to the promiſe, and the promiſe binds the omnipotence of God for its accompliſhment; and therefore it's ſaid, They ſtopped the mouths of lyons, and quencht the violence of the fire, Heb. 11.13.Heb 11:13and raiſed the dead to life. By acts of Gods omnipotence all this was done, yet they are attributed unto their faith, as the fruit of it, by which the omnipotence of God is ingaged in the work. Therefore it was a brave ſpirit in Luther, fit for him that ſhall attain the promiſes, that when they ſought his life by all means that might be at home and abroad, and at laſt raiſed a war againſt him, that ſmall Chaldean war, yet he wrote upon the walls of his Study that ſpeech of David, I ſhall not dye but live, and declare the works of the Lord.Pſal. 118.Ps 118

3. Be much in prayer, for the promiſe is a kind of a debt, and therefore it's ſaid when God doth perform any promiſe, reddit debita nulli debens, &c. and it's prayer that puts this bond in ſuit before the Throne of Grace.Jer. 29.10, 12.Jer 29:10Jer 29:12 After ſeventy years are accompliſhed in p. 248Babylon, I will viſit you, and perform my good word towards you, in cauſing you to return unto this place; then ſhall you call upon me, and pray to me, and I will hear you: and this was the very courſe that Daniel took;Dan. 9.1, 2.Dan 9:1Dan 9:2 for we can expect nothing from God in mercy that we do not obtain by prayer; he leads his people into their own land by ſupplications. In the conſolations that we receive from God, he ſpeaks to our hearts, and in the ſupplications that we put up unto God, we ſpeak unto his heart: and the grounds are theſe, why God will have all promiſes to be nothing elſe but the returns of prayer.

1. That hereby we may teſtifie that it's the will of God that we eye in the mercy, and not our own will; for it's whatſoever we ask according to his will he hears us. There is a natural and a carnal deſire of mercies, when it's a mans own will that puts him upon it: and there is a ſpiritual and holy deſire of mercies, and that is when a man has an eye unto Gods will in the promiſe to beſtow them, as well as to his own neceſſity that requires them.foreign. Hence there is a double importunity in prayer, as Luk 11.8. a holy kind of impudency that they will in no wiſe be put off, there's a being ſtirred up by the apprehenſion of neceſſity,Hoſ. 7.14.Hos 7:14 and a deſire of the fleſh to attain the thing, and ſo men howl for corn, wine, and oyl, but they are but the crys of beaſts, and not of Saints, and ſo men ask amiſs, and attain not, as it is in Jam. 1.5. But there is an importunity that is grounded upon the will of God and upon the promiſe, and the ſoul earneſtly deſires it, becauſe he ſees it's agreeable unto the will of God that has promiſed it, it's not the love of the thing that is ſo much the ground of his importunity, as ſeeing the will of God in the promiſe, and for this cauſe the Lord will make the accompliſhment of all promiſes to be the only returns of prayers.

2. That hereby we may know, that his mercy is free in beſtowing of it; and that though God has promiſed it in a way of mercy, yet there is no way for us to attain it but in a way of duty, to perform the promiſe is Gods part, and to preſs God with his promiſe is our part. I will do it for you, ſays tne Lord, yet I will be inquired of by you, that I may do it for you; ask and you ſhall receive, knock and it ſhall be opened: and there is no way that ever any creature could attain any thing of God but this way. Upon this very ground Chriſt himſelf, if he will attain from God, he muſt ask; and ſo 'tis with the Angels, and ſo 'tis with the Saints in Heaven,Dan. 4.17.Dan 4:17 they cry, How long Lord? How much more is it to be with duſt and aſhes.

3. That the Lord may honour his own Ordinance, and teſtifie how much he doth delight in the worſhip of a creature, and that thereby he might make it a double mercy. For ungodly men to receive bleſſings as a fruit of Providence unto them, it comes always ſingle, that is, in the thing only; but unto a godly man, that has it as a fruit of the promiſe, it's always a double mercy, mercy in the thing, and mercy to the man, not only an accompliſhment of Gods promiſes, but the return of the mans prayers, the exerciſe of Gods faithfulneſs unto us, and of our graces towards God; and there are no mercies ſo ſweet as thoſe that come in with the exerciſe of grace in the attaining of them: Deum orationibus ambiamus, coelum tundimus, & miſericordiam extorquemus, as Tertullian ſays of the power of the Saints prayers, becauſe of his delight in the exerciſe of their graces. And there is no duty wherein the graces of the Saints do act with more life and power than they do in prayer: there is magna conjunctio, a great concurrence of grace in them, as we ſee it in Abraham in his prayer, what ſtrong acts of grace he puts forth, Gen. 18. The nearer the ſoul draws to God the fountain of its life, the more lively it works, and moves the ſwifter, the nearer the centre; and there is no duty in which the ſoul draws nearer to God, than it doth in prayer, and hath more immediate communion with him, than when he is upon his knees before the Throne of grace.

4. And laſtly, the way to attain promiſes is a patient waiting for them till the Lords time come; for it's true of promiſes as it is of prophecies, though the viſion be for an appointed time, Hab. 2.3. yet wait for it, for it will come and will not tarry. It's a ſpeech like unto that in Luk. 18.7, 8. though he bear long with them, yet he will avenge them ſpeedily: it may tarry long in reſpect of the time prefixed by us, and may ſeem long to us, but it ſhall not be long when the time comes that is appointed by God. The Lord commonly does in the anſwering of prayers, as he does in the fulfilling of Prophecies, it's a great while before the Prophecy ſeems to ſpeak, or to give any hope of its accompliſhment, as it was in the deliverance out of Egypt and Babylon; but yet when once it begins but to dawn its day, immediately, in a manner, it ſtrangely and ſuddenly breaks forth, that the Saints of God can ſcarce believe their own eyes, they are like unto them that dream. And ſo it is in the return of their prayers alſo, as in the calling of the Jews, they are as dry bones, and they are ſcattered here and there all the world over; but the bones ſhall come together, and it ſhall be ſo ſuddenly done, that the Lord ſaith, A Nation p. 249ſhall be born at once, and before Sion travelled ſhe brought forth; and ſo it is in the anſwer of Prayers, as it was with Elijah, he prayed ſeven times, and his ſervant looked and there was nothing, and yet he continued praying, at laſt there appeared a Cloud like unto a mans hand, and by and by the Heavens were covered over with Clouds, and then the rain fell: when it begins once to appear that the Clouds do break away a little, the Lord doth ſtrangely haſten the work, and there is a glorious concurrence and falling in of all cauſes to its accompliſhment; there is a time of the Promiſe's accompliſhment,Acts 7.1….Acts 7:1 and a great part of the Mercy is in the ſeaſon of it: the Lord doth not delay becauſe he is unwilling to beſtow it, or becauſe the Mercy comes hardly off, for he knows, that to our haſty Nature, bis dat qui citò; but the Lord doth defer it, that he may improve the Mercy by the ſeaſon of it, for Gods time is beſt, and not ours; my time is not yet come, though your time be alwayes ready, all Chriſts Miracles were ſo much the more glorious, by the ſeaſons of their putting forth, and ſo are Gods Mercies alſo the more magnified in coming to us in the fitteſt time; he does wait to be gracious, that is, that he may beſtow the Mercy when we are fitteſt to receive it, and our hearts are beſt prepared for it: As in judgement to a wicked man the Lord does watch over him for evil, and he ſhall be enſnared in an evil time, as a Bird in an evil ſnare, judgement ſhall come upon him when he leaſt expects it, and is leaſt prepared for it; he ſhall be cut off as the foam upon the waters,Hoſ. 10.7.Hos 10:7 ſicut aquae ſuperiores ferventis ollae, Jerome; for the word ſpuma doth ſignifie a bubble that does ariſe from heat, &c. when they are ſwelled up and hold up their heads on high, and be lifted up above the reſt of the waters, then they ſhall ſuddenly be cut off: As (I ſay) there is a time for judgment, that Juſtice doth watch over men for evil; ſo there is alſo a time for Mercy, that Grace does watch over men for good; there is a time for the Promiſe to bring forth, as well as the threatning, and therefore it's ſaid, That by Faith and Patience the Saints have inherited the Promiſes, and there is as well a Patience in waiting, as in Suffering;Zeph. 2.1, 2.Zeph 2:1Zeph 2:2 let Patience have its perfect work in you in this reſpect alſo, that you may be intire and perfect wanting nothing.Hebr. 10.36.Heb 10:36 But the Soul will be ready to ſay, I could be willing to wait Gods time, if I could be ſure to attain the Promiſe at the laſt; but what grounds are there to ſupport and underprop my heart that I ſhall receive the Promiſe, and not miſs of it in the end? Now the grounds to aſſure the Soul thereof are theſe:

