[We include this work by a Congregationalist, who opposed Roger Williams, because he was acused of being an Antinmian. And indeed he was.
This sermon that Anne Hutchinson used in her trial before the Puritan Magistrates in Boston, is useful. Lord willing, it will be included in an upcoming book from Welsh Tract Publications, which will be a Antinomian Reader - ed]
CHAP. I. The Coherence of the Text.
The Covenant of Grace, as it is Dispensed to the Elect Seed, effectually unto Salvation. Act. 7:8, the former part of the verse. And he gave him the Covenant of Circumcision. This blessed servant of God, Steven, being called to account concerning what he had said touching Jesus Christ his destroying the Temple, it is the scope of his whole Discourse throughout this Chapter, to justify the Doctrine that he had taught; that though he had taught Jesus of Nazareth should destroy that place, yet in so teaching, he taught no Blasphemy: And this he doth in an Historical Narration make clear and evident:
The Covenant of Grace, as it is Dispensed to the Elect Seed, effectually unto Salvation. Act. 7:8, the former part of the verse. And he gave him the Covenant of Circumcision. This blessed servant of God, Steven, being called to account concerning what he had said touching Jesus Christ his destroying the Temple, it is the scope of his whole Discourse throughout this Chapter, to justify the Doctrine that he had taught; that though he had taught Jesus of Nazareth should destroy that place, yet in so teaching, he taught no Blasphemy: And this he doth in an Historical Narration make clear and evident:
1. From the sweet Communion which their Fathers had with God before either Temple or Tabernacle was built: and if so, then he would not have them look at it as unsafe for them, or as an utter ruin to Religion, if that both the Temple and the Ordinances of the Temple were destroyed in themselves, and fulfilled in Him. Three passages of Abraham’s communion with God, Steven doth relate and maintain that he had them before any of Moses' customs were known.
1. God did effectually call him, which call he did also obey, (2,3,4, ver.) though as yet he knew no Circumcision.
2. God giveth him a trial of his Faith, wherein he found Abraham faithful, 5,6,7, ver. God promised to give him the land of Canaan for Possession, but he gave him not a foot's breadth. He promised to give it unto his Seed, when as yet he had no child: and when God gave him Seed, yet they should sojourn in a strange Land, and be in Bondage four hundred years.
3. God gave him the Covenant of Circumcision, in the words of the Text. And Abraham in the strength of the Blessing of God begat Isaac, and circumcised him according to God’s direction; and all this before Moses gave any Ordinances unto them to keep; and before either Temple, or Tabernacle was built. From hence we have heard that the soul may have very spiritual and gracious communion with God, before it partake in any seal of Church-fellowship. For Abraham’s Faith was thoroughly tried before he had the Seal of Church-Covenant given him. We heard also this propounded, which is the words of the Text, that God gave unto Abraham the Covenant of Circumcision: which Doctrine doth imply in it four principal parts, all of them serving to clear Stevens meaning.
1. The Author and manner of dispensing it: God gave, so it was by Gift.
2. The Articles of it; and they are to be inquired into.
3. The Confederates, and they are expressed; God on the one side, and Abraham and his Seed on the other side.
4. The Seal of it, Circumcision, which was also the Seal of Church- Covenant. These four parts do yield so many Notes; the first of them was spoken unto in the last point formerly handled. Now for the second and third parts, (to wit, the Articles of the Covenant, and the Confederates) we comprehend them both in this one Note. That in the Covenant which God made with Abraham, God gave himself to be a God to Abraham, and to his Seed; and received Abraham and his Seed to be a People unto himself; and the chiefest of this seed, the Lord Jesus Christ, he took to be the Mediator, or Surety of this Covenant between them both. This is the sum of the Articles, and of the Confederates: what the Articles be, is not here mentioned; but Gen. 17:7, they be, (for to speak of Circumcision before the Covenant, it is but a seal to a blank) where the Lord expresseth himself thus, saying, I will stablish my Covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting Covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
CHAP. II. In the Covenant, these three things are implied.
As for other parts of the Covenant, they were more properly given unto himself, as to be exceeding fruitful, and to be the Father of many Nations, to inherit the land of Canaan, &c. those things were more peculiarly proper unto Abraham, though they have also a moral and universal use and force in all the Faithful, whom the Lord doth make fruitful, and giveth them a Nail in his Tabernacle. In the Covenant these three things are implied:
CHAP. II. In the Covenant, these three things are implied.
As for other parts of the Covenant, they were more properly given unto himself, as to be exceeding fruitful, and to be the Father of many Nations, to inherit the land of Canaan, &c. those things were more peculiarly proper unto Abraham, though they have also a moral and universal use and force in all the Faithful, whom the Lord doth make fruitful, and giveth them a Nail in his Tabernacle. In the Covenant these three things are implied:
1. God gave himself to be a God unto Abraham, and to his Seed: this is such an Argument as the strength and wisdom of men and angels cannot unfold: It is a Catechism-point, and by way of Catechism to be opened, (as the Lord hath revealed it) I mean, plainly, and familiarly.
2. God did receive Abraham, and his Seed, to be his People: this is implied, and necessarily inferred by the rule of Relatives: for if God do give himself to be a God to Abraham, and to his Seed, and doth not firstly require it of Abraham and of his Seed that they should give up themselves to be his People, then it must of necessity follow, that the Lord will undertake to receive them to be a People unto himself, and so he will perform both his own part of the Covenant, and Abraham’s part also, according to what we read, Deut. 7:6,7,8. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special People unto himself: Not because ye were in number more than any people, (for ye were the fewest of all people: but because he loved you, and would keep the Oath which we had sworn unto your fathers, therefore hath be brought you out with a mighty hand, &c. when as they were in a land of Idols, and the Lord lifted up his hand to have destroyed them there; yet he remembered, and wrought for his own Names sake: So that though they were far off, yet the Lord (to make good his Covenant) brought them out of Egypt, and so from one Covenant to another: by all which things it doth appear, that the Lord will keep our part of the Covenant also; and this is necessarily implied, in that he promiseth to be a God unto Abraham, and to his Seed, and there is no Restipulation on Abraham’s part; we see this likewise held forth; Deut. 29:1, and 13, where the Lord entereth into another Covenant with them in the land of Moab, besides the Covenant which he made with them in Horeb; and in this Covenant he doth establish them to be a People unto himself, as well as give himself unto them to be their God, ver. 13. And as God required it of them to circumcise the outward man, even the foreskin of their children; so he will also circumcise them, taking possession of them, and circumcising their hearts, taking away the stoniness of them, and so fitting them to be a Temple for himself to dwell in.
3. The Lord in this Covenant taketh the chiefest of Abraham’s Seed, even the Lord Jesus Christ, to be the Mediator and Surety of the Covenant, and unto him do all the Promises belong; so the Apostle doth expound it, Gal. 3:16. Unto Abraham, and to his seed were the Promises made: He saith not, And to his seeds, as of many, but as of one, And to thy seed; which is Christ. And so by him are all the Promises and Blessings of the Covenant conveyed unto Abraham, and to his seed, (his faithful seed) all the world over: and therefore he is called the Mediator of a better Covenant, Heb. 7:22, meaning the Covenant of Grace, Heb. 3:6. These three things do contain the sum of the Covenant of Grace, and of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and would therefore be plainly discovered unto Christians: As,
1. What is the meaning of this, that God gave himself unto Abraham? 2. How doth he take Abraham, and his seed, and make them his People? 3. How doth he take Jesus Christ, and make him the surety of the Covenant between them both? For the Covenant is established, and so is a firm, and sure, and everlasting Covenant: Now in this gift, that God gave himself unto Abraham, Observe three things,
1. The Blessing given.
2. The Order in which it was given.
3. The manner of giving it. 1. In the Blessing given: when God doth by Covenant give himself to be a God, it doth imply two things.
1. That God doth give himself, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; the whole Nature of God, and all the Persons of the Godhead, with all the Attributes of that Nature, and all the Offices of those Persons: For it is not a confused God, that vanisheth away in a general imagination, but God distinctly considered in his Persons, Attributes, Properties, &c. thus the Lord giveth himself to Abraham and to his seed: I will be a Father unto you, 2 Cor. 6:28, and that is not spoken to the Jews only, but unto all the Israel of God: He giveth the Son also, Isa. 9:6. Unto us a Son is born, &c. and God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son: Joh. 3:16. And for the Holy Spirit, This is my Covenant with them, saith the Lord, (Isa. 59:21.) My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words that I have put into thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed from henceforth, and forever: and this is it which the Apostle also saith, Gal. 4:6. God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father: thus the Lord giveth himself unto his servants from one generation to another.
If therefore the Lord God the Father give himself, he will not be wanting to draw his people unto the Son, Joh. 6:44. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: And what is the chief business, and work that the Son hath to do about us? No man can have fellowship with the Father, but he must have fellowship with Jesus Christ; so our Savior himself saith, Joh. 14:6. No man can come unto the Father but by me: this therefore the Lord Jesus Christ will do for all the elect seed of Abraham: He will open their eyes to see, that the Father did not draw them to Damnation, nor utter desolation, but unto Salvation by him: this hath he promised to do. And if it be the work of the Spirit of God to establish us both in the Father and the Son, then will he convince the world of Sin, of Righteousness, and of Judgment, Joh. 16:8, to 11, and so will stablish our hearts in the Comforts of the Lord our God; and this is that which the Apostle prayeth for the Ephesians, chap. 3:16. That the Lord would grant unto them according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man: and hence it cometh to pass, that what the Lord would have us to do, he is present by his Spirit to teach us, and to strengthen us, and so to do it for us: All these things doth the Lord work for Abraham, and for his seed; so that look what is meet for a Father to do, or for a Brother to do, or for the Spirit of God to do, that will the Lord do unto his elect ones; and so he giveth all his Attributes, and they are even God himself; and therefore when Moses desired to see his Glory (and he desired it from the Grace that God had showed him) Exod. 34:6, the Lord proclaimed his Name before him, Jehovah, Jehovah, strong, merciful, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth: thus doth the Lord give himself, and all the Persons in the Godhead (as they are called) and Attributes, they are no more, nor other than God himself.
2. And as God himself is implied; so when God is given by Covenant, all the Ordinances, and Creatures, and Works of God are given also: For so it was in all Covenants of old time; when Jehoshaphat maketh a Covenant with Ahab King of Israel, 2 King. 22:4, then, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses, and all that he hath is for Ahab’s service; as the King goeth, so goeth his strength: So thus it doth come to pass, that if the Lord of Hosts be for us, and give himself unto us, then also doth he give us his eternal Election, and Redemption, and whatsoever he hath wrought for the salvation of his Elect: He hath not so dealt with any Nation, (Psal. 147:20.) but only with the Israel of God, unto them hath he given his Laws, and showed them his Judgments: And for his Creatures, they are all given to be for his people, to whom he hath given himself: If God be a God unto Abraham, then shall all God’s people be for him; Melchizedek shall bless him; Aner, Eshchol, and Mamre shall be confederates with him. The Sun, Moon, and Stars shall fight in their courses for the people of God; the Sea shall give way unto them, to pass through it on dry ground: What ailed you, ye streams of Jordan, to go backward? Why, all the creatures of God must stoop unto the people of God, when he is in Covenant with them: this is that which the Lord promiseth unto his people, Hos. 2:18, to 22, when the Lord shall marry them to him in faithfulness. In that day (saith the Lord) I will make a Covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground; and I will break the bow, and the sword, and the battle out of the earth, and I will make them to lie down safely. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear the Heavens, and they shall hear the Earth, and the earth shall hear the Corn, and the Wine, and the Oil, and they shall hear Jezreel. Whether Paul or Apollo; or Cephas, or the World, or Life, or Death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours, 1 Cor. 3:22. This is the large Gift of God’s Covenant: Nay, and (which is wonderful, and beyond all comprehension) when I say all the creatures and ordinances of God are ours, the very expression of the phrase doth imply that the Lord giveth himself to be the staff and strength of them, so that you shall see the presence of God in them; he will not only give a man Wife, and Children, and Ordinances, and Providences, but he himself will be in all these, and bless his people in the enjoyment of them all, so as that they shall enjoy God in all: Psal. 16:5,6. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance. He saw the Lord in what he did enjoy; and when he had anything, it was in God; and when he wanted anything, it was supplied in him. The like did Jacob find, when his brother Esau came against him with 400 men, and the Lord turned him from the fierceness of his wrath: here was the Covenant of Abraham, the Lord gave him the mouth, and arms, and tears of his brother Esau; what saith Jacob to all this? Gen. 33:10. I have seen thy face as though I had seen the face of God: He saw the power and mercy of God in changing the countenance of his elder Brother: and that is it which sweeteneth all that a man doth enjoy; the loving kindness of God in all, is the Blessing of all: and this likewise doth Jacob acknowledge, Gen. 33:5. These are the Children which God of his grace hath given me; and so he looked at them, as God’s wives, and children, and servants, and cattle; and this is the very life of the Covenant of Grace, when as the Lord is wrapped up in all his Blessings, when as he giveth himself, and in himself his Christ, and in Christ, Peter, and Paul, and all things unto his Church. This is the main thing given, God himself, the God of the Covenant, his Persons, Nature, Ordinances, Providences, and now Abraham is made the Lord of the world, and so the Apostle doth interpret it, Rom. 4:13. The Promise that he should be heir of the world, was not to Abraham, nor to his seed through the Law, but through the righteousness of Faith; and this is that which Abraham did receive, in receiving the Lord to be his God. 2. In the order of giving the Covenant, there is something to be observed: 1. God giveth first, and not the Creature, it was not Abraham that gave unto God first; for which of all the creatures shall offer a Covenant unto the mighty God? Rom. 11:35. Who hath given unto him first? And it shall be recompensed unto him again; the Lord hath the pre-eminence in giving; for what should Abraham give unto God, if God give not something unto him first? He is the first giver.
2. He is also the first thing in order that is given: For doth he give the world first? Or ordinances first? Or any other spiritual or temporal blessings first? No doubtless, the Lord is the first thing that he giveth by his Covenant, and with himself all things else also; Rom. 8:32, and there is the precedency of Jesus Christ; he is given, and in him all spiritual blessings, as the Apostle saith, Eph. 1:3. Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And this for the order in giving the Covenant, not obedience first, nor faith first, nor anything else first, but Himself is Donum primum, & primarium, and in him all his goodness. 3. For the Manner of giving; in that he giveth himself, there is implied both the freedom and eternity of the gift: Firmness therefore, and that unto eternity. In that he giveth himself, it must of necessity be done freely; for what can any creature give to purchase God? If a man could give thousands of worlds, they were not enough to redeem or purchase one soul; and if he had millions of worlds to give, what were they all to purchase so great a gift as God himself is? Therefore it must needs be of free gift; for the creature can do nothing to prevent God: God indeed may give with a purpose to receive back again; but he looketh to receive no more then what he first giveth us, and giveth us strength of Will and Deed to give him back again. He required this of Abraham, that he should walk before him, and be upright, Gen. 17:1, but the very truth is, though Abraham shall perform these things in an Evangelical manner; yet God himself doth undertake in this Covenant to be the Author and Finisher both of his Faith and Obedience, Heb. 12:2. And this doth argue the marvelous freedom of the Covenant of Grace: for the Lord offereth it out of his Grace, without the foresight of Faith, or Works; for he undertaketh to give both Will and Deed of his good pleasure, Phil. 2:13. But it may be said, Did not the Lord except it, that he should give himself back again, or else the Lord would not give himself? Truly then it had not been of Free-grace: But as you see sometimes great Princes will take in a neighbor-Nation into league with them, and not tell them of it: so doth the Lord deal with his elect ones; he maketh a Covenant with Christ, and taketh us into that Covenant, otherwise he should not at all intend it effectually, nor ever give himself unto us; for we are not able to give ourselves unto him till he first take us. For if Abraham did give himself, it was because God did take him first; and therefore it is that the Apostle telleth us that the Lord took hold of Paul, that he might take hold upon the Lord, Phil. 3:12. I follow after, if that I may apprehend that, for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus: is not he the Father that hath bought us? Hath not he made us, and established us? Deut. 32:6. If we give up ourselves unto the Lord, it is because the Lord hath taken hold upon our hearts first. But doth not the Lord require of him to circumcise his seed the eighth day? So he doth indeed, but the Lord giveth him that also: God the Father seeth it needful for their everlasting Salvation, therefore he doth give him Circumcision, and giveth him the grace to circumcise his children: I know that the Lord doth call for many things under a covenant of Grace, but then the Lord doth, 1. Work those things in them:
And, 2. He will have them know, that those things are nothing, without the working of his Grace. It is true, he may circumcise Isaac, but who shall circumcise the heart of Isaac? It is a small matter to circumcise the flesh: so it is a small matter for us to baptize with water; but who must wash us from our sins, save only the Lord our God? So that he doth secretly intimate, that what his poor servants do outwardly, he would do it inwardly and effectually. The children of Israel shall at the Lord’s commandment march about the city Jericho seven days together, and not speak a word, and hereby the walls of the city shall fall down flat; of what use were these weapons to such an end? What would the Lord show his people hereby? Hereby he teacheth them to know by what ability and power to bring mighty things to pass: they shall do duties as the Lord commandeth them, but he himself will breath in them to make them effectual. For though we do never so much, yet we cannot reach unto the accomplishment of any good thing; not by might, nor by strength, but by my Spirit: the Lord therefore by his Spirit must work all our works for us: Here is the freeness of God’s Covenant, in that the Lord giveth himself first, 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. You may speak of Conditions in this kind: but the Lord doth undertake both for his own part, and for our parts also: for as the Covenant is free, so the Lord will freely maintain, and preserve all his Elect, and all from the immutable Nature of God; it is not possible that God should lie: I am Jehovah, I change not, Mal. 3:6, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed: Hence springeth our Eternity, and perseverance unto it (Rom. 11:29.) for the gifts and callings of God are without repentance: And I am persuaded (saith the Apostle Paul) that he that hath begun this work will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ, Phil. 1:6. The Lord took your Father Abram, and brought him from the other side of the flood: Josh. 24:3, and he being called, obeyed, Heb. 11:8. Thus (mind ye) the Lord dealeth in the Covenant of Grace; he looketh towards those that look not towards him, as is held forth, Hos. 3:3, where the Lord biddeth the Prophet love a woman that was an adulteress, and say unto her, Thou shalt be for me, and I will be for thee; this is a branch of the Covenant, when the Lord doth undertake to receive Abraham and his seed unto himself; his giving himself unto them doth breed a reciprocal returning of them unto him. Now it may be demanded, How the Lord did take Abraham and his seed to be his people? By a double Act: As, 1. Of Preparation, not on Abraham’s part, nor on his seeds part, but on his own part, the Lord prepared them.
2. The Lord did invest him with the Blessings of this Covenant.
1. For Preparation: the Lord prepareth them by a double work of his Spirit, which are manifest in all the seed of Abraham.
1. By a spirit of bondage, whereby he cutteth off the seed of Abraham from all worldly entanglements, and delights: thus God took Abraham, and brought him from beyond the flood, and so doth he take men off from their countries and fathers houses; he separates them from all such things, that he might draw them unto himself: thus he dealt with the children of Israel, and called them to be a singular People unto himself, Deut. 7:6,7,8. Thus doth the Lord deal with all those, whom he receiveth to be a people unto himself: by this spirit of Bondage, he draweth them from all their sinful lusts, and passions, so as that they can find no life in them, nor any hope of mercy at all in anything: by this Bondage, the Lord setteth home unto the consciences of men, the weight and [span] of their sins, and bindeth them under the sense of his wrath unto fear of Damnation. The Romans first received the spirit of Bondage to fear, before ever they came to receive the Spirit of Adoption, Rom. 8:25. But thus the Lord doth even shut a Soul out of doors, that he may open to him another and a better way.
2. The Lord also prepareth his people by a Spirit of burning, which upon a Spirit of Bondage he doth shed abroad into the hearts of men: this we read of, Mal. 4:1. Behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, and all that do wickedly shall be as stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn them up, and it shall leave them neither root nor branch. It is spoken of the Ministry of John the Baptist, which did burn like an oven against all the Scribes and Pharisees, and left them neither the root of Abraham’s Covenant, nor the branch of their own good Works. He cutteth them off from the Covenant of Abraham, Matth. 3:9. Think not to say within yourselves that you have Abraham to your Father; for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham: and so by cutting them off from the Root, he leaveth them no ground to trust on. From their good Works also the Lord Jesus Christ cutteth them off, Matth. 6:2. When thou dost thine alms, sound not a Trumpet before thee as the Hypocrites do, that they may have the glory of men: and ver.. 5. When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the Hypocrites are, &c. and ver.. 16. When ye Fast, ye shall not be as the Hypocrites are, of a sad countenance, &c. This was a Spirit of Burning which the Lord conveyed by the Ministry of Christ, and of John the Baptist, to burn up all the Hypocrites like stubble; and the beauty of their works were blasted by it: and this is God’s usual manner of dealing. Now there are many under a spirit of bondage, that never came under a spirit of burning; and they being convinced of sin, and of the danger thereof, yet hope to wrestle it out, and work it out by their own performances, till the spirit of Burning come and consume all that false confidence. But when the spirit of Burning cometh, he then blasteth all the fruits and branches of their righteousness, and burns up all that a man hath wrought, or can work. And this is that which the Prophet Isaiah, chap. 4:4, speaketh of, that the Lord will purge away the filth of the Daughter of Zion, with a Spirit of Judgment, and of Burning; the one is a spirit of Sanctification, and the other is a consuming Fire, which forceth them not to build any comfort upon any works that they have done: this may Hypocrites reach unto in their judgments, so as that they may be convinced that they have neither root within them, nor branch growing upon them; and yet in the mean while they may not come unto a Spirit of Adoption: but hereby also the Lord useth to prepare his people. Some bless themselves in worldly courses, and never came unto a spirit of bondage. Some do find comfort in their performances, and never saw the vanity of their own Righteousness: But there are those whom the Lord doth carry further, unto a spirit of burning, even unto a sensible feeling of God’s wrath burning against whatsoever is as stubble, (and such is a man’s own gifts, and parts, and worth) so that now the poor soul findeth that he hath no Root, not any sure mercy of the Covenant of Grace, that he can rest upon: no green branch of righteousness remaining, but all is blasted and broken in pieces, according to what the Prophet Isaiah saith, chap. 40:6,7. All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withereth, and the flower fadeth; because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: and so the Lord cometh to leave a man neither Root nor Branch: For by a spirit of Bondage the Lord blasteth all flesh: but when it cometh unto the goodliness of flesh, that is consumed by a spirit of Burning.
2. As God thus prepareth us for himself: so he doth give himself unto us, and taketh possession of us by his blessed Spirit: the Father giveth himself and his Son by his blessed Spirit, (for the Spirit it is by which he doth visit the hearts of his people) and this is the main Blessing of the Covenant of Grace. For the better clearing of it, it may be demanded, How doth the Lord give himself unto his People, and his People back again to receive him? 1. They being thus prepared, the Spirit of God taketh up his seat in the soul, by making it a Temple unto himself, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son; and so are they made an habitation of God through the Spirit, Eph. 2:22. Because ye are Sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, &c. Gal. 4:6. (He speaketh not of sons by actual Regeneration, but by God’s eternal Counsel.) The fame Spirit is also called the Comforter, whom Jesus Christ hath promised to send, Joh. 16:7,8,9. If I depart, I will send you the Comforter; and when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because they believe not in me: this the Holy Ghost convinceth men of, to be the greatest misery of the soul, that they have not believed upon Jesus Christ. And look as a talent of gold, or some weighty metal falling into a vessel of water, dasheth out all that is in the vessel, to make room for itself: so the Lord Jesus Christ coming into the soul, dasheth out all watery confidences, and maketh room for himself. And in very deed, because the heart of man is not only like unto water, but is hard as ye, and strong; therefore the Spirit of God cometh like fire, and melteth the iron stone of the heart, and softeneth it into flesh; so that now the soul is utterly at a loss, not only in regard of his sins, but in regard of his best works also; and is most of all convinced of his unbelief. Now this holy Spirit of God being thus shed abroad into the heart, at the very first entrance of it into the soul, as it doth chiefly convince the soul of unbelief; so,
2. The same Spirit worketh Faith in the soul, to yield himself unto the Lord, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ; and this is a true saving work; he now submitteth unto the will of God: so that the Spirit of God becometh unto the soul not only as a Spirit of burning, to consume all that is like stubble; but doth also melt the iron stone of the heart, and softeneth it into flesh, that the word may take deep impression in it: Now there is room for Jesus Christ, now Faith is wrought there; and now a soul can plead with God by Faith in Prayer: he seeth there is no former safe hold of his Covenant that he can plead, nor any righteousness of his own, but such as hypocrites will quarrel for, and rise up to maintain, as they did against John the Baptist, pleading their covenant, and their righteousness: with these things a poor soul is not satisfied: but unto you that fear my Name, shall the Son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings, &c. Mal. 4:2. Herein is implied such a reverent fear, as distrusting ourselves, giveth all the honor to the Lord Jesus: this Fear of the Lord accompanieth Faith, and is of like nature to it: both of them distrusting ourselves, and both of them giving all honor to Christ; the one out of confidence in him, the other out of reverence to him. Thus it is in our Effectual calling; the Spirit of God taking possession in our hearts, and working this Faith in us, thereby we submit unto the Lord; and this is Faith in Jesus Christ, that maketh us one with Christ: for our Effectual calling bringeth us to be one with him, 1 Cor. 1:9. God is faithful, by whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ. This fellowship standeth in two things: 1. In the unity of the Spirit, 1 Cor. 6:17. He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit.
2. In a lively Faith on our parts. So that by Believing this is the first thing we do, we yield unto the work of God; when this stronger man cometh, to wit, Christ by his Spirit, we yield up all our armor to him; and herein standeth our coming on to be in Christ, and in God the Father, by this Spirit of God that taketh possession of the heart, and hath not only burnt up root and branch of our Legal righteousness, but hath also melted us unto a soft frame to yield up ourselves unto the Lord; and now we are fit for any duty, the Lord having possessed us with his powerful presence: herein lieth our Effectual calling; and this is true spiritual union between the Lord and our souls. Now this Faith thus wrought in our Effectual calling, is not built upon any conditional promise of Grace preexistent in us, nor can it be built upon any: but upon some absolute free Promise of God unto the soul, according to what we read, Isa. 43:22, to 25. Thou hast not called upon me O Jacob, but thou hast been weary of me O Israel; thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt-offerings, neither hast thou honored me with thy sacrifices: I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense: Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices; but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities: I, even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. In all this we see the absolute freeness of the Grace of God. But if the Promise be conditional, it is a condition subsequent to Faith, not antecedent before it. You will say, Though some may be converted by such an absolute Promise, yet some other man’s Faith may be built upon a conditional Promise, and the condition preexistent. I pray you consider it: If it be a Condition, it is to some good Qualification or other, some good work or other of the Spirit of God in the heart of a Christian. Was this work wrought before Conversion, or after? Every Christian knoweth, that all works before conversion are but dross, and dung: to apply promises to such works, were indeed to build upon a sandy foundation. What say you then to works after conversion? All works after conversion are fruits of Faith; and if they proceed from Faith, then faith went before, then a man’s faith was not built upon a conditional promise; how is it possible that it should? When as all works after conversion, are either fruits of Faith, or else they are no true sanctification; then faith went before in order of Nature, and so was not built upon works, but works upon it. Our Faith closeth with Christ upon a promise of Free-Grace, otherwise (as saith Calvin) my faith would always be trembling and wavering, as my works be. Upon a promise of Free-Grace therefore my Faith is built, as upon the promise of God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, 2 Cor. 5:18,19. The word is (it may be) spoken outwardly unto all Christians: but if God do set it home particularly unto any Soul, that man receiveth this Gift of God, and it is made his own: First, he believeth the promise of Free- grace, and then afterward come other promises, that do bear witness unto the right application of that promise unto the soul: but I am first built upon a promise of Free-grace, or else there is no true closing with Jesus Christ: well then, being thus united unto Christ, from this union with Christ do flow all other blessings and benefits of the Covenant of Grace.
