A discourse of the two covenants wherein the nature, differences, and effects of the covenant of works and of grace are distinctly, rationally, spiritually and practically discussed : together with a considerable quantity of practical cases dependent thereon / by William Strong.

BOOK III. The Covenant of Grace, its Nature and Benefits. (Book 3)

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

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

HAving spoken thus far of two general heads, (1) the Person that made the Co∣venant, and had the first great hand in it, and that was God, and therefore it's called Gods Covenant, and not mans, I will establish my Covenant between me and thee, (2) the persons with whom this Covenant is made, and that in a threefold subordination; [1] with Christ as Mediator, as a publick person, as the second Adam, [2] with Believers in him, [3] in them with all their seed: Let us now come to look into the nature of this Covenant more particularly, and examine the essentials thereof. There are three things that are ordinarily distinguished by Divines, a Law, a Testament, and a Covenant; A Law depends upon the absolute Soveraignty of the Law-giver, and requires subjection, whether the persons commanded consent to it or no; and so all the Laws of God do depend upon the absolute Soveraignty of God, as he is a Law-giver, able to save and to destroy: A Testament is grounded only upon the Will of the Testator, bequeathing of such Legacies freely without requiring the consent of the party to whom they are be∣queathed; but a Covenant differs from them both, in this, that it requires the consent and agreement of both parties, and therein each party binds himself freely to the performance of several conditions each to other. Cocceius doth ground it upon that place Heb. 8.6. A Covenant established upon better promises, and he defines it thus;* 1.1 It is a Law that God esta∣blishes upon Promises: and therefore implies two things, something on Gods part, which is the promise, and something on mans part, which is the duty, and unto both these consent of parties is required; Gods consent unto the promise, and mans consent unto the ser∣vice; and therefore by a Synecdoche the name Covenant is applied unto both parts of these, and both of them are called the Covenant. (1) The Covenant is sometimes put for the Promise of God, which is the Covenant on Gods part:* 1.2 Behold I will make a Covenant be∣fore all thy people, I will do marvels: the meaning is no more but voluntaria promissione me obstringo, &c. I bind my self by a voluntary promise. This is my covenant with thee,* 1.3 says the Lord, My Spirit that is put upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, &c. Numb. 18.19. All the heave-offering of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee and thy sons by a statute for ever, it it a covenant of salt for ever, before the Lord. It is spoken only of the free promise of God made unto Aaron and his sons in refe∣rence unto the Prieshood. (2) The Covenant is sometimes put for the command of God, in which he doth require a duty from man. Moses was with the Lord in the Mount forty days and nights, and he writ upon the Tables the words of the Covenant,* 1.4 the ten Command∣ments; and it's common in Scripture-acceptation, to put the command of God and the duty of man under the name of the Covenant of God. So that there are in the essentials of the Covenant two things, (1) there is the promise on Gods part, which is Gods part of the Covenant, (2) there is the duty on man's part in reference unto the command of God, there is mercy and duty, and mutual consent of both.

We shall begin with the Convenant on Gods part, that we may see what of his free grace he doth oblige and bind himself unto; though it's true, he is debtor to none, any further than his own free grace makes him so.* 1.5 Now Gods part of the Covenant consists in promises and rewards, and mans part of the Covenant consists in services; and in these two are the essentials of the covenant, and these will be our three general heads to be spoken to.

