A Rejoinder to Mr Drake, Part 2 · Section 5
Sect. 5 THE fifth Objection is, The Covenant belongs not to all, therefore the ſeals neither. To this I anſwered, There is the Abſolute Covenant, which is ſecret, and belongs onelyonly to the election; or the conditionall, which is revealed, and belongs to all, as the tenor of the Goſpel. Hereof we muſt diſtinguiſh; There are thoſe to whom it belongs only in regard to the publication, tender, and a kind of potentiall intereſt if they come in, and thus it belongs to all even without the Church: And there are thoſe to whom it belongs by way of actuall intereſt, and priviledge in it as Covenanters, Rom. 9.4. and thus it belongs to all within the Church and them only. Now this priviledge is either outward, or according to title; or inward, and according to the effectuall benefits thereof. The ſtate of my Anſwer then lyes plainly, that all thoſe to whom the Covenant belongs by way of intereſt in it, though but according to title, are in Covenant ſo far as the externall ſeale belongs to them, without ſome known bar otherwiſe.
As for the prejudice here Mr. D. would raiſe upon me, it will not gaine his cauſe ſo much with the many, as it will looſe it with the wiſe. All hee has to anſwer, is this, Page 149. The Sacrament indeed belongs conditionally to all, but onelyonly to the worthy Receivers abſolutely: Anſw. 1 If there be any ſenſe and validity in this, he muſt argue thus, The Sacrament is nor to be delivered to all it belongs conditionally, but to thoſe only to whom it belongs abſolutely; but it belongs only to the worthy Receiver abſolutely; therefore it muſt be delivered only to the worthy Receiver. Now this you ſee is apparently falſe, ſeeing he admits ſome only viſibly worthy, to whom he himſelfe counts it belongs not abſolutely.2 The intereſt of every man in the benefits of the Covenant, and ſo in the Sacrament (as we now ſpeak) I have proved already is conditional, and not abſolute.3 The diſtinction then, that might beſt ſerve our turns, or accommodate us here, as I imagine, were of an actual and potential (inward) intereſt, both conditional; for the abſolute Covenant is ſecret, and belongs only to God.
Page 150. Whereas I ſuppoſe a man now reſolves to ingage with Chriſt on his own termes, yet not effectually in Covenant with him, and ſay the Sacrament belongs to him (as the likelieſt means, I judge, to root and eſtabliſh him) he fils his mouth with theſe terms, Come you Drunkards, Whore-maſters, Muderers, and all you Rabble of hell, here is doctrine for you, &c. Anſw. Truly I think here were rather fit language for them; It is pity, but the Doctor, before he had left his profeſſion of Phyſick, had taken a vomit to rid his ſtomach of this bitter humour, and ill language which little becomes a Miniſter of Chriſt. As for the contradiction herein, he would faſten upon me, I pray look page 191. and he diſtinguiſhes for me; A good reſolution (to wit to ſubmit to the government of Chriſt) is either Legal, or Evagelical; a Legal is antecedent to faith, &c. I pray note it, and if a man may have a good reſolution (to wit Legal) before ſaith, why muſt this be an abſurdity in me, to ſay he may have the ſame, before he is in Covenant? why doth the man ſo forget himſelfe? The truth is, he is too narrow in the ſpeaking of theſe things. A man may be ſo under the previous operations of the Spirit of grace, as not only to reſolve, but enter Covenant, Deut. 29.12. returne, remember God, and enquire early (to wit, in good earneſt for the time) after him, Pſal. 78.34, 35. and yet his heart be not right and ſtedfaſt in it, v. 37. Thus the Scriptures ſpeak often, Jer. 42.3.5.20, &c. and thus are they interpreted by the Orthodox Reynolds on Pſal. 110. p. 316.
Page 157. He likewiſe puzzles himſelf about my meaning, how the Covenant belongs to all, and yet not the benefits, then concludes (as even now, and as he ſtill uſes) it muſt be a contradiction, becauſe he does not conceive it. Anſ. The Covenant is taken either for the condition (that is the duty) Thus it belongs to all; or for the benefits (the reward, by grace through Chriſt, of the duty) Thus it belongs to thoſe onelyonly that have the condition, or are in Chriſt; or for the tenour, conſiſting, or rather reſulting out of both from the ſanction of ſuch a reward to the duty; That which reſults out of both, and is neither the one alone, nor the other, muſt be a third; And this is no other then the grace of the Goſpel, which brings ſalvation unto all men, and ſo belongs to all, even the whole world, ſo far, that they have potentially, as the Church hath actually, a conditional (outward and inward) concernment in it. Mr. D. I perceive is forced to take a great deal of pains to make my expreſſions diſagree, where there is no quarrel; but I need onelyonly now and the bring the ſeverall paſſages of his book in ſight of one another, and they fall together by the eares of their owne accord.
Page 152, 153. He hath four things to oppoſe me in affirming a univerſal right of obligation (I mean it orderly) to every Ordinance, Iſa. 66.23. Yet if you look back but in the leaf before, he acknowledges, As for the duty of the Covenant it is indeed Epidemical.
The firſt is, Children, and the diſtracted again, which is ſeventeen times. The ſecond is, a miſapplied diſtinction of a mediate and immediate right, which yet is vaine, ſeeing there is none denies but we muſt prepare, as well as come; and I ſay ſtill, we muſt doe both. As for his inſtance of purification to the Paſſe-over, that one text, 2 Chron. 30.18, 19, 20. may convince him. The third is ſpoken to otherwhere. Fourthly, He ſayes Actual receiving is not an act of worſhip, no more then preaching, &c. He ſhould ſay, they are no duties neither, for elſe it will not adde a cubit to his ſtrength.
I remember I have read of a man that ſtill beleeved he was as big as his ſhadow. I perceive Mr. D. hath meaſured himſelf onelyonly in the morning and evenings, whereas others happily, that look on him at noon day in the full light, how ever goodly and tall he may ſeem in his conceit, will ſee him ſhrinke into a ſtature very ſizeable with his fellows.