CHAP. III. From Union with Christ, there springeth Communion with him in spiritual blessings.
or hence springeth communion with Christ in all spiritual blessings, that the Lord hath wrought for us in him; and they are two of them Relative blessings (as they are called by Divines) and two of them positive blessings. The two Former are laid up in God’s own Hand, and are not created in us: the other two positive Blessings are created in us. 1. For the uncreated Blessings, They are, 1. Adoption. 2. Justification. And they spring immediately (simul & semel) from the former union with Christ; for as soon as ever the Spirit of God is in our hearts, and hath wrought faith, that we do not spurn against Jesus Christ, but receive him, now is the Divine Nature of Christ in us, and we are now become the sons of God, as Christ himself is. Look as in a man’s first natural conception, as soon as ever one doth live, there is an heir of Adam, even so soon as the soul liveth: so it is in the new spiritual Birth; as soon as the Holy Ghost cometh, and hath wrought this Faith, now is the Seed of God in us, the Life of Christ, and the Spirit of God; and now we are the Sons of God, as we read Joh. chap. 12. As many as received him, to them he gave power to be the sons of God. Immediately upon this union with Christ, we are Sons by Adoption; and as we are adopted, so likewise our sins are now imputed unto Christ, and his righteousness unto us, and so our persons are justified. For how, and when was Adam's sin imputed unto us? Psal. 51:5. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, in sin did my mother conceive me: So soon as over there was life, it was the life of Adam, and then the imputation of Adams sin falleth immediately upon the soul. So when we do receive Christ by this living Faith, having the Life of Christ in us, we have the righteousness of Christ (the second Adam) imputed to us. For what doth the child in the womb? Though it doth neither good nor evil, but is merely passive, yet sinful it is, and a child of Adam: So also in this our Regeneration, the soul receiveth Christ by that Faith which the Lord hath wrought in it, whereby also it is made capable of the privilege of Adoption; and so the Lord accounteth us his children, and imputeth the Righteousness of his Son unto us, whereby we are Justified. These things do dwell in God’s Bosom, and the meaning of them is afterwards revealed unto the soul; but communicated they are, both that of Adoption, and this of Justification, by this gift of faith wrought in us. But we are still upon the first work of conversion, wherein a Christian is only passive, and receptive; and truly it must needs be so in the first work of God upon us. 2. Now for the Positive Blessings that are wrought in us: They are, 1. Sanctification. 2. Glorification. 1. When we are called, then are we Sanctified, then are we Glorified, 1 Cor. 1:2, as in our natural conception, as soon as ever the child liveth, Adams sin is first imputed, and then there is a proneness in it to carry it captive unto fin, and to make it backward unto any goodness: So when the Life of Christ is dispensed unto the soul, now the Lord comes to convey with it Justification, or pardon of sin, and then there is a promise in a Justified person to walk in the spirit, Gal. 5:25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. By Faith our hearts come to be purified, Acts 15:9, and the same Spirit quickeneth us unto holy duties, so that we live, yet not we, but Christ liveth in us; neither are we only in his hand, but the Spirit sanctifying, draweth us into an holy confederacy to serve God in Family, Church, and Common-wealth; and this Sanctification groweth, and increaseth more and more, 2 Cor. 7:1, 1 Thes. 4:1, and 5:23. 2. The other positive gift is Glorification, which we read of, Rom. 8:30. Whom he called, them also he justified; and whom he justified, them also he glorified: this the Apostle Peter mentioneth, 1 Pet. 5:10. The God of all grace hath called us into his eternal glory it Christ Jesus: And in truth, he hath begun the work from the time that he first began to sanctify us, 2 Tim. 1:9. He hath saved us, and called us: from the very first time that God worketh upon the soul graciously, there is a glorious work in that soul; and others may see it, though himself sometimes seeth nothing that he hath received. Thus we see the second branch of the Doctrine opened, How the Lord doth receive Abraham and his seed unto himself, preparing them by a spirit of Bondage, and of Burning, and then taking possession of them savingly by the inhabitation of the blessed Spirit; the same Spirit begetting Faith, we are alive in Jesus Christ, and so come to be Adopted, and Justified in him: the same Faith which receiveth Adoption and Justification, doth begin to stir a little, and to breath forth into gracious desires, and some holy mourning, and beginneth now to put forth such works as the holy Ghost carrieth the soul an end in; working all our works in us, and for us. 3. Now for the third and last part of the Doctrine: The Lord took the chiefest of Abraham’s seed to be the Mediator of this Covenant, unto whom all the Promises were made, Gal. 3:16. How did the Lord constitute him so to be? 1. By a double Act: first, by receiving Jesus Christ the Son of the Virgin Mary, to be one Person with the second in Trinity, hereby laying a ground of a firm Mediation between God and us: for Jesus Christ being of God’s Nature, therefore he will be faithful unto God; and being of our Nature, therefore he will be compassionate towards us. And here is the root of all the life and power of this Mediation, to wit, this Personal Union of the Son of man, with the second Person in Trinity, which is a firm and everlasting Union, 2. By God’s giving him to be a Covenant, Isa. 42:6. I will give thee for a Covenant of the People, for a Light of the Gentiles. What is meant hereby? The Lord meaneth, that he giveth him to be a Mediator of this Covenant: 1. To receive from God all the promises and gracious gifts, whatsoever is requisite for him to be, King, Priest, and Prophet; and all these things he receiveth from the hand of the Father, Col. 1:19, for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell: thus he becometh a plentiful Redeemer. And as the Lord gave him to be a Covenant, so he giveth him also to work all things needful for our Redemption; partly by his passion, and obedience unto the Death of the Cross, Phil. 2:8, and partly by fulfilling all the righteousness of the Law, Matth. 3:15. The Lord Jesus Christ did fully accomplish whatsoever was requisite for him to accomplish in his own Person. 2. He doth perform all things needful for the Application of this Redemption unto our souls, Isa. 26:12. And to this end, he it is that sheddeth abroad his Spirit into our hearts, Joh. 15:26, and 16:7, and when this blessed Spirit cometh, he applieth unto the soul all this gracious Redemption of Jesus Christ, by giving Jesus Christ and all the Fruits of his redemption, and by working all those blessed works, that the souls of his people come to be partakers of; and so performeth all those conditions that are required on our parts: if it be needful for us to have Faith, he will work it in us; if it be needful for us to live a life of Faith, he will help us so to live, for it is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God: Eph. 2:9. Thus hath the Lord made him a complete Mediator of this holy Covenant; and whatsoever we receive, we receive from him: for unto him first, as the head of the Church, are all blessings given; and unto us, all promises in him are Yea, and in him Amen, 2 Cor. 1:20, for though Christ be not a sinner in his own Person, yet in respect of his Members, he is many times lost in them, though not in himself; and poor in them, though not in himself: for us therefore he receiveth the Promises of God; and that is the great security of them, that they are laid up safe in him, and belong unto us if we have union with the Head; and in him we perform whatsoever God requireth; whether we pray, or preach, or hear, we do all in the Name of Jesus Christ, going forth in his strength, and power: Col. 3:17. Thus is the Lord Jesus Christ a firm surety of this better Covenant, stablished upon better Promises, Heb. 8:6. In the first place: This may teach us a broad difference between the Covenant of Works, and the Covenant of Grace. In the Covenant of Works, the Lord offereth Himself as a Father, his Son as a Redeemer, his Spirit as a Sanctifier; but this is still upon a condition of obedience: if they shall keep his Laws, and obey his voice, then they shall be a peculiar treasure unto him above all people, Exod. 19:5,6. This also they undertake to do, Deut. 5:27. All that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, we will hear it, and do it; but, O saith God, that there was such an heart in them, ver. 29. When they rebelled, he did not pardon them graciously, but the Angel whom he sendeth with them, he biddeth them beware of him, and obey his voice, and provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my Name is in him: In the Covenant of Grace he will, but not in this: here is indeed a conditional Redeemer and Savior; and so it is expressed, Isa. 63:8,9,10. He was their Savior; in all their affliction he was afflicted, and the Angel of his presence saved them in his love, &c. But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit, therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and fought against them: with many of them God was not well pleased (almost with none of them) but overthrew them in the wilderness: Thus in the Covenant of Works all is given upon condition of obedience. The Lord giving himself, his Son, and Spirit upon condition, though it be but to Works, yet he is pleased to receive them into some kind of Relative Union, expressed, Jer. 32:32. Which my Covenant they brake, although I was a Husband to them. He was married unto them in Church-Covenant, this was some kind of union: He was their God, and they were his peculiar people; and yet the Lord cast them off, a generation of his wrath, from this Marriage-Covenant between them and him: from this union there springeth a kind of Faith, by which the soul cleaveth unto the Lord in some measure; else there could not be this Marriage-Union; and this Faith is that of which you read, Psal. 106:12,13. They believed his words; they sang his praise: they soon forgot his works: they waited not for his counsel: So also Exod. 14:31, it is said, They believed the Lord, and his servant Moses: this is that Faith which men may receive, and yet may Apostate from it, spoken of, Heb. 6:3, to 6. For a while some do believe, and in time of temptation fall away, Luk. 8:13. But all that Faith was never grounded upon any free promise of Grace, but all was built upon Ordinances, and Duties, and upon no higher ground. In the 2 Chron. 13:8, to 12, marvelously strong are the expressions of Abijah, when Jeroboam came against him; You think to withstand the Kingdom of the Lord in the hand of David, &c. Have not you cast out the Priests of the Lord? Saith he, &c. But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the Priests which minister unto the Lord are the Sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business; and they burn unto the Lord every morning, and every evening Burnt-sacrifices, and sweet Incense; the Show-bread also they set in order upon the pure Table, and the Candlestick of gold, with the Lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the Lord our God, but ye have forsaken him. And behold, God himself is with us for our Captain, and his Priests with sounding Trumpets to cry Alarm against you. O ye children of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper. Thus we see what Faith he did express; and hereupon (ver. 18.) the children of Israel were brought under, and the children of Judah prevailed; and yet this Kings heart was not perfect with the Lord his God: 2 King. 15:3, and yet (mind you) a strong confidence he had, that the Lord was with him, and that he would be present with his own ordinances; there Faith built upon fellowship with Ordinances, like unto that Faith in the Scripture before alleged, Luk. 8:13. Men are affected with the Word, and believe, and find comfort; and all this springeth from that Relative communion which they have with the Lord; they find refreshing in their way and work, and many times take it for the very Seal of the Spirit of God; all which may be, and often is found in Hypocrites: but here is the difference; In a Covenant of Works God giveth himself conditionally; in that of Grace, absolutely: in both, he maketh a Covenant, in the one of Grace, the other of Works, in which the voice of the Lord is, If you be true to me, then I will not renounce you; and in this Covenant is Faith found, but it is only built upon such changes as they find in themselves, and will in the end vanish utterly away. There is a Difference also that springeth from the fruits of these two Covenants in their continuance: for though in the Covenant of Works there be a semblance of Justification, and Adoption, and a kind of Sanctification, yet they endure but for a season; and therefore he calleth them Lo-ammi, for ye are not my people; and Lo-ruhamah, for I will no more have mercy, though sometimes they were his people, and he then had mercy on them: they may also have pardon of sin for a season, Psal. 78:37,38. Being full of compassion, he forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not; yet they were such whose heart was not upright with him, neither were they steadfast in his Covenant: this is plainly held forth in the Parable, Matth. 18:23, to the end: when the servant had not wherewith to pay his Lord, he fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all, his Lord was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the Debt: but when he had not like compassion on his fellow servant, then his Lord was wroth, and charged all his iniquities upon him, and cast him into prison until he should pay all that was due unto him: So that this pardon is not everlasting, but only respite from outward punishment, and from inward pangs of conscience many times; and this they take for pardon of sin, and acceptance in Jesus Christ, when indeed they are deluded: So likewise their Sanctification is but for a moment, they come at last some of them to tread underfoot the Blood of the Covenant wherewith they were sanctified, Heb. 10:29. For, Christ was but a conditional Redeemer unto them: they had only gifts of Tongues, and utterance, and wisdom, and discerning of Spirits, and a common Faith: which things are not that Sanctification which is a fruit of Saving Faith; but only such gifts as do sanctify them unto the work of the Ministry perhaps, or Magistracy, and fit them for household-government, or the like: and so much positive work there is in them, as doth make them in some measure fit for the work, or service which they are called unto. For a little more explaining of this: Is it the same with that Sanctification which is in God’s children? God forbid. All the men in the world are divided into two Ranks: Godly, or Ungodly; Righteous, or Wicked; of wicked men, two sorts; some are notoriously wicked, others are Hypocrites: of Hypocrites, two sorts (and you shall find them in the Church of God), some are washed Swine, others are Goats. 1. The Swine are those of whom our Savior Christ saith, that they return unto their wallowing in the mire: like unto these are such men, as at the hearing of some Sermon have been stomach-sick of their sins, and have rejected their wicked courses, but yet the swine’s heart remaineth in them; and as a swine, when he cometh where the puddle is, will readily lie down in it; so will these men wallow in the puddle of uncleanness, when their conscience is not pricked for the present: but these are a grosser kind of Hypocrites. 2. There is another sort that goes far beyond these: and those are Goats, so called, Matth. 25:32,33, and these are clean beasts, such as chew the cud, meditate upon ordinances; and they divide the hoof; they live both in a general, and particular calling, and will not be idle: they are also fit for sacrifice: what then is wanting? Truly, they are not Sheep all this while, they are but Goats; yet a Goat doth loath that which a Swine will readily break into: but where then do they fall short of the nature of Sheep? A difference there is, which standeth principally in these Particulars. 1. The Goat is of a capricious Nature, and affecteth eminency; his Gate also is stately, Prov. 30:31. Agur reckoneth the He-Goat among the four things that are comely in going. 2. And they are full of Ambition; they cannot abide swamps, and holes, but will be climbing upon the tops of mountains; there is not that plain, lowly, sheep-like frame, that attendeth unto the voice of the shepherd to be led up and down into fresh pastures: they attend upon their own ends, and will outshoot God in his own bow; and therefore when they have done many things for Christ, he will say unto them, Depart from me ye workers of iniquity: more eminency they did affect, then they were guided unto: thus it was with Jehu, who in his zeal for God, thought to promote himself; and herein he will not be persuaded of his sin, and therefore walking along in crooked ways, the Lord led him forth with evil doers; he cometh at length to cleave unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin: notwithstanding you may receive a Goat into Church-fellowship for all his capricious Nature, and he will be a clean creature, and of much good use: the five foolish, (Matth. 25:2.) were all of them virgins, all of them abhorring Idolatry, and all go forth to meet the Bridegroom; and yet they are foolish, and never shall you make them wise, to be all for Christ, in him, and from him, only hearing and obeying his voice. 3. They are of a rankish nature all of them, specially the old Goats will have an unsavory relish, far from the pleasant sweetness that is in a Sheep; and herein hypocrites are greatly different from the Sheep of Christ; and many times also they do push with the shoulder the poor sheep of Christ, as the Prophet speaketh, Ezek. 34:21. And they mar the pastures with their feet, and will be at length muddling the fair waters of the Sanctuary also: And in their best sanctification they fall far short of a sheeplike frame of spirit, diligently to hear the voice of the shepherd; this will not be found in the sanctification of the best hypocrite under heaven; they may go far, and yet at length fall away: this is no Arminianism, but if you search the Scriptures diligently, you will find these things to be true. But such instances deceive the Arminians. There is a fourth Difference between the Covenant of Works and of Grace in respect of the Mediator: Gal. 3:19. The Law was given and ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator; Moses was a mediator according to their Works; and this our Savior telleth the Jews, Joh. 5:45. You have one that accuseth you, even Moses in whom ye trust: and as for Jesus Christ, if he be given to be their Redeemer, it is but according to their works, if they shall obey his voice: but if they shall sin against him, he will overthrow them body and soul into the nethermost Hell. But now in the Covenant of Grace, Jesus Christ hath obtained a more excellent ministry, to be the Mediator of a better Covenant, established upon better promises, Heb. 8:6. Thus we see in this first Use the difference between the Covenant of Works, and the Covenant of Grace. I might (in the second place) from hence also gather an Argument against the whole Body of Arminianism; for they look at no gift of God, but merely upon the Faith, or Works of the creature foreseen: if you speak of Election, they tell you it is of Faith foreseen; if of Glory, it is upon condition of perseverance: but we see how contrary it is unto this truth of God; for he giveth himself first, before he giveth anything else accompanying salvation: he gave us Christ in his eternal Counsel, before Election; and so doth he also in our Effectual calling; not Faith before Christ, to enable us to choose whether we will have him, or not have him: but he is God, and first giveth himself, and with himself, Faith, and so worketh our wills unto himself, not otherwise, leaving it to us to choose whether we will have him to be our God or no. Many things in Popery and Arminianism come to be confuted from hence; for in truth they hold forth no more but a Covenant of Works: and if we will not grant Faith and good Works to be the cause of all the blessed gifts of God, they will take it marvelously unkindly; but they were as good deliver unto us another Gospel. This may also serve to teach the people of God to bear a gracious respect unto those that are under a Covenant of Works, and not forthwith to condemn them, as if there were no hope of their salvation: for God never calleth any unto fellowship with himself in a Covenant of Grace, but ordinarily he first bringeth them into a Covenant of Works. The ignorant look to be saved by their good prayers, and by their good serving of God. After, God may terrify and humble their souls with the sense of their palpable wickedness. Then they may reform and trust in their performances: and then God may burn up all such false confidence; Therefore those that are under a Covenant of Works, may belong unto the Lord, as well as thyself; pray for them therefore; Paul was under a Covenant of Works, Steven prayeth for him; and as most conceive, that prayer was effectual unto his Conversion, and Paul was as dear unto the Lord as Steven himself was. Men under a Covenant of Works, the Lord may bring them home unto himself, by dashing all their works in pieces, and showing them the prefidence of their spirit: and the Lord will also come and pluck away the caul from their hearts; and then they will have none in heaven but Christ, nor in the earth in comparison of him; and then the Holy Ghost convinceth them of this sin above all their other sins, that they have not believed on Jesus Christ. Do not therefore censure any such, as to say there is no likelihood that they should ever come to have fellowship with Christ; for if the Lord make them to fall down before him, and to yield up their spirits unto the Lord in holy reverence, and fear, these have now received some secret smoking affections (besides a Spirit of burning) which the Lord will not quench. It may serve in the next place to clear up our judgments in sundry passages that do concern the Covenant of Grace, by Answers unto these six Questions following. 1. What is the first Gift that ever the Lord giveth unto his Elect? First of all he giveth himself: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; this is the Foundation; and if you shall lay Faith in the Foundation before these, the foundation will lie uneasily, and the spirit of a true Christian shall not lie long in peace; Christ must therefore be first, and with him Faith cometh in to receive him: first he will make a Covenant with us, and put his holy Spirit within us, which worketh in us Faith, and Fear, that we never shall depart from him. He giveth us his Son, and all things else in him: he giveth us in him pardon of sins in our Justification, and in him some degrees of Glory also, and in him right unto all the Promises of the Covenant; no other Foundation but him: take him first therefore, for he is the first thing given. But whether doth not the Lord give us some saving preparations, before Jesus Christ? Reserving due honor to such gracious and precious Saints, as may be otherwise minded, I confess I do not discern, that the Lord worketh and giveth any saving preparation, in the heart, till he give union with Christ; for if the Lord do give any saving Qualification before Christ, then the soul may be in the state of salvation before Christ; and that seemeth to be prejudicial unto the Grace and Truth of Jesus Christ: for if there be no Name under heaven given, whereby we must be saved, but only Jesus Christ; nor his Name, but in a way of fellowship with him; then it seemeth to me apparently to follow, that whatsoever saving work there be in the soul, it is not there before Christ be there. It is true, John the Baptist was sent to subdue all flesh, by a Spirit of Burning, which burneth up carnal confidence in the Covenant of Abraham, and all their fruits of righteousness: here were indeed preparations for Christ, but these were not saving, they were still children of wrath; ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, notwithstanding all this. Further, John did indeed dispense poverty of Spirit, unto which a saving Promise was made; but then Jesus Christ was there also; whether they knew it, or knew it not, that is not greatly material in this Argument: but if the Kingdom of Heaven was there, Jesus Christ was there first, otherwise it will prove dishonorable unto the Name of Christ. Indeed there is a saving preparation before consolation in Christ, and the manifestation of our gracious union with him; but for our first union, there are no steps unto that Altar, Exod. 20, ult. but Christ doth prepare his Tabernacle for himself to dwell in. This is in the first place for instruction, concerning what is the first gift which the Lord giveth unto the soul, before any work. He giveth spiritual union with his Son: this standeth firm from the tenor of the Covenant, and the nature of it. 2. In what order the Lord giveth the Covenant, and the blessings of it: whether Faith before them, or those Blessings before Faith be able to apply them? He doth give himself to work Faith, before Faith can be there; for it is the Fruit of the Spirit that Faith is wrought in the soul; the Spirit is in the soul in which Faith (as a fruit) groweth; and this Faith doth receive the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ himself by his Spirit; and it doth also receive Adoption, and Justification: but to be able actually to apply Christ, before we be in Christ, our first birth will not bear it; for a man is as passive in his Regeneration, as in his first Generation; only the Lord giveth us his Spirit that doth unite us unto Christ, which is received by Faith, together with Adoption and Justification: and this is the true and native order of the Lord’s working. 3. Whether do we receive the Lord Jesus Christ in an absolute, or in a conditional Promise? We know the Lord can convey himself in an Evangelical commandment, as well as in a promise; as we find it, Isa. 41:12. Fear thou not, worm Jacob, I will help thee, &c. He can also convey himself in a threatening unto the Devil; as unto our first parents he did convey himself, wrapping up a promise in it, as Gen. 3:15. I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel: and from hence the Lord gave them to suck a sweet and comfortable promise of his Free Grace: and when the like is conveyed in a commandment, the Lord undertaketh to work that which he so commandeth: But now it is questioned, Whether the promise wherein the Lord giveth himself, be absolute, or conditional. Faith uniting us to Christ, it is ever upon an absolute promise, or a condition subsequent, not antecedent. If you will say it is a Promise to a Condition, what kind of condition was it? There is no condition before Faith; for then a man is out of the way of any gracious Blessing from heaven; no condition before it, whereby a man can close with Jesus Christ: and if it was a condition after Faith, unto which the promise was made, then Faith was there before; and whatsoever followeth conversion, is no ground of Faith, but a fruit and effect of it: therefore I say, our first coming on to Christ, cannot be upon a conditional, but upon an absolute Promise. If the Lord bear witness unto Justification, it is either absolute, or to Faith. If he comes to bear witness unto a man’s Sanctification, then the Lord doth it from some work or other of his Grace in them; as unto Abraham, Gen. 22:12. By this I know that thou fearest me, seeing thou-hast not withheld thy Son, thine only Son. It is true indeed, after a man’s Justification is born witness unto from Grace, or from Faith, then Sanctification and Justification do mutually bear witness one to another: that is, when Justification is not wholly doubted of, but in part, then Sanctification is of use to witness; but not when Justification lieth wholly prostrate. There is a fourth Question, which is as a further branch of the fourth Use; of which I would not speak, but that I might, through the good hand of God, the better clear things, that we may not stumble in our expressions, nor in any office of brotherly love, in conference about the covenant of Grace and Works. 4. Forasmuch as you hear of a Sanctification under a Covenant of Works, it doth imply, that there is a Sanctification that is but transitory, and not everlasting, nor immortal; Whether then may a man evidence his union with Christ from his Sanctification? I answer in four Propositions, that I might not leave any occasion of scruple or difference about what is held forth in our Congregation; as being that which doth yield as much agitation as any other Doctrine that is taught among us. Let me therefore shortly and plainly discover it; and let it be so far received, as we see the life, and presence, and truth of the Spirit of God revealed in the Doctrine of Free-grace, from the Scriptures of Truth. That Sanctification according to the Law, (that is to say, such a Sanctification as may be found in a Covenant of Works) is no evidence, or witness of our union with Christ. And I suppose there is no difference there. But though there be no difference in men’s judgments in this; yet it is an easy thing for Christians to mistake their evidence upon this very ground, and as much upon this ground as any: For when Christians come to be really wrought upon, and find themselves discouraged from sin, and so reform their lives, and give up themselves to obey the Word, and find comfort therein, (and great consolation many times) in such a case as this Christians do much differ upon the point; and yet I do not know any of all the Teachers in this Country that withdraw their consents from this Doctrine, that such Sanctification as is wrought in hypocrites, though that it may reach to great improvements, yet it is no evidence of Justification at all.
CHAP. IV. The difference between the Sanctification which floweth from the Law and the Gospel.