First, Gods part of the covenant doth consist in promises; such is the covenant that he made with Abraham, wherein he does promise to be a God unto him, and to his seed after him; and this will appear in four things. (1) Because in Scripture we find the covenant and the promises to be put for one and the same thing: Gal. 3.16. To Abraham and his seed were the promises made; and this I say, that the covenant confirmed before of God in Christ, the law that was four hundred and thirty years after could not disannul, or make the promise of none effect. And hence it is called the covenant of promise, Eph. 2.12. which though some of our Divines do put, and may be not unfitly, as a distinction of the covenant of Grace, into two branches,* 1.6 the covenant of promise, and the new covenant, taking this for the co∣venant made with the Fathers before the exhibiting of Christ in the flesh, who did only see the promises afar off, and saluted them, Heb. 11.13. and therefore they are called the children of the covenant and of the promise;* 1.7 yet the truth is, so long as there is any one part of it unaccomplished, so far it will be the covenant of promise, and consist in promises still, till Gods people do come to Heaven, and receive the happiness and the inheritance of the covenant, which the Lord has now promised to the Saints. (2) A people taken into cove∣nant with God are said to be intitled unto the promises, which before they were strangers unto,* 1.8 and could claim no interest in; when God took the people of Israel into covenant with himself, and they became unto him a peculiar people and treasure of all the people of the earth, then unto them did belong 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the worship of God and the promises, which all the other Nations of the Earth could lay no claim unto; and upon this ground all those that are confederates with God, and taken into covenant, they are called the coheirs of promise, because they have a title unto all those great things which God in covenant has ingaged himself to bestow. (3) When the Lord doth perform any promise, he is then said to keep his covenant, and to remember his covenant, to perform his mercy promised unto our Forefathers; when he did fulfil his promises he remembred for them his covenant: so that as when they do transgress his command, that being part of his covenant, they are said to break covenant with God; so when the Lord does not perform his promise, he is said to break the covenant,* 1.9 and to make it void. (4) The end of the covenant is but to inherit the promises, all the Saints are said to be the Sons of Abraham, because they are taken into the same covenant with him, with whom God did eminently make the cove∣nant; and for this cause the children of the same covenant are called the Sons of Abra∣ham; and Heaven, being the same inheritance that Abraham had as the end of his covenant, and the same that all the Saints enter into, it's therefore called in respect of them, Abra∣hams bosome, they sit down with Abraham in the kingdom of God, that is, having the same reward of their covenant that Abraham had; and that's nothing but the promised inheri∣tance, they do inherit the promises:* 1.10 so that all the glory that the people of God have in Heaven, it's nothing else but the accomplishment of promises, it's both a purchased and a promised possession: it is true, that one ingredient of the covenant is Law, but that be∣longs unto the covenant as it contains the rules of our services, and the covenant on our part, and not to the covenant on Gods part; for to make a Covenant is simply an act of Grace, whereas to give a Law is simply an act of Soveraignty and absolute Dominion.

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

* 1.111. I say it's a declaration of Gods eternal purpose: the purposes of God are secret, and hid in his own breast only, these are Mysteries hid in God, that is, while it remains only in his own purpose, and is not discovered unto the creature; and this purpose of his, as it is the ground, so it's the rule of all the good that he intends to do unto his Saints; he doth call them according to his own purpose and grace, 2 Tim. 1.9. It's true, we read of a promise made before the world began, Titus 1.2. but it was in respect of the covenant that passed between the Father and the Son, and could not be formally made unto the Saints, but is secret in his own thoughts and purposes; and these thoughts of God to us-ward, as they are innumerable, so they were exceeding delightful to the Lord Jesus Christ, Psal. 40.5. How wonderful are thy works, and thy thoughts to us-ward, &c. but the breaking forth of this purpose of God is seen in his promises. There is a double consideration of the will of God,

(1) voluntas propositi, his will of purpose, (2) praecepti, of precept: there is the will of God that he would have us do, and the manifestation thereof is his precept; and there is the will of God which he himself will do, and that is expressed in Prophecies that he will ac∣complish, and Promises that he will fulfil. And there is a great deal of difference between this his revealed will, and his secret will; for the whole will of his precepts is revealed, and therefore the Apostle says he has declared the whole counsel of God, Act. 20.27.* 1.12 and there is enough to make the man of God perfect, perfectly instructed to every good work; and much of the will of his purpose what he will accomplish is revealed also; though much of it be secret in the breast of God, yet all the Prophecies he will accomplish, and all the promises he will assuredly fulfil: as he has declared his whole will concerning mans duty, what he should do, so he has also declared his whole will concerning all the good he doth purpose to do for men; and this declaration of the will and the mind of God is called the promise of God.