1. The faithfulneſs of God: the Promiſes are therefore confirmed by an Oath, Heb. 6.17. that by two immutable things, wherein it's impoſſible for God to lye, we might have ſtrong Conſolation, Quid eſt Dei juratio, niſi promiſſi confirmatio, Aust.& infidelium quaedam increpatio? An Oath amongſt Men puts an end to Controverſie, much more ſhould the Oath of God put an end to all Controverſie and Diſputes in the Soul; and it's a ſtrange expreſſion that of the Apoſtle, Hebr. 6.13. becauſe he could ſwear by no greater, he ſware by himſelf; to ſhow how willing the Lord is to give an aſſurance unto the Heirs of Promiſe, that if there had been a greater, or any thing that could have given them more aſſurance, they ſhould have been ſure of it; but becauſe there was none greater, therefore he did ſwear by Himſelf; Nos miſeros qui nec juranti Deo credimus.

2. The Covenant made with Chriſt was confirmed by an Oath, and upon that the aſſurance of it is mainly put, for upon him the Promiſes do mainly depend; all the Promiſes are in him Yea, and Amen, and upon that it's put, Tit. 1.2. the promiſe of Eternal Life,2 Cor. 1.20.2 Cor 1:20 which God that cannot lie has promiſed before the world began: To whom was this Promiſe made before the world began? a purpoſe might be in his own breaſt, but a promiſe muſt be to another; and God cannot lye unto Chriſt, he will not ſurely deceive him; the Son has been faithful to him in all the parts of the Covenant, and therefore ſurely the Lord will be faithful unto Chriſt. The Covenanr is confirmed by a double Oath, one to us,Hebr. 6.17. Pſal. 110.4.Heb 6:17Ps 110:4 and the other to Chriſt; the Lord has ſworn and he will not repent: He was not made a Prieſt without an Oath, therefore the New Covenant is call'd the Word of the Oath, Heb. 7.28.foreign. and the Promiſes are primarily made to Chriſt, and are his inheritance, and ſecondarily ours, only by vertue of our Union with him.

3. The Interceſſion of Chriſt; Chriſt in Heaven ſtands beſides the Golden Altar,Revel. 8.3, 4.Rev 8:3Rev 8:4 he is gone to Heaven to make interceſſion, and what is the ſubject of the interceſſion of Chriſt in Glory? it's only the promiſes of the Covenant that yet remain unfulfilled, and it's theſe that he doth plead before the Throne of Grace, and the Lord Chriſt has a promiſe to be heard, Pſal. 2.8. Ask of me and I'le give thee the Heathen for an inheritance: and he prays with aſſurance of audience, John 11.42. I know that thou heareſt me always. When Chriſt was upon Earth, before our foreign was paid, the Lord did truſt Chriſt upon his bare word, yet then he did accompliſh many promiſes unto him at his requeſt; for Chriſts interceſſion begun from the Beginning, ever ſince the Fall, when his Prieſt-hood did firſt begin, for he was a Lamb ſlain from the foundation of the world;Revel. 13.8.Rev 13:8 how much more ſhall we be p. 250ſaved by his life? how much more will the Lord accompliſh it on his part? now all that is due on Chriſts part is fulfilled, now he is gone to Heaven, and ſits down at the right hand of God, and does only expect the accompliſhment of thoſe things which are the price of his own blood: we know that blood has a crying nature; and if it did cry ſo loud when it was but in the promiſe, much more will it do now it is blood ſhed, and ſet as a ſeal to the promiſe.

4. The experiences of all the Saints and thy own experiments: the Saints all of them have known the Lord by his name Jehovah, they all of them have by faith and patience inherited the promiſes; but in a ſpecial manner a mans own experience, from which he may argue, God that delivered me from out of the mouth of the Lyon and the Bear, will alſo deliver me from this Goliah, 2. Tim. 4.17.2 Tim 4:17&c. and God has delivered me, and he will deliver me from every evil work. A man ſhould treaſure up every experiment as an aſſurance of the ſame faithfulneſs in the ſame extremity, and thereby ſet to his ſeal that God is true. A great part of the Communion of Saints ſhould be in this, in imparting their experiments one to another, and thereby honour the faithfulneſs of God: and as it is our duty here on earth, and our comfort, ſo it ſhall be a great part of a mans happineſs in Heaven, when a man ſhall tell ſtories of Gods mercies and faithfulneſs unto all Eternity.

But ſays the Soul, I may ſtay long for this promiſe to be accompliſhed; for God has ſet no time in his Word when it ſhall be, and therefore the Saints have waited till their eyes have failed,foreign. Heb. 10.37.Heb 10:37 till the promiſe have come to the birth: the Apoſtle ſays it's not long, 'tis but a little while. Oh therefore ſet faith on work, and that looks as God looks, to whom a thouſand years are as but one day; that which ſeems long to ſenſe, is but ſhort unto faith: conſider much the waiting and all the long-ſuffering of God for thee, before thou didſt take hold of his grace in Chriſt Jeſus, and ſhall not we wait upon a great God that could have been, and was happy without us, and needed none of our ſervices, we that are but as a worm, and unprofitable to him in whatever we can do?

But there are three things that a Soul may know by, that the accompliſhment of the promiſe is at hand.

1. When the extremity increaſes, for the time of the promiſe is near, when the tasks are doubled, for his name will always be known to be a God ſeen in the Mount: when all is deſperate, and you know not what to do, then look for God to come in to your help.

2. When God does raiſe up in the ſoul an earneſt expectation of the mercy, and a man begins to ſet himſelf to ſeek the Lord with more earneſtneſs for it, then it's a ſign it is near at hand. When Chriſt was to come in the fleſh, there were thoſe that waited for the conſolation of Iſrael, and had ſpecial expectations raiſed up in them for his coming. And ſo it was with Daniel, Dan. 9.1.Dan 9:1when he underſtood by books the time of Jeruſalems Captivity drew to an end, then he ſets himſelf to prayer: for thoſe expectations and enlargements of the heart are from God, and ſhall be anſwered.