It hath been handled in another Congregation, (and I think not without weight of truth) that to distinguish in men between that Sanctification which floweth from the Law, and that which is of the Gospel, is a matter so narrow, that the Angels in heaven have much ado to discern who differ: a work fitter for Angels to cut the scantling in it, then for the Ministers of the Gospel, though indeed there be great difference of the one from the other. Now though this do not tend to heal any difference in judgment; yet it is useful to heal a misprision of sanctification, that may be found in all hypocrites. Three things are to be attended unto in all Sanctification: As, 1. From what Root it springeth. 2. By what Rule it is guided. 3. At what End it aimeth. And commonly under someone or other of these three, are put all the differences between the one Sanctification and the other: I speak it, that it may be searched, and (God is my witness) not to unsettle the well-grounded comfort of any soul: but if any man hath built upon an unsafe foundation, or hath built hay, or stubble; better it is to know it at first, whilst there is hope in Israel, then when it is too late. In those three things formerly mentioned, are all the differences between the sanctification of Hypocrites, and of the Children of God; and they go so close together, that you will say, it is not an easy matter to discern Justification by Sanctification. 1. For the Root of it: The soul having fellowship with Christ, by the Holy Ghost coming into the soul, and working Faith in Jesus Christ. This is the Root of all Christian Sanctification: Ezek. 36:27. I will put my Spirit within you, &c. And, he that is joined to the Lord, is one Spirit, 1 Cor. 6:17, and for Faith, it is Faith that purifieth the heart, Act. 15:9, and, without Faith it is impossible to please God, Heb. 11:6. So that Faith must concur unto the rootedness of our Sanctification in Christ. But the Apostle doth attribute both these Roots unto those Christians that shall afterwards fall away to sin the sin against the Holy Ghost, Heb. 6. They have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost: that heavenly gift was Faith, which the Apostle reckoneth chiefly among the Principles of our Christian Religion, ver. 1. A taste they had of it; yet from both these they fall away: you know what was said of Saul, 1 Sam. 10:10. The Spirit of God came upon him: And so did it likewise upon Judas, and Demas, acting them mightily in their administrations; and as they were thus carried along by the Spirit: So likewise the Spirit of Bondage will marvelously prevail with the sons of men, to draw them on to strong works of Reformation, from whence they reap no small consolation; but think and say, (as Abisah did) that the Lord is with them, whilst they are with him: And as sometimes David said of himself, I believed, therefore I spake: So the Israelites also, (Psal. 106:12.) believed, and sang the praises of God, upon the Red-sea-shore, and yet were they but an hypocritical generation. And if Hypocrites may work miracles in the Name of Christ, (as they did, and expostulate with Christ about it, Matth. 7:22. Have we not prophesied in thy Name, and in thy Name cast out devils, and in thy Name done many wonderful works?) then may a temporary Faith work ordinary works in Christianity also: and therefore you shall read (Matth. 13:22.) that there is no fault found in the thorny soil for their want of root, or for their want of depth of earth; for the want of both which, the stony soil was taxed: but look as it is with the branches of a Vine, what depth of earth the root hath, they have it, being graffed into the Vine, though they be but πρόσκαιροι, branches of the wild Olive, and will bring forth but wild Fruit: for though the branch of the wild Olive be graffed into the fat Olive, and may flourish there; yet will it bring forth its own fruit; but in the root you will not find a difference: yet there is a difference, but it is very hard to be discerned. Yes, (will you say) there is a plain difference; for an Hypocrite is ever full of himself, but a true Christian doth all in Faith: he seeketh God daily, and waiteth upon God daily; and these are not the ways of Hypocrites. Consider I pray you what the Word of the Lord holdeth forth as the Root of this Sanctification, and I will go no further then express Scriptures: Isa. 58:2. They seek me daily; and this is spoken of hypocritical Israelites: and for waiting, we often hear it spoken of the five foolish Virgins, they all went out to meet the Bridegroom, Matth. 25:1, though whilst he tarried long, they all fell asleep; and so did the wise Virgins also. And for more particular application of God unto themselves, we find that also, Hos. 8:2. Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee; and yet (in the same Scripture) this Israel had transgressed the Covenant, and cast off the thing that is good: And for a further act of Faith, which is a staying a man’s self upon God; what saith the Text? Isa. 48:2. They stay themselves upon the God of Israel, (and yet these are obstinate; their neck as an iron sinew, and their brow as brass) but it was not in truth and uprightness; True, it was not: But how shall we know the difference? Truly it is hard to perceive when men differ, and therefore it is not an easy matter to make such use of Sanctification, as by it to bear witness unto Justification: and it will be a very hard case, yea much more difficult, when men cannot feel the presence of spiritual gifts, but want spiritual light: and when they do find Faith in themselves, they will find it in Hypocrites also, even Faith to seek the Lord, and Faith to wait upon him, and Faith to apply him, saying, My God; and Faith to stay upon the God of Israel: and yet these men do vanish away in hypocrisy. This Hypocrites may do: seeing therefore what easiness of error may befall Christians, whether this or that Grace may be of the right stamp, or no, it will behoove Christians to be wary; for even Eagle-eyed Christians will have much ado so to discern of Sanctification in themselves, before they see their Justification, as to cut off all Hypocrites from having the like in them. For the sanctified frame of life in God’s children, and that which seemeth to be like it in Hypocrites; both of them spring from the Holy Ghost, and both from Faith: but now the Spirit of God hath this farther work in his own people, beyond what he worketh upon others; though he melteth both, yet Hypocrites are melted as iron, which will return again to his hardness; but his own people are melted into flesh, which will never return to his hardness more; neither can they rest in any measure of softness, unto which they have attained, but still are carried towards Jesus Christ. So that the one is a Temporary Faith, and the other Persevereth; though both work in the Name of Jesus Christ, yet this difference will be found between them; not only when Hypocrites come to be blasted, but even in the midst of their profession. As for the Faith of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is not president of his own power, but his strength lieth out of himself in Jesus Christ, whereas hypocrites and legal Christians are confident of their Faith, that they can make use of it unto such and such ends: they think they need no more but look up to Jesus Christ, and their work is at an end; and such strength they find in themselves, that they do not fear but that they shall carry an end all their work in a safe course to God’s glory, and their own: whereas the strongest Faith, even of the Thessalonians (whose Faith was such, as that none of all the Churches went before them) if it be not supplied, and strengthened, they know, and the Apostle Paul knoweth that it will warp; this may we see by comparing 1 Thes. 1:3, with chap. 3:2,10, and the Faithful people of God, Isa. 26:12, acknowledge him to work all their works for them: and therefore as there is a real difference in the presence of the Spirit: so also in the work of Faith in hypocrites, and the children of God; for the one putteth confidence in himself, and the other in Jehovah. This is the first difference of Sanctification. 2. There is difference also in the Rule whereby they are guided: though both seek to the Word of God, and take delight in that, insomuch as you shall not be able to difference them there, yet a great difference there is in the apprehension of the word: the one is so confident of the strength and comfort that he hath in the word, as he will be ready to take it ill at God’s hand, if he find not assistance from him, and acceptance before him. Now the other see their need they have of the Lord to maintain their strength and comfort for them: this manner of affection we find in David, when as the Lord had brought him and his people into a sweet frame and temper of spirit, to offer willingly towards the building of the Temple; what saith David now? Doth he think this to be enough? No, no, But he prayeth to the Lord, 1 Chron. 29:18. O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our Fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee: thus is he sensible, that these comforts and strength would soon fail them, and they should again wax barren and uncomfortable, if the Lord should not still keep them: and here is the nature of true strength and consolation in Christ; to look up unto the Lord to preserve and maintain it; and so he is still drawn nearer and nearer unto Jesus Christ. But now though both attend unto the Word, as their Rule of Sanctification, if you take it in the way in which the one and the other hold it forth, yet there is a great difference. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments, Psal. 119:6. Here is a Rule: what may not Hypocrites walk according to this Rule? Truly, they profess no less, and they think it is enough, if they have but a rule in their eye; and therefore under a spirit of Bondage they are confident, and say, Whatsoever the Lord commandeth us, we will hear it, and do it, Deut. 5:27, and what saith Balaam? Though Balak would give me a house full of gold and silver, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, Numb. 22:18, and yet he loved the wages of iniquity: and indeed those that undertake so much in their own strength, they come afterward to be weary of the Lord, and weary of his commandments; as Amos 8:5. When will the new Moon be gone, that we may sell corn? And the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat? &c. and they say at last, It is in vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances? Mal. 3:14. These are but like washed Swine that will crop grass for a while in a fair pasture; but if you keep them long there, they will not delight in such manner of feeding, but will rather choose to go into the mire, and into a jakes; (that I may so speak with reverence to the Assembly) but as for Goats, they will delight in the commandments of the Lord, Isa. 58:2. They delight to know my ways, and delight in approaching unto God: It is not a very hard thing unto them, nor grievous to keep solemn fasting-days together; they come willingly, they delight to come, therefore the difference will hardly be discovered; and unless you be a Christian of a very clear discerning, you will not find the difference. But a Hypocrite will not delight in all God’s commandments: if you take Herod, he will delight in John Baptists preaching, and reform many things; but if it come to his not having his brother Philip’s wife, then put John into prison; and in the matter of Herodias, off with John’s head. We see what hypocrites profess, Deut. 5:27. Whatsoever the Lord commandeth us, we will hear it, and do it. But you will say, Not always: It is true, a difference in time will grow; but whilst they hold forth universal obedience, how will the difference be discerned? Discerned it will be, when the Lord leadeth them forth with workers of iniquity; but many may be led on to their death before they can be discovered: and therefore what will the servants of God say? I have seen hypocrites (to outward view) well rooted, and more comfortable than I myself; and for zeal, and love, the Galatians would have plucked out their eyes to have done Paul good; they thought themselves blessed in his ministry, blessed souls they took themselves to be: whereas the dear servants of God are slow to see so much goodness in themselves, they see so much corruption. But you will say, A hypocrite cannot aim at God as his last end, but will out-shoot God in his own bow; and at the highest, he seeketh no more but his own salvation, without respect unto the glory of God in it. It is true, and in time will appear, that every hypocrite thinketh to out- reach God in all the gifts that he hath received: but in the meanwhile, it is much that an hypocrite will do; and so much, that a poor Christian will be put to much exercise, to find a difference between himself and them: Jehu did not only think that he had zeal for the Lord, as he said, Come see my zeal for the Lord of Hosts; but good Jonadab likewise did so persuade himself, and therefore did readily join with him in his reformation; and when he proclaimed a sacrifice for Baal, he thought that Jehu would do no harm to himself in the Temple of Baal. Thus therefore sometimes it cometh to pass; because an hypocrite may for a long time find all his own ends attained in seeking the glory of God, as Jehu did: but, but in conclusion, when a man, and his own honor must part; then either he must hold to his own glory, or else he must neglect it, and keep him close to the honor of God: but in the meantime, what can I tell, but that I may shake hands with, and bid farewell unto God’s glory, when his and mine lie at stake together? But may not a man perceive a plain difference when it cometh to persecution? No, persecution will not clear the difference. For though the stony ground indeed fell off upon the point of persecution, yet the thorny soil did not so. Many Papists have died for their Religion; and how much more then may some hypocrite do it for the Truth? Yea, even give his body to be burned; and yet want Jesus Christ, and everlasting salvation by him, 1 Cor. 13:3. Now when a poor Christian cometh, and seeth how much such a one doth magnify God both in doing, and suffering, and yet falleth away; It maketh him conclude, Surely I also shall at length turn away from the Lord. So that whether you look at the Root, or Rule, or Scope, and bent of holiness, an hypocrite will carry all things in so fair a way, that you shall hardly discover him to his very death; and when a Christian cometh to measure his own Sanctification by this man’s sanctification, he will verily think the one to be as light as the other; and unless it be one that hath his wits well exercised, marvelous much ado he hath to clear himself in such a point as this. There be that think there is no reality in hypocritical sanctification; but certainly it is a real work, the gifts be real, though common Graces; and not mere counterfeit pretenses: there are indeed some that do merely pretend, and do but outwardly make fair weather in their profession: but (believe it) it is not so in all hypocrites, there is a real work in some, Heb. 6:4,5. They are enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and are made partakers of the holy Ghost, &c. these things are real, and not imaginary: God casting in their own ends, and their own glory in their way; the servants of God have given them the right hand of fellowship; and so long they have held out, that it was never known when they did apostate: yea, and so glorious may this common Sanctification be, that it may dazzle the eyes of the best of God’s children, and especially of poor Christians, and almost discourage them, when they see such to fall away. This very point hath been one principal root of Arminianism; as another is, that men receive Christ by their own Free-will: they are able to prove, that there is not only a pretense in hypocrites, but a real work; and so indeed the Scripture doth call it Sanctification, Heb. 19:29, now hereupon they do believe, that the very best of all the servants of God may depart from, and forsake their Justifying Faith: but there in they show the bleat of a Goat; in so saying they condemn the generation of the Righteous. It is true that the best of their righteousness may die, for they have known no more but the way of works. Thus much for the first Proposition. That true Christian Sanctification, (which is a work of Faith) is many times dark to a sincere Christian; it is generally granted to be so, in the first conversion, and in time of Temptation, and desertion; as also when a man looketh at the Majesty, and Purity, and Glory of God: Woe is me, for I am unclean (saith the Prophet Isaiah) at such a time: there is so much power of flesh even in spiritual Christians, specially in young Christians, so much power in their lusts, and in their passions, as will put their best friends to a stand, what to think of them, and much more themselves, when as they come to be pressed with the power of their corruptions, specially when they compare with such Hypocrites, as run along with more freedom of spirit then themselves; for sometimes their corruptions do less appear, and they are more free from temptations; and not exposed to such sinful courses, as sometimes true-hearted Christians are subject unto: so a poor Christian is discouraged, and an hypocrite is emboldened, seeing himself more sanctified in the outward view then the other. That the true sanctification of a sincere Christian is not discerned by him, nor is it indeed discernible, until he first discerns his Justifying Faith. A double ground of it, and so leave it to your Christian disquisition, and search; they are both taken from the necessity of Faith, both to the acceptance of a man’s person, and of his work: there is a necessity of the activeness of Faith in a man’s sanctification: The Lord had respect to Abel, and to his offering, Gen. 4:4, a man’s person must be first accepted, otherwise all his work will not go beyond the work of a legal Christian, and without Faith it is impossible to please God: no acceptance therefore without faith. It is also necessary to the performance of all spiritual and holy duties: for all sanctification is from that faith which Christ doth convey into the soul: Now if the just man live by his Faith, whether it be the life of sanctification, or consolation; then no Christian can discern his sanctification to be lively, but he must discern his faith living in it; he must see his faith, deriving strength, and grace, and life from Christ, or else he cannot approve his sanctification to be the Sanctification of the Gospel: for as there can be no true Sanctification, unless there be Faith whereby the person is accepted, and whereby life is received to act in all sanctification; so there can be no knowledge of Sanctification, but there must be knowledge of Faith, whereby a man’s person is accepted, and whereby strength is conveyed to Sanctification: for if a poor soul be doubtful of his acceptance with the Lord, he is where he was, notwithstanding his Sanctification, and wanteth comfort; for this doubt remaineth, whether he be accepted, or no; which (until the Lord do manifest a man’s Faith unto him by the revelation of the holy Ghost) he is still at a loss in: for though true Sanctification be an evidence of Justification, yet itself must be first evident. Thus we see by this third Proposition, that a further light is required to the sight of Sanctification. Notwithstanding this near resemblance between legal and Evangelical holiness, yet there is a real difference between them: and such a difference as is discernible to Christians, whose wits are exercised in the ways of the spirit and Word of God; and is discerned by the Revelation or manifestation of the Spirit of God, both of the state and work of good Christians: and that ordinarily also; for I would not count it extraordinary, being that which the Lord by his Spirit doth reveal unto his people. A real difference there is, both in the root, and in the rule, and in the scope which they aim at; and so it will appear to be at the last day: Matth. 2:23. Depart from me (saith Christ) you workers of iniquity, I never knew you: though they came and told him that they wrought by Faith in him: indeed they stood in some relation to him, but not as members to the head, only as branches to the vine, which may be cut off, and yet the vine not maimed; but if the members should be cut off, any one from the other, then is the body maimed, and Christ will not suffer his body to be maimed: but take you never so many branches from the vine, and it is not maimed, but will bring forth the more fruit: if therefore there be no more fellowship between Christ and a Christian, then between the branches and the vine, you may take them away, and yet not hurt the vine. But wherein should this relation stand? It is very hard to conceive; in so much that those who have been most exact, and diligent to inquire into it, have professed that it is Angels work; very hard it is so to distinguish them from God’s own children, as not to discomfort poor Christians, nor to embolden hypocrites; we must be tender therefore, that the least of God’s children may not want their bread: Better leave ninty- nine sheep, then that one poor stray sheep should not be sought after; and better an hundred hypocrites perish, then that one poor Christian should want his portion; and yet it is not meet that hypocrites should wallow themselves in the fellowship of the Saints, and always bless themselves in their carnal condition. If you shall ask a difference in the Root: both of them are partakers of the Holy Ghost; Hypocrites may have a taste, and a poor Christian will fear that his best fellowship with Christ is but a taste, and that manifold experience maketh good. Wherein then lieth the difference? Doth the Spirit of God leave the heart of a hypocrite stony, and unmelted? It is so indeed with the stony, but not with the thorny soil; for the hearts of some hypocrites are melted as iron stones; they may come to melt about their own estates through fear and sorrow: and so all those melt that want not depth of earth, as the thorny soil did not: but mind you, they will grow hard again, as iron, or lead will do, after it hath been melted. Now look at the Spirit of God when he cometh to work effectually, and he doth not only melt the heart, but taketh away the heart of stone, and giveth an heart of flesh; for it is not enough to break a stone, it will be a stone though it be broken; but when the Lord changeth it into flesh, then it will be hard no more; but though a man may have many temptations, yet the Lord will keep his heart soft forever. This is the first difference between hypocrites and God’s own servants in the root; though both may work in the Name of Christ; yet as the one is temporary, and the other persevereth: so this difference you shall find between common and sincere Christians; and that not only when legal Christians are blasted of God, but even then when they do most flourish in their profession. The true Faith of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is never present of its own strength, but goeth out of himself, and is dependent on Jesus Christ: whereas the legal Christian is confident in his Faith, that he can make use of it to these and these ends which are before him. He thinketh there is no more needful, but to look up unto Christ; and so his work is done: whereas take you the strongest Faith of the Thessalonians, who were grown to such height, that none of the Churches were before them; yet the Apostle doth not think their Faith strong enough, but prayeth for the supplying of something that is lacking in their Faith: otherwise, when it is at the best it will warp; whereas one that hath but a temporary Faith, he is confident in the strength of that Faith, insomuch that he doth not fear but to carry an end his profession in a safe course to God’s glory, and his own: thus we see there is a real difference between the presence and work of the Spirit in an hypocrite, and in a child of God: in particular, we see there is a difference in the Faith which is given unto both of them; the one hath confidence in himself, the other in Jehovah, Isa. 26:12,13. This is the first Difference in the Root of their profession. 2. There is difference also in the Rule by which they walk: though both seek to the Word, and delight in that, you shall not difference them there; yet this difference you shall find in their apprehensions; the one is confident of his comfort that he hath in the Word, the other seeth need that the Lord should maintain his comfort for him, 1 Chro. 29:18. David prayeth thus: O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our Fathers, keep this forever in the thoughts of the hearts of thy people, and prepare their hearts unto thee. As being sensible that this their comfortable frame of spirit would soon fail them, and they would quickly grow listless unto such spiritual work, as then they had been about: and this is the nature of true consolation in Jesus Christ, it maketh a man to have recourse unto the Author of it, to preserve it. Now though both attend unto the Word, yet here they differ: The one hath enough if he can see the Rule, like to the Israelites, Deut. 5:27. All that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, we will hear it, and do it: they have enough if they have the Rule: but a Christian attending rightly unto his rule, findeth it far off from him to walk according to it; unless the Lord be pleased so to set it home unto him, as that by his power he may be carried an end in obedience unto it: for though he know, and see his Rule, yet he wanteth somebody to rule his heart, according to his Rule; otherwise, though the Rule be straight, his walking will be crooked; as a child will write crookedly, though his line be straight: so a Christian man is sensible how his feet and hands will shake, when he cometh to walk or do anything by a rule; therefore he doth wholly look unto Christ, as being sensible of his own inability, unless he find help and strength from him. 3. There is difference between hypocrites and God’s people in the scope and end which they aim at: though both aim at the glory of God, yet both cannot attain to this, to make the glory of God their last end; but the one of these do secretly wind about to their own glory in the end: as Jehu doth, 2 King. 10:16. Come, see my zeal that I have for the Lord: but he bringeth about his own glory by it, and here is the main deceit of the work: he seeketh the glory of God in himself, and in his own hand; whereas the principal care of God’s own people is, and ought to be, the glory of God in Jesus Christ: but the other, his chief care is to have it seen that God is glorified by his hand; Come, see the zeal that I have. You will say, Is it not a great glory unto God to be glorified by my hand? Yes brother; but there is a great deceit in it: for many a man will work much, so far as his own glory is wrapped up in his actions, and like it well so long as God may be glorified in him: but all this while he wanteth those single affections after the glory of God for God’s sake. But how then should a man seek to promote the glory of God? If it be the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, which a man seeketh after, he will then rejoice as much that God may be glorified by his brother, as by himself; and that is the spirit of a true Israelite indeed: so that the name of Christ may be magnified, it’s no matter by whom; I therein rejoice, yea, and will rejoice, saith the blessed Apostle, Phil. 1:18. If any man therefore aimeth at God’s glory then only, when it may be an honor to his profession, no thank to you brother for that; much close work may be found, so long as both are carried an end together: but if when I hear that my brother glorifieth God, I could have wished that such a thing had been done or spoken by me; and it is the worse because it is not done by my hand: if that, which is the rich goodness of God to my brother, be not my rejoicing, it is because of the Core of hypocrisy in my heart. Thus have we seen particularly the difference between Legal and Evangelical holiness. We proceed still in this fourth Use, to a fifth Question, If Jesus Christ be the first Gift that is given to the children of God, before he giveth right unto Promises, or to me to challenge promises, yea, before he giveth me any other gifts of his saving grace; then any soul may ask this Question: Of what use are promises, if they be not to bring me to Christ? Yea specially, to what end are conditional promises made (that is to say, Promises to such and such Qualifications) if I may not take a Promise in the one hand, and a Qualification in the other hand, and bring them both to God, and lay hold upon Christ with both hands, in the strength of this Promise made to this Qualification?
CHAP. III. From Union with Christ, there springeth Communion with him in spiritual blessings.