2. Promises are of good things to come: threatnings and promises are both conversant about things to come, but threatnings are about evil things to come:* 1.13 Noah being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, &c. And promises are of good things to come: Josh. 23.14. You know in all your hearts, that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you, &c. As when the Lord doth perform any word of his, it's said, he doth cause it to arise, he has confirmed his word,* 1.14 excitavit or surgere fecit, Calvin; he has caused his word to arise: so when it is not performed, it is truly said to fall. David says, Thou hast spoken of my house a great while to come. All the great promises that God made to David are of things to come, and therefore David says,* 1.15 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. As it was the happiness of the people of Israel, that they had in the Wilderness a Rock that followed them, not only for a present supply, but for a future provision;* 1.16 so are the promises also unto the Saints in mercy received, they have the glory of the Lord going before them, and his promises to follow them; they have the glory to be their rereward; they are compassed about with mercy on every side; they have goodness that goes before them in performance, and mercy that follows them in promises, as the rereward; that as a wicked man ••gh there be evils tnreatned fall upon him here, yet they are but the first-fruits, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ••cium Di∣vini judicii, the prejudgment of Divine Judgment, but the main of the evil thin•• ••e threat∣ning is to come; so though godly men have much good that they receive a•• ••sent, yet the main of it in the promise is yet to come.

3. Unto the performance of these, though they be made freely, yet the Lord does in∣gage his faithfulness by virtue of the Covenant. If we look upon the promises in fieri, in making, so we must look upon his free grace only; but if we look on them in facto esse, as made, so we must have an eye unto his faithfulness; his love and mercy is the only reason of making promises, but his faithfulness and truth is the ground of keeping and performing promises: as it's spoken of his promise made to David and his house, for thy words sake according to thy own heart hast thou done these great things, that is, of thy own free grace and unexpected Love; because thou wouldst have mercy: and yet it is Mercy to Abraham, but it is Truth to Jacob, &c.* 1.17 and therefore Austin calls the promise Chirographum Dei, Gods Bond; it is the bond or hand-writing that God has given the creature to assure him of Heaven; so that as the Apostle calls the Law Chirographum contra nos,* 1.18 a bond against us, so are the promises the bond that is for us, because they do speak God to be with us.

4. All this is through Christ, both making and performing, 2 Cor. 1.20. so it is in him that the promises are Yea and Amen: as all the precepts of the Law, though given to us, yet they are principally required of Christ as our surety, and the transgressions of them are laid upon him; so all the promises of the Gospel, though they be made unto the Saints, yet they be primarily made unto Christ as our head, and representative; for as we have heard, he is the seed with whom the covenant is made, and he is given unto us as a cove∣nant: so he is primarily the Heir of promise: and as in respect of possession,* 1.19 we enter into his inheritance called our masters joy, so in respect of the promise and reversion, we come under his covenant, and so partake of his inheritance, and have no further any promise made to us, than as we are one with Christ, and no promise is performed to us but by vir∣tue of union with him; and therefore it's Christus in aggregato, Christ mystical, that is the proper subject of all the promises; and their accomplishment is to himself, as the head, and to the Saints, as the body.

§. 2. Why doth Gods part of the Covenant in this life mainly consist in promises? It's true that these promises shall end in performances, and Heaven is the accomplishment of all the promises; it is a promised, as well as a purchased possession, when the Saints are all ga∣thered

home, all the promises shall be at an end; and therefore in that respect faith shall cease; for the object of it shall be taken away, and therefore the acts of it must needs come to an end: though it's true, that the habit of faith, as well as all other graces, being a part of the image of God, and the new creation of Christ, is of an eternal nature; but yet the Lord does mainly dwell with his people in a way of promise, and the covenant on his part doth run in promises.