3. When in the middle of all a mans ſeeking, his heart is brought into a quiet and an humble frame, and he is contented to ſubmit to the will of God, when a mans heart is brought to a holy indifference, to be contented with God alone; as David was never nearer the Kingdom,Bernard. than when his heart was as a weaned child, Vis me conſtituere ovium paſtorem, aut regem populorum, ecce paratum eſt cor meum. When the ſoul is in ſuch a frame, he may expect the promiſe ſhall not be long delayed to him.

SECT. II. The perſonal Promiſes of the Covenant, and of the three Perſons in the Trinity.

Doctrine. §. 1. THE great promiſes of the Covenant on Gods part are perſonal promiſes: I will be thy God. There is objectum fidei duplex, a twofold object of faith, Perſons and Things; and anſwerable to theſe the promiſes are perſonal and real, &c. We have ſeen that the Covenant on Gods part does conſiſt in promiſes; and that theſe promiſes are either abſolute or conditional, either performed by God without any required condition in us, not only citra meritum, ſed & conditionem, not only without merit, but alſo condition: or elſe performed by God upon a certain condition wrought in us, as a preparation or a qualification of the ſubject to receive the promiſes. And we find in the next place that theſe abſolute promiſes are of two ſorts, anſwerable unto a twofold object of faith, that the Scripture doth hold forth: they are either perſonal or real, either promiſes of perſons or p. 251of things. [1] Promiſes of things that are abſolute and real; and of theſe are chiefly four. (1) Ezech. 36.26. I will take away the heart of ſtone, and I will give you a heart of fleſh. (2) Jer. 31.33. I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts. And theſe two are promiſes of converſion and of the power of God in Chriſt put forth upon the Elect of God. (3) Eſa. 43.25. I, even I am he that blotteth out thy tranſgreſſions for my own ſake, and will not remember thy ſins. And unto this belong many other promiſes of remiſſion. (4) There are alſo promiſes of perſeverance, Jer. 32.40. I will make an everlaſting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they ſhall not depart from me. [2] There are alſo perſonal Promiſes, and theſe are the great and leading promiſes of the ſecond Covenant. Here I will ſhew you, (1) that there are ſuch promiſes, and (2) ſhew you the nature of them, (3) the grounds of it, why the ſecond Covenant muſt have ſuch promiſes as theſe, (4) wherein the excellency of theſe promiſes doth conſiſt.

1. That there are ſome perſonal Promiſes in which all the three perſons in the Godhead are made over unto the ſoul. The firſt great promiſe was, Gen. 3.15. perſonal, it was of the ſeed of the woman, that the Lord would give Jeſus Chriſt his Son to be born of a woman, and to take mans nature, and pitch his Tent with us, that he ſhould take not the nature of Angels, but the ſeed of Abraham, &c. and ſo Eſa. 9.6. To us a Son is given. And when the Lord came to renew the Covenant with Abraham, it is, That he will be a God unto him, and to his ſeed after him: and that is common in Scripture for God to ſay,Jer. 31.33.Jer 31:33 I will be their God, and they ſhall be my people. And there is a further diſcovery of the promiſe in Eſa. 44.3. I will pour my Spirit upon thy ſeed, and my bleſſing upon thy off-ſpring. And ſo Joel 2.28. I will pour out of my Spirit upon all fleſh. So that theſe three are the great perſonal Promiſes of the Goſpel, and in theſe doth the main grace of the new Covenant lye.

2. As for the nature of perſonal Promiſes, they do import a gracious propriety in the perſons, which God doth by Covenant make over unto the creature. The end of promiſes is to give a propriety; and we know that a propriety amongſt the creatures is nothing elſe but jus ad rem, when a man doth claim ſuch a thing as his own, and has a power to uſe it, and diſpoſe of it in a lawful way for his own benefit and advantage, as it ſeemeth good to him: ſo that propriety as it were puts the thing into the mans hand to do with it what he pleaſeth, to make improvement and advantage of it, that it may be for his own accommodation, he may do what he liſt with his own, &c. As if a man hath a propriety in Lands or Houſes, he may either ſell, or let, or give, or leave, or live upon them as he pleaſeth. Now as there is a real propriety that reſpects things, ſo there is a perſonal propriety that reſpects perſons, which is grounded either in natural or voluntary relations; as a Father has a propriety in his Son, and the Son in the Father, and the Husband in the Wife, and the Wife in the Husband, the Prince in the People, and the People in their Prince: and the intent of perſonal propriety is the ſame in its kind with that which is real, that every perſon that has ſuch a propriety in another, ſhould enjoy all benefits and advantages, as they could in a way of equity expect or deſire to do: as the husband that hath a propriety in the wife, if there were no ſinful defects in the perſons that are ſo appropriated, ſhould receive from her all manner of help and aſſiſtance, as if he himſelf were the wife; and his wife receive from her husband all that kindneſs and ſupport, as if ſhe were the husband, and as if all were in her own power to uſe. And ſo it is in perſonal promiſes, the intent of them is to make over the perſons, that when the Lord ſays, I will be thy God, the meaning is, whatſoever is in me as a God, ſhall be truly thine, my infinite power, my infinite wiſdom, and grace and mercy, all ſhall be thine, that the ſoul may lawfully lay claim to it, and confidently expect it of him, and that as truly, as if the creature it ſelf had infinite power, and wiſdom, and mercy, and all in his own hands. So it is in giving the perſon of the Son, that we ſhould have a propriety and an intereſt in him as our Brother, our Husband, our Head; and whatever is in him, whether of grace or merit, ſhall be as truly ours, as it is his, and as truly laid out for us, as if we had it all inherent in our ſelves: And ſo it is in giving the Spirit, it is a propriety in the perſon: ſo that the Spirit for conviction, for converſion, for ſanctification, for renovation, for direction, and for conſolation, doth as truly improve theſe for us, as if they were our own, and as if they were inherent in us, or we could uſe and exerciſe them according to our own pleaſure: and they are theſe perſonal promiſes of the Covenant that do intitle the ſoul to ſuch an intereſt in the perſons.

3. The grounds of them, why muſt the ſecond Covenant have perſonal promiſes? The grounds of it are theſe.

1. Man in his Fall had wholly loſt God, and therefore he is ſaid Eph. 2. to be without God in the world, one that had no relation to him, one that had no intereſt in him. It's true, p. 252that Adam before his Fall had a natural propriety in God, both as his Creator, and as his Father,Luc. 3. ult.Luke 3 Adam was the Son of God; and ſo it's true of the Angels, they are called his Sons, becauſe they did bear his Image,Job 1.6.Job 1:6 which no other Creature did; but after his Fall all Right unto God was forfeited, and man could not look upon him in any relation, either as a Creature or as a Son, for now he is not the Creature that God made him, your ſpot is not the ſpot of his children, for you bear not his Image or Similitude. Now in the ſecond Covenant, the Soul has his relation unto God, and propriety in God that was his happineſs in his Creation; and if ever he be made happy again, his propriety unto God muſt be reſtored. Therefore that is the purpoſe and intendment in the Second Covenant, to reſtore that which is loſt by the breach of the firſt Covenant; and our great loſs by the Fall was the loſs of God, and a propriety in him; though we alſo loſt the Creatures, and forfeited our lives and ſouls, loſt our ſelves, yet our great loſs was the loſs of God; and if the Lord ſhould have reſtored unto Man the inheritance of the Creatures again, yet all this would never have repaired his loſs, unleſs he had found out a way for to make over himſelf again.