or hence springeth communion with Christ in all spiritual blessings, that the Lord hath wrought for us in him; and they are two of them Relative blessings (as they are called by Divines) and two of them positive blessings. The two Former are laid up in God’s own Hand, and are not created in us: the other two positive Blessings are created in us. 1. For the uncreated Blessings, They are, 1. Adoption. 2. Justification. And they spring immediately (simul & semel) from the former union with Christ; for as soon as ever the Spirit of God is in our hearts, and hath wrought faith, that we do not spurn against Jesus Christ, but receive him, now is the Divine Nature of Christ in us, and we are now become the sons of God, as Christ himself is. Look as in a man’s first natural conception, as soon as ever one doth live, there is an heir of Adam, even so soon as the soul liveth: so it is in the new spiritual Birth; as soon as the Holy Ghost cometh, and hath wrought this Faith, now is the Seed of God in us, the Life of Christ, and the Spirit of God; and now we are the Sons of God, as we read Joh. chap. 12. As many as received him, to them he gave power to be the sons of God. Immediately upon this union with Christ, we are Sons by Adoption; and as we are adopted, so likewise our sins are now imputed unto Christ, and his righteousness unto us, and so our persons are justified. For how, and when was Adam's sin imputed unto us? Psal. 51:5. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, in sin did my mother conceive me: So soon as over there was life, it was the life of Adam, and then the imputation of Adams sin falleth immediately upon the soul. So when we do receive Christ by this living Faith, having the Life of Christ in us, we have the righteousness of Christ (the second Adam) imputed to us. For what doth the child in the womb? Though it doth neither good nor evil, but is merely passive, yet sinful it is, and a child of Adam: So also in this our Regeneration, the soul receiveth Christ by that Faith which the Lord hath wrought in it, whereby also it is made capable of the privilege of Adoption; and so the Lord accounteth us his children, and imputeth the Righteousness of his Son unto us, whereby we are Justified. These things do dwell in God’s Bosom, and the meaning of them is afterwards revealed unto the soul; but communicated they are, both that of Adoption, and this of Justification, by this gift of faith wrought in us. But we are still upon the first work of conversion, wherein a Christian is only passive, and receptive; and truly it must needs be so in the first work of God upon us. 2. Now for the Positive Blessings that are wrought in us: They are, 1. Sanctification. 2. Glorification. 1. When we are called, then are we Sanctified, then are we Glorified, 1 Cor. 1:2, as in our natural conception, as soon as ever the child liveth, Adams sin is first imputed, and then there is a proneness in it to carry it captive unto fin, and to make it backward unto any goodness: So when the Life of Christ is dispensed unto the soul, now the Lord comes to convey with it Justification, or pardon of sin, and then there is a promise in a Justified person to walk in the spirit, Gal. 5:25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. By Faith our hearts come to be purified, Acts 15:9, and the same Spirit quickeneth us unto holy duties, so that we live, yet not we, but Christ liveth in us; neither are we only in his hand, but the Spirit sanctifying, draweth us into an holy confederacy to serve God in Family, Church, and Common-wealth; and this Sanctification groweth, and increaseth more and more, 2 Cor. 7:1, 1 Thes. 4:1, and 5:23. 2. The other positive gift is Glorification, which we read of, Rom. 8:30. Whom he called, them also he justified; and whom he justified, them also he glorified: this the Apostle Peter mentioneth, 1 Pet. 5:10. The God of all grace hath called us into his eternal glory it Christ Jesus: And in truth, he hath begun the work from the time that he first began to sanctify us, 2 Tim. 1:9. He hath saved us, and called us: from the very first time that God worketh upon the soul graciously, there is a glorious work in that soul; and others may see it, though himself sometimes seeth nothing that he hath received. Thus we see the second branch of the Doctrine opened, How the Lord doth receive Abraham and his seed unto himself, preparing them by a spirit of Bondage, and of Burning, and then taking possession of them savingly by the inhabitation of the blessed Spirit; the same Spirit begetting Faith, we are alive in Jesus Christ, and so come to be Adopted, and Justified in him: the same Faith which receiveth Adoption and Justification, doth begin to stir a little, and to breath forth into gracious desires, and some holy mourning, and beginneth now to put forth such works as the holy Ghost carrieth the soul an end in; working all our works in us, and for us. 3. Now for the third and last part of the Doctrine: The Lord took the chiefest of Abraham’s seed to be the Mediator of this Covenant, unto whom all the Promises were made, Gal. 3:16. How did the Lord constitute him so to be? 1. By a double Act: first, by receiving Jesus Christ the Son of the Virgin Mary, to be one Person with the second in Trinity, hereby laying a ground of a firm Mediation between God and us: for Jesus Christ being of God’s Nature, therefore he will be faithful unto God; and being of our Nature, therefore he will be compassionate towards us. And here is the root of all the life and power of this Mediation, to wit, this Personal Union of the Son of man, with the second Person in Trinity, which is a firm and everlasting Union, 2. By God’s giving him to be a Covenant, Isa. 42:6. I will give thee for a Covenant of the People, for a Light of the Gentiles. What is meant hereby? The Lord meaneth, that he giveth him to be a Mediator of this Covenant: 1. To receive from God all the promises and gracious gifts, whatsoever is requisite for him to be, King, Priest, and Prophet; and all these things he receiveth from the hand of the Father, Col. 1:19, for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell: thus he becometh a plentiful Redeemer. And as the Lord gave him to be a Covenant, so he giveth him also to work all things needful for our Redemption; partly by his passion, and obedience unto the Death of the Cross, Phil. 2:8, and partly by fulfilling all the righteousness of the Law, Matth. 3:15. The Lord Jesus Christ did fully accomplish whatsoever was requisite for him to accomplish in his own Person. 2. He doth perform all things needful for the Application of this Redemption unto our souls, Isa. 26:12. And to this end, he it is that sheddeth abroad his Spirit into our hearts, Joh. 15:26, and 16:7, and when this blessed Spirit cometh, he applieth unto the soul all this gracious Redemption of Jesus Christ, by giving Jesus Christ and all the Fruits of his redemption, and by working all those blessed works, that the souls of his people come to be partakers of; and so performeth all those conditions that are required on our parts: if it be needful for us to have Faith, he will work it in us; if it be needful for us to live a life of Faith, he will help us so to live, for it is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God: Eph. 2:9. Thus hath the Lord made him a complete Mediator of this holy Covenant; and whatsoever we receive, we receive from him: for unto him first, as the head of the Church, are all blessings given; and unto us, all promises in him are Yea, and in him Amen, 2 Cor. 1:20, for though Christ be not a sinner in his own Person, yet in respect of his Members, he is many times lost in them, though not in himself; and poor in them, though not in himself: for us therefore he receiveth the Promises of God; and that is the great security of them, that they are laid up safe in him, and belong unto us if we have union with the Head; and in him we perform whatsoever God requireth; whether we pray, or preach, or hear, we do all in the Name of Jesus Christ, going forth in his strength, and power: Col. 3:17. Thus is the Lord Jesus Christ a firm surety of this better Covenant, stablished upon better Promises, Heb. 8:6. In the first place: This may teach us a broad difference between the Covenant of Works, and the Covenant of Grace. In the Covenant of Works, the Lord offereth Himself as a Father, his Son as a Redeemer, his Spirit as a Sanctifier; but this is still upon a condition of obedience: if they shall keep his Laws, and obey his voice, then they shall be a peculiar treasure unto him above all people, Exod. 19:5,6. This also they undertake to do, Deut. 5:27. All that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, we will hear it, and do it; but, O saith God, that there was such an heart in them, ver. 29. When they rebelled, he did not pardon them graciously, but the Angel whom he sendeth with them, he biddeth them beware of him, and obey his voice, and provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my Name is in him: In the Covenant of Grace he will, but not in this: here is indeed a conditional Redeemer and Savior; and so it is expressed, Isa. 63:8,9,10. He was their Savior; in all their affliction he was afflicted, and the Angel of his presence saved them in his love, &c. But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit, therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and fought against them: with many of them God was not well pleased (almost with none of them) but overthrew them in the wilderness: Thus in the Covenant of Works all is given upon condition of obedience. The Lord giving himself, his Son, and Spirit upon condition, though it be but to Works, yet he is pleased to receive them into some kind of Relative Union, expressed, Jer. 32:32. Which my Covenant they brake, although I was a Husband to them. He was married unto them in Church-Covenant, this was some kind of union: He was their God, and they were his peculiar people; and yet the Lord cast them off, a generation of his wrath, from this Marriage-Covenant between them and him: from this union there springeth a kind of Faith, by which the soul cleaveth unto the Lord in some measure; else there could not be this Marriage-Union; and this Faith is that of which you read, Psal. 106:12,13. They believed his words; they sang his praise: they soon forgot his works: they waited not for his counsel: So also Exod. 14:31, it is said, They believed the Lord, and his servant Moses: this is that Faith which men may receive, and yet may Apostate from it, spoken of, Heb. 6:3, to 6. For a while some do believe, and in time of temptation fall away, Luk. 8:13. But all that Faith was never grounded upon any free promise of Grace, but all was built upon Ordinances, and Duties, and upon no higher ground. In the 2 Chron. 13:8, to 12, marvelously strong are the expressions of Abijah, when Jeroboam came against him; You think to withstand the Kingdom of the Lord in the hand of David, &c. Have not you cast out the Priests of the Lord? Saith he, &c. But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the Priests which minister unto the Lord are the Sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business; and they burn unto the Lord every morning, and every evening Burnt-sacrifices, and sweet Incense; the Show-bread also they set in order upon the pure Table, and the Candlestick of gold, with the Lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the Lord our God, but ye have forsaken him. And behold, God himself is with us for our Captain, and his Priests with sounding Trumpets to cry Alarm against you. O ye children of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper. Thus we see what Faith he did express; and hereupon (ver. 18.) the children of Israel were brought under, and the children of Judah prevailed; and yet this Kings heart was not perfect with the Lord his God: 2 King. 15:3, and yet (mind you) a strong confidence he had, that the Lord was with him, and that he would be present with his own ordinances; there Faith built upon fellowship with Ordinances, like unto that Faith in the Scripture before alleged, Luk. 8:13. Men are affected with the Word, and believe, and find comfort; and all this springeth from that Relative communion which they have with the Lord; they find refreshing in their way and work, and many times take it for the very Seal of the Spirit of God; all which may be, and often is found in Hypocrites: but here is the difference; In a Covenant of Works God giveth himself conditionally; in that of Grace, absolutely: in both, he maketh a Covenant, in the one of Grace, the other of Works, in which the voice of the Lord is, If you be true to me, then I will not renounce you; and in this Covenant is Faith found, but it is only built upon such changes as they find in themselves, and will in the end vanish utterly away. There is a Difference also that springeth from the fruits of these two Covenants in their continuance: for though in the Covenant of Works there be a semblance of Justification, and Adoption, and a kind of Sanctification, yet they endure but for a season; and therefore he calleth them Lo-ammi, for ye are not my people; and Lo-ruhamah, for I will no more have mercy, though sometimes they were his people, and he then had mercy on them: they may also have pardon of sin for a season, Psal. 78:37,38. Being full of compassion, he forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not; yet they were such whose heart was not upright with him, neither were they steadfast in his Covenant: this is plainly held forth in the Parable, Matth. 18:23, to the end: when the servant had not wherewith to pay his Lord, he fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all, his Lord was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the Debt: but when he had not like compassion on his fellow servant, then his Lord was wroth, and charged all his iniquities upon him, and cast him into prison until he should pay all that was due unto him: So that this pardon is not everlasting, but only respite from outward punishment, and from inward pangs of conscience many times; and this they take for pardon of sin, and acceptance in Jesus Christ, when indeed they are deluded: So likewise their Sanctification is but for a moment, they come at last some of them to tread underfoot the Blood of the Covenant wherewith they were sanctified, Heb. 10:29. For, Christ was but a conditional Redeemer unto them: they had only gifts of Tongues, and utterance, and wisdom, and discerning of Spirits, and a common Faith: which things are not that Sanctification which is a fruit of Saving Faith; but only such gifts as do sanctify them unto the work of the Ministry perhaps, or Magistracy, and fit them for household-government, or the like: and so much positive work there is in them, as doth make them in some measure fit for the work, or service which they are called unto. For a little more explaining of this: Is it the same with that Sanctification which is in God’s children? God forbid. All the men in the world are divided into two Ranks: Godly, or Ungodly; Righteous, or Wicked; of wicked men, two sorts; some are notoriously wicked, others are Hypocrites: of Hypocrites, two sorts (and you shall find them in the Church of God), some are washed Swine, others are Goats. 1. The Swine are those of whom our Savior Christ saith, that they return unto their wallowing in the mire: like unto these are such men, as at the hearing of some Sermon have been stomach-sick of their sins, and have rejected their wicked courses, but yet the swine’s heart remaineth in them; and as a swine, when he cometh where the puddle is, will readily lie down in it; so will these men wallow in the puddle of uncleanness, when their conscience is not pricked for the present: but these are a grosser kind of Hypocrites. 2. There is another sort that goes far beyond these: and those are Goats, so called, Matth. 25:32,33, and these are clean beasts, such as chew the cud, meditate upon ordinances; and they divide the hoof; they live both in a general, and particular calling, and will not be idle: they are also fit for sacrifice: what then is wanting? Truly, they are not Sheep all this while, they are but Goats; yet a Goat doth loath that which a Swine will readily break into: but where then do they fall short of the nature of Sheep? A difference there is, which standeth principally in these Particulars. 1. The Goat is of a capricious Nature, and affecteth eminency; his Gate also is stately, Prov. 30:31. Agur reckoneth the He-Goat among the four things that are comely in going. 2. And they are full of Ambition; they cannot abide swamps, and holes, but will be climbing upon the tops of mountains; there is not that plain, lowly, sheep-like frame, that attendeth unto the voice of the shepherd to be led up and down into fresh pastures: they attend upon their own ends, and will outshoot God in his own bow; and therefore when they have done many things for Christ, he will say unto them, Depart from me ye workers of iniquity: more eminency they did affect, then they were guided unto: thus it was with Jehu, who in his zeal for God, thought to promote himself; and herein he will not be persuaded of his sin, and therefore walking along in crooked ways, the Lord led him forth with evil doers; he cometh at length to cleave unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin: notwithstanding you may receive a Goat into Church-fellowship for all his capricious Nature, and he will be a clean creature, and of much good use: the five foolish, (Matth. 25:2.) were all of them virgins, all of them abhorring Idolatry, and all go forth to meet the Bridegroom; and yet they are foolish, and never shall you make them wise, to be all for Christ, in him, and from him, only hearing and obeying his voice. 3. They are of a rankish nature all of them, specially the old Goats will have an unsavory relish, far from the pleasant sweetness that is in a Sheep; and herein hypocrites are greatly different from the Sheep of Christ; and many times also they do push with the shoulder the poor sheep of Christ, as the Prophet speaketh, Ezek. 34:21. And they mar the pastures with their feet, and will be at length muddling the fair waters of the Sanctuary also: And in their best sanctification they fall far short of a sheeplike frame of spirit, diligently to hear the voice of the shepherd; this will not be found in the sanctification of the best hypocrite under heaven; they may go far, and yet at length fall away: this is no Arminianism, but if you search the Scriptures diligently, you will find these things to be true. But such instances deceive the Arminians. There is a fourth Difference between the Covenant of Works and of Grace in respect of the Mediator: Gal. 3:19. The Law was given and ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator; Moses was a mediator according to their Works; and this our Savior telleth the Jews, Joh. 5:45. You have one that accuseth you, even Moses in whom ye trust: and as for Jesus Christ, if he be given to be their Redeemer, it is but according to their works, if they shall obey his voice: but if they shall sin against him, he will overthrow them body and soul into the nethermost Hell. But now in the Covenant of Grace, Jesus Christ hath obtained a more excellent ministry, to be the Mediator of a better Covenant, established upon better promises, Heb. 8:6. Thus we see in this first Use the difference between the Covenant of Works, and the Covenant of Grace. I might (in the second place) from hence also gather an Argument against the whole Body of Arminianism; for they look at no gift of God, but merely upon the Faith, or Works of the creature foreseen: if you speak of Election, they tell you it is of Faith foreseen; if of Glory, it is upon condition of perseverance: but we see how contrary it is unto this truth of God; for he giveth himself first, before he giveth anything else accompanying salvation: he gave us Christ in his eternal Counsel, before Election; and so doth he also in our Effectual calling; not Faith before Christ, to enable us to choose whether we will have him, or not have him: but he is God, and first giveth himself, and with himself, Faith, and so worketh our wills unto himself, not otherwise, leaving it to us to choose whether we will have him to be our God or no. Many things in Popery and Arminianism come to be confuted from hence; for in truth they hold forth no more but a Covenant of Works: and if we will not grant Faith and good Works to be the cause of all the blessed gifts of God, they will take it marvelously unkindly; but they were as good deliver unto us another Gospel. This may also serve to teach the people of God to bear a gracious respect unto those that are under a Covenant of Works, and not forthwith to condemn them, as if there were no hope of their salvation: for God never calleth any unto fellowship with himself in a Covenant of Grace, but ordinarily he first bringeth them into a Covenant of Works. The ignorant look to be saved by their good prayers, and by their good serving of God. After, God may terrify and humble their souls with the sense of their palpable wickedness. Then they may reform and trust in their performances: and then God may burn up all such false confidence; Therefore those that are under a Covenant of Works, may belong unto the Lord, as well as thyself; pray for them therefore; Paul was under a Covenant of Works, Steven prayeth for him; and as most conceive, that prayer was effectual unto his Conversion, and Paul was as dear unto the Lord as Steven himself was. Men under a Covenant of Works, the Lord may bring them home unto himself, by dashing all their works in pieces, and showing them the prefidence of their spirit: and the Lord will also come and pluck away the caul from their hearts; and then they will have none in heaven but Christ, nor in the earth in comparison of him; and then the Holy Ghost convinceth them of this sin above all their other sins, that they have not believed on Jesus Christ. Do not therefore censure any such, as to say there is no likelihood that they should ever come to have fellowship with Christ; for if the Lord make them to fall down before him, and to yield up their spirits unto the Lord in holy reverence, and fear, these have now received some secret smoking affections (besides a Spirit of burning) which the Lord will not quench. It may serve in the next place to clear up our judgments in sundry passages that do concern the Covenant of Grace, by Answers unto these six Questions following. 1. What is the first Gift that ever the Lord giveth unto his Elect? First of all he giveth himself: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; this is the Foundation; and if you shall lay Faith in the Foundation before these, the foundation will lie uneasily, and the spirit of a true Christian shall not lie long in peace; Christ must therefore be first, and with him Faith cometh in to receive him: first he will make a Covenant with us, and put his holy Spirit within us, which worketh in us Faith, and Fear, that we never shall depart from him. He giveth us his Son, and all things else in him: he giveth us in him pardon of sins in our Justification, and in him some degrees of Glory also, and in him right unto all the Promises of the Covenant; no other Foundation but him: take him first therefore, for he is the first thing given. But whether doth not the Lord give us some saving preparations, before Jesus Christ? Reserving due honor to such gracious and precious Saints, as may be otherwise minded, I confess I do not discern, that the Lord worketh and giveth any saving preparation, in the heart, till he give union with Christ; for if the Lord do give any saving Qualification before Christ, then the soul may be in the state of salvation before Christ; and that seemeth to be prejudicial unto the Grace and Truth of Jesus Christ: for if there be no Name under heaven given, whereby we must be saved, but only Jesus Christ; nor his Name, but in a way of fellowship with him; then it seemeth to me apparently to follow, that whatsoever saving work there be in the soul, it is not there before Christ be there. It is true, John the Baptist was sent to subdue all flesh, by a Spirit of Burning, which burneth up carnal confidence in the Covenant of Abraham, and all their fruits of righteousness: here were indeed preparations for Christ, but these were not saving, they were still children of wrath; ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, notwithstanding all this. Further, John did indeed dispense poverty of Spirit, unto which a saving Promise was made; but then Jesus Christ was there also; whether they knew it, or knew it not, that is not greatly material in this Argument: but if the Kingdom of Heaven was there, Jesus Christ was there first, otherwise it will prove dishonorable unto the Name of Christ. Indeed there is a saving preparation before consolation in Christ, and the manifestation of our gracious union with him; but for our first union, there are no steps unto that Altar, Exod. 20, ult. but Christ doth prepare his Tabernacle for himself to dwell in. This is in the first place for instruction, concerning what is the first gift which the Lord giveth unto the soul, before any work. He giveth spiritual union with his Son: this standeth firm from the tenor of the Covenant, and the nature of it. 2. In what order the Lord giveth the Covenant, and the blessings of it: whether Faith before them, or those Blessings before Faith be able to apply them? He doth give himself to work Faith, before Faith can be there; for it is the Fruit of the Spirit that Faith is wrought in the soul; the Spirit is in the soul in which Faith (as a fruit) groweth; and this Faith doth receive the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ himself by his Spirit; and it doth also receive Adoption, and Justification: but to be able actually to apply Christ, before we be in Christ, our first birth will not bear it; for a man is as passive in his Regeneration, as in his first Generation; only the Lord giveth us his Spirit that doth unite us unto Christ, which is received by Faith, together with Adoption and Justification: and this is the true and native order of the Lord’s working. 3. Whether do we receive the Lord Jesus Christ in an absolute, or in a conditional Promise? We know the Lord can convey himself in an Evangelical commandment, as well as in a promise; as we find it, Isa. 41:12. Fear thou not, worm Jacob, I will help thee, &c. He can also convey himself in a threatening unto the Devil; as unto our first parents he did convey himself, wrapping up a promise in it, as Gen. 3:15. I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel: and from hence the Lord gave them to suck a sweet and comfortable promise of his Free Grace: and when the like is conveyed in a commandment, the Lord undertaketh to work that which he so commandeth: But now it is questioned, Whether the promise wherein the Lord giveth himself, be absolute, or conditional. Faith uniting us to Christ, it is ever upon an absolute promise, or a condition subsequent, not antecedent. If you will say it is a Promise to a Condition, what kind of condition was it? There is no condition before Faith; for then a man is out of the way of any gracious Blessing from heaven; no condition before it, whereby a man can close with Jesus Christ: and if it was a condition after Faith, unto which the promise was made, then Faith was there before; and whatsoever followeth conversion, is no ground of Faith, but a fruit and effect of it: therefore I say, our first coming on to Christ, cannot be upon a conditional, but upon an absolute Promise. If the Lord bear witness unto Justification, it is either absolute, or to Faith. If he comes to bear witness unto a man’s Sanctification, then the Lord doth it from some work or other of his Grace in them; as unto Abraham, Gen. 22:12. By this I know that thou fearest me, seeing thou-hast not withheld thy Son, thine only Son. It is true indeed, after a man’s Justification is born witness unto from Grace, or from Faith, then Sanctification and Justification do mutually bear witness one to another: that is, when Justification is not wholly doubted of, but in part, then Sanctification is of use to witness; but not when Justification lieth wholly prostrate. There is a fourth Question, which is as a further branch of the fourth Use; of which I would not speak, but that I might, through the good hand of God, the better clear things, that we may not stumble in our expressions, nor in any office of brotherly love, in conference about the covenant of Grace and Works. 4. Forasmuch as you hear of a Sanctification under a Covenant of Works, it doth imply, that there is a Sanctification that is but transitory, and not everlasting, nor immortal; Whether then may a man evidence his union with Christ from his Sanctification? I answer in four Propositions, that I might not leave any occasion of scruple or difference about what is held forth in our Congregation; as being that which doth yield as much agitation as any other Doctrine that is taught among us. Let me therefore shortly and plainly discover it; and let it be so far received, as we see the life, and presence, and truth of the Spirit of God revealed in the Doctrine of Free-grace, from the Scriptures of Truth. That Sanctification according to the Law, (that is to say, such a Sanctification as may be found in a Covenant of Works) is no evidence, or witness of our union with Christ. And I suppose there is no difference there. But though there be no difference in men’s judgments in this; yet it is an easy thing for Christians to mistake their evidence upon this very ground, and as much upon this ground as any: For when Christians come to be really wrought upon, and find themselves discouraged from sin, and so reform their lives, and give up themselves to obey the Word, and find comfort therein, (and great consolation many times) in such a case as this Christians do much differ upon the point; and yet I do not know any of all the Teachers in this Country that withdraw their consents from this Doctrine, that such Sanctification as is wrought in hypocrites, though that it may reach to great improvements, yet it is no evidence of Justification at all.
CHAP. IV. The difference between the Sanctification which floweth from the Law and the Gospel.
It hath been handled in another Congregation, (and I think not without weight of truth) that to distinguish in men between that Sanctification which floweth from the Law, and that which is of the Gospel, is a matter so narrow, that the Angels in heaven have much ado to discern who differ: a work fitter for Angels to cut the scantling in it, then for the Ministers of the Gospel, though indeed there be great difference of the one from the other. Now though this do not tend to heal any difference in judgment; yet it is useful to heal a misprision of sanctification, that may be found in all hypocrites. Three things are to be attended unto in all Sanctification: As, 1. From what Root it springeth. 2. By what Rule it is guided. 3. At what End it aimeth. And commonly under someone or other of these three, are put all the differences between the one Sanctification and the other: I speak it, that it may be searched, and (God is my witness) not to unsettle the well-grounded comfort of any soul: but if any man hath built upon an unsafe foundation, or hath built hay, or stubble; better it is to know it at first, whilst there is hope in Israel, then when it is too late. In those three things formerly mentioned, are all the differences between the sanctification of Hypocrites, and of the Children of God; and they go so close together, that you will say, it is not an easy matter to discern Justification by Sanctification. 1. For the Root of it: The soul having fellowship with Christ, by the Holy Ghost coming into the soul, and working Faith in Jesus Christ. This is the Root of all Christian Sanctification: Ezek. 36:27. I will put my Spirit within you, &c. And, he that is joined to the Lord, is one Spirit, 1 Cor. 6:17, and for Faith, it is Faith that purifieth the heart, Act. 15:9, and, without Faith it is impossible to please God, Heb. 11:6. So that Faith must concur unto the rootedness of our Sanctification in Christ. But the Apostle doth attribute both these Roots unto those Christians that shall afterwards fall away to sin the sin against the Holy Ghost, Heb. 6. They have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost: that heavenly gift was Faith, which the Apostle reckoneth chiefly among the Principles of our Christian Religion, ver. 1. A taste they had of it; yet from both these they fall away: you know what was said of Saul, 1 Sam. 10:10. The Spirit of God came upon him: And so did it likewise upon Judas, and Demas, acting them mightily in their administrations; and as they were thus carried along by the Spirit: So likewise the Spirit of Bondage will marvelously prevail with the sons of men, to draw them on to strong works of Reformation, from whence they reap no small consolation; but think and say, (as Abisah did) that the Lord is with them, whilst they are with him: And as sometimes David said of himself, I believed, therefore I spake: So the Israelites also, (Psal. 106:12.) believed, and sang the praises of God, upon the Red-sea-shore, and yet were they but an hypocritical generation. And if Hypocrites may work miracles in the Name of Christ, (as they did, and expostulate with Christ about it, Matth. 7:22. Have we not prophesied in thy Name, and in thy Name cast out devils, and in thy Name done many wonderful works?) then may a temporary Faith work ordinary works in Christianity also: and therefore you shall read (Matth. 13:22.) that there is no fault found in the thorny soil for their want of root, or for their want of depth of earth; for the want of both which, the stony soil was taxed: but look as it is with the branches of a Vine, what depth of earth the root hath, they have it, being graffed into the Vine, though they be but πρόσκαιροι, branches of the wild Olive, and will bring forth but wild Fruit: for though the branch of the wild Olive be graffed into the fat Olive, and may flourish there; yet will it bring forth its own fruit; but in the root you will not find a difference: yet there is a difference, but it is very hard to be discerned. Yes, (will you say) there is a plain difference; for an Hypocrite is ever full of himself, but a true Christian doth all in Faith: he seeketh God daily, and waiteth upon God daily; and these are not the ways of Hypocrites. Consider I pray you what the Word of the Lord holdeth forth as the Root of this Sanctification, and I will go no further then express Scriptures: Isa. 58:2. They seek me daily; and this is spoken of hypocritical Israelites: and for waiting, we often hear it spoken of the five foolish Virgins, they all went out to meet the Bridegroom, Matth. 25:1, though whilst he tarried long, they all fell asleep; and so did the wise Virgins also. And for more particular application of God unto themselves, we find that also, Hos. 8:2. Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee; and yet (in the same Scripture) this Israel had transgressed the Covenant, and cast off the thing that is good: And for a further act of Faith, which is a staying a man’s self upon God; what saith the Text? Isa. 48:2. They stay themselves upon the God of Israel, (and yet these are obstinate; their neck as an iron sinew, and their brow as brass) but it was not in truth and uprightness; True, it was not: But how shall we know the difference? Truly it is hard to perceive when men differ, and therefore it is not an easy matter to make such use of Sanctification, as by it to bear witness unto Justification: and it will be a very hard case, yea much more difficult, when men cannot feel the presence of spiritual gifts, but want spiritual light: and when they do find Faith in themselves, they will find it in Hypocrites also, even Faith to seek the Lord, and Faith to wait upon him, and Faith to apply him, saying, My God; and Faith to stay upon the God of Israel: and yet these men do vanish away in hypocrisy. This Hypocrites may do: seeing therefore what easiness of error may befall Christians, whether this or that Grace may be of the right stamp, or no, it will behoove Christians to be wary; for even Eagle-eyed Christians will have much ado so to discern of Sanctification in themselves, before they see their Justification, as to cut off all Hypocrites from having the like in them. For the sanctified frame of life in God’s children, and that which seemeth to be like it in Hypocrites; both of them spring from the Holy Ghost, and both from Faith: but now the Spirit of God hath this farther work in his own people, beyond what he worketh upon others; though he melteth both, yet Hypocrites are melted as iron, which will return again to his hardness; but his own people are melted into flesh, which will never return to his hardness more; neither can they rest in any measure of softness, unto which they have attained, but still are carried towards Jesus Christ. So that the one is a Temporary Faith, and the other Persevereth; though both work in the Name of Jesus Christ, yet this difference will be found between them; not only when Hypocrites come to be blasted, but even in the midst of their profession. As for the Faith of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is not president of his own power, but his strength lieth out of himself in Jesus Christ, whereas hypocrites and legal Christians are confident of their Faith, that they can make use of it unto such and such ends: they think they need no more but look up to Jesus Christ, and their work is at an end; and such strength they find in themselves, that they do not fear but that they shall carry an end all their work in a safe course to God’s glory, and their own: whereas the strongest Faith, even of the Thessalonians (whose Faith was such, as that none of all the Churches went before them) if it be not supplied, and strengthened, they know, and the Apostle Paul knoweth that it will warp; this may we see by comparing 1 Thes. 1:3, with chap. 3:2,10, and the Faithful people of God, Isa. 26:12, acknowledge him to work all their works for them: and therefore as there is a real difference in the presence of the Spirit: so also in the work of Faith in hypocrites, and the children of God; for the one putteth confidence in himself, and the other in Jehovah. This is the first difference of Sanctification. 2. There is difference also in the Rule whereby they are guided: though both seek to the Word of God, and take delight in that, insomuch as you shall not be able to difference them there, yet a great difference there is in the apprehension of the word: the one is so confident of the strength and comfort that he hath in the word, as he will be ready to take it ill at God’s hand, if he find not assistance from him, and acceptance before him. Now the other see their need they have of the Lord to maintain their strength and comfort for them: this manner of affection we find in David, when as the Lord had brought him and his people into a sweet frame and temper of spirit, to offer willingly towards the building of the Temple; what saith David now? Doth he think this to be enough? No, no, But he prayeth to the Lord, 1 Chron. 