* 1.201. The life that the Saints live in this world, must be a life of faith, and not by sight; there is another life (though we live by faith and not by sight here) that in glory is reser∣ved for us, and another manner of living, and the main objects of faith are the promises, Rom.* 1.21 4.19, 21. He staggered not through unbelief. He did not reason pro and con about it, because faithful is he that has promised, and he will also do it, he is able to perform. It's true, there is a faith that rests upon the whole Word of God as true and good, and so the soul receives it; but yet the object of faith by which the soul rests on God is mainly the pro∣mise: so that as obedience is the Law written in the heart, so also the object of faith is the promise written in the heart: the Lord lets in the promise, and the soul rests thereupon; and if the Lord had not dealt so in a way of promises, our life could never have been a life of faith.

2. They are the great grounds of our hope, and thereby the Lord will sweeten our obe∣dience: he doth not give forth a bare command as an act of Soveraignty, but he adds thereunto a promise as an act of Grace; Heb. 6.18. The Lord willing to shew the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that we might have strong consola∣tion, who are fled for refuge to the hope set before them, which hope we have as an anchor to the soul. And the Anchor is cast under water, and takes hold of something that is not seen as yet; for if I see it, why do I yet hope for it? Now though it's true, a godly man should not yield obedience meerly for reward, yet a man may have respect to the recompence of reward; and though it is true that this should not be the great thing that should launch them forth in duties of holiness, yet this is a good wind to fill the sails, the Lord letting him see, that there is an inseparable communion of Gods glory and our good also, duty and mercy 〈◊〉〈◊〉 hand in hand; and that the Lord requires no duty, but it is for our good always, t•• he may perform unto us the promise that is annexed thereunto. There is an amor merc•• 〈◊〉〈◊〉 love of reward that is not mercenary;* 1.22 Christ had the joy set before him, that did sweete 〈◊〉〈◊〉 sufferings, he had a glory and a posterity promised him; and Moses had respect also to the recompence of the reward.* 1.23 And the Apostle saith, 2 Cor. 4.18. While we look at the things that are not seen, that is the scope and the main aim of the soul in all our obedience, active or passive, and by this the Lord doth delight to sweeten our way.

3. The promises are the great means of the souls purification, 2 Cor. 7.1. Let us purge our selves having these promises, and perfect holiness. And by these great and precious promises we are made partakers of the Divine nature. The promises are the Treasury of all that grace that God doth intend to bestow upon his people, and from thence do the Saints fetch it;* 1.24 for they are the wells of salvation, and it is by this that the soul is fitted for the performance: there is a being made meet, and 'tis the promise that made them so, as a mans beholding of God in himself doth transform him perfectly into the image of God,* 1.25 2 Cor. 3.18. so beholding God in the promise does transform a man by degrees into the image of that holiness that is in the promise. A man looking upon himself sees his heart as a barren wilderness, as empty of grace as the first Chaos was of form and beauty: Now he says, what is impossible with man is possible with God, and the soul sucks a promise, and is thereby changed into the image thereof.

4. That they may be the rule of the prayers of the Saints; for his will must be the rule of our prayers, as well as of all other acts of our obedience, the precepts of the one, and the promises of the other: we must ask according to his will, if we hope to speed; and therefore our prayers should be nothing else but pressing God with his promises; and thereby we put his bonds in suit before the Throne of his own grace; so doth Jacob, Lord this is that which thou hast said, Return into thy own country, and I will do thee good: and so doth Nehemiah,* 1.26 This is that thou hast promised unto thy servant Moses. A soul that can bring unto God his own promise, and can plead it before God, has a certain argument, that it shall be fulfilled. It's the great ground of the prayer of Christ, and of his Angels and Saints in Heaven, for the Angels do pray, and so do the Saints in Heaven, the souls under the Altar cry,* 1.27 How long Lord? Rev. 6. and they have no ground to offer a prayer to God, but meerly the promise of God, and therefore all their prayers are prayers of faith to this day.

§. 3. The promises of God in Scripture are of two sorts, some are absolute, some condi∣tional, and the grounds of these distinctions of promises are these. 1. There is a twofold

love of God unto the creature, (1) antecedent Love, that is set upon the creature, for love sake and out of his own free choice and election;* 1.28 he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy; and upon this are grounded all absolute promises: (2) there is a consequent Love, as the Lord delights to crown the acts of his own Love in the creature, having wrought his own image he doth love it, and delight in it, more than in all the rest of the works of his hands, and this is the ground of all conditional promises.