2. Without this the Creature could never be happy; for wherein doth happineſs conſiſt, but in theſe two things? There muſt be Proportion and Propriety; a good that muſt fill up all the deſires of the Soul, and a man muſt have an intereſt in it: Now if the Lord ſhould give a man all the Creatures, they are not a proportionable good, becauſe they are finite; and they are without Propriety in them, they are not foreign, a proper good; it will be therefore another mans, and may remain unto another. And though it is true, that God is a proportionable good, as he is alſo unto all, even the Devils, and damned Spirits, ſo as to make them happy, for he is an infinite good; yet they cannot be made happy by him, becauſe they have no propriety in him: theſe two muſt concur to the happineſs of the Creature. Now if when Man had fallen, God ſhould have reſtored him unto his Inheritance in the Creatures again, yet they could never have made him happy, becauſe they wanted theſe two ingredients; his happineſs therefore conſiſts mainly, radically, and fundamentally in his perſonal intereſt and propriety; and there was no way left to make him happy, the former way being made void, but by a free and a gracious promiſe. God by Covenant and Gift made himſelf freely over to him, that is, all the perſons in the Trinity unto the Creature for his happineſs; and therefore we may ſee, that was the great intendment in the Goſpel of Grace; for that which is ultimum in executione, laſt in execution, is primum in intentione, firſt in intention: The higheſt happineſs of Man in Glory is the injoyment of God, when God is all in all to him; and the full fruition of Chriſt, and the Spirit; for therein is the laſt and great accompliſhment of all theſe perſonal promiſes, as we ſhall ſee afterwards: now in this conſiſting the happineſs of man, this was the great and firſt intendment of the Goſpel, to make over God to him in all the perſons for his higheſt advancement and perfection.

3. Theſe Promiſes are the grounds of our Union with all the perſons in the Trinity. That there is ſuch a Union between Chriſt and the Soul is plain, and that it is not only unto Chriſt as Man, but unto Chriſt as God-man; and there is a Union that we have after a ſort therefore with the Godhead of Chriſt, and there is a Union with the Spirit, which alſo is clear, 1 Corinth. 6.17. He that is joyned unto the Lord is one Spirit; and by this means there is a Union alſo with the Father, John 17.21. I would that they might be one as we are one; not only one in themſelves, but one with us, after a reſemblance of that unſpeakable Union that is between the Father and the Son; and therefore God is ſaid to dwell in us, 2 Corinth. 6.16. we are ſaid to dwell in him, 1 Joh. 4.16. the Church is ſaid to be in God, and the Faithful, to be in Christ Jeſus, 1 Theſſ. 1.1 Thess 1and to work in God, John 3.21. moſt of their works are wrought in God; and this Union is begun in this Life, and ſo far as it is wanting, ſo far is the Creature imperfect; it's the perfection of this Union in Heaven that is the full happineſs and perfection of the Creature; and it's by vertue of theſe promiſes, that this Union between God and the Creature is begun; and Heaven, that is the perfection of this Union, is nothing elſe but the accompliſhment of theſe promiſes: the Promiſe in the fulneſs of it makes Heaven.

4. It is in this Union that the foundation is laid of all Communion: Communion is properly of perſons, though it be in things; Men can with things have no fellowſhip, this muſt be properly between perſons;1 Joh. 1.3.1 John 1:3 Our fellowſhip is with the Father, and with the Son Jeſus Christ: and there is a fellowſhip of the Spirit alſo: now all fellowſhip is grounded in Union; and the very Communion of Saints that they have with all the perſons, doth prove, that they have a Union with them alſo. Now it's an intereſt you ſee in the perſon that's the ground of fellowſhip; as the Covenant of Grace is a Covenant of Friendſhip, and it's likened to a Marriage Covenant. Now all matrimonial Communion is grounded upon the intereſt that they have in the perſon each of other; ſo that the Husband is not his own, and the p. 253Wife is not her own; they have by their own conſent freely made over the intereſt and propriety of themſelves unto each other, that now they are not at their own diſpoſe, wthout the mutual conſent each of other: and ſo it's in this alſo; it's our Union with the perſon, that is the ground of our Communion; and all our perſonal intereſt in any of the perſons is grounded upon theſe perſonal promiſes, by which the perſons are made over to the Saints; and it is in theſe perſonal promiſes, that the Glory of the ſecond Covenant does conſiſt; it's ſaid to be eſtabliſhed upon better promiſes. Hebr. 8.Heb 8The firſt Covenant did promiſe Life and Happineſs, which could not be without God, and the injoyment of God; for the Life promiſed muſt be anſwerable to the death threatned, which is an eternal ſeparation from God, and from all Communion with him, in Hell; therefore the Life promiſed muſt be a fruition of God, in all ways of Communion, in Heaven: But yet there is ſomething more in theſe particular promiſes of the Goſpel Covenant.

1. It's true, that Adam had a perſonal intereſt in God, but yet not ſuch an intereſt as the Saints now have; for the Lord was a God to Adam to reward him perſevering in ways of obedience here, and to be himſelf his reward in Heaven; but it was but while he continued in ways of obedience, God was not made over to him, therefore he did not ſay, I will make over to thee my Mercy to pardon thee, if thou ſinnest, and my Grace to heal thee: but there is ſomething of God made over in the perſonal promiſes of the Goſpel that never ſaw light before, and that is Mercy and Grace, which is the Glory of the Goſpel, an Attribute that was never known but under the ſecond Covenant. And as all Gods Attributes were not made known to Adam by his perſonal intereſt, ſo neither were all the perſons unto thoſe perfect, high and compleat ends, that now they are unto the Heirs of Promiſe. The Lord did give Adam an intereſt in his Son, but not his Son to take the Nature of Adam, to be made lower than the Angels for the ſuffering of death: He gave him alſo an intereſt in his Spirit, but not to heal his corruption, and to perfect his Graces, or help his infirmities, or be an Advocate to plead his Cauſe before God, and his own Soul alſo; for the word foreign, alſo ſignifies an Advocate, as well as a Comforter: Chriſt is an Advocate without us, and the Spirit within us, inabling us to plead for our ſelves before his Throne. Now in theſe reſpects, though Adam had perſonal promiſes, yet theſe of the Goſpel are now more glorious, and of a higher nature, and of a larger extent, and therefore they are better promiſes.

2. The greateſt Gift that ever God did beſtow upon a Creature is a Perſon, and therefore the giving of Chriſt is call'd by way of excellency, The gift of God: Joh. 4.10.John 4:10If thou kneweſt the gift of God: And unto us a Son is given. It was a great gift that the Lord ſhould give to Adam the Lordſhip of the whole world, the inheritance of all the Creatures: but there is no excellency in Creatures in compariſon of the glorious perſons in the Trinity. Anſwerable to the excellency of the thing given, we do rightly value the gift; and anſwerable unto the gift of his Son, we may alſo conclude of the Father and the Spirit; for the gift of the Son is upon that ground ſo great, becauſe he that has once attain'd an intereſt in the Son, the whole God-head is become his.