29:18. O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our Fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee: thus is he sensible, that these comforts and strength would soon fail them, and they should again wax barren and uncomfortable, if the Lord should not still keep them: and here is the nature of true strength and consolation in Christ; to look up unto the Lord to preserve and maintain it; and so he is still drawn nearer and nearer unto Jesus Christ. But now though both attend unto the Word, as their Rule of Sanctification, if you take it in the way in which the one and the other hold it forth, yet there is a great difference. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments, Psal. 119:6. Here is a Rule: what may not Hypocrites walk according to this Rule? Truly, they profess no less, and they think it is enough, if they have but a rule in their eye; and therefore under a spirit of Bondage they are confident, and say, Whatsoever the Lord commandeth us, we will hear it, and do it, Deut. 5:27, and what saith Balaam? Though Balak would give me a house full of gold and silver, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, Numb. 22:18, and yet he loved the wages of iniquity: and indeed those that undertake so much in their own strength, they come afterward to be weary of the Lord, and weary of his commandments; as Amos 8:5. When will the new Moon be gone, that we may sell corn? And the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat? &c. and they say at last, It is in vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances? Mal. 3:14. These are but like washed Swine that will crop grass for a while in a fair pasture; but if you keep them long there, they will not delight in such manner of feeding, but will rather choose to go into the mire, and into a jakes; (that I may so speak with reverence to the Assembly) but as for Goats, they will delight in the commandments of the Lord, Isa. 58:2. They delight to know my ways, and delight in approaching unto God: It is not a very hard thing unto them, nor grievous to keep solemn fasting-days together; they come willingly, they delight to come, therefore the difference will hardly be discovered; and unless you be a Christian of a very clear discerning, you will not find the difference. But a Hypocrite will not delight in all God’s commandments: if you take Herod, he will delight in John Baptists preaching, and reform many things; but if it come to his not having his brother Philip’s wife, then put John into prison; and in the matter of Herodias, off with John’s head. We see what hypocrites profess, Deut. 5:27. Whatsoever the Lord commandeth us, we will hear it, and do it. But you will say, Not always: It is true, a difference in time will grow; but whilst they hold forth universal obedience, how will the difference be discerned? Discerned it will be, when the Lord leadeth them forth with workers of iniquity; but many may be led on to their death before they can be discovered: and therefore what will the servants of God say? I have seen hypocrites (to outward view) well rooted, and more comfortable than I myself; and for zeal, and love, the Galatians would have plucked out their eyes to have done Paul good; they thought themselves blessed in his ministry, blessed souls they took themselves to be: whereas the dear servants of God are slow to see so much goodness in themselves, they see so much corruption. But you will say, A hypocrite cannot aim at God as his last end, but will out-shoot God in his own bow; and at the highest, he seeketh no more but his own salvation, without respect unto the glory of God in it. It is true, and in time will appear, that every hypocrite thinketh to out- reach God in all the gifts that he hath received: but in the meanwhile, it is much that an hypocrite will do; and so much, that a poor Christian will be put to much exercise, to find a difference between himself and them: Jehu did not only think that he had zeal for the Lord, as he said, Come see my zeal for the Lord of Hosts; but good Jonadab likewise did so persuade himself, and therefore did readily join with him in his reformation; and when he proclaimed a sacrifice for Baal, he thought that Jehu would do no harm to himself in the Temple of Baal. Thus therefore sometimes it cometh to pass; because an hypocrite may for a long time find all his own ends attained in seeking the glory of God, as Jehu did: but, but in conclusion, when a man, and his own honor must part; then either he must hold to his own glory, or else he must neglect it, and keep him close to the honor of God: but in the meantime, what can I tell, but that I may shake hands with, and bid farewell unto God’s glory, when his and mine lie at stake together? But may not a man perceive a plain difference when it cometh to persecution? No, persecution will not clear the difference. For though the stony ground indeed fell off upon the point of persecution, yet the thorny soil did not so. Many Papists have died for their Religion; and how much more then may some hypocrite do it for the Truth? Yea, even give his body to be burned; and yet want Jesus Christ, and everlasting salvation by him, 1 Cor. 13:3. Now when a poor Christian cometh, and seeth how much such a one doth magnify God both in doing, and suffering, and yet falleth away; It maketh him conclude, Surely I also shall at length turn away from the Lord. So that whether you look at the Root, or Rule, or Scope, and bent of holiness, an hypocrite will carry all things in so fair a way, that you shall hardly discover him to his very death; and when a Christian cometh to measure his own Sanctification by this man’s sanctification, he will verily think the one to be as light as the other; and unless it be one that hath his wits well exercised, marvelous much ado he hath to clear himself in such a point as this. There be that think there is no reality in hypocritical sanctification; but certainly it is a real work, the gifts be real, though common Graces; and not mere counterfeit pretenses: there are indeed some that do merely pretend, and do but outwardly make fair weather in their profession: but (believe it) it is not so in all hypocrites, there is a real work in some, Heb. 6:4,5. They are enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and are made partakers of the holy Ghost, &c. these things are real, and not imaginary: God casting in their own ends, and their own glory in their way; the servants of God have given them the right hand of fellowship; and so long they have held out, that it was never known when they did apostate: yea, and so glorious may this common Sanctification be, that it may dazzle the eyes of the best of God’s children, and especially of poor Christians, and almost discourage them, when they see such to fall away. This very point hath been one principal root of Arminianism; as another is, that men receive Christ by their own Free-will: they are able to prove, that there is not only a pretense in hypocrites, but a real work; and so indeed the Scripture doth call it Sanctification, Heb. 19:29, now hereupon they do believe, that the very best of all the servants of God may depart from, and forsake their Justifying Faith: but there in they show the bleat of a Goat; in so saying they condemn the generation of the Righteous. It is true that the best of their righteousness may die, for they have known no more but the way of works. Thus much for the first Proposition. That true Christian Sanctification, (which is a work of Faith) is many times dark to a sincere Christian; it is generally granted to be so, in the first conversion, and in time of Temptation, and desertion; as also when a man looketh at the Majesty, and Purity, and Glory of God: Woe is me, for I am unclean (saith the Prophet Isaiah) at such a time: there is so much power of flesh even in spiritual Christians, specially in young Christians, so much power in their lusts, and in their passions, as will put their best friends to a stand, what to think of them, and much more themselves, when as they come to be pressed with the power of their corruptions, specially when they compare with such Hypocrites, as run along with more freedom of spirit then themselves; for sometimes their corruptions do less appear, and they are more free from temptations; and not exposed to such sinful courses, as sometimes true-hearted Christians are subject unto: so a poor Christian is discouraged, and an hypocrite is emboldened, seeing himself more sanctified in the outward view then the other. That the true sanctification of a sincere Christian is not discerned by him, nor is it indeed discernible, until he first discerns his Justifying Faith. A double ground of it, and so leave it to your Christian disquisition, and search; they are both taken from the necessity of Faith, both to the acceptance of a man’s person, and of his work: there is a necessity of the activeness of Faith in a man’s sanctification: The Lord had respect to Abel, and to his offering, Gen. 4:4, a man’s person must be first accepted, otherwise all his work will not go beyond the work of a legal Christian, and without Faith it is impossible to please God: no acceptance therefore without faith. It is also necessary to the performance of all spiritual and holy duties: for all sanctification is from that faith which Christ doth convey into the soul: Now if the just man live by his Faith, whether it be the life of sanctification, or consolation; then no Christian can discern his sanctification to be lively, but he must discern his faith living in it; he must see his faith, deriving strength, and grace, and life from Christ, or else he cannot approve his sanctification to be the Sanctification of the Gospel: for as there can be no true Sanctification, unless there be Faith whereby the person is accepted, and whereby life is received to act in all sanctification; so there can be no knowledge of Sanctification, but there must be knowledge of Faith, whereby a man’s person is accepted, and whereby strength is conveyed to Sanctification: for if a poor soul be doubtful of his acceptance with the Lord, he is where he was, notwithstanding his Sanctification, and wanteth comfort; for this doubt remaineth, whether he be accepted, or no; which (until the Lord do manifest a man’s Faith unto him by the revelation of the holy Ghost) he is still at a loss in: for though true Sanctification be an evidence of Justification, yet itself must be first evident. Thus we see by this third Proposition, that a further light is required to the sight of Sanctification. Notwithstanding this near resemblance between legal and Evangelical holiness, yet there is a real difference between them: and such a difference as is discernible to Christians, whose wits are exercised in the ways of the spirit and Word of God; and is discerned by the Revelation or manifestation of the Spirit of God, both of the state and work of good Christians: and that ordinarily also; for I would not count it extraordinary, being that which the Lord by his Spirit doth reveal unto his people. A real difference there is, both in the root, and in the rule, and in the scope which they aim at; and so it will appear to be at the last day: Matth. 2:23. Depart from me (saith Christ) you workers of iniquity, I never knew you: though they came and told him that they wrought by Faith in him: indeed they stood in some relation to him, but not as members to the head, only as branches to the vine, which may be cut off, and yet the vine not maimed; but if the members should be cut off, any one from the other, then is the body maimed, and Christ will not suffer his body to be maimed: but take you never so many branches from the vine, and it is not maimed, but will bring forth the more fruit: if therefore there be no more fellowship between Christ and a Christian, then between the branches and the vine, you may take them away, and yet not hurt the vine. But wherein should this relation stand? It is very hard to conceive; in so much that those who have been most exact, and diligent to inquire into it, have professed that it is Angels work; very hard it is so to distinguish them from God’s own children, as not to discomfort poor Christians, nor to embolden hypocrites; we must be tender therefore, that the least of God’s children may not want their bread: Better leave ninty- nine sheep, then that one poor stray sheep should not be sought after; and better an hundred hypocrites perish, then that one poor Christian should want his portion; and yet it is not meet that hypocrites should wallow themselves in the fellowship of the Saints, and always bless themselves in their carnal condition. If you shall ask a difference in the Root: both of them are partakers of the Holy Ghost; Hypocrites may have a taste, and a poor Christian will fear that his best fellowship with Christ is but a taste, and that manifold experience maketh good. Wherein then lieth the difference? Doth the Spirit of God leave the heart of a hypocrite stony, and unmelted? It is so indeed with the stony, but not with the thorny soil; for the hearts of some hypocrites are melted as iron stones; they may come to melt about their own estates through fear and sorrow: and so all those melt that want not depth of earth, as the thorny soil did not: but mind you, they will grow hard again, as iron, or lead will do, after it hath been melted. Now look at the Spirit of God when he cometh to work effectually, and he doth not only melt the heart, but taketh away the heart of stone, and giveth an heart of flesh; for it is not enough to break a stone, it will be a stone though it be broken; but when the Lord changeth it into flesh, then it will be hard no more; but though a man may have many temptations, yet the Lord will keep his heart soft forever. This is the first difference between hypocrites and God’s own servants in the root; though both may work in the Name of Christ; yet as the one is temporary, and the other persevereth: so this difference you shall find between common and sincere Christians; and that not only when legal Christians are blasted of God, but even then when they do most flourish in their profession. The true Faith of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is never present of its own strength, but goeth out of himself, and is dependent on Jesus Christ: whereas the legal Christian is confident in his Faith, that he can make use of it to these and these ends which are before him. He thinketh there is no more needful, but to look up unto Christ; and so his work is done: whereas take you the strongest Faith of the Thessalonians, who were grown to such height, that none of the Churches were before them; yet the Apostle doth not think their Faith strong enough, but prayeth for the supplying of something that is lacking in their Faith: otherwise, when it is at the best it will warp; whereas one that hath but a temporary Faith, he is confident in the strength of that Faith, insomuch that he doth not fear but to carry an end his profession in a safe course to God’s glory, and his own: thus we see there is a real difference between the presence and work of the Spirit in an hypocrite, and in a child of God: in particular, we see there is a difference in the Faith which is given unto both of them; the one hath confidence in himself, the other in Jehovah, Isa. 26:12,13. This is the first Difference in the Root of their profession. 2. There is difference also in the Rule by which they walk: though both seek to the Word, and delight in that, you shall not difference them there; yet this difference you shall find in their apprehensions; the one is confident of his comfort that he hath in the Word, the other seeth need that the Lord should maintain his comfort for him, 1 Chro. 29:18. David prayeth thus: O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our Fathers, keep this forever in the thoughts of the hearts of thy people, and prepare their hearts unto thee. As being sensible that this their comfortable frame of spirit would soon fail them, and they would quickly grow listless unto such spiritual work, as then they had been about: and this is the nature of true consolation in Jesus Christ, it maketh a man to have recourse unto the Author of it, to preserve it. Now though both attend unto the Word, yet here they differ: The one hath enough if he can see the Rule, like to the Israelites, Deut. 5:27. All that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, we will hear it, and do it: they have enough if they have the Rule: but a Christian attending rightly unto his rule, findeth it far off from him to walk according to it; unless the Lord be pleased so to set it home unto him, as that by his power he may be carried an end in obedience unto it: for though he know, and see his Rule, yet he wanteth somebody to rule his heart, according to his Rule; otherwise, though the Rule be straight, his walking will be crooked; as a child will write crookedly, though his line be straight: so a Christian man is sensible how his feet and hands will shake, when he cometh to walk or do anything by a rule; therefore he doth wholly look unto Christ, as being sensible of his own inability, unless he find help and strength from him. 3. There is difference between hypocrites and God’s people in the scope and end which they aim at: though both aim at the glory of God, yet both cannot attain to this, to make the glory of God their last end; but the one of these do secretly wind about to their own glory in the end: as Jehu doth, 2 King. 10:16. Come, see my zeal that I have for the Lord: but he bringeth about his own glory by it, and here is the main deceit of the work: he seeketh the glory of God in himself, and in his own hand; whereas the principal care of God’s own people is, and ought to be, the glory of God in Jesus Christ: but the other, his chief care is to have it seen that God is glorified by his hand; Come, see the zeal that I have. You will say, Is it not a great glory unto God to be glorified by my hand? Yes brother; but there is a great deceit in it: for many a man will work much, so far as his own glory is wrapped up in his actions, and like it well so long as God may be glorified in him: but all this while he wanteth those single affections after the glory of God for God’s sake. But how then should a man seek to promote the glory of God? If it be the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, which a man seeketh after, he will then rejoice as much that God may be glorified by his brother, as by himself; and that is the spirit of a true Israelite indeed: so that the name of Christ may be magnified, it’s no matter by whom; I therein rejoice, yea, and will rejoice, saith the blessed Apostle, Phil. 1:18. If any man therefore aimeth at God’s glory then only, when it may be an honor to his profession, no thank to you brother for that; much close work may be found, so long as both are carried an end together: but if when I hear that my brother glorifieth God, I could have wished that such a thing had been done or spoken by me; and it is the worse because it is not done by my hand: if that, which is the rich goodness of God to my brother, be not my rejoicing, it is because of the Core of hypocrisy in my heart. Thus have we seen particularly the difference between Legal and Evangelical holiness. We proceed still in this fourth Use, to a fifth Question, If Jesus Christ be the first Gift that is given to the children of God, before he giveth right unto Promises, or to me to challenge promises, yea, before he giveth me any other gifts of his saving grace; then any soul may ask this Question: Of what use are promises, if they be not to bring me to Christ? Yea specially, to what end are conditional promises made (that is to say, Promises to such and such Qualifications) if I may not take a Promise in the one hand, and a Qualification in the other hand, and bring them both to God, and lay hold upon Christ with both hands, in the strength of this Promise made to this Qualification?
CHAP. V. Of what use are Promises, if not to bring us unto Christ, which it seems they do not, if Christ must first be given?
Thus ariseth the Question, if God give Jesus Christ first, before any other blessing; as we read before, To Abraham and to his Seed were the Promises made, (he meaneth unto Christ) and all the Promises are in him Yea, and in him, Amen: no having of Promises therefore before Christ: to what purpose are they given then, if not to bring me unto Christ? It is a point needful to be known, because we read promises in Scripture daily: and certainly great use is to be made of them; and if we shall make no other use of them, but to bring us unto Christ; and God hath not sanctified them unto that end; then we shall take them all in vain, and the Name of God that is called upon them. There is a threefold use of Promises in Scripture, to wit, 1. Before union with Christ: 2. In union with Christ: 3. After union with him. Before union with Christ, there is a threefold use of Promises. 1. They are of use for Doctrine, to teach all the people of God what great and glorious things are laid up in Jesus Christ, even the unsearchable riches of Christ, Eph. 3:8, and this all the Promises of God do hold forth: if the Lord promise to be your Father, your Husband, your Shepherd, your Head, your Root; if he promise to be any other blessing in the world to you; whatever promise you read, or hear, the Lord showeth you by it, the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ; and that is no vain use of Promises, for a man to know by them the great good things that are treasured up in Jesus Christ by the Father: therefore they are called great and precious promises, 2 Pet. 1:4. Why so? Because they declare the great and precious privileges and blessings in Jesus Christ: therefore it is that the Lord will have all his people to look at him in his Word, and Promises, and to know what great good he hath in store for all them that trust in him, and seek after him in Jesus Christ. Thus all the promises of Grace declare his excellency, as Cant. 5:10. My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand: so do all the Promises declare him to be a plentiful Savior, and a mighty Redeemer of all his people. 2. As they are of use for Doctrine, so for instruction: it is good for the honor of God, to know them; but instruction is a further thing, and distinct from Doctrine, 2 Tim. 3:16, by instruction men are taught not only what to know, but what to do; to know, and see whither they should resort for the enjoyment of all those precious blessings that God hath laid up in Jesus Christ; and this is a precious use of the promises, that by them the soul should be thus instructed whither to go for life and salvation: such instruction we find, Isa. 45:22. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth: here is a direction to me before I look, whither to look; I do not only see great things, and so vanish away, but I am directed to look, and be saved thus are we taught of God likewise by his blessed Apostle, Acts 2:38,39. Repent, and be baptized into the name of Jesus Christ, for the Remission of sins: for the Promise is unto you, and to your Children, and to as many as the Lord our God shall call: thus are we taught by the Promises, whither to look for life and salvation. 3. The Promises serve also for exhortation; as the Scripture last alleged holdeth forth: for so many blessings as you see propounded in the Promises, so many invitations are there to persuade, and provoke men’s Souls to come unto Jesus Christ; as old Jacob sometimes provoked his sons, saying, Why stand ye gazing one upon another? Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt, &c. Gen. 42:1,2, so saith the Lord to the sons of men in his Promises; Why stand you gazing in the want of this and that blessing? Is there not pardon of sin, and all manner of blessings in Jesus Christ? Thus is the Soul exhorted not only to look for mercy, but not to rest till he may enjoy it. Though it be not the Promises that can by their own power (without the Spirit) carry men an end: yet this is the end to which God giveth them, to stir up the Sons of men, not to rest in beholding the good things in the Promises, but to exhort them to provoke themselves and one another to look after the Lord: thus did the Apostle Peter exhort the Jews, and testified to them of the free grace of God in his Promises, Acts 2:40, and indeed, the promises in themselves are strong grounds of Exhortation, to stir up the spirits of all God’s people to look to Jesus Christ, and to come unto him, in whom such abundance of rich grace is laid up. Thus do the promises of God furnish both Ministers and People, with Doctrine, with Instruction, and with Exhortation in their kind. Now there is a threefold effect that they have in some of all sorts, good and bad, that live in the bosom of the Church. 1. They have a power of Illumination: they will enlighten the minds even of Hypocrites, and men that are endued with no more but common gifts, as well as the people of God: of such the Apostle speaketh, Heb. 6:4, who were once enlightened, &c. and had tasted of the good word of God. 2. When not only enlighting, but a second thing is expressed, An Hypocrite may have a Taste of Jesus Christ in the Promises, and be so affected with him, that he doth despise all other things in comparison of him, so as that he cometh to resolve for his part never to forgo him; and hath so much confidence in God, that he saith with Haman, Whom will the King delight to honor more than myself? And this illumination, he taketh to be a strong and effectual conversion unto the Lord. 3. The Promises have a work of Conviction upon the Soul: if any man refuse, and despise them, they leave him inexcusable, Prov. 1:24,25,26. &c. Because I have called, and ye have refused: I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded: but you have set at naught all my Counsels, and would none of my reproof: I will laugh at your calamity, &c. thus is their blood justly upon their own head, that refuse and despise his Promises, and they aggravate their condemnation another day: and to this end the Apostle maketh use of a precious Promise of God, Acts 13:38,39,40,41. Be it known unto you men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you forgiveness of sins: and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses: beware therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of by the Prophets: Behold, you despisers, wonder, and perish, &c. A strange Application of such a gracious Promise; a sign, there is a power in the Promises even unto this end. Thus we see there is a marvelous gracious use of Promises before Union with Christ, as to help Ministers and people with matter of Doctrine, and Instruction, and Exhortation, so also to awaken men unto Illumination, and Affection, and Conviction, and to seal them up unto everlasting destruction if they turn their backs upon them. As the Promises are of use before our Union with Christ: so In our Union with him they are of great use; for when the Lord giveth himself to the Soul, he doth it in a promise: He cometh unto the Soul riding (as it were) upon the Chariot of a Promise, and begetteth faith in the Soul by the Promise, or some such word of grace as is equipollent to a promise, Ezek. 37:11, whereby we receive Jesus Christ, though before him we can have no Promise, yet in a Promise we do receive him. This is the very first stroke of closing with Jesus Christ; he giveth himself, and we take him as he offereth himself, even in a Promise: such a like Dispensation of himself we read of, Acts 3:25,26. Ye are the Children of the Prophets, and of the Covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the Nations of the earth be blessed: unto you first, God having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities: Here is Christ offered in a Promise of free grace, without any previous, gracious qualification mentioned. Howbeit, many of them that heard the word, believed, and the number of the men was about 5000: about 3000 of them believed before; so that here are 2000 that believe upon this gracious Promise: the Lord Christ is offered to them, and they receive him by faith. Thus we see that Promises are not vain things, but there are great use of them; before our Union, all Promises are of excellent use, as also In our Union. 3. After our Union with Christ, they are of abundant use: They were of use before we were in Christ, for Doctrine, and for Instruction, and for Exhortation: but now they are of more efficacy in the same kind, and, 1. They serve for Doctrine, to teach us, that there is not only free grace in Christ, but there are gifts of grace in Jesus Christ, and all the Treasures of the good things of God are in him, and all the blessings of the promises made unto qualifications are laid up in him also. 2. They serve for instruction, to direct us whither to look for qualifications, and the blessings Promised unto them; namely, to the Lord Jesus Christ, to receive the blessing through him, and the qualification by the same hand: for they are first fulfilled in him; there is no good Condition, but it is found in Jesus Christ, no blessing belonging thereunto, but it is found in Christ also; in him therefore they are to be sought for: so that though a poor Soul see himself wretched, and blind, and naked, yet he hath an husband in whom all riches is laid up: this he is taught to know by the Promise, and directed also to go to Jesus Christ, that enjoying him, he may enjoy all good things in him. 3. They are of use to stir up unto prayer: for now, I see, that all these good things are in Christ, and in him they must be enjoyed, if they be enjoyed at all; hereupon the Soul is set awork (the holy Ghost concurring therewith) to consider, Is there so much grace in Christ, and in him abundantly? Hath the Lord made so many gracious Promises unto such and such gracious qualifications? Whither then should I go either for the one, or for the other, but unto Christ, that he may work in us a spirit of faith, of love, and of a sound mind, and what else soever we stand in need of? 4. They are of use to help us to know our spiritual state, and means to discern thereof: All these qualifications to which the Promises are made, are fruits of the Spirit, and will more or less declare unto you your sanctified state; which is a marvelous blessing: upon the promises made unto such conditions, the Lord stirreth up the hearts of his people to seek for such conditions, to which the promises are made; and when the Lord hath given us them, he then openeth our hearts to see what he hath given us, and so to discern our sanctified estate: Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy Son, thine only Son from me; so the Lord said to Abraham, Gen. 22:12, wherein he bare witness to his work; and this doth fill Abraham with strong Consolation, together with the oath of God unto him: for now the Lord doth not only know it, but causeth him to know it also: so that if the Lord do but breath in such a fruit of the Spirit, if he doth but give power to the Soul to do such a work unto which the promise is made, and do make it appear unto the Soul to be indeed such, by the revelation of his own blessed Spirit, then doth the Lord fill the soul with consolation, Psal. 9:18. The patient expectation of the meek shall not perish forever: when the poor soul is meekened by God’s hand, and the Lord letteth him so discern it, that now he quietly resteth upon the Lord, now the Spirit of God doth help David along to be supported with some stay: and besides, the waiting of a Christian upon him, who hath made the promises, doth make him yet more patient and hopeful: and this is a fourth use of conditional promises. 5. They are of use to work all these qualifications in us, to which the blessings are promised: By the exceeding precious promises we are made partakers of the Divine nature, 2 Pet. 1:4, and this is no small work, or use of these promises, that from them should spring all our gracious qualifications; for the Lord having promised such blessings in them, these promises being received and enjoyed, and meditated on by us, we beholding them, and the glory of the Lord Jesus in them, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord, 2 Cor. 3:18, this great power there is in the promises to help an end the work of God in the soul of a Christian: so that, though they were never given to bring us to Christ, yet to this end they were given, to work all those qualifications in us to which the blessings are promised. 6. They are of use to provoke and stir up Christians to all such duties to which blessings are promised; they stir them up effectually: The Lord maketh a Promise, 2 Cor. 6:17,18, that such as touch no unclean thing, he will receive them, and be a father to them, and they shall be his sons. And mark what use the Apostle maketh of this conditional promise, chap. 7:1. Having therefore these promises (dearly beloved) let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Implying, that the having of these promises stirreth up God’s people unto duties, and the Lord is wont to breath in them, and so to set forward the work of cleansing in the hearts and ways of his servants. 7. They are of use further, to strengthen faith; for the Lord that hath made such promises will accomplish them for his servants, Gen. 32:9,10. Jacob there putteth the Lord in mind of his promise, and saith, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, and the Lord, which said unto me, Return unto thy Country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: and he was now returned according to the appointment of God; but what now doth he plead the condition? Mind in the next words: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant: Yet now, though he pleadeth not any worth at all, yet seeing the Lord hath promised such a mercy to him, he prayeth for it, ver. 11. Deliver me I pray thee from the hand of my brother: thus his faith is strengthened, though he doth not plead his worthiness to receive mercy. So also do absolute promises strengthen faith, and the prayer of faith, 2 Sam. 7:13,14. &c. the Lord there promiseth David that he would build him a house, and that he would not take his mercy from his Children; this stirreth up, and strengtheneth the faith of David, ver. 28,29. Now, O Lord, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant; therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, &c. this well ordered and sure Covenant of God was all his stay, and all his salvation, though his house was not so with God, 2 Sam 23:5. So when the Lord promiseth to heal the backslidings of his people, Hos. 14:4, their hearts are strengthened to come unto the Lord, and to say, O Lord, thy words are true, let it please thee to heal the backslidings of thy servants. Thus by the promises of God, the faith and faithful prayers of God’s servants are both of them strengthened together. Now let me further say thus much, Let us rightly discern what use to make of the principal part of the Scriptures; take heed you do not close with promises before you have Jesus Christ, specially take heed you make not use of promises to a qualification to give you your part in Jesus Christ, neither be taken aside to make account that the Lord did give you himself graciously in a conditional promise; for these are aberrations from the Covenant of Grace: Consider therefore well what the Promises be, and what use the Lord would have us to make of them: It is not for a woman to take her husband’s inheritance before she take his person; and you know that all the blessings, and all the promises are (as it were) the Inheritance of the Lord Jesus, given unto him, and to no other, but in his name; and therefore there is not any Soul under Heaven that can challenge his right in Christ at the first by any promise, till Christ first be given: if you know that you are in Christ, you may then know that the promises are yours, otherwise you shall not be able to know your right in Christ by your right in the promises; and therefore do not turn them upside down beyond the scope and intendment of the Covenant of Grace: we may take occasion by them to admire the goodness and grace of God, as David did, Psal. 31:19. O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee! Thus ought we to consider of them, and whither to look that we might enjoy them, and the blessings in them: If you shall say, We have been converted, and we have had gracious changes wrought within us; be not deceived: such work may reach no farther then conviction, and you may come at the last to turn your backs upon Jesus Christ. Consider therefore, did ever the Lord give himself to be one with you? Whensoever the Lord doth strike up the bond of Union, it is in an absolute, and free-promise of his grace. Trust not therefore unto every leaning of your Souls upon conditional promises; for so you may build upon a Covenant made upon a work, and in the end you, and your Covenant will fail together: but when you read how the Lord hath made such promises to such and such qualifications, then consider that those things are indeed requisite to be found in you; but who is there in heaven, or earth that is able to work them in you? There is none but Jesus Christ; and unless you have him to be in you, you cannot have any of these things wrought in you. But, will a poor Soul say, I am not able to reach the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore all the promises of the Gospel do fall heavy upon a man, and he seeth that they are too burdensome, and weighty for him; he doth not say, Here is the qualification, and here is the blessing promised to it, and therefore I will take it to myself, but one that is taught of God, doth forthwith go, and pray unto God, that he will set him in the way of those blessings, and that so he will make him partaker of them; he prayeth that God will give him his Son, and that he will adorn him with his grace, as a bride of Jesus Christ. Thus while the soul looketh towards Jesus Christ, and grace in him, the Lord doth secretly transform him into the image of Christ, by working such qualifications in him, and then beareth witness to that sanctification which is wrought in his heart, thereby enlarging his soul with strong consolation in Jesus Christ: and in the same way it is that the Lord doth strengthen the faith of his people to believe that all those things which God hath promised are accomplished in Jesus Christ, and the Law fulfilled in me so far as Christ is in me; and therefore I come unto God in prayer to make good those promises unto me in a right way, which would have been preposterously applied before Christ was given. And this may serve for an answer to this fifth question.
CHAP. VI. To what use serveth the Law, if God giveth himself to his people, without respect to any work?