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

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

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

5. There are two ways of assurance answerable to the twofold witness of it: there is a witness in Heaven, and there is a witness also in the heart. (1) There is an immediate testimony; Rejoyce in this, that your names are written in heaven, saith our Lord: again the Lord says to a man, Be of good chear thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou art greatly beloved. Such immediate testimonies there have been given to the Saints; and surely the bowels of the Lord are not straitned.* 1.29 Thus there is a testimony of the Spirit that is distinct from the witness of water and blood; the Spirit is the seal in both, but in the one he is the seal of his Office, and in the other the seal of his Officers; a particular seal and a privy signet: in the one he testifies the love of all the persons, and there is testified that his own love and the love of God is shed abroad in the heart, there is illuminatio quaedam è montibus aeternis, an illumination from the eternal mountains, as Gerson speaks. (2) There is an Assurance that comes from the witness of a mans own graces, the Spirit of God witnessing with our spirits. Now the first assurance is in an absolute promise, I am thy God, thou art greatly beloved, thy sins are forgiven thee: and the latter kind of assurance is in a conditional pro∣mise, the Lord discovering to a man the signs of grace in his own soul, and the glorious works of the Spirit of Christ upon his inward man, conforming him to the image of Christ.

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

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

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

[Ʋse 2] 2. Upon all occasions stay thy sinking soul upon a promise, for it's as firm as the faith∣fulness of God, and it's grounded thereupon. If there be any truth in the Covenant of Grace, it lies in the promises of it on Gods part, and we should observe the performance of promises as we do of prophecies:* 1.30 as Austin says, Ingrate, Legis debitum cernis redditum, & non credis promissum, Ʋngrateful wretch, thou seest the debt of the Law paid, and yet believest not the promise.

[Ʋse 3] 3. Look unto all the promises for their accomplishment. The heirs of a promise have a great happiness that they have such an inheritance; It's ••er be as low as Hell with a promise,* 1.31 than with Adam in Paradise without it: For it's in the promises of the new Cove∣nant in which the glory and the stability of the Covenant lies; but if they be so sweet and precious in the contemplation, and in the working of faith upon them while they are in hope only, what must they needs be in the fruition? The Wise man says, The desire ac∣compished is sweet unto the soul, there is an unexpressible sweetness in it, when the desire comes it's a tree of life: it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 vitarum, of lives, there are all lives in it, and it sets a man as it were in Paradise again. And this is one thing that will make Heaven the sweeter, be∣cause it is a perfect accomplishing of all those promises with which the soul was feasted and entertained here with the hopes of in its pilgrimage:* 1.32 for Christ will be the sweeter when we come to Heaven, because having not seen him, yet we loved him here; and we shall find him to be the same Christ in all things that before we heard him to be in the Gospel. And so the society of the Saints, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the rest of the Saints in Heaven, so much the more precious will they be, by how much our hearts have been taken with any of them while they lived here: and for this cause the promises may well be called precious,* 1.33 2 Pet. 1.4. the word is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and signifies either precious or ho∣nourable, to him that believes he is precious,* 1.34 or an honour; (1) as they are the price of his blood, who was the Saviour of the World; (2) as they are the evidences of our inheri∣tance, and all we have to shew for Heaven; (3) as they are instruments of purification and sanctification.* 1.35 But (4) they are specially precious in this, [1] that they are Gods part of the Covenant; [2] this has been the happiness of the Saints, and the contrary is noted as an imperfection in their condition here, Heb. 11.13. These all dyed in faith, not having received the promises: it's spoken of the ancient Saints, of whom it's said some of them attained promises, and others of them received them not, but only saw them afar off, and saluted them, &c. and to attain promises is reckoned with stopping the mouths of lions, and quenching the violence of fire: and hereby there is more of God made known, Exod. 6.3. By the name of Jehovah I was not known to them. It's spoken in reference unto the ac∣complishment of the promises, and their attaining of them, there is something further that God discovered, and his name Jehovah further manifested to the Saints: [3] specially in our times upon whom the ends (or as some render it) the perfections of the world are come: for as the great harvest of the Church shall be in the latter days of the world, so there shall be the great harvest both of prophecies and promises: for the ancient Prophets did speak of good things to come, but it was manifested unto them that they did not admini∣ster for themselves, but for us, 1 Pet. 1.12. they should be gathered to their Fathers, and never live to see the good things that the Lord would do, but should dye in the Wilder∣ness, as many of the ancient Saints of Israel did, and never inherit the promised Land; for all the things that the Lord hath spoken shall have their accomplishment at the sound