3. All the intereſt that a Soul has in the bleſſings of God, and benefits by him, have their foundation in our intereſt and propriety in the perſons themſelves; they are made over to us by theſe perſonal promiſes; and a man can have no more benefit by God, than he has intereſt in him: as the Pſalmiſt having ſpoken of all the benefits and bleſſings that they have by God, he comes at laſt to ſhew the title and the conveyance of them all,Pſal. 144. ver. the last.Ps 144 and that is, Happy is the people whoſe God is Jehovah. The ground of all our benefits by Chriſt, is our Union with him, and the intendment of Union is Communication; and till a man become one with him, he can ſavingly have no benefit by him; as 'tis ſaid,1 Cor. 3.22.1 Cor 3:22 All things are yours, and you are Chriſts: it's your intereſt in his perſon, that gives you a title to his inheritance: as the Wife can have no claim to the eſtate and the honours of her Husband, but by her Union with him, and intereſt in his perſon; and anſwerable unto mens intereſt in perſons, ſuch is their title unto benefits by them; and they that have no intereſt in God, can have no title to any of the bleſſings of God; and therefore the fundamental promiſes and mercies are thoſe that are perſonal; He that hath the Son hath life: 1 Joh. 5.12.1 John 5:12there is no life from the Son, but by Union with him, you muſt eat his fleſh and drink his blood, which are terms of Union, if ever you hope for everlaſting life by him.

4. From our intereſt in the Perſons, the perſonal promiſes give us boldneſs, and acceſs to him; we have, ſays the Apoſtle, boldneſs and acceſs to come to God by Chriſt.Epheſ. 3.12.Eph 3:12 Now a Child comes to the Father with boldneſs, becauſe he has an intereſt in his perſon as a Father; and a Wife has acceſs unto her Husband with boldneſs, becauſe ſhe has an intereſt in him; whereas all ungodly men are ſtrangers to God, and therefore cannot ingage their hearts to draw near to him, for they have no intereſt in him, and therefore muſt ſtand without and can have no acceſs.

p. 2545. The great promiſes to Chriſt as Mediator lye in this, that he has an intereſt in perſons, and by perſonal promiſes they are made over to him, Pſal. 89.26. He ſhall call me my Father, Pſal. 16.5.Ps 16:5my God; and this Chriſt glories in, the Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; and it is this Chriſt takes hold of in his deſertion, my God, my God; that high ſpeech of Faith taking hold of theſe perſonal promiſes. It's a glorious inheritance that God has given to Chriſt, for he hath made him heir of all things: but yet his inheritance in all the Creatures is nothing in compariſon of the inheritance he has in the Lord, as he is his God,Joh. 3.35.John 3:35 and in the Spirit, which is therefore called the Spirit of Chriſt, becauſe he received not the ſpirit by meaſure. As the great delights of the God-head from everlaſting were in the perſons one of another,Prov. 8.30.Prov 8:30 I was by him as one brought up with him, and I was his delight daily: ſo the great delight of Chriſt is in his intereſt in the perſon of the Father. He has alſo a great delight in the Saints, becauſe they are his Seed, and his Spouſe, and therefore he doth rejoyce over them as a Bridegroom over his Bride: but yet the main delight of Chriſt as Mediator, doth lye in his intereſt in the perſon of the Father, and of the Spirit; and as God made over his perſon firſt unto Chriſt by the Covenant of Redemption, ſo by that Covenant in him he made it over unto us, for he is Chriſts Father and our Father, he is Chriſts God and he is our God;Joh. 20.17.John 20:17 I aſcend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.

6. The main comfort of a Chriſtian comes in from perſonal relations of the Covenant, and they are all of them grounded in perſonal promiſes. He is our Father and our Husband, and our Friend, and all of theſe are perſonal relations, and ſpeak an intereſt in the perſon; and the great ſupport of Faith in the worſt times lyes in this, as we ſee in the Church, Iſai. 63. doubtleſs thou art our Father: When the Lord was diſpleaſed with them, and had hid his face, and poured upon them ſpiritual judgments, hardned their hearts from his fear, and variety of temporal judgments; for the Adverſary had trodden down their Sanctuary: yet now when they have nothing elſe to lay hold of, it is upon a perſonal relation that they pitch, doubtleſs thou art our Father; and it's according to our relation to his perſon, that the Lord exhorts us to come to him: All our Prayers when we pray, is Our Father, and the ſpirit teacheth us to come unto him as our Father; ſo in all our addreſſes unto God, he teacheth us to cry Abba Father; and ſo the Saints in Scripture, O Lord thou art my God, early will I ſeek thee.

7. Hence comes that glorious communication of properties that is between God and the Saints; That as Divines do obſerve, by reaſon of the hypoſtatical Union, there is a communication of properties, that what is done by the humane nature is attributed unto the perſons, and the blood of the humane nature is called the blood of God, Acts 20.28. and God is ſaid to be received up to glory, 1 Tim. 3. and Chriſt is called the Son of God, which is proper only to the Divine Nature,Luk. 1.35.Luke 1:35 and the Humane Nature being taken into the ſame perſon, it comes under the ſame filiation; for the rule of the School-men is, filiatio est ſuppoſiti, filiation is of a perſon; the Son-ſhip belongs and relates unto the perſon, and not unto the nature: ſo from our Union with Chriſts perſon ariſe thoſe ſtrange communications which ſome obſerve, the Lord calling himſelf by the name of a Creature, Pſal. 24.6. This is the generation of them that ſeek him; that ſeek thy face O Jacob: and that glorious, and which ſome ſay is an incommunicable name of God Jehovah, yet it is ſaid to be attributed to the Creature, through his intereſt in the perſon of God, it's the name of Chriſt, Jer. 23.6. And in his days Judah ſhall be ſaved, and Iſrael ſhall dwell ſafely, and this is his name whereby he ſhall be called The Lord our righteouſneſs: and this name is alſo given to the Church, Jer. 38.16. And in thoſe days ſhall Judah be ſaved, and Jeruſalem ſhall dwell ſafely, and this is the name wherewith ſhe ſhall be called The Lord our Righteouſneſs, &c. and all this flows from intereſt in the perſon through perſonal promiſes.

8. Our intereſt in the perſons is always the ſame, and varies not, though the diſpenſations are very various; and there is no Saint of God but doth find changes of the right hand of the moſt High, though the Lord in himſelf changes not: Sometime he lifts up the light of his countenance, and ſometimes he hides his face; but yet in the middle of all this here is the comfort of the Saints, the Lord is ſtill their God, and they have an intereſt in him. And ſo did Chriſt himſelf find a change of diſpenſations, there was ſubſtractio viſionis, a ſubſtraction of viſion, but yet not unionis, of union: and when the Lord hid his face from him, then Chriſt flyes to a perſonal promiſe, and in that he looks upon God, when he could look upon him no other way, my God, my God, &c. and ſo doth the Church, doubtleſs thou art our Father. And there is a ſpecial Art and Myſtery that the people of God have learned, when they are in the deepeſt deſertions to recover themſelves out of it, Cant. 5. there the Church falls in love with the perſon of Chriſt, and looks upon her own intereſt in him, and then ſhe breaks out, this is my beloved, and this is my friend, and this recovers p. 255her again, ſo that ſhe glories in Chriſts intereſt in her, and hers in him, I am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine; the comfort of the Saints in their worſt eſtate is, that God has an intereſt in their perſons, I am thine, O ſave me, may every Saint of God ſay; and ſo they alſo have an intereſt in the perſon of God, this God is our God for ever, and ever:Pſal. 48.14.Ps 48:14 if there be never ſo great Changes or Diſpenſations, yet our relation unto the perſon is ſtill the ſame, and therefore ſo ſhould our claim be.