We come now unto a sixth question. If the Lord do give himself first in the Covenant of his Grace, this may then be a doubt, and a question in a Christian soul; If God gives himself before any blessing, before any promise in order of nature (though he giveth himself always in a promise) or in a word that is equivalent to a promise, as Cant. 5:9,16, chap. 6:1, if we cannot claim any blessing from God at the first in any conditional promise, therefore not by any condition in ourselves, but as we received all things from God, so we claim all things from God in Jesus Christ, and so do first seek for him, and for all things in him: If thus, to what use then serveth the Law of God, which requireth such and such conditions in us? Do we not abrogate the Law, and make it of none effect, and root it out from having any power over Christians? And truly, some under pretense of the Covenant of Grace, have thought it altogether bootless to bind Christians unto the Law of God, and to look at it as any part of the direction of their course: because this is an imputation usually reflected upon the Covenant of Grace, let us consider therefore, and inquire to what use serveth the Law of God, if God give himself first unto his people in the Covenant of his Grace? Though the Lord giveth himself freely to the soul, and his Son, and all the blessings of the Covenant of Grace, without respect unto any work of the Law, yet the Law is of special and notable use unto all the sons of men, both unto them which are not yet brought home unto God by converting grace, and also to those that are regenerate in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul did observe that the question would arise upon the Doctrine of the Covenant of Grace, Gal. 3:16,17,18, for if the blessing of Abraham cometh upon the people of God by Jesus Christ; to what end then serveth the Law, which came 430 after? It cannot disannul to make the promise of God of none effect: to what end then serveth it? Some say it is of no use, others say that it is of such use, that they had rather renounce the Covenant of Grace then it: but the answer is, It is of especial use both unto spiritual, and carnal men. First, unto carnal men, and they are of two sorts; some belong unto the election of grace, though they he not yet called; others are not written in the Lambs books of life, but will in the end finally perish: and yet the Law is of use unto both sorts of them. 1. For those that are the elect of God, it is of use unto them, to aggravate their sin, and to multiply it unto them as it were, that is to say, to aggravate the apprehension of the heinousness of sin upon their consciences, and to set home the burden of their sins unto their souls, thereby to drive them to feel their great need of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom otherwise they should forever have despised. Thus the Apostle answereth in the place forenamed, The Law was added because of transgressions: that they might clearly appear, and be aggravated thereby; that a man might plainly discern how be hath made himself liable unto the wrath of God, by so manifold breaches of so many Commandments in one kind or other: the Law giveth clear knowledge of sin, and so much the more doth it set on the weight of it upon the conscience, working fear in the heart, Rom. 8:15, and hence it is that the Apostle telleth us, Gal. 3:24, that the Law was our School-master to Christ; as a School-master driveth his Scholar through fear unto this or that duty: so the Law of God driveth the soul through fear unto Jesus Christ; not that it doth reveal Christ a Savior and Redeemer of free grace, but the soul being once brought down under the sense of sin by the terrors of the Law, will readily and diligently hearken unto the news of Christ a Savior: for being once made sensible of his own inability to redeem himself, and unworthiness to be redeemed from the wrath of God, now is the Soul fitted to hear the voice of the Gospel, now is the news of Jesus Christ beautiful, and glad tidings: and of this use is the Law unto the Elect of God, before they come under the Covenant of the Grace of God. 2. But of what use is the Law unto other men? Answ. First, In regard of disobedience it is of use unto them, and 2. the obedience to it is of use, 1. In regard of disobedience: for if men had not known sin, it had been some pretense, though they had committed sin; but when men have the knowledge of the Law, and yet commit sin willingly, now they have no Cloak for their sin, Rom. 1, ver. 21, compared with 32, where the Apostle speaketh of the great sin of the Gentiles, and much more of the Jews, who though they knew God, and the judgment of God, and that they which commit such wickedness are worthy of death, yet not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. When a man shall not only do such wickedness, but bless himself in it, this aggravateth a man’s condemnation: if men will not come unto Jesus Christ that they might have life, Joh. 5:40, what saith our Savior in such a case? Ver. 54. Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father, there is one that accuseth you, even Moses in whom you trust; Moses will judge all those that please themselves in wickedness, and will not turn to the Lord Jesus Christ: thus there is use of the Law unto disobedient persons, their disobedience will leave them without excuse when they sin against their consciences, and against the means which the Lord hath administered unto them: for though the Lord never gave them such grace as did accompany salvation, yet such Illumination he did give them, that they needed not to have broken his Law so many ways, with such wicked hands as they have done: therefore when they have been enlarged to perform many duties, and might avoid much sin, and yet will sin against their consciences, and tread underfoot those means of grace that were committed unto them; It is then most righteous with God that they should be condemned. 2. Of what use is the obedience of the Law unto such whom God’s Soul taketh no pleasure in? Truly, it is of sad and dreadful use unto unto them; for it serveth to harden them in their sins, (though that be but an accidental use thereof) their sins are thereby made out of measure sinful, Rom. 7:13. They harden their hearts, 1. by their obedience to the Law, 2. by the Comfort which they take in that obedience; both these do marvelously harden their hearts. For the first of these, The Apostle Paul, Acts 23:1, had kept so good a conscience, that he knew not any sin against the Law that he lived in; but though he was unrebukable, he did count it all loss afterward, Phil. 3:7,8, those things that before he thought had been his gain, now he counteth them but dung that he may win Christ: when a man attaineth to outward conformity unto the Law, he is then ready to think it is indeed good for poor sinful men to look for salvation by Jesus Christ; but for himself, he hopeth in his devotion, and that he is able to save himself: these are such as justify themselves before men, to whom our Savior speaketh, Luk. 16:15, and of whom he saith, That Publicans and Harlots shall go into the Kingdom of heaven before them, Matth. 21:31,32, for many times you shall have the most deboist and profane wretches more humbled, and readier to hearken to the voice of Christ, and sooner convinced of the necessity of the Covenant of Grace, then those that are but morally righteous by the Law, Rom. 9:30,31,32, the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith: but Israel which followed after the Law of righteousness, hath not attained to the Law of righteousness; wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the Law: and chap. 10:31. They being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Thus the Law becometh a snare unto them; and that which is of singular and wholesome use unto the Children of God, is made death unto them. And as their obedience to the Law is thus a snare unto them: so secondly, the delight and comfort which they take in their obedience is a greater snare then the other: The stony and thorny soil did hear the word with joy, and so those Hypocrites, Isa. 59:2, did delight to approach unto God: but what followed upon the delight which they took in God, and in holy Duties? It made them ready to expostulate with God, why he did not answer them according to their works: the delight which they found, did so fill their hearts with assurance of the grace of God, that they looked at their Duties as so many tokens of the love of God unto their souls; and then when men come to find more comfort in their obedience, then in the grace of God in Jesus Christ, it maketh them ready to expostulate with God, touching the worth of their own Righteousness, Isa. 57:10. Thou hast found the life of thine hand, therefore thou wast not grieved; as long as a man findeth life and comfort in his own duties and performances, what need can he see to be grieved for the want of Jesus Christ? Or at the best, if he do grieve, and find his heart comforted in grieving and delighting in the course of humiliation, he then thinketh he hath no need of being farther solicitous about his spiritual estate. Thus we see plainly that the Law of God is of marvelous use in the days of the Gospel, of great use unto those that belong unto God, to break their hearts for sin, and to drive them to Jesus Christ; and for others, the disobedience of the Law, leaves them without excuse, that so disobey it; again, the obedience of it, and comfort in that obedience, doth harden the hearts of others from Jesus Christ. But what say you then unto men that are under a Covenant of Grace, and brought unto fellowship with Christ therein? Of what use is the Law of God unto such? Is it utterly antiquated, or is there anymore to be done with it? The Apostle answereth this Question, when he saith, I am not without the Law to God, but under the Law to Christ, 1 Cor. 9:21, so (mind you) the Law is of use unto the Apostle Paul, but how? As the Law cometh under Christ, so Paul cometh under the Law; this is the sum of the Answer, but that would be further explained. What meaneth he when he saith, I am under the Law to Christ? In some sense a Christian is wholly freed from the Law: In some sense he is yet under the Law. So far as the Law is any way besides, or out of Christ, so far the Apostle is without the Law: So far as the Law is under Christ, so far he is under the Law. Keep close to these two Principles, and you shall safely avoid Rocks on every hand: thus by the use of the Law shall you not go aside to a Covenant of Works, nor by attendance unto Grace, shall you need to neglect the Law. How far is the Law under Christ? When it hath brought the soul nearer unto Christ, and in a remote manner prepared him, the Law is in Christ, and you subject to it in him. 1. As the Law is given by Christ. 2. As in Christ help is given to perform it. First, as the Law is given by Christ, as 1 Thes. 4:2,3. You know what Commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus: for this is the will of God, even your Sanctification, &c. and many other commandments he gave them, all which are legal commandments, and yet the Apostle gave them by the Lord Jesus: so Matth. 5:17, to the end of the chapter: our Savior Christ would not have us think that he came to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfil them. And to that end he doth there expound the spiritual and true meaning of the Law, that whereas the Pharisees held forth the outward letter of the Law to be observed only, as thinking that unless a man did commit the Act of Murder, he was not guilty of the breach of the sixth Commandment; and if he committed not the Act of Adultery, he transgressed not the seventh Commandment, and so of the rest: Our Savior Christ expoundeth the Law more spiritually, showing that anger against a man’s brother is the breach of the sixth Commandment; and whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her in his heart, and broken the seventh commandment; thus Christ hath as it were revived Moses: but as the Law is given by Christ, it is not a covenant of Works, but a commandment of well-doing; and he having given it, we take ourselves bound to be subject to it. The Apostle also, presseth the Moral Law upon several relations of men, Eph. 6:1,2,3, &c. It is an honor to Jesus Christ, that his servants should be holy, as he is holy; it is for the glory of God, and he requireth it: The Apostle James presseth it, chap. 2:8, to the end of the chapter. If you fulfil the Royal Law according to the Scripture, (Thou shalt love thy Neighbor as thyself) ye do well. And again; Whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Thus we see the Apostles of Jesus Christ put it upon Christians to keep the Law of God, and Christ himself beareth witness to the Law: for God will never justify sin to be no sin, though he will justify the person of a sinner. Now as the Lord Jesus giveth the Law, and as it were reneweth it, so he doth also give his Spirit unto his servants, enabling them to keep it, Jer. 31:33. Ezek. 36:27. I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And again, I will put my law in their hearts, and write it in their inward parts. Now this Law would he not write in the hearts of his people, nor give unto them his holy Spirit enabling them to keep his Law, were it not his will in Jesus Christ, that the Law should be the rule of holiness and righteousness unto his people: hence it is, that the children of God, though they be not under the Covenant of the Law, yet take themselves to be bound to the obedience of it; for if Jesus Christ have given the Law, as well as Moses, and if he have ratified it by giving them his Spirit, to teach and strengthen them to keep it, though not perfectly, yet sincerely, then they take themselves bound to obey the Law, though they be under the Covenant of Grace; for do we make void the law through saith? God forbid yea, we establish the law. For what need have Christians of free Justification by Christ, if they were not bound to obedience by the Commandment of the Law? Therefore the free Justification of men under a free Covenant of Grace, doth establish the obedience of the Law, otherwise what need they run to Christ to save them from the curse of the Law? Why do we still run to Christ for the continuance of our justification? But that we find ourselves ungodly creatures against the righteous and holy Law of God: therefore if God have given men the Law, and his holy Spirit to strengthen them in the obedience of it, and his grace to save them from the curse of it; then Christians are to know that they are bound to keep the Law; they lie under the authority of it, and dare not pluck their necks from under that yoke. Now, there are two Effects springing from the subjection of God’s people to the Commandment of the Law. 1. As they take themselves bound to the obedience of it; so they believe, and many times feel the fatherly displeasure of God, when they transgress the Law: now the transgression of the Law could not bring them under God’s displeasure, unless they were bound unto the Commandment of the Law: this displeasure David was sensible of, Psal. 38:1,2,3. &c. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger, neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. And many complaints of like nature doth he there make, which do all of them spring from the conscience of the disobedience of the Law, which God hath framed in the hearts of his servants, whereby they reflect upon their sin as the ground of all the distempers which lie upon their bodies or minds. This is the first effect of the subjection of God’s people to his Law: they lie under the faith and sense of the danger of the disobedience of it. 2. They are under the faith and sense also of God’s gracious acceptance of their ways, when they are suitable to the blessed directions of his word; not that they can raise therefrom the assurance of their justified estate, but by the same Spirit of God, whereby they are helped to obey the Commandment, they do see the Lord’s gracious approbation of them in their poor and weak endeavors: for the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous; that is, acknowledgeth, and approveth it, Psal. 1:6, when the Lord by his Spirit boweth the hearts of his servants to obedience, then he knoweth and accepeth their obedience; Gen. 22:12. Now I know that thou fearest me, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me: thus the Lord beareth witness to his servants that he doth accept their works; so that they sensibly know, and believe that the Lord doth acknowledge their poorest and weakest endeavors, unto which they are carried forth by his Spirit in the obedience of his word: This the Prophet David confirmeth, Psal 18:20, to 26. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me; for I kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God: for all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me; I was also upright before him, and kept myself from mine iniquity: therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight: with the merciful, thou wilt show thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt show thyself upright, &c. This David speaketh of his righteous dealing with Saul; and whereas his enemies laid it to his charge, that he was an enemy unto Saul, the Lord beareth him witness that he had walked toward Saul, with a good conscience: now the Lord having led him an end to deal justly, and righteously, and purely with Saul, having kept him from all the malice and outrage of Saul, and maintained his cause against Saul, and delivered him out of the hands of Saul, whom the Lord had now rejected; herein the Prophet seeth the Lord accepting him, when in the name of his Son, by the power of his Spirit, he is helped to attend unto the Commandments of God. This is comfortable unto a Christian spirit, when the Lord beareth witness to his soul, that he hath an eye to all the Commandments of God. And all this argueth that the servants of God, being in a state of grace in Jesus Christ, have looked at themselves as bound by the Commandments of the Law, and as being under the law to Christ, who hath given the Law, and power unto his servants sincerely to keep it, both by writing in their hearts a law of obedience, and by putting his holy Spirit within them: for if the people of God were not sensible of their bounden duty to the observation of the Law of God, they would neither have faith, nor sense of God’s fatherly displeasure when they negligently break these laws; neither would they be sensible of God’s acceptance of their conformity thereunto; but we know what the Apostle Paul saith, 2 Cor. 1:12. For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity, and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, &c. and truly the Lord doth often bear witness unto the integrity of his servants against the oppositions of men; so he did to Abraham, to David, to Paul, and to sundry of the Saints of God: though the servants of God are not wonted thereupon to build their safe estate, yet this kind of God’s acceptance of their ways and obedience they do discern; yet in their best obedience, which they do perform, they see the need they have to go unto God for justifying grace, because if they have failed in any one circumstance, their best righteousness is polluted; therefore they have need of Jesus Christ to cover the failings of their most strict performances. This Nehemiah was sensible of, when he had been very faithful in reforming the abuses of the Sabbath, and of many other Ordinances of God: and though the Lord had helped him to undertake the reformation with much dexterity, and success; yet for all this he runneth unto Christ for acceptance and pardon, Neh. 13:22. Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy: and what would he have done if he had been conscious of some gross sin? He would then much more have run to the Lord Jesus. Thus the Law is established by faith; for there is no justified person, but he is very apprehensive of his sins, and so of his continual need of Christ, whose blood cleanseth us from all sin, 1 Joh. 1:7, and who is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, ver. 9, who is an Advocate if any man sin, and a propitiation for our sins, chap. 2:1,2, and what do all these things argue? But that a Christian being under the Covenant of the Grace of God, doth submit himself unto this yoke of God. Thus far then a Christian is under the Law to Christ; so far as the Law is under Christ, he is under the commandment of Christ, and under the power of Christ, and under the displeasure of Christ, if he negligently sin against the Law; and unto Christ he runneth for pardon, and cleansing, and unto Christ he cometh for acceptance of his obedience: so that he hath no use of the Law, but unto Christ, and in and under Jesus Christ. But how is a Christian not under the Law? So far forth as the Law is not under Christ; I mean, so far as it is without Christ freely justifying of us by his grace, so far a Christian is freed from under the Law. In one word, a Christian man under a Covenant of Grace, is not under a Covenant of Works. Rom. 6:14. You are not under the Law, but under Grace: he meaneth, not under the Covenant of the Law, nor under the power and authority of the Law, as of their husband, Rom. 7:1,2,3,4. The husbandly Jurisdiction of the Law is taken away; The Law is not made for a righteous man, 1 Tim. 1:9, that is, not the Covenant of the Law, for else we are under the Commandments of the Law to Christ; but the Jewish Teachers taught more, to wit, the Covenant of the Law unto salvation: not but that the Law is good, if a man use it lawfully; he meaneth the Covenant of the Law: but how shall a man use it lawfully? For it is not given unto a righteous man; but he reckoneth up the breakers of every commandment, and unto them it is given; to the lawless, and disobedient; to the ungodly, and sinners; to the unholy, and profane; to murderers of fathers, and murderers of mothers; to man-slayers, and whoremongers; and to them that defile themselves with man-kind; to men-stealers, to liars, to perjured persons, and if there be any other things that are contrary to sound Doctrine; the Covenant of the Law is given unto such (and unto none but such) to convince them of their sins against the Law, to humble them to the death, and to drive them out of themselves, and confidence in themselves. But how doth it appear that the Covenant of the Law is not given to the children of God? From hence it is manifest; 1. Because a Christian man neither looketh for Justification and Salvation from his Obedience to the Law, nor feareth Condemnation though he fail in his Obedience; and this is a fruit of his exemption from under the Covenant of the Law: for if a man should look for Life by his Obedience to the Law, and fear condemnation by the breach of it, this would bring a man under the Covenant of the Law: for the sanctification of the Covenant of the Law, is life to them that obey; and to them that disobey, death, and the curse. But a Christian looketh not for Life by his Obedience; and that is plain, Psal. 143:2. Enter not into Judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no flesh living be justified: so Rom. 3:20. By the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified, for by the Law is the knowledge of sin: therefore no hope of salvation from our Obedience to the Law. But methinks (you will say) a Christian may fear his condemnation because of his Disobedience to the Law. Truly this is a great snare, and this Doctrine will be scandalous to many a poor soul, but without cause: Indeed, if God give a man to be under the Covenant of Grace, and not to see it, then he may fear; but if a man know himself to be under the Covenant of Grace, then he doth not fear condemnation from his disobedience: notable to this purpose is the confidence of David, Psal. 49:5, where the Prophet calleth upon all People in the world to take notice of it, Both men of high degree, and men of low degree: Wherefore should I fear in the days so of evil, when the iniquities of my heels shall compass me about? Wherefore? Truly if there be any fear in the world, one would think this might procure it; what should a man fear, if not this? David professeth it, and would have all to know it, that there is no cause therein why a Christian man should fear, Wherefore should I fear? &c. though it should follow you to the stocks, or to prison, yet there is no cause why it should make you fear: Men that trust themselves in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his Brother, nor give to God a ransom for him, that he should live forever, and not see corruption: had David had nothing but the wealth of his Kingdom, he might have feared well enough; but here is his confidence, ver. 15. God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for he shall receive me. But will not this make a Christian wanton against God, and cause him to abuse his liberty to hardness of heart? No, no, brethren, this is the kindly melting of a godly heart, to consider a Redeemers love drawing him from the power of the grave, and that he should by his sins pierce the Lord Jesus Christ; this melteth his heart more then all his other sins, specially considering the abounding Grace of God, which where sin hath abounded, grace aboundeth much more: thus when a man doth not look for life by his own Righteousness, but knoweth the Redemption of souls to be more precious then so; this showeth a man not to be under a Covenant of Works, and then his very iniquity shall not make him afraid; there is such a state in Christianity, and let all men know it. But will it not make men think the worse of Christian profession? No, David will have all to know it, that they may see the difference between all worldly confidences, and the confidence of Christians; all their glory will leave them, to be like the Beasts that perish, and cannot redeem their souls, that the Lord only might be exalted. 2. As a Christian looketh not for salvation by his obedience to the Law, nor feareth condemnation by his disobedience: so neither doth he seek for any blessing from his obedience, nor fear any curse from his disobedience, he seeketh not for blessings from his obedience, and therefore if there be any promises of blessing made to any obedience, though God should help him to as much obedience as might be, he doth not look for any blessing from that obedience, Rom. 4:4,5,6. To him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned of grace, but of debt; but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted to him for righteousness, even as David describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works. He looketh not for his blessedness from his works; though he should perform all the conditions to which the promises are made, yet he expecteth all his blessing from free justification, and union with the Lord Jesus Christ: Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not sin, this is the blessedness of Christians. It is true, the Lord doth bless the workings of his servants, and accept them, Matth. 25:34,35,36. The king shall say unto them on his right hand: Come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, from the foundation of the world: for I was an hungry, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Thus Christ blesseth them: but they are not sensible of their good deeds, so as to expect blessings for their obedience sake, and therefore they make answer, and say, Lord, when saw we thee an hungry, and sed thee; or thirsty, and gave thee drink? &c. neither do they fear the curse of God, or that their sins should separate them from God: those that are under the Law, are cursed indeed, if they do not continue in all things that are written in the Law to do them; but this curse is removed from the elect by Jesus Christ. 3. This also is a third effect of the freedom from the Covenant of Works; that a Christian doth not look for conjugal comfort from his obedience, nor fear conjugal divorce from his disobedience. In a Covenant of works, it is with a man, as it was with Leah, Jacob’s wife, who expected love and fellowship from her husband, because of her fruitfulness, Gen. 29:32, when she brought forth her first-born, she said, Now therefore will my husband love me; and when she brought forth her third son, ver. 34. Now this time will my husband be joined unto me: but thus doth not a man under a Covenant of Grace; for when he hath done all he can, he is ready to say, I am an unprofitable servant, Luk. 17:10, and doth not challenge God for any of his dealing with him: he seeth he deserveth not his daily bread, and so looks for no reward from his good works: though the Lord will graciously acknowledge his servants in what they do according to his will, yet they are not wont to plead any such thing; which is very observable in the practice of Jacob, Gen. 32:9,10. &c. O Lord God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee; I am less than the least of all the mercies and truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant. So he doth not press his performance of God’s Commandment to procure blessing, but acknowledgeth his unworthiness, and looketh for Grace from the Promise of God. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother; for thou saidest, I will surely do thee good. Nor doth a child of God fear divorce by his disobedience, though it have been very great. Sometimes the people of God have not only rejected the servants of God, but the Lord himself, 1 Sam. 8:7, but when Samuel had pressed hard upon them for their sin, chap. 12, and they were truly humbled, then Samuel said unto them (ver. 20,21,22.) Fear not (ye have done all this wickedness, yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart: and turn you not aside, for then you should go after vain things that cannot profit nor deliver (for they are vain) for the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great Name sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people, therefore fear you not, he will not cast you off: So that (mind you) a poor Christian doth not fear divorce from his disobedience; for if we should look for blessing from the one, or cursing from the other, we were not under Christ, but under the Law: but he that is freed from the Covenant of Works, is freed also from expecting salvation, or fearing damnation from what he doth; he knoweth the Lord will hide his face from him if he do evil, but he knoweth the Lord will not cast him off forever; yet he dares not commit sin, but being under Grace, he is the more affected if he shall at any time displease God, and procure chastisement to himself: and by this means the Lord doth mortify his distempers. On the other side, if he do well, he will not say, Now my husband will cleave unto me, and dwell with me; no, no, we are freed from the Law, Rom. 7:4, which we were not, if we look for conjugal love from God, for our obedience to the Law: it is true, if a man be married to the Law, his obedience unto it will supply comfort unto him; but if we be dead unto the Law, we have no life in it nor by it, but only in Jesus Christ, from whom we expect our comfort: indeed we are troubled that we should sin against the grace of God, otherwise we look not at our obedience or disobedience, to make us accepted or rejected. 4. And finally, the soul doth not claim his right unto any conditional promise, by his performance of the condition; nor doth he deny himself the blessing that the promise may reach forth unto him, though he be wanting in obedience to this or that Commandment: pregnant for this purpose is the example of Jacob (which we mentioned before) Gen. 32:9,10, who though he had a plain and a full promise of God, to do him good if he would return to his Country, and to his kindred, yet when he did return according to the word of God, he claimed not his interest in that promise, for that he had done as God commanded him, but I am less than the least of thy mercies; and yet he cometh unto the Lord for the performance of his promises, but not upon this ground; only for the sake of mercy and truth, Deliver me I pray thee: for thou saidest, I will surely do thee good, ver. 11,12, so that (mind you) though the soul can make use of a conditional promise, and come to God for the blessing of it, yet not expecting it in the least manner, by virtue of his obedience: and truly this is the freedom of a Christian soul; whereas another man, if he have kept the Commandment, and performed the condition, he then looketh for acceptance from God: as if the Lord make this promise, that he that confesseth and forsaketh his sin, shall find mercy; this man confesseth his sin unto God, and forsaketh it, and therefore he looketh for mercy: but this is not the manner of God’s people; and yet if they look for any mercy, it is in the way of God, but not because of their own goodness; their hope is in the faithfulness, and free grace of God: they may make mention to the praise of God, how he hath guided them, and carried them an end in his own ways; yet they challenge nothing from anything that they have done, but put the Lord in mind of his free promise, that as of his free grace he hath freely promised: so from the same grace he may make good what he hath promised. If any therefore shall accuse the Doctrine of the Covenant of free Grace of Antinomianism, and say, it teacheth men freedom from the Law of Moses; and if they commit any sin, they plead they are not bound unto the Law; we see how false such an aspersion would be: for all the people of God, know that the Lord is an avenger of every such wickedness. There is none under a Covenant of Grace that dare allow himself in any sin; for if a man should negligently commit any sin, the Lord will school him thoroughly, and make him sadly to apprehend how he hath made bold with the treasures of the grace of God. Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid: none that have a portion in the grace of God, dareth therefore allow himself in sin; but if through strength of temptation he be at any time carried aside, it is his greatest burden, 2 Sam. 12:8,9, compared 13. Hath not the Lord (saith Nathan) done these and these things for thee? Wherefore then hast thou despised the Commandment of the Lord? Then David confesseth, I have sinned. It pierced him to the heart to consider it, that he should abuse his Neighbors wife, and kill her husband, and commit such wickedness against God, that had dealt so graciously with him. So that the children of the Covenant of grace will only tell you, that they are free from the Covenant of the Law, but not from the Commandment of it: for as it is given by Jesus Christ, and ratified in the Gospel; and as Christ hath given us his Spirit enabling us to keep it, we are under it so far, as to take ourselves bound by the authority of it; and if we do transgress against it, we know it is sin in the sight of God, and therefore it is that the soul in such a case is sensible of the wrath and displeasure of God, whether it be his own sin, or the sin of his brethren: therefore he runneth unto God for mercy; which he would not do, if he did not know, that his desert according to the Law did utterly cut him off from mercy: else would he never pray for pardon of sin, nor rejoice when the Lord helpeth him to do that which is right and just in his sight, nor bless the Lord for strengthening him unto obedience, unless he thought it to be his duty: and therefore, It is of use also to teach the servants of God, how far they are freed from the Law; to wit, from the Covenant of it: so that they neither look for justification, nor salvation from it. And let it not be grievous to any soul, that a Christian should say, He doth not fear condemnation by his disobedience: he will be apt to fear in this kind, until he be assured of the favor of God; but when he knoweth his portion in the Covenant, then indeed he doth not fear condemnation by his sin, nor doth he think that the Lord will cleave unto him because of his fruitfulness; he casteth not off his comfort, nor looketh at himself as divorced from Christ, because of his barrenness before the Lord; nor doth he look for his daily bread from all his obedience, but expecteth all goodness and blessing from the treasures of the free grace of God. This may also serve to teach men some kind of discernment of their own spirits, and state: if you look for justification no longer then you are obedient, and fear eternal condemnation when you are disobedient; if you be afraid of divorce from Christ because of your sins, or if you look for any blessing, and challenge right to any promise, by virtue of any well-doing of your own; in such a case either thou art under a Covenant of works, or at the least thou art gone aside to a Covenant of works; and if ever the Lord open your eyes, and bestow his free grace upon you, you will know your redemption from such dependencies as these be. I know a Christian man, that hath not been clearly taught the distinct differences of the two Covenants, may be misled into dangerous ways, that might tend unto the utter undoing of his soul; but it is a sin of ignorance, and the Lord will not leave his servants, but clear up his truth and grace unto them. May serve to teach the servants of God, that desire to walk in a way of constant comfort, how to build their faith and their hope: truly if they be grounded upon your own obedience, or righteousness, or sanctification; if they depend upon you, you will find your hearts ever unsettled: you may find comfort, as under the Law you shall; for if a man be married to the Law, the Law will cast in comforts upon him because of his obedience; but if you shall believe that Christ is yours, and comfort yourselves because you have been by the power of the Law constrained to duties, and restrained from sin, and thereupon build your conjugal communion with Jesus Christ, you will find your souls full of sadness and fear ere long, specially if you have true grace in your hearts: and therefore it is the faithfulness and tenderness of the grace of God unto his people, that when Christians come into this Country, though they have been marvelous eminent in our native Country, they cannot pray fervently, nor hear the word with profit, nor receive the seals with comfort: they wonder what is become of their old prayers, and hearings, and Sacraments, and of their lively spirits in holy duties; truly the Lord hath disenabled them (as it were) from such things, because they did build their union and fellowship with Jesus Christ upon them, that so they might know the freedom of the grace of God, that justifieth the ungodly; then will the poor soul be glad to seek after the Lord Jesus Christ, and say (as the people of God sometimes did, Hos. 2:7.) I will go, and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me then now: now the soul will plainly see and discern, that he closed not with his true husband, when as he built so much hope and comfort upon his duties; therefore he will find himself weak, and dead, (as it were) to all spiritual duties, and can find no life in them, no comfort from them; and it is the marvelous goodness, and free grace of God unto such a soul, whom the Lord will not suffer to bless himself in his works; for if a man should lay the foundation of his comfort in them, and be ready as it were to take it ill, if he should not find God accepting his works; Wherefore have we fasted, and thou regardest it not? Isa. 58:3. If a man rejoice in the sparks which he hath kindled, this shall he receive at the hands of God, to lie down in sorrow. Isa. 50:11, whereas the light of God shall graciously break forth unto the servants of God, though they wait upon him, though they be for present in darkness, and see no light. Trust not therefore in any legal comforts, but wait upon the free grace of God, both to justify, sanctify, comfort, and glorify your souls; and this is the way of constant peace: and if the Lord do at any time check his servants, when they walk in by-ways; it is, that he may build them upon a surer foundation. So that their salvation will not lie upon their obedience, nor damnation be procured by their disobedience: this is the way of constant peace and safety unto all the Israel of God.