of the seventh Trumpet shall the Mystery of God be finished.* 1.36 They are glorious things that the Lord has spoken of the latter days of the world, and it's a great unworthiness and lowness of spirit in Saints, that they should be content and sit down satisfied whilst they go without any part of their inheritance, and that they should think much of any thing they have attained, si dicas sufficit, &c. It's true, that we are less than the least of all his mercies, and we should think every one of them great to express our thankfulness, but we should not think any of them great to nourish our slothfulness. He that has an interest in the great God, must strive to have his heart formed into a holy greatness of mind: there is a lowness of spirit that does no ways become men that have high hopes and high expectations, to be content to go without any thing that God has promised: he has promised not only truth of grace, but growth, as the willows by the water-courses, strength of grace, strengthned with all might according to his glorious power, comfort of grace, as the Apostle has it, to be filled with a spirit of consolation, and to walk in the assu∣rance of his love, and yet with all this he is never satisfied. There is a further promise, and that is an inheritance with the Saints in light; and therefore he can never rest satis∣fied till he come there, he forgets that which is behind, and does reach forward to that which is before, Phil. 3.12.

Quest. But how should we do to attain promises?

1. Be sensible of your want of them: we should look over all the Paradise of the pro∣mises, and know that there is not a tree nor a fruit in it, but it's good for food, the fruit is for meat, and the leaves for medicine. See how far thou dost come short; look upon duty in the latitude and extent of it, for obedience must be universal; so you must do upon the pro∣mises, that your faith may be universal also. There should be always in our eyes a sight of something before, unto which we should reach out our selves, Phil. 3.12. God doth never accomplish promises, but he doth use to make men see their need of them before∣hand; they say, Lord, increase our faith, and Christ shews them the excellency of faith,* 1.37 and their necessity thereof, that by this means raising their apprehensions of it, and shewing to them their necessity of it; they might be prepared to receive it, as the Lord was ready to bestow it: we go without many promises, because we see no necessity of them, and there∣fore our souls sit down quietly without them.

2. Get a strong faith; for it was by faith that they did attain the promises, Heb. 11.33. and it must be such a faith as must stay the heart, and fix the eye upon the promise, and thereby support it under all the seeming oppositions and improbabilities or impossibilities unto an eye of reason, or an arm of flesh: it must cause a man to close his eyes against them all, in the matter of justification: there is in faith an exclusive resolution against all other ways and means of righteousness whatsoever; so there is in this also against all things that from sense and reason may be offered or pretended to the soul, to weaken the power of the promise of God therein.* 1.38 In Abraham there was enough that he might have taken in to have discouraged him, but yet 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, he did not admit a dispute, he did not take in a consultation of flesh and blood: when men have so consulted flesh and blood, their faith has failed them. God had promised his people a deliverance, but they say our bones are dry, and our hope is past,* 1.39 we have no more reason to expect the accomplish∣ment of such a promise, than that we should see dry bones revive and arise out of their graves. And the people of God have had their hearts always to fail them, when they have looked off from the promise; as Peter when the wind arose, and he begins to sink, he crys out, Lord save me; and Martha saith, By this time he stinketh; and the Israelites say, The sons of Anak are there, &c. As whensoever the people of God begin to turn away their eyes from the holy commandment, then their hearts fail them in point of duty; so it is when they look off from the holy promise, then their heart fails them in matter of faith, and they cast away their confidence; for every promise carries with it an obligation laid upon the power of God to accomplish it: our faith gives us a title to the pro∣mise, and the promise binds the omnipotence of God for its accomplishment; and there∣fore it's said, They stopped the mouths of lyons, and quencht the violence of the fire,* 1.40 and raised the dead to life. By acts of Gods omnipotence all this was done, yet they are attributed unto their faith, as the fruit of it, by which the omnipotence of God is ingaged in the work. Therefore it was a brave spirit in Luther, fit for him that shall attain the promises, that when they sought his life by all means that might be at home and abroad, and at last raised a war against him, that small Chaldean war, yet he wrote upon the walls of his Study that speech of David, I shall not dye but live, and declare the works of the Lord.* 1.41