9. The higheſt objects of Faith are Perſons; for there is a three-fold object of Faith: (1.) Primarium, primary, and that is all Divine Truth: (2.) Mediatum, mediate, that is Chriſt as Mediator: (3.) Ʋltimatum, ultimate, for through Chriſt we believe in God,1 Pet. 1.21.1 Pet 1:21 therefore the ultimate and the higheſt object of Faith is a Perſon: Objectum fidei eſt jus incomplexum, the object of faith is an incomplex right. Now that which is the higheſt object of Faith, that is the moſt perfect, in which only Faith can reſt, and therefore muſt be the greateſt ground of Hope, and Love, as that wherein our happineſs doth ultimately conſiſt.

10. The higheſt act of Gods Love to us, is, in accepting our perſons. Electing Love was ſet upon the perſon, and in Chriſt he doth accept our perſons, and has reſpect unto them; therefore if he reſpect our perſons ſo highly, being made over to him in Covenant, how much more ſhould we ſet a high price upon his excellent perſon, being made over to us in Covenant? It is his Love unto our perſons, that doth incline his heart to accept our ſervices, and reward them, and to beſtow all good things upon us: and ſo ſhould our Love unto the perſon of God be, that which ſhould ſweeten all his benefits towards us: he has not this Treaſure only, but he has the root alſo upon which it grows;Revel. 21.6.Rev 21:6 He ſhall inherit all things, I will be his God; and it is much more than all the Creatures can be to him, for he ſhall receive a hundred fold more in this life; it is not to be underſtood formalitèr, formally, ſed eminentèr, but eminently, that is, they ſhall have all made up in God that the Creatures could ſupply, if they were a hundred times multiply'd; God ſhall be all in all to them, ſo that they can complain of no want, for the Lord is their God.

Ʋſe. §. 2. Firſt we may hence gather the devilliſhneſs of that Opinion, that denies all perſons in the Trinity, they do thereby make void the main of the New Covenant on Gods part, which doth conſiſt in perſonal promiſes; for if there be no perſons, then the promiſes of making of them over by way of intereſt unto the Saints is void, and of none effect: And truly of all the Abominations of this laſt Age which Satan has caſt forth, foreign, as Athanaſius calls it, Orat. 1. cont. Arian. there is not any ſo deſperate an Opinion, that ſtrikes more at the root of all Religion, than this doth: all Hereſie is the ſmoak that ariſes out of the bottomleſs pit, and it is commonly vented by ſome Star that falls from Heaven, ſome Man Eminent in the Church, and he making an Apoſtaſie and Defection from the Truth, the Key of the bottomleſs pit is given him in judgment: a Key is poteſtatis ſymbolum, a ſymbol of power, as we know, and unto one man it's given as a ſpecial Mercy, and unto another it's given as a ſpecial Judgment;Revel. 20.1.Rev 20:1 to the one it's given to bind Satan, and to the other to let out his ſmoak; and wo to the man to whom ſuch a power is given, as Revel. 20.1. Satan is ready enough to vent it upon all occaſions, but he cannot do it himſelf, but it muſt be by Inſtruments; as the Devil caſts men into priſon by Inſtruments;Revel. 2.10.Rev 2:10 now when he meets with fit Inſtruments for his work, and God in judgement gives them over unto an efficacy of deceit, that they do vent the Doctrines of Hell, the depths of Satan, then they do receive in judgement the Key of the bottomleſs pit to open it, that the ſmoak of it may be let forth, and the world receive its vent, which before was ſhut up in Hell, in the hearts of the Devils only, but now it is let forth to over-ſpread the Earth, and thereby the Sun and the Air is darkned; (ſo all the Truths of God are expreſſed) it's darkned as to all ſpiritual light, for that Satan doth aim at. Some do apply this to the Doctrines of Mahomet, and ſome unto ſeveral abominations of that Idolatry that brake forth in the Weſt about that time, as Brightman underſtands it of both. And out of the ſmoak came Locuſts upon the Earth: by Locuſts in Scripture two things are commonly intended; (1.) That they are a devouring Creature, and are therefore threatned as a judgement, that they ſhould ſeize upon all, and deſtroy and devour all: (2.) They do go by great troops,Joel 1.Joel 1 and ſtrangely over-ſpread the Earth whereſoever they come; and this ſome do underſtand of the followers of Mahomet, and ſome of the Diſcipline of Antichriſt, as Paraeus; but ſtill Brightman takes in both: and this I do aſſure you, never doth the ſmoak ariſe out of the bottomleſs pit, but it breeds Locuſts, there doth ariſe out of it abundance of wicked and worthleſs men, that go by troops and would ſurely devour all; and it's Satans plot againſt the Church of God, and therefore the moſt dangerous, and that in which he doth put the moſt confidence, he doth love to raiſe perſecution, and to roar like a Lion when he can, but if that do not accompliſh his end, then he betakes himſelf unto this, he caſts a flood out of his mouth; but ſtill his end is the ſame, that the woman that was not devoured by the great red Dragon p. 256might be carried away with the flood. Auſtin hath given warning to the Churches of a three-fold Perſecution that they ſhould ſurely undergo;Revel. 12.17.Rev 12:17 Prima Eccleſiae perſecutio fuit violenta per mundi principes; ſecunda fraudulenta per haereticos; tertia erit violenta & fraudulenta ſimul, &c. The firſt Perſecution of the Church was violent by the Princes of the world; the ſecond fraudulent by Hereticks; the third violent and fraudulent alſo.

Objection. Object. Now they that deny the perſons in the Trinity, this Argument is very rife and common amongſt them, If there be Perſons in the God-head, they are either ſomething or nothing, either they are ſubſtances or they are accidents; if ſomething, then there was ſomething from eternity that was not God; and if nothing, that cannot be the ground of a diſtinction, for Non entis nullae ſunt affectiones, that which is not has no affections: and if finite, then there is ſomething in God that is finite, and if infinite, then there are three infinites, which cannot be in one God: the very Argument of Arius that he did uſe, and was refuted by Athanaſius, and from him Socinus had it, and there have been ſome in our Age that have aſſerted the ſame, who are Stars fallen from Heaven, to whom the Key of the bottomleſs pit is given in judgement to themſelves, I am ſure, and we may fear, to the Nation who have not received the Truth in the love of it, and therefore God gives up to the efficacy of deceit, to believe a lye, to whom I ſay, this Key has been given to give vent to this ſmoak again in the world: And this I pitch upon, becauſe it is the great Argument that they glory in.