CHAP. VII. If the Lord giveth himself, and his Holy Spirit, what need is there of any gifts of holiness to work and act by?
This Doctrine may serve in the next place, to answer a seventh Question, touching the necessity of Sanctification. For it may be demanded, If the Lord will give himself unto the soul in the Covenant of his Grace, not only his attributes, but his person, all that is God is given by virtue of this Covenant; If God will give himself, not only to choose us to life and glory, but his Son to redeem us, and his holy Spirit to sanctify us, Ezek. 36:27, what need is there of Sanctification? For if the Holy Ghost will dwell in us, he can take our wits, and understanding, and understand all our Meditations for us, without any such actual concurrence of ours, as might be requisite for that end; if the Lord giveth himself to be my righteousness, and holiness, what need I then these gifts of holiness? So that this in sum is the Question, If the Lord will give unto us himself, what need we these gifts to work anything, which God is much more able to perform then we can be? This springeth naturally from the Doctrine. Though the Lord giveth us himself, and his holy Spirit to dwell in us, yet is it needful that we should be endued with all the gifts of the Spirit of Grace, that do accompany-salvation. You will say, What need is there then that the Holy Ghost should dwell in us? Or will not these carry an end our souls unto immortality? Truly we have need that the Lord should give us his holy Spirit to dwell in us, notwithstanding all the gifts of his grace, though they indeed are necessary conditions to be found in the souls of all God’s servants, Heb. 12:14. Follow peace and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. As if he made it of absolute necessity to salvation, not only in another world, but for a comfortable condition in this world; follow Peace and Holiness, as if so be that they were ready to fly away from a man: and indeed, the word doth imply no less; for δεώκετε, doth signify the pursuit of something that fleeth from a man, as peace will many times flee from one, and a man will have much ado to attain unto it, Psal. 120:6,7. My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace: I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war: it is not easily attained unto, therefore should not be suffered to depart, but held fast when it is enjoyed. And so for Holiness; the Apostle would have us make an holy kind of pursuit after it, as if it were still withdrawing from us; which cometh through the corruptions of our heart; for we are soon weary of holy Duties, as Prayer, or Conference, or the like: if Holiness be in anything, it soon groweth wearisome to flesh and blood; but though our weak and feeble nature will be withdrawing us from Holiness, yet the Lord would have us to follow it, and pursue it; and so shall a man be withdrawn from the world, and from the temptations and bad examples thereof. Do not say, What, shall we be wiser than our Fathers? And, Is not Moderation best in all things? But consider what the Apostle saith, Follow still after it, even unto perfection; and his words do intimate the reason of it, without which no man shall see the Lord: for what is Holiness in its own nature? It is that which giveth God his due, as Righteousness giveth man his due. And this is a main ground why we are so slow in works of holiness; for were they of another nature, and did they serve our turns more, as we think, we should not then account them tedious: If I were to sit and tell money all day long, this is for myself (saith a man) and for my profit; and if it were for another, we should not think the time long, it may be, at that work neither: but (mind you) when it cometh to anything which doth concern the Lord, then it’s so far above a man’s reach, whatsoever we have to do in the things of God, that we should soon be weary of reaching forth our hands all the day long unto the Lord, and to be constantly for God, from God, and with God, in all our Actions: our base spirits are soon ready to be withdrawing from the Lord; therefore the Apostle biddeth us follow after Peace, and Holiness, without which no man shall see God: so that great is the necessity of Holiness, and worthy to be followed after: for though a man’s own heart, and the world, and men, and Satan withdraw us from it, yet follow after it, for without it no man shall see God. There is a kind of holiness which some men have attained unto, many a fair day ago, but ‘tis a thousand to one, whether it be the holiness which doth accompany salvation, for that Holiness is not easily attained unto; but the other will easily cleave close unto a man. Now if you shall ask me, wherefore the Lord will have us pursue after Holiness; and what needeth it, if the Spirit of Holiness dwell in me by an everlasting Covenant? If it did withdraw from us as it did from Adam, it was another matter; but though it may be quenched in us, yet abideth it forever: what need then of gifts of Holiness? That one word may be sufficient, which we find in 2 Tim. 2:21. If any man purge himself from these evils, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Masters use, and prepared unto every good work. This showeth us why gifts of Holiness are requisite to be in God’s people, namely, that they might become meet instruments in the hands of God, and fitted unto every good word and work; therefore it is, that the Lord will have us to be filled with all the gifts of Righteousness, and fruits of his Spirit, that we might be more fit Temples for the Holy Ghost to dwell in: and this is the principal Reason of the Point. If then there be such gifts of holiness, what need the Holy Ghost dwell in us? Is it not enough that he should shed abroad these things into our hearts? Cannot the Lord carry an end the work of our salvation by these gifts? There is need that the Holy Ghost should dwell in us, notwithstanding. 1. To keep these gifts in us. 2. To act them in us. 3. To witness these unto our souls, for our comfort, and the good one of another. Some Scriptures for all these. 1. That there is need of the Holy Ghost to keep these things in us, 2 Tim. 1:14. That good thing which was committed unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. There is a very worthy thing committed to us, how shall we keep it? Not by our own wit and wisdom, careful watchfulness, and faithfulness, (though such things ought not to be wanting) but the charge is, Keep those things by the Holy Ghost, which dwelleth in us. We stand in need of Gifts, to be fit instruments in the hand of God; we stand in need of the Spirit of God, to maintain that which God giveth us: and though Adams Gifts were in perfection, yet not having the holy Ghost to keep them for him, they all fly from him, as soon as ever he had tasted of the forbidden fruit, and left him naked and desperate. Therefore in the Covenant of Grace the Lord giveth the Holy Ghost to keep strong possession in his servants, against the strong man armed. This is the first ground why the Holy Ghost dwelleth in us. 2. It’s the Holy Ghost, that acteth the gifts given to us, and enableth them in us: for the Holy Ghost who keepeth possession, doth derive continued strength into our faith, which putteth life into all the gifts of God. And if you shall ask how love, and patience, and the rest of the gifts of God do work? The Holy Ghost stirreth up faith to look unto Christ, who returneth strength by his Spirit unto Faith; and so faith worketh by love, and by meekness, and by all the rest of the fruits of the Spirit. Thus the Spirit of God acteth according to what we read, Rom. 8:14. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, are the sons of God: come to any holy duty, and it is the Holy Ghost, that leadeth you along, and atteth in you: so Ezek. 36:27. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them. And, holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. It is the Spirit of God that moveth us to any good work, and that acteth the gifts of his grace in us. 3. The Spirit of God doth not only keep these gifts for us, and act them in us; but it is the same Spirit of God that witnesseth to these gifts, and showeth what gifts he hath given us; for such is the blindness of the nature of all the sons of men, and it is a wonder to see, that generally Christians when the Lord first worketh these gifts in them, not one of a thousand but they think they are in a sad and fearful condition, and so they are very uncomfortable: but now left that we should always mistake that which the Lord hath given us, we have received the Spirit of God, that we might know the things that are freely given unto us of God, 1 Cor. 2:12, he indeed taketh his own time to discover it, to some sooner, to some later; but this is his intendment, that he might honor his grace unto us, by all the rich and gracious gifts which he hath given us. He doth also reveal unto us the duties which he helpeth us to do, Rom. 9:1. I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness, and continual sorrow in mine heart: For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my Brethren, my Kinsmen according to the flesh. The Holy Ghost that wrought in him this brotherly-love, the same Holy Ghost beareth him witness that he doth not lie; and that he had continual sorrow in his heart, and that he could have wished to have been accursed from Christ, that they might be saved; it grieved him so much that the whole Nation should be destitute of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus we see how great need there is of the Holy Ghost to dwell in us, to keep all the gifts of his grace in us, to act them according to his will, and to discover to us what gracious gifts the Lord hath wrought in us, and what duties he hath helped us to do, that we may be able to give account of them by the Holy Ghost that dwelleth in us, and beareth witness with us. So there is necessity both of the gifts of grace, that we may be fit Temples for the Holy Ghost to dwell in, and fit instruments for him to work by: there is need also the Holy Ghost should dwell in us, for the causes we have spoken unto. And I might add this, to comfort us in all the changes that may come upon us: it is a strong Scripture which we read in Joh. 15:26. When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me, (our Divines have no place of more clear evidence to prove the procession of the Spirit from the Father) both of what mighty redemption he hath wrought for us, and what grace he hath wrought in us. This the Holy Ghost shall testify, even he that proceedeth from the Father; this is the comfort of God’s people. Thus we see both these points opened to us. How may we then employ and improve this Sanctification which the Lord hath given us, and which he keepeth and acteth in us by his Spirit, and whereunto he beareth witness? How, or to what end shall we employ it, seeing the Lord undertaketh to do these things for us? If so be it, that the Lord Jesus Christ by his Spirit giveth us these gifts: it is our part then first to see that we do not rest in any sanctification, which doth spring from Christ, conveyed unto us by his blessed Spirit. The Spirit knitteth us unto Christ, and Christ unto us; he worketh faith in us to receive whatsoever the Lord giveth unto us, and by the same faith worketh all our holiness for us, 1 Cor. 1:30. Christ is made unto us of God, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: therefore we are to see him principal author of all these things in us, and for us. This is the principal comfort of all, and the glory of all our safety; and so far as any of these lieth in our Sanctification, we ought to see that it be sanctification in Jesus Christ; and then it is sanctification in Jesus Christ, when the Lord giveth us to look unto the Lord Jesus in it, and to it in him; and as we look for our holiness to be perfect in Jesus Christ, so we look for continual supply of it from him: and this it is to make Christ our sanctification, when as whatsoever gift the Lord giveth us, we go not forth in the strength of it, but in the strength of Jesus Christ. There may be a change in the soul, which may spring from a spirit of Bondage, and may captivate our consciences unto the Law, that may restrain us from sin, and constrain us unto duties: but such holiness springeth not from union with Jesus Christ; for there may be a conscience of duty, without sense of our need of Jesus Christ: as it was with the Israelites at Mount Sinai, Deut. 5:27. Go thou near (say they to Moses) and hear all that the Lord our God shall say, and speak thou unto us, all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will hear it, and do it: they have well said, all that they have spoken, saith the Lord; O that there were an heart in them, that they would fear me! And so forth. This I say, therefore, is the first thing to be attended unto; as ever you would make a right use of your holiness, see that it be such as floweth from Jesus Christ, and that there be not only an heart awed with the Law, but waiting upon Jesus Christ to be all in all in us, and to us: so shall we neither neglect the gifts of God in us, nor Christ, and his Spirit; but shall give their due honor unto all of them together. 2. This may also teach all Christians not to trust upon the gifts of their Holiness: though they do spring from the Holy Ghost himself, though they be such as are unchangeable, though they spring from Jesus Christ, and knit your souls in Union with him; yet trust not in the gifts themselves: the Lord layeth it down as the Apostasy of Israel, Ezek. 16:14,15. Thy renown went forth among the Heathen, for thy beauty; for it was perfect through my comeliness which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God. But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the Harlot, &c. Trust not therefore in any of these; but let all our confidence be in Jesus Christ, not in any of the gifts of his Spirit, whatsoever. For a little further opening of it. 1. Trust not in any gifts that you have received for the performance of any duty, for it is not the strongest Christian that is able to put forth a good thought, 2 Cor. 3:5. But our sufficiency is of God. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing, Joh. 15:5. And the Apostle Paul cannot only not do any great matter by his own strength and grace, but nothing at all without Jesus Christ; and therefore he giveth us to understand, that it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do, Phil. 2:12, if therefore we have any new work to do, look to the Lord Jesus Christ afresh by Faith, that he may carry an end our works in us, and for us; otherwise it is not any strength or grace in us, that can produce any good work, word, or thought: And therefore (mind you) the Apostle maketh it a Principle of Christian Religion, that The just man liveth by his Faith; and he often mentioneth it, Gal. 2:20. The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God; where he putteth it into his own experience: why? Did he not live by Love, and Patience, and Zeal? &c. yes truly, they were lively in him, if ever in any man, besides our blessed Savior; and yet notwithstanding, he never attributed life to any of these gifts of his; but if he speak of his Life, he maketh this his Universal Life, I live by the Faith of the Son of God, and I am I am able to do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me, Phil. 4:13. This is the true savor of a Christian spirit, that when gifts are at the highest, the heart is then at the lowest: 1 Cor. 15:9,10. The Apostle Paul there acknowledgeth himself to be as one born out of due time; for (saith he) I am less than the least of the Apostles, not meet to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God; I, but by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly then they all, yet not I, but the grace of God in me. This is truly spiritual sanctification, that when the soul is full of the Holy Ghost, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, yet he is like a man in great penury, as having nothing of himself: This is a marvelous spiritual poverty, and you shall ever find (and I desire the Lord would open the hearts of his people to know what I speak) that if Christians have fallen, their greatest falls have been in their most exemplary gifts. If you shall mark the sins of all the servants of God, they have been chiefly found in the very exercise of their best gifts. Let us take a little taste of them, that we may learn to use our gifts in the strength of Jesus Christ. Abraham, a man full of faith, none went beyond him in Old nor New Testament: yet if you read of any failing in him, it is in want of the acting of faith. What made him afraid not once, but the second time, that his wife would be taken away from him by Pharaoh? Gen. 12, by Abimelech? Chap. 20, had not the Lord promised that he would bless him wheresoever he came? Gen. 12:2. He had so much of the knowledge and grace of God shining in him, that Sarah needed not have dissembled; and Abimelech (a poor Heathen) could say as much, chap. 20:16. Behold, thy husband it a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee, and with all other; thus she was reproved: as if he should say, Thou needest no shifts and lies for thy protections, and to be a veil unto thee: this a poor Heathen can discern, that such a man as hath God with him, needeth no other shifts nor covering to defend and shelter him. Thus we see that these great failings of Abraham, were proper acts of unbelief. Moses, a meek man, none like him for meekness on the face of the earth; there is but one sin storied of him after he was called to the Government of that State, and this was his failing; Hear now you rebels, Must we fetch you water out of this rock? So he lift up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice, Num. 20:10,11, they provoked Moses, as meek as he was: sometimes, when Aaron and Miriam dealt as peremptorily with him, he was not moved from the meekness of his spirit: but now he falleth into Passion, and this was the very sin, for which the Lord excluded him out of Canaan, Num. 27:12,13,14. It was the breach of this royal grace, chap. 20:12. Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the Land which I have given them: which words show us the reason of his failing in the grace wherein he so much abounded, because ye believed me not. The Lord will have him know, that he must live by his faith in his meekness. If any man think himself to be a meek man, and nothing shall over-wrestle him there, if you believe not in God but in your meekness, your confidence will soon fail you. Peter, a man full of courage; and you read of two of his principal failings, and both in point of courage; he failed in the high Priests hall at the voice of a Damsel, and in the porch at the speech of another Maid; and the third time, at the voice of one that stood by, Matth. 26:69. &c. whereas afterward when he lived by faith, he became undaunted. Another failing of his in point of courage we read of, Gal. 2:12. He feared those of the circumcision; and whereas before he did eat with the Gentiles, when certain of the Circumcision came from James, he withdrew, and separated himself, and so dissembled, and others likewise with him, insomuch, that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. Thus the Apostle Peter ‘s most eminent gifts did not bring forth their fruits. Know therefore, that the best of all your gifts, faith, meekness, courage, wisdom, love to your brethren, will fail, if you trust in them; and you will be most apt to fail there wherein you do most excel. If a man be wise, he shall fail in that point, and it may be in nothing so much, as in that, even in those things wherein he thinketh he walketh most wisely: and such an one will find most trials in point of his wisdom; and the like will be found in all other graces, and all to this end, to teach the Israel of God to know, that no man liveth by his wisdom, nor by anything in himself, but by faith in Jesus Christ, whom God hath given unto his people; and who is only able to give new supplies of his Spirit unto his servants to act every gift which he hath given them. I might have mentioned the example of Sarab, a meek and a quiet godly spirited woman, subject and obedient to her husband, and called him Lord; whose daughters you are while you do well, 1 Pet. 3:6, and yet you know one of her greatest failings, was in point of Reverence to her husband, Gen. 16:5. When she saw that she was despised in the eyes of her maid, whom she had given unto her husband, she said to Abraham, My wrong be upon thee, and the Lord judge between me and thee. Where is the reverence of Sarah now? Will you have the daughters of Sarah to imitate her herein? What had her husband done? There was no fault in him in this matter; she had no reason to tax him upon this point; it was her own counsel, ver. 2, that he should go in to her maid, that I may obtain children by her: therefore there was no color of any just complaint on her part; yet see, this meek-spirited woman failed in the point of her meekness herein, and did express no greater failing all her life long, that we read of: she was weak in faith once, but there was great reason, for that her womb was dead, and her Lord (as she called him) was old also; nor doth the Angel so much blame her about it: but that action wherein she most failed, was against that grace wherein she most abounded. And though every grace of the Spirit be of great force, when the Lord doth act and move it, yet let a man go forth in the strength of his greatest gifts, and if ever his heart fail him, it will be in them. Think not when you have done all you can, that you are worthy of anything, but say, that you are unprofitable servants: for though Sanctification be the way wherein the Lord will pour out all his blessings upon his servants, yet he doth require them to boast in none of their excellencies, but look at them all as freely given them of God: and consider that the right unto all springeth from fellowship with Jesus Christ, that so not only the gift itself is grace, but the blessing that followeth upon it is grace also. And suppose that we have attained all that we pray for, shall we then exalt our own gifts? No, but let us say with Jacob, Gen. 32:10. I am less than the least of all the mercies and truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant. Do not trust upon gifts, nor upon duties performed by those gifts, to reach the blessing; so look not for your justification from thence at all: for the Apostle is plain, that he looked not for anything for his righteousness before his conversion; and after his conversion, he counteth it all, as dross, and dung, that he might win Christ, Phil. 3:6,7,8. And for our faith; they are not to be trusted upon, as grounds of it: for all the gifts of our sanctification, are fruits of our faith; and therefore faith is said to work by love, Gal. 5:6. And so it doth by all other gifts of the Spirit; and if they be fruits of faith, then faith is not built upon them. And thus much for the second Use which Christians are to make of their sanctification. 3. There is in the next place, a point of witness, which this Sanctification doth yield, and the Spirit of God by it. The water beareth witness to the blood, and the blood to the water, and the Spirit unto both, 1 Joh. 5:6,7,8. A man’s own spirit beareth witness also, Rom. 8:16. The Spirit of God beareth witness with our spirits, that we are the children of God; and therefore as a witness of God unto our faith, we may lawfully hear what it speaketh: but this is the life of a true evidence, that all these gifts of God do not bear witness any further then a man seeth the Lord Jesus working them in him, and for him: for it is faith that maketh all the graces of the Gospel active, and it is a condition so requisite, that unless our works be of faith, and flow from it, they are not acceptable before God, Heb. 11:6, for without faith it’s impossible to please God; therefore unless faith carry an end our works, they are not works of holiness, such as should bear witness to the soul. Therefore the Apostle doth stir up the Corinthians unto this mainly, Examine yourselves whether you are in the faith, 2 Cor. 13:5, if he do exhort them to examination, it is in point of faith: and therefore some of our Divines, as Reverent Forbes of Middleburgh by name, who hath written a Sermon upon it, wherein he noteth this, that unless men find faith in their holiness, none of all their Sanctification will become a sound witness of the grace of God unto them: but if faith be found, then you shall see Jesus Christ accepting you, and breathing in you, except you be reprobates. There is a marvelous gracious witness, that sanctification giveth unto him that liveth by faith in Jesus Christ, if it be in Christ, and from Christ, and for Christ. This only is that sanctification which the Lord commendeth unto his children, to seek after it. 4. A fourth Use of our sanctification is, that the Spirit of God helpeth us by it in point of rejoicing; and therefore it is that you shall see the servants of God, rejoicing in their holiness; so doth the Apostle Paul, 2 Cor. 1:12. This is our rejoicing, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity, and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world; he rejoiceth at what the Lord doth by him, and with him. Let every man prove his own work, and so shall he have rejoicing in himself, and not in another. Gal. 6:4. But what is it that maketh the Apostle to rejoice before God? When he rejoiceth in his work before the Lord, you shall ever find him rejoicing at the Lord’s acting these gifts in him, and blessing him in his work: let us look upon two or three Scriptures for this end, 1 Tim. 1:12,13. I thank Jesus Christ our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; who was before a blasphemer, &c. this he thanketh God for: so that, mind you, as he seeth God giving him these gifts, and enabling him unto the work, so he blesseth God in that behalf. You shall find him also blessing God, that had prospered this work of the Ministry wheresoever he came, 2 Cor. 2:14. Thanks be to God which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. The Lord working in him, and for him, maketh him to triumph, and to over- wrestle all the difficulties which he meeteth withal. The Lord had given him gifts, and taught him to exercise those gifts, and doth accept him; and therefore he expresseth himself in a marvelous strong speech, Phil. 1:20,21. I am in nothing ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death: for to me to live, is Christ; and to die, is gain: to me to live, is Christ; as if he had said, I have no life but from Christ, I put forth no act of life but for Christ: this is the sum of all his conversation; and if Christ be his life, then death will be his advantage, and Christ will be magnified in either. Thus we may see how the Saints of God have made use of their sanctification; they are careful to see that it flow from Christ; and yet when they have it, they dare not trust in their best gifts for the least duty, neither do they look for their faith from their best gifts, but they expect their best gifts to flow from their faith: they make use of the testimony of their holiness, when they see Christ in it, and faith in it, and the Spirit of God carrying them along in the ways and duties thereof: thus they see their holiness, and take comfort in it, and from the witness of it, as that by which the Lord dispenseth comfort unto his people, when they receive it from the hands of Christ, and by faith in him, by which they are taught of God, to carry an end their whole conversation in his name. 5. Furthermore, as we receive it from Christ, and trust not in it, but in Christ, and receive the witness of it in Christ, and in the holy Spirit of Christ; and as we receive Joy and Comfort also, which the Lord doth minister unto us, in a sanctified course, by his holy Spirit: so we grow up, and perfect our Holiness, which we have received in his Name: there is growth in grace; this sanctification is not bed-ridden; Christians are not as weak now, as they were seven years ago, nor do they stand at a stay, but go forward in Christianity: and hereupon the Apostle exhorteth the Ephesians, Eph. 4:15, to speak the truth in love, that they may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ; implying, that men that enter into ways of Holiness, ought to grow on unto perfection in the fear of God. The Righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger, Job 17:9. And many sweet means the Lord hath appointed for this end; the communion of God’s people tendeth hereunto, Prov. 13:20. He that walketh with the wise shall learn wisdom: all the Ordinances of God are appointed for this end also, to beget and increase faith and holiness; therefore a Christian in the use of all these Ordinances doth not stand at a stay, but is still thriving and growing; and that not in his own strength, but in the strength of Jesus Christ, seeking for his acceptance and help in every duty he goeth about: and this is that which the Apostle Paul doth exhort the Colossians unto, chap. 2:6,7. As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith. This ought Christians mainly to attend unto; that as you see the branch, the more juice it sucketh from the root, the more fruitful it is: so also it becometh the people of God, to know, that the more need we stand in to be fruitful, the more need we have to derive a continual fresh supply from the Lord Jesus Christ, that by his Spirit, renewing grace in us, we may be enlarged, and carried an end in the ways of God: whereas otherwise the hearts of Christians would soon fail to go on in those things, wherein they desire to be growing up unto perfection. What is the reason that so many servants of God, are not so lively in their profession, as they were wont to be many years ago? Truly, we attend upon Ordinances, but it is only upon the outward act of them, and not upon Jesus Christ in them. This is many times wanting in the hearts of God’s people: but truly if this be our constant frame, and we do not recover ourselves, then is not our sanctification that which floweth from fellowship with Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of his grace; for you shall ever find this to be true, that there is no gift of Jesus Christ, nor sanctification accompanying salvation, but it doth knit us nearer and nearer unto Christ; for the more we are filled with true spiritual gifts, the more empty we are of our own strength, and of self- conceits, and so we ought to be; otherwise you shall constantly find this, that if the Lord do not preserve this empty frame in us, the more full we are of any gift, the more full shall we be of our own strength, and consequently we shall feel the less need of Jesus Christ; and if this be our constant frame, it will be a sad argument that our best sanctification will not endure, but fall away, unless we be knit unto Jesus Christ by the Spirit of his grace; for by all true sanctification, we are the more knit unto him: so that if any man would know whether the superscription of Christ and his image be stamped upon his sanctification, this you shall ever find to be the stamp of the grace of Jesus Christ; That the more you receive from him, the more need you stand in of him: insomuch, that notwithstanding all the gifts of the Spirit, there is not the ablest Minister of the New Testament, but (if your gifts flow from the Spirit of Christ, and knit you unto Christ) you will find as great need to cleave unto Jesus Christ, as ever you did the first day, when you came trembling into the Pulpit. If therefore we feel ourselves full, so that the more we have received, the more sufficient we are; and go not about the duties we have in hand, in fear and trembling, but in self-confidence; if this be our usual, and constant practice, it is but counterfeit Christianity: I do not say, That the gifts are counterfeit, for they are from the Spirit of God, and men may by them be very serviceable to Church and Commonwealth: but this is certain, that the stronger and the more your gifts are, if you sit loose from Christ, the emptier your hearts are of him. But you will say, May not a Christian be sometimes full of himself, and depend upon the strength of his own gifts? Yes, brethren, God forbid I should deny that, for the best Christians have gone astray in the exercise of their best gifts; and hereupon Abraham hath been wanting in faith, and Moses in meekness, and Peter in courage, and Sarah in her modesty; they have been so apt to trust upon those graces of God, wherein they have most abounded, that they have principally failed therein: but this you shall find, that if they have been overtaken once, or twice, as the burnt child dreadeth the fire; so they grow to be more sensible of their need of Jesus Christ, more fearful of departing from him, more careful to cleave unto him, that they might grow up in his name to all well pleasing in his sight. If therefore there be a sanctification that standeth at a stay in any man, it is a great suspicion whether it flow from fellowship with Christ, or no: if gifts be truly spiritual, a man shall ordinarily grow up in them: Habenti dabitur, Employ them, and multiply them; but if you have received gifts in your own strength, and you are now full of your own sanctification, truly this is but frothy work, and doth not convey true nor lively nourishment and comfort: but to him that in his most spiritual gifts is empty of himself, and only full of Jesus Christ; to live, or die, is his advantage. This is the Use which I would commend unto you touching your Christian Sanctification. Thus we see sundry things have been cleared from this Doctrine concerning the Covenant of Grace.