3. Be much in prayer, for the promise is a kind of a debt, and therefore it's said when God doth perform any promise, reddit debita nulli debens, &c. and it's prayer that puts this bond in suit before the Throne of Grace.* 1.42 After seventy years are accomplished in

Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word towards you, in causing you to return unto this place; then shall you call upon me, and pray to me, and I will hear you: and this was the very course that Daniel took;* 1.43 for we can expect nothing from God in mercy that we do not obtain by prayer; he leads his people into their own land by supplications. In the consolations that we receive from God, he speaks to our hearts, and in the supplica∣tions that we put up unto God, we speak unto his heart: and the grounds are these, why God will have all promises to be nothing else but the returns of prayer.

1. That hereby we may testifie that it's the will of God that we eye in the mercy, and not our own will; for it's whatsoever we ask according to his will he hears us. There is a natural and a carnal desire of mercies, when it's a mans own will that puts him upon it: and there is a spiritual and holy desire of mercies, and that is when a man has an eye unto Gods will in the promise to bestow them, as well as to his own necessity that requires them.* 1.44 Hence there is a double importunity in prayer, as Luk 11.8. a holy kind of impudency that they will in no wise be put off, there's a being stirred up by the appre∣hension of necessity,* 1.45 and a desire of the flesh to attain the thing, and so men howl for corn, wine, and oyl, but they are but the crys of beasts, and not of Saints, and so men ask amiss, and attain not, as it is in Jam. 1.5. But there is an importunity that is grounded upon the will of God and upon the promise, and the soul earnestly desires it, because he sees it's agreeable unto the will of God that has promised it, it's not the love of the thing that is so much the ground of his importunity, as seeing the will of God in the promise, and for this cause the Lord will make the accomplishment of all promises to be the only returns of prayers.

2. That hereby we may know, that his mercy is free in bestowing of it; and that though God has promised it in a way of mercy, yet there is no way for us to attain it but in a way of duty, to perform the promise is Gods part, and to press God with his promise is our part. I will do it for you, says tne Lord, yet I will be inquired of by you, that I may do it for you; ask and you shall receive, knock and it shall be opened: and there is no way that ever any creature could attain any thing of God but this way. Upon this very ground Christ himself, if he will attain from God, he must ask; and so 'tis with the An∣gels, and so 'tis with the Saints in Heaven,* 1.46 they cry, How long Lord? How much more is it to be with dust and ashes.

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

4. And lastly, the way to attain promises is a patient waiting for them till the Lords time come; for it's true of promises as it is of prophecies, though the vision be for an appointed time, Hab. 2.3. yet wait for it, for it will come and will not tarry. It's a speech like unto that in Luk. 18.7, 8. though he bear long with them, yet he will avenge them speedily: it may tarry long in respect of the time prefixed by us, and may seem long to us, but it shall not be long when the time comes that is appointed by God. The Lord commonly does in the answering of prayers, as he does in the fulfilling of Prophe∣cies, it's a great while before the Prophecy seems to speak, or to give any hope of its ac∣complishment, as it was in the deliverance out of Egypt and Babylon; but yet when once it begins but to dawn its day, immediately, in a manner, it strangely and suddenly breaks forth, that the Saints of God can scarce believe their own eyes, they are like unto them that dream. And so it is in the return of their prayers also, as in the calling of the Jews, they are as dry bones, and they are scattered here and there all the world over; but the bones shall come together, and it shall be so suddenly done, that the Lord saith, A Nation