Anſwer. Anſwer. For Anſwer to it, I would firſt lay down theſe poſitions: (1.) It's plain in Scripture, that there is but one God, and that an Idol is nothing in the world, there is none other God but one, as it is, 1 Corinth. 8.4. The Lord thy God, is one Lord. (2.) The Scripture ſpeaks of Father, Son and Spirit, and they are ſaid expreſly to be Three, and therefore are diſtinguiſhed from one another, 1 Joh. 5.7. For there are Three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghoſt, and theſe Three are one. (3.) The God-head in Scripture is attributed to them all, and the eſſential properties of an infinite being: He is called God the Father,John 1.1.John 1:1 1 Cor. 8.6. and the Word is God, the ſame Word that was incarnate, and was made fleſh, and this Word is God, and the Spirit dwells in the hearts of the Faithful all the world over, and that both in Heaven and Earth, and therefore muſt be every where preſent changing the hearts of men, which nothing but an Almighty and a Creating Power can do, and doth know their hearts, for he doth ſupply them with graces and influences daily, and helps their infirmities, and teaches them to pray, &c. all which can be done by none but he that is God; and they are therefore ſaid to be one, becauſe the God-head of the Divine Eſſence is but one.1 Joh. 5.7.1 John 5:7 (4.) There is ſomething attributed unto one in the Scripture, that cannot be ſaid of another: the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Father; the Father doth beget, and is not begotten, the Son is begotten of the Father, and cannot be ſaid to beget; the Son is ſaid to take fleſh, the Word was made fleſh, and ſo did not the Father; the Son was ſaid to be ſent, and ſo is not the Father, therefore they are diſtinguiſhed, yet it's plain that they are but one God: this is plainly the Doctrine that is delivered unto the Saints.

Now let us apply this unto the Argument in hand, and we will, (1.) Retort it, they are Three, Father, Son, and Holy Ghoſt; theſe are either ſomething or nothing, they are ſubſtances or accidents, they are finite or infinite; and the ſame inconveniences will return upon themſelves, for they muſt aſſert them to be Three, and yet one, for a Trinity in Unity the Scripture doth clearly hold forth. (2.) It's not ſtrange, even amongſt the Creatures, that the ſame perſon ſhould be a Man and a Father, yet as a Father diſtinguiſhed from himſelf as a Man, and a Son diſtinguiſhed from himſelf as a Man, therefore it's not ſtrange in this, that the Father ſhould be diſtinguiſhed from himſelf as God, and the Son alſo: The Scripture does clearly ſpeak to us of certain actiones ad intra, which are in God, which do not refer to the Creatures, but to Father, Son and Spirit, amongſt themſelves; as the Father does beget, and the Son is begotten, and the Holy Ghoſt proceeds from both; and from theſe actions do ariſe the relative properties, of Father, Son and Spirit, in one and the ſame eſſence; and therefore if any man ſay, a perſon is ſomething or nothing, I ſay it is ſomething, it is, Eſſentia Divina cum proprietate ſua hypoſtatica, the Divine Eſſence with its relative propertie: As what is the Father? He is God begetting the Son; and what is the Son? He is God, and begotten of the Father, &c. and ſo the Father is infinite, and the Son infinite, becauſe they have all Three an Unity of Eſſence, which is infinite, and therefore there is no reaſon why there ſhould be ſo much exception againſt the title of Perſon, as ſome of the looſer ſort would ſeem to take it, being a word that doth moſt fully, that I know, expreſs the nature of the thing, that we can have, and moſt anſwers the word foreign, uſed by the Apoſtle, Heb. 1.3. Who being the brightneſs of his Glory, and the expreſs Image of his Perſon, and upholding all things by the Word of his p. 257power, when he had by himſelf purged our ſins, ſate down on the right hand of the Majeſty on high; but call them either Perſons or Subſiſtences, ſo the thing be the ſame, I ſhall not contend for the words.

(3) But ſuppoſe that the manner of it we were not able to expreſs, yet it is, and ſhould be enough unto us, that the thing is clearly ſet down in Scripture, and that we walk by grounds of faith, and not by reaſon; it is enough to us that there is but one God, and yet that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three, and are yet ſaid to be one: if we could not deſcribe how three are one, nor how one is three, yet the deep things of God, we muſt not bring unto the rule of our blind, crooked, and preſumptuous reaſon; a quomodo or how in the things of God, is hateful unto God, and not agreeing to the nature of faith,Col. 2.8. foreign.Col 2:8 and is very unbeſeeming Chriſtians: Take heed leſt any man ſpoil you through philoſophy, the word notes to make a prize of you, and carry you away, as Pirates do another mans goods; and ſo there is many a man made a prize of at this day. Philoſophy is nothing in it ſelf but rectified and raiſed reaſon, and res Dei ratio eſt, Tertullian: and whilſt reaſon is ſubordinate unto Religion, and a hand-maid, it's of excellent uſe; but when it will ſtep out of its place, and will needs be a Judge in the things of God, then it's vain: that man that will bring down the Scripture unto the rules of his own reaſon, will quickly be made a prey of by any ſeducers. Cum de rebus ſibi ſubjectis pronunciat, philoſophia audienda eſt; Daven.ſed cùm de rebus ad fidem ſpectantibus, explodenda, When philoſophy judgeth of things that belong to her, let her be heard; but when ſhe judgeth of things belonging to faith, let her be exploded. Dav. And this has heen the true ground of all theſe Hereſies, of Arminianiſm and Socinianiſm, which have, eſpecially in theſe latter ages, peſter'd the world, becauſe they will arraign the higheſt Truths of God at the Bar of their own blind and preſumptuous Reaſon and Underſtanding: And this is that which in anſwer to it Juſtin Martyr often preſſed, De recta fidei confeſſione, foreign, pag. 375. It becometh the Churches adherents to meaſure divine things not by humane reaſon, but according to the intention of the Spirits doctrine. So having in the ſame Book affirmed the Union of the two Natures of Chriſt, he addes pag. 382. foreign, If you ask me the manner of this Ʋnion, I am not aſhamed to ſay and confeſs my ignorance therein; but rather I glory in this, that I do upon the authority of God believe that which my reaſon cannot comprehend, nor my tongue expreſs.

Ʋſe 2 2. Exerciſe faith upon all the perſons grounded upon theſe promiſes, and walk in the love of them all, and expect the ſealing of them all, and ſo much theſe promiſes will carry you unto. Exerciſe faith upon all the perſons grounded upon theſe promiſes, they are the great and ultimate objects of faith: now faith is imperfect that takes not in all the objects of faith; and it's a greater imperfection for a grace to fail in its object, than to fail in any of the acts of it. The Apoſtle, 1 Theſſ. 1. ſpeaks of ſome defects in faith; foreign.and truly theſe are the great defects: there be abundance of objects of faith that faith doth not act upon, becauſe we know but in part, &c. nay the greateſt ſuſpicion that a man has of his faith lies in this, if any object of it be willingly neglected: as in a mans obedience, it's a great ground for a man to queſtion the ſincerity and the truth of it, if the meaneſt duty thereof be willingly neglected; ſo it's ground enough to queſtion the ſincerity and truth of our faith: much more if a man do obſerve the leſſer duties of obedience, and be preciſe in them; but the great and weighty things of the Law are neglected by him: ſo it's here, if a man take in leſſer and inferiour promiſes; but as for the promiſes of the perſons which are the great things of the Goſpel, they are neglected, and faith acts not upon them. Here a mans faith ſhould take in theſe particulars.