This Doctrine may serve in the next place, to answer a seventh Question, touching the necessity of Sanctification. For it may be demanded, If the Lord will give himself unto the soul in the Covenant of his Grace, not only his attributes, but his person, all that is God is given by virtue of this Covenant; If God will give himself, not only to choose us to life and glory, but his Son to redeem us, and his holy Spirit to sanctify us, Ezek. 36:27, what need is there of Sanctification? For if the Holy Ghost will dwell in us, he can take our wits, and understanding, and understand all our Meditations for us, without any such actual concurrence of ours, as might be requisite for that end; if the Lord giveth himself to be my righteousness, and holiness, what need I then these gifts of holiness? So that this in sum is the Question, If the Lord will give unto us himself, what need we these gifts to work anything, which God is much more able to perform then we can be? This springeth naturally from the Doctrine. Though the Lord giveth us himself, and his holy Spirit to dwell in us, yet is it needful that we should be endued with all the gifts of the Spirit of Grace, that do accompany-salvation. You will say, What need is there then that the Holy Ghost should dwell in us? Or will not these carry an end our souls unto immortality? Truly we have need that the Lord should give us his holy Spirit to dwell in us, notwithstanding all the gifts of his grace, though they indeed are necessary conditions to be found in the souls of all God’s servants, Heb. 12:14. Follow peace and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. As if he made it of absolute necessity to salvation, not only in another world, but for a comfortable condition in this world; follow Peace and Holiness, as if so be that they were ready to fly away from a man: and indeed, the word doth imply no less; for δεώκετε, doth signify the pursuit of something that fleeth from a man, as peace will many times flee from one, and a man will have much ado to attain unto it, Psal. 120:6,7. My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace: I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war: it is not easily attained unto, therefore should not be suffered to depart, but held fast when it is enjoyed. And so for Holiness; the Apostle would have us make an holy kind of pursuit after it, as if it were still withdrawing from us; which cometh through the corruptions of our heart; for we are soon weary of holy Duties, as Prayer, or Conference, or the like: if Holiness be in anything, it soon groweth wearisome to flesh and blood; but though our weak and feeble nature will be withdrawing us from Holiness, yet the Lord would have us to follow it, and pursue it; and so shall a man be withdrawn from the world, and from the temptations and bad examples thereof. Do not say, What, shall we be wiser than our Fathers? And, Is not Moderation best in all things? But consider what the Apostle saith, Follow still after it, even unto perfection; and his words do intimate the reason of it, without which no man shall see the Lord: for what is Holiness in its own nature? It is that which giveth God his due, as Righteousness giveth man his due. And this is a main ground why we are so slow in works of holiness; for were they of another nature, and did they serve our turns more, as we think, we should not then account them tedious: If I were to sit and tell money all day long, this is for myself (saith a man) and for my profit; and if it were for another, we should not think the time long, it may be, at that work neither: but (mind you) when it cometh to anything which doth concern the Lord, then it’s so far above a man’s reach, whatsoever we have to do in the things of God, that we should soon be weary of reaching forth our hands all the day long unto the Lord, and to be constantly for God, from God, and with God, in all our Actions: our base spirits are soon ready to be withdrawing from the Lord; therefore the Apostle biddeth us follow after Peace, and Holiness, without which no man shall see God: so that great is the necessity of Holiness, and worthy to be followed after: for though a man’s own heart, and the world, and men, and Satan withdraw us from it, yet follow after it, for without it no man shall see God. There is a kind of holiness which some men have attained unto, many a fair day ago, but ‘tis a thousand to one, whether it be the holiness which doth accompany salvation, for that Holiness is not easily attained unto; but the other will easily cleave close unto a man. Now if you shall ask me, wherefore the Lord will have us pursue after Holiness; and what needeth it, if the Spirit of Holiness dwell in me by an everlasting Covenant? If it did withdraw from us as it did from Adam, it was another matter; but though it may be quenched in us, yet abideth it forever: what need then of gifts of Holiness? That one word may be sufficient, which we find in 2 Tim. 2:21. If any man purge himself from these evils, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Masters use, and prepared unto every good work. This showeth us why gifts of Holiness are requisite to be in God’s people, namely, that they might become meet instruments in the hands of God, and fitted unto every good word and work; therefore it is, that the Lord will have us to be filled with all the gifts of Righteousness, and fruits of his Spirit, that we might be more fit Temples for the Holy Ghost to dwell in: and this is the principal Reason of the Point. If then there be such gifts of holiness, what need the Holy Ghost dwell in us? Is it not enough that he should shed abroad these things into our hearts? Cannot the Lord carry an end the work of our salvation by these gifts? There is need that the Holy Ghost should dwell in us, notwithstanding. 1. To keep these gifts in us. 2. To act them in us. 3. To witness these unto our souls, for our comfort, and the good one of another. Some Scriptures for all these. 1. That there is need of the Holy Ghost to keep these things in us, 2 Tim. 1:14. That good thing which was committed unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. There is a very worthy thing committed to us, how shall we keep it? Not by our own wit and wisdom, careful watchfulness, and faithfulness, (though such things ought not to be wanting) but the charge is, Keep those things by the Holy Ghost, which dwelleth in us. We stand in need of Gifts, to be fit instruments in the hand of God; we stand in need of the Spirit of God, to maintain that which God giveth us: and though Adams Gifts were in perfection, yet not having the holy Ghost to keep them for him, they all fly from him, as soon as ever he had tasted of the forbidden fruit, and left him naked and desperate. Therefore in the Covenant of Grace the Lord giveth the Holy Ghost to keep strong possession in his servants, against the strong man armed. This is the first ground why the Holy Ghost dwelleth in us. 2. It’s the Holy Ghost, that acteth the gifts given to us, and enableth them in us: for the Holy Ghost who keepeth possession, doth derive continued strength into our faith, which putteth life into all the gifts of God. And if you shall ask how love, and patience, and the rest of the gifts of God do work? The Holy Ghost stirreth up faith to look unto Christ, who returneth strength by his Spirit unto Faith; and so faith worketh by love, and by meekness, and by all the rest of the fruits of the Spirit. Thus the Spirit of God acteth according to what we read, Rom. 8:14. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, are the sons of God: come to any holy duty, and it is the Holy Ghost, that leadeth you along, and atteth in you: so Ezek. 36:27. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them. And, holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. It is the Spirit of God that moveth us to any good work, and that acteth the gifts of his grace in us. 3. The Spirit of God doth not only keep these gifts for us, and act them in us; but it is the same Spirit of God that witnesseth to these gifts, and showeth what gifts he hath given us; for such is the blindness of the nature of all the sons of men, and it is a wonder to see, that generally Christians when the Lord first worketh these gifts in them, not one of a thousand but they think they are in a sad and fearful condition, and so they are very uncomfortable: but now left that we should always mistake that which the Lord hath given us, we have received the Spirit of God, that we might know the things that are freely given unto us of God, 1 Cor. 2:12, he indeed taketh his own time to discover it, to some sooner, to some later; but this is his intendment, that he might honor his grace unto us, by all the rich and gracious gifts which he hath given us. He doth also reveal unto us the duties which he helpeth us to do, Rom. 9:1. I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness, and continual sorrow in mine heart: For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my Brethren, my Kinsmen according to the flesh. The Holy Ghost that wrought in him this brotherly-love, the same Holy Ghost beareth him witness that he doth not lie; and that he had continual sorrow in his heart, and that he could have wished to have been accursed from Christ, that they might be saved; it grieved him so much that the whole Nation should be destitute of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus we see how great need there is of the Holy Ghost to dwell in us, to keep all the gifts of his grace in us, to act them according to his will, and to discover to us what gracious gifts the Lord hath wrought in us, and what duties he hath helped us to do, that we may be able to give account of them by the Holy Ghost that dwelleth in us, and beareth witness with us. So there is necessity both of the gifts of grace, that we may be fit Temples for the Holy Ghost to dwell in, and fit instruments for him to work by: there is need also the Holy Ghost should dwell in us, for the causes we have spoken unto. And I might add this, to comfort us in all the changes that may come upon us: it is a strong Scripture which we read in Joh. 15:26. When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me, (our Divines have no place of more clear evidence to prove the procession of the Spirit from the Father) both of what mighty redemption he hath wrought for us, and what grace he hath wrought in us. This the Holy Ghost shall testify, even he that proceedeth from the Father; this is the comfort of God’s people. Thus we see both these points opened to us. How may we then employ and improve this Sanctification which the Lord hath given us, and which he keepeth and acteth in us by his Spirit, and whereunto he beareth witness? How, or to what end shall we employ it, seeing the Lord undertaketh to do these things for us? If so be it, that the Lord Jesus Christ by his Spirit giveth us these gifts: it is our part then first to see that we do not rest in any sanctification, which doth spring from Christ, conveyed unto us by his blessed Spirit. The Spirit knitteth us unto Christ, and Christ unto us; he worketh faith in us to receive whatsoever the Lord giveth unto us, and by the same faith worketh all our holiness for us, 1 Cor. 1:30. Christ is made unto us of God, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: therefore we are to see him principal author of all these things in us, and for us. This is the principal comfort of all, and the glory of all our safety; and so far as any of these lieth in our Sanctification, we ought to see that it be sanctification in Jesus Christ; and then it is sanctification in Jesus Christ, when the Lord giveth us to look unto the Lord Jesus in it, and to it in him; and as we look for our holiness to be perfect in Jesus Christ, so we look for continual supply of it from him: and this it is to make Christ our sanctification, when as whatsoever gift the Lord giveth us, we go not forth in the strength of it, but in the strength of Jesus Christ. There may be a change in the soul, which may spring from a spirit of Bondage, and may captivate our consciences unto the Law, that may restrain us from sin, and constrain us unto duties: but such holiness springeth not from union with Jesus Christ; for there may be a conscience of duty, without sense of our need of Jesus Christ: as it was with the Israelites at Mount Sinai, Deut. 5:27. Go thou near (say they to Moses) and hear all that the Lord our God shall say, and speak thou unto us, all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will hear it, and do it: they have well said, all that they have spoken, saith the Lord; O that there were an heart in them, that they would fear me! And so forth. This I say, therefore, is the first thing to be attended unto; as ever you would make a right use of your holiness, see that it be such as floweth from Jesus Christ, and that there be not only an heart awed with the Law, but waiting upon Jesus Christ to be all in all in us, and to us: so shall we neither neglect the gifts of God in us, nor Christ, and his Spirit; but shall give their due honor unto all of them together. 2. This may also teach all Christians not to trust upon the gifts of their Holiness: though they do spring from the Holy Ghost himself, though they be such as are unchangeable, though they spring from Jesus Christ, and knit your souls in Union with him; yet trust not in the gifts themselves: the Lord layeth it down as the Apostasy of Israel, Ezek. 16:14,15. Thy renown went forth among the Heathen, for thy beauty; for it was perfect through my comeliness which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God. But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the Harlot, &c. Trust not therefore in any of these; but let all our confidence be in Jesus Christ, not in any of the gifts of his Spirit, whatsoever. For a little further opening of it. 1. Trust not in any gifts that you have received for the performance of any duty, for it is not the strongest Christian that is able to put forth a good thought, 2 Cor. 3:5. But our sufficiency is of God. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing, Joh. 15:5. And the Apostle Paul cannot only not do any great matter by his own strength and grace, but nothing at all without Jesus Christ; and therefore he giveth us to understand, that it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do, Phil. 2:12, if therefore we have any new work to do, look to the Lord Jesus Christ afresh by Faith, that he may carry an end our works in us, and for us; otherwise it is not any strength or grace in us, that can produce any good work, word, or thought: And therefore (mind you) the Apostle maketh it a Principle of Christian Religion, that The just man liveth by his Faith; and he often mentioneth it, Gal. 2:20. The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God; where he putteth it into his own experience: why? Did he not live by Love, and Patience, and Zeal? &c. yes truly, they were lively in him, if ever in any man, besides our blessed Savior; and yet notwithstanding, he never attributed life to any of these gifts of his; but if he speak of his Life, he maketh this his Universal Life, I live by the Faith of the Son of God, and I am I am able to do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me, Phil. 4:13. This is the true savor of a Christian spirit, that when gifts are at the highest, the heart is then at the lowest: 1 Cor. 15:9,10. The Apostle Paul there acknowledgeth himself to be as one born out of due time; for (saith he) I am less than the least of the Apostles, not meet to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God; I, but by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly then they all, yet not I, but the grace of God in me. This is truly spiritual sanctification, that when the soul is full of the Holy Ghost, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, yet he is like a man in great penury, as having nothing of himself: This is a marvelous spiritual poverty, and you shall ever find (and I desire the Lord would open the hearts of his people to know what I speak) that if Christians have fallen, their greatest falls have been in their most exemplary gifts. If you shall mark the sins of all the servants of God, they have been chiefly found in the very exercise of their best gifts. Let us take a little taste of them, that we may learn to use our gifts in the strength of Jesus Christ. Abraham, a man full of faith, none went beyond him in Old nor New Testament: yet if you read of any failing in him, it is in want of the acting of faith. What made him afraid not once, but the second time, that his wife would be taken away from him by Pharaoh? Gen. 12, by Abimelech? Chap. 20, had not the Lord promised that he would bless him wheresoever he came? Gen. 12:2. He had so much of the knowledge and grace of God shining in him, that Sarah needed not have dissembled; and Abimelech (a poor Heathen) could say as much, chap. 20:16. Behold, thy husband it a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee, and with all other; thus she was reproved: as if he should say, Thou needest no shifts and lies for thy protections, and to be a veil unto thee: this a poor Heathen can discern, that such a man as hath God with him, needeth no other shifts nor covering to defend and shelter him. Thus we see that these great failings of Abraham, were proper acts of unbelief. Moses, a meek man, none like him for meekness on the face of the earth; there is but one sin storied of him after he was called to the Government of that State, and this was his failing; Hear now you rebels, Must we fetch you water out of this rock? So he lift up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice, Num. 20:10,11, they provoked Moses, as meek as he was: sometimes, when Aaron and Miriam dealt as peremptorily with him, he was not moved from the meekness of his spirit: but now he falleth into Passion, and this was the very sin, for which the Lord excluded him out of Canaan, Num. 27:12,13,14. It was the breach of this royal grace, chap. 20:12. Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the Land which I have given them: which words show us the reason of his failing in the grace wherein he so much abounded, because ye believed me not. The Lord will have him know, that he must live by his faith in his meekness. If any man think himself to be a meek man, and nothing shall over-wrestle him there, if you believe not in God but in your meekness, your confidence will soon fail you. Peter, a man full of courage; and you read of two of his principal failings, and both in point of courage; he failed in the high Priests hall at the voice of a Damsel, and in the porch at the speech of another Maid; and the third time, at the voice of one that stood by, Matth. 26:69. &c. whereas afterward when he lived by faith, he became undaunted. Another failing of his in point of courage we read of, Gal. 2:12. He feared those of the circumcision; and whereas before he did eat with the Gentiles, when certain of the Circumcision came from James, he withdrew, and separated himself, and so dissembled, and others likewise with him, insomuch, that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. Thus the Apostle Peter ‘s most eminent gifts did not bring forth their fruits. Know therefore, that the best of all your gifts, faith, meekness, courage, wisdom, love to your brethren, will fail, if you trust in them; and you will be most apt to fail there wherein you do most excel. If a man be wise, he shall fail in that point, and it may be in nothing so much, as in that, even in those things wherein he thinketh he walketh most wisely: and such an one will find most trials in point of his wisdom; and the like will be found in all other graces, and all to this end, to teach the Israel of God to know, that no man liveth by his wisdom, nor by anything in himself, but by faith in Jesus Christ, whom God hath given unto his people; and who is only able to give new supplies of his Spirit unto his servants to act every gift which he hath given them. I might have mentioned the example of Sarab, a meek and a quiet godly spirited woman, subject and obedient to her husband, and called him Lord; whose daughters you are while you do well, 1 Pet. 3:6, and yet you know one of her greatest failings, was in point of Reverence to her husband, Gen. 16:5. When she saw that she was despised in the eyes of her maid, whom she had given unto her husband, she said to Abraham, My wrong be upon thee, and the Lord judge between me and thee. Where is the reverence of Sarah now? Will you have the daughters of Sarah to imitate her herein? What had her husband done? There was no fault in him in this matter; she had no reason to tax him upon this point; it was her own counsel, ver. 2, that he should go in to her maid, that I may obtain children by her: therefore there was no color of any just complaint on her part; yet see, this meek-spirited woman failed in the point of her meekness herein, and did express no greater failing all her life long, that we read of: she was weak in faith once, but there was great reason, for that her womb was dead, and her Lord (as she called him) was old also; nor doth the Angel so much blame her about it: but that action wherein she most failed, was against that grace wherein she most abounded. And though every grace of the Spirit be of great force, when the Lord doth act and move it, yet let a man go forth in the strength of his greatest gifts, and if ever his heart fail him, it will be in them. Think not when you have done all you can, that you are worthy of anything, but say, that you are unprofitable servants: for though Sanctification be the way wherein the Lord will pour out all his blessings upon his servants, yet he doth require them to boast in none of their excellencies, but look at them all as freely given them of God: and consider that the right unto all springeth from fellowship with Jesus Christ, that so not only the gift itself is grace, but the blessing that followeth upon it is grace also. And suppose that we have attained all that we pray for, shall we then exalt our own gifts? No, but let us say with Jacob, Gen. 32:10. I am less than the least of all the mercies and truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant. Do not trust upon gifts, nor upon duties performed by those gifts, to reach the blessing; so look not for your justification from thence at all: for the Apostle is plain, that he looked not for anything for his righteousness before his conversion; and after his conversion, he counteth it all, as dross, and dung, that he might win Christ, Phil. 3:6,7,8. And for our faith; they are not to be trusted upon, as grounds of it: for all the gifts of our sanctification, are fruits of our faith; and therefore faith is said to work by love, Gal. 5:6. And so it doth by all other gifts of the Spirit; and if they be fruits of faith, then faith is not built upon them. And thus much for the second Use which Christians are to make of their sanctification. 3. There is in the next place, a point of witness, which this Sanctification doth yield, and the Spirit of God by it. The water beareth witness to the blood, and the blood to the water, and the Spirit unto both, 1 Joh. 5:6,7,8. A man’s own spirit beareth witness also, Rom. 8:16. The Spirit of God beareth witness with our spirits, that we are the children of God; and therefore as a witness of God unto our faith, we may lawfully hear what it speaketh: but this is the life of a true evidence, that all these gifts of God do not bear witness any further then a man seeth the Lord Jesus working them in him, and for him: for it is faith that maketh all the graces of the Gospel active, and it is a condition so requisite, that unless our works be of faith, and flow from it, they are not acceptable before God, Heb. 11:6, for without faith it’s impossible to please God; therefore unless faith carry an end our works, they are not works of holiness, such as should bear witness to the soul. Therefore the Apostle doth stir up the Corinthians unto this mainly, Examine yourselves whether you are in the faith, 2 Cor. 13:5, if he do exhort them to examination, it is in point of faith: and therefore some of our Divines, as Reverent Forbes of Middleburgh by name, who hath written a Sermon upon it, wherein he noteth this, that unless men find faith in their holiness, none of all their Sanctification will become a sound witness of the grace of God unto them: but if faith be found, then you shall see Jesus Christ accepting you, and breathing in you, except you be reprobates. There is a marvelous gracious witness, that sanctification giveth unto him that liveth by faith in Jesus Christ, if it be in Christ, and from Christ, and for Christ. This only is that sanctification which the Lord commendeth unto his children, to seek after it. 4. A fourth Use of our sanctification is, that the Spirit of God helpeth us by it in point of rejoicing; and therefore it is that you shall see the servants of God, rejoicing in their holiness; so doth the Apostle Paul, 2 Cor. 1:12. This is our rejoicing, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity, and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world; he rejoiceth at what the Lord doth by him, and with him. Let every man prove his own work, and so shall he have rejoicing in himself, and not in another. Gal. 6:4. But what is it that maketh the Apostle to rejoice before God? When he rejoiceth in his work before the Lord, you shall ever find him rejoicing at the Lord’s acting these gifts in him, and blessing him in his work: let us look upon two or three Scriptures for this end, 1 Tim. 1:12,13. I thank Jesus Christ our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; who was before a blasphemer, &c. this he thanketh God for: so that, mind you, as he seeth God giving him these gifts, and enabling him unto the work, so he blesseth God in that behalf. You shall find him also blessing God, that had prospered this work of the Ministry wheresoever he came, 2 Cor. 2:14. Thanks be to God which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. The Lord working in him, and for him, maketh him to triumph, and to over- wrestle all the difficulties which he meeteth withal. The Lord had given him gifts, and taught him to exercise those gifts, and doth accept him; and therefore he expresseth himself in a marvelous strong speech, Phil. 1:20,21. I am in nothing ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death: for to me to live, is Christ; and to die, is gain: to me to live, is Christ; as if he had said, I have no life but from Christ, I put forth no act of life but for Christ: this is the sum of all his conversation; and if Christ be his life, then death will be his advantage, and Christ will be magnified in either. Thus we may see how the Saints of God have made use of their sanctification; they are careful to see that it flow from Christ; and yet when they have it, they dare not trust in their best gifts for the least duty, neither do they look for their faith from their best gifts, but they expect their best gifts to flow from their faith: they make use of the testimony of their holiness, when they see Christ in it, and faith in it, and the Spirit of God carrying them along in the ways and duties thereof: thus they see their holiness, and take comfort in it, and from the witness of it, as that by which the Lord dispenseth comfort unto his people, when they receive it from the hands of Christ, and by faith in him, by which they are taught of God, to carry an end their whole conversation in his name. 5. Furthermore, as we receive it from Christ, and trust not in it, but in Christ, and receive the witness of it in Christ, and in the holy Spirit of Christ; and as we receive Joy and Comfort also, which the Lord doth minister unto us, in a sanctified course, by his holy Spirit: so we grow up, and perfect our Holiness, which we have received in his Name: there is growth in grace; this sanctification is not bed-ridden; Christians are not as weak now, as they were seven years ago, nor do they stand at a stay, but go forward in Christianity: and hereupon the Apostle exhorteth the Ephesians, Eph. 4:15, to speak the truth in love, that they may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ; implying, that men that enter into ways of Holiness, ought to grow on unto perfection in the fear of God. The Righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger, Job 17:9. And many sweet means the Lord hath appointed for this end; the communion of God’s people tendeth hereunto, Prov. 13:20. He that walketh with the wise shall learn wisdom: all the Ordinances of God are appointed for this end also, to beget and increase faith and holiness; therefore a Christian in the use of all these Ordinances doth not stand at a stay, but is still thriving and growing; and that not in his own strength, but in the strength of Jesus Christ, seeking for his acceptance and help in every duty he goeth about: and this is that which the Apostle Paul doth exhort the Colossians unto, chap. 2:6,7. As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith. This ought Christians mainly to attend unto; that as you see the branch, the more juice it sucketh from the root, the more fruitful it is: so also it becometh the people of God, to know, that the more need we stand in to be fruitful, the more need we have to derive a continual fresh supply from the Lord Jesus Christ, that by his Spirit, renewing grace in us, we may be enlarged, and carried an end in the ways of God: whereas otherwise the hearts of Christians would soon fail to go on in those things, wherein they desire to be growing up unto perfection. What is the reason that so many servants of God, are not so lively in their profession, as they were wont to be many years ago? Truly, we attend upon Ordinances, but it is only upon the outward act of them, and not upon Jesus Christ in them. This is many times wanting in the hearts of God’s people: but truly if this be our constant frame, and we do not recover ourselves, then is not our sanctification that which floweth from fellowship with Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of his grace; for you shall ever find this to be true, that there is no gift of Jesus Christ, nor sanctification accompanying salvation, but it doth knit us nearer and nearer unto Christ; for the more we are filled with true spiritual gifts, the more empty we are of our own strength, and of self- conceits, and so we ought to be; otherwise you shall constantly find this, that if the Lord do not preserve this empty frame in us, the more full we are of any gift, the more full shall we be of our own strength, and consequently we shall feel the less need of Jesus Christ; and if this be our constant frame, it will be a sad argument that our best sanctification will not endure, but fall away, unless we be knit unto Jesus Christ by the Spirit of his grace; for by all true sanctification, we are the more knit unto him: so that if any man would know whether the superscription of Christ and his image be stamped upon his sanctification, this you shall ever find to be the stamp of the grace of Jesus Christ; That the more you receive from him, the more need you stand in of him: insomuch, that notwithstanding all the gifts of the Spirit, there is not the ablest Minister of the New Testament, but (if your gifts flow from the Spirit of Christ, and knit you unto Christ) you will find as great need to cleave unto Jesus Christ, as ever you did the first day, when you came trembling into the Pulpit. If therefore we feel ourselves full, so that the more we have received, the more sufficient we are; and go not about the duties we have in hand, in fear and trembling, but in self-confidence; if this be our usual, and constant practice, it is but counterfeit Christianity: I do not say, That the gifts are counterfeit, for they are from the Spirit of God, and men may by them be very serviceable to Church and Commonwealth: but this is certain, that the stronger and the more your gifts are, if you sit loose from Christ, the emptier your hearts are of him. But you will say, May not a Christian be sometimes full of himself, and depend upon the strength of his own gifts? Yes, brethren, God forbid I should deny that, for the best Christians have gone astray in the exercise of their best gifts; and hereupon Abraham hath been wanting in faith, and Moses in meekness, and Peter in courage, and Sarah in her modesty; they have been so apt to trust upon those graces of God, wherein they have most abounded, that they have principally failed therein: but this you shall find, that if they have been overtaken once, or twice, as the burnt child dreadeth the fire; so they grow to be more sensible of their need of Jesus Christ, more fearful of departing from him, more careful to cleave unto him, that they might grow up in his name to all well pleasing in his sight. If therefore there be a sanctification that standeth at a stay in any man, it is a great suspicion whether it flow from fellowship with Christ, or no: if gifts be truly spiritual, a man shall ordinarily grow up in them: Habenti dabitur, Employ them, and multiply them; but if you have received gifts in your own strength, and you are now full of your own sanctification, truly this is but frothy work, and doth not convey true nor lively nourishment and comfort: but to him that in his most spiritual gifts is empty of himself, and only full of Jesus Christ; to live, or die, is his advantage. This is the Use which I would commend unto you touching your Christian Sanctification. Thus we see sundry things have been cleared from this Doctrine concerning the Covenant of Grace.
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