shall be born at once, and before Sion travelled she brought forth; and so it is in the answer of Prayers, as it was with Elijah, he prayed seven times, and his servant looked and there was nothing, and yet he continued praying, at last there appeared a Cloud like unto a mans hand, and by and by the Heavens were covered over with Clouds, and then the rain fell: when it begins once to appear that the Clouds do break away a little, the Lord doth strange∣ly hasten the work, and there is a glorious concurrence and falling in of all causes to its accomplishment; there is a time of the Promise's accomplishment,* 1.47 and a great part of the Mercy is in the season of it: the Lord doth not delay because he is unwilling to bestow it, or because the Mercy comes hardly off, for he knows, that to our hasty Nature, bis dat qui citò; but the Lord doth defer it, that he may improve the Mercy by the season of it, for Gods time is best, and not ours; my time is not yet come, though your time be alwayes ready, all Christs Miracles were so much the more glorious, by the seasons of their put∣ting forth, and so are Gods Mercies also the more magnified in coming to us in the fittest time; he does wait to be gracious, that is, that he may bestow the Mercy when we are fit∣test to receive it, and our hearts are best prepared for it: As in judgement to a wicked man the Lord does watch over him for evil, and he shall be ensnared in an evil time, as a Bird in an evil snare, judgement shall come upon him when he least expects it, and is least prepared for it; he shall be cut off as the foam upon the waters,* 1.48 sicut aquae superiores fer∣ventis ollae, Jerome; for the word spuma doth signifie a bubble that does arise from heat, &c. when they are swelled up and hold up their heads on high, and be lifted up above the rest of the waters, then they shall suddenly be cut off: As (I say) there is a time for judgment, that Justice doth watch over men for evil; so there is also a time for Mercy, that Grace does watch over men for good; there is a time for the Promise to bring forth, as well as the threat∣ning, and therefore it's said, That by Faith and Patience the Saints have inherited the Promises, and there is as well a Patience in waiting, as in Suffering;* 1.49 let Patience have its perfect work in you in this respect also, that you may be intire and perfect wanting no∣thing.* 1.50 But the Soul will be ready to say, I could be willing to wait Gods time, if I could be sure to attain the Promise at the last; but what grounds are there to support and under∣prop my heart that I shall receive the Promise, and not miss of it in the end? Now the grounds to assure the Soul thereof are these:

1. The faithfulness of God: the Promises are therefore confirmed by an Oath, Heb. 6.17. that by two immutable things, wherein it's impossible for God to lye, we might have strong Consolation, Quid est Dei juratio, nisi promissi confirmatio,* 1.51 & infidelium quaedam in∣crepatio? An Oath amongst Men puts an end to Controversie, much more should the Oath of God put an end to all Controversie and Disputes in the Soul; and it's a strange expres∣sion that of the Apostle, Hebr. 6.13. because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself; to show how willing the Lord is to give an assurance unto the Heirs of Promise, that if there had been a greater, or any thing that could have given them more assurance, they should have been sure of it; but because there was none greater, therefore he did swear by Himself; Nos miseros qui nec juranti Deo credimus.

2. The Covenant made with Christ was confirmed by an Oath, and upon that the assu∣rance of it is mainly put, for upon him the Promises do mainly depend; all the Promises are in him Yea, and Amen, and upon that it's put, Tit. 1.2. the promise of Eternal Life,* 1.52 which God that cannot lie has promised before the world began: To whom was this Pro∣mise made before the world began? a purpose might be in his own breast, but a promise must be to another; and God cannot lye unto Christ, he will not surely deceive him; the Son has been faithful to him in all the parts of the Covenant, and therefore surely the Lord will be faithful unto Christ. The Covenanr is confirmed by a double Oath, one to us,* 1.53 and the other to Christ; the Lord has sworn and he will not repent: He was not made a Priest without an Oath, therefore the New Covenant is call'd the Word of the Oath, Heb. 7.28.* 1.54 and the Promises are primarily made to Christ, and are his inheritance, and