(1) That all the perſons have a ſpecial hand in the ſalvation of a ſinner, and that by theſe promiſes every believer hath an intereſt in them all, in reference unto theſe works.Opera ad extra ſunt indiviſa. It's true, they having one and the ſame nature and eſſence, what the one of them doth, the other doth alſo; whatever thing the Father doth, the ſame thing doth the Son likewiſe: But yet though theſe be not opera propria, proper works, yet they are appropriata, appropriate. There are peculiar works attributed unto each perſon, as 1 Pet. 1.2. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the ſanctification of the Spirit, and the ſprinkling of the blood of Jeſus Chriſt. Now ſuitable to theſe appropriated works, ſo ſhould a mans faith eye each of the perſons, and his intereſt in them. When the ſoul is converſant about Election, faith then muſt look upon God the Father; and when about Redemption, then faith muſt look upon God the Son; and when upon Sanctification, then faith muſt eye the Holy Ghoſt: becauſe theſe are the works that the Perſons have undertaken under the ſecond Covenant, to accompliſh in mans ſalvation, and they are by promiſe made over to theſe ends.

p. 258(2) One main intendment of God in the Goſpel, is not only to advance the Attributes of the Divine nature, to glorifie his Juſtice, and his Mercy, and Grace by making higher diſcoveries of them, than ever could have been ſhewed forth under the old Covenant; but it is alſo to glorifie the three Perſons in the Trinity in the hearts of Believers: and this appears plainly by Eph. 1.3, 7, 13. Bleſſed be the God and Father of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, who has bleſſed us with all ſpiritual bleſſings in Chriſt Jeſus; in whom we have redemption through his blood, and have attained unto an inheritance; in whom after you believed, you were ſealed with the holy Spirit of promiſe. So that to honour the Perſons, and to exalt them in the hearts of Believers, is one great and main intendment of the Goſpel; and therefore if your faith cloſe not with them, you croſs one great and main end of the Goſpel of grace: and that muſt be done not only in receiving of bleſſings and benefits from the Trinity in common; but that a man take ſpecial notice of the diſtinct works of them all, what is done by the Father, and what is done by the Son, that in that bleſſing the perſon from whence it comes may be highly exalted in the ſoul: therefore we do read of diſtinct acts of faith exerciſed upon the Son,Joh. 14.1. Joh. 5.23.John 141 John 5:23 and the Father: You believe in God, believe alſo in me: that all men may honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.

(3) As the order of their working doth follow the order of their ſubſiſting (as the School-men obſerve) the works of the Father being firſt, and then the works of the Son; ſo it's in the work of grace, and all the benefits of it attributed to God the Father are firſt in order of Nature, and then thoſe that are attributed to the Son; and therefore Adoption being the act of the Father, is by ſome aſſerted to be firſt in order of all ſpiritual bleſſings that we receive by grace, before Redemption, which is an act of the Son, and of Sanctification,Forbes of Juſtification, p. 28. which is an act of the Holy Ghoſt: and this very conſideration will give a man great light into the order of all ſpiritual bleſſings that we receive by virtue of the new Covenant; for the order of the bleſſings are anſwerable to the order of the workings of thoſe perſons from whence they flow.

1 Joh. 4.16.1 John 4:162. Believers ſhould exerciſe love towards all three Perſons: God is love, and he that dwelleth in love, dwells in God, and God in him. There is a walking in love, and a dwelling therein, as a man dwells in his own houſe; there is not only a love of the Son, as ſays Chriſt,Joh. 15.9.John 15:9 So I have loved you, continue you in my love; but there is a love of the Father alſo, that the ſoul is to look upon as diſtinct,Joh. 14.23. Joh. 16.27.John 14:23John 16:27 If any man love me and keep my words, my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him. I ſay not that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father himſelf loveth you, beca… you have loved me.

(1) It is a great comfort and honour unto the Saints, that they are come unto the innumerable company of Angels, and unto the Souls of juſt men made perfect, Heb. 12.23. And the promiſe is made good to them, Zac. 3.7. They have places [or galleries] to walk in amongſt them that ſtand by, and that they can walk in the love of Angels, and of the general Aſſembly of the Church of the firſt-born, whoſe names are written in Heaven; but much more to walk in the love of all the Perſons; that they are come unto Jeſus, they are come to the Mediator of the new Covenant, to the blood of ſprinkling, and unto God the Judge of all, and ſo can walk in the apprehenſion of the love of them all: and it's a great comfort that they can go to them all in prayer grounded upon the particular love of them all, the grace of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and the love of God, and the fellowſhip of the Spirit:Rev. 1.4, 5.Rev 1:4Rev 1:5 Grace and peace be with you from him that is, and was, and is to come, and from the ſeven Spirits that are before the Throne, and from Jeſus the faithful and true witneſs. And the ſoul taſtes the love of the Father in giving his Son, and the love of the Son, in that he loved me, and gave himſelf for me, Gal. 2.20.

(2) That we might teſtifie our love to each Perſon diſtinctly, and ſuitable unto the love with which they have loved us, [1] let us fear to offend them all: not only fear to offend God the Father, becauſe our God is a conſuming fire, and it's a great and terrible name,Ezech. 21.10.Ezek 21:10 the Lord our God; but alſo fear to offend God the Son our Saviour: Take heed of him, obey his voice, provoke him not, for my name is in him; it is the rod of my ſon which it contemneth as every tree, &c. And Eph. 2.4, 30. fear to grieve or quench the Spirit, or reſiſt his motions. [2] Perform duties by arguments and motives drawn from the love of them all,Joh. 14.23.John 14:23 If any man love me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will make our abode with him: he that has my commandments, and keeps them, he ſhall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and manifeſt my ſelf to him. [3] Give glory unto them all, being affected with their love particularly, that the ſoul may ſay, Glory be unto the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoſt, according to the intent of the Goſpel, that as we were baptized in the Name of them all, ſo we may give glory to them all in a Goſpel-ſenſe. And the truth is, as this ſhould be the great and principal object of our faith, ſo it ſhould be of our love alſo: the higheſt love we can love God with, is to love him for himſelf: we may love God for his p. 259benefits and his bleſſings, but yet that is not true love, unleſs the higheſt love be ſet upon the perſons, Plus diligere famulum quam ſponſum meretricis amor est, Auſt. To love the ſervant more than the Bridegroom is adulterous love.

3. As in the work of Faith the Soul is to be exerciſed upon all the Perſons, ſo alſo in the point of Aſſurance, which is an addition unto Faith, we ſhould wait for the Witneſs, and the ſealing of them all, becauſe all of them ſet their ſeals unto the Evidences of the Saints: The ſcope of the Epiſtle of John is,1 Joh. 5.7.1 John 5:7 that the Saints may know that they have Eternal Life and there are Witneſſes ſome in Heaven, and ſome in Earth, but yet the Teſtimonies that theſe give all of them are in the heart of a Believer: for ſo it is ſaid, He that believes hath the witneſs within himſelf, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit,Verſ. 10. and theſe three perſons in Heaven give a diſtinct witneſs unto the aſſurance of the Saints in their own hearts; there are three ſeals that are ſet unto it: though it's true, that a man knowing the Love of any one of them, he may by conſequence, and by way of deduction conclude the Love of them all; yet a man ſhould expect to have it not only diſcurſive, but intuitive, & radio directo, by a direct beam, that a man may in Prayer from a principle of ſealing, cry to God, Abba Father, and may ſay, I am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine: and ſo the Soul may walk in the Love of them all diſtinctly though not ſeverally; and the Soul is never able to triumph and make his boaſt of God, till he has aſſurance of his intereſt in all the perſons; and in all theſe reſpects we ſee that the great grounds of a Chriſtians comfort lye in his intereſt in the perſons, and therefore it's no wonder if the great promiſes of the Covenant to a Chriſtian be perſonal promiſes.

CHAP. II. The Covenant of Grace makes God to be our God.