of the former, saith the Lord of Hosts. And I will put my Law in their inward parts, and write it in their Hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my People, and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his Brother, saying, know the Lord; for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquities, and I will remember their Sins no more.
3. It excels in the discovery and revelation of the Mediator, in and through whom this Covenant was made: In the former expression we discovered much, yet in none of them was so plainly revealed the time of his coming, the place of his birth, his name, the passages of his nativity, his humiliation and kingdom, as we find them in this. —
1. Concerning the time of his Coming; Seventy weeks shall be determined upon thy peo∣ple, and upon thy holy City, to finish the Transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophesie, and to anoint the most holy.
2. Concerning the place of his Birth: But thou Bethlehem Ephrata, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ru∣ler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
3. Concerning his Name: Ʋnto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the Go∣vernment shall be upon his Shoulders; and his Name shall be called Wonderful, Councellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. — In his dayes Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this his Name whereby he shall be called, the Lord our Righteousness.—Behold a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and thou O Vir∣gin shalt call his Name Immanuel.
4. Concerning the passages of his Nativity, that he should be born of a Virgin, Isa. 7.14. That at his Birth all the Infants round about Bethlehem should be slain. Jer 31.15. That John the Baptist should be his Prodromus, or forerunner, to prepare his way, Mal. 3.1. That he should flee into Egypt, and be recalled thence again, Hos. 11.1. I might add many Particulars of this kind.
5. Concerning his Humiliation: Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did not esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted; but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes were we healed.—He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his Mouth.—He was taken from Prison, and from Judgment, and who shall declare his Generation? he was cut off out of from the Land of the Living; for the transgression of my people was he stricken.—It pleased the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief.—There∣fore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shalt divide the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his Soul unto Death, and he was numbred with the transgressors, and he bare the Sin of many, and made intercession for t••e transgressors. One would think this were rather a History than a Prophesie of Christs sufferings; you may if you will take the pains, see the circumstances of his sufferings, as that he was sold for thirty pieces of silver, Zech. 11.12. and that with those thirty pieces of silver there was bought after∣wards a Potters field, Zech. 11.13. That he must ride into Jerusalem before his Passion on an Ass. Zech. 9.9. I might seem tedious if I should proceed.
6. Conc••rning his Kingdom. Rejoyce greatly O Daughter of Zion, shout O Daughter of Jerusalem, behold thy King cometh unto thee; he is Just, and having Salvation, lowly, and riding upon an Ass, and upon a Colt the Foal of an Ass. Behold a King▪ behold thy King, behold thy King cometh, and he comes unto thee. 1. He is a King, and therefore able. 2. He is thy King, and therefore willing; wonderful Love that he would come, but more wonderful was the manner of his coming: He that before made man a Soul after the Image of God, then made himself a Body after the Image of Man. And thus we see how this Covenant ex∣cels the former in every of these respects.
3. How doth God put the Law into our inward parts? I answer, God puts the Law into our inward parts by enlivening or qualifying of a Man with the Graces of Gods Spirit, suitable to his Commandment; first, there is the Law of God without us, as we see it or read it in Scriptures; but when it is put within us, then God hath wrought an inward disposition in our minds, that answers to that Law without us; for example, this is the Law without; Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart, and with all thy Soul, and with all thy Strength; To Answer which, there is a promise; I will circumcise thy Heart, and the Heart of thy Seed, to Love the Lord thy God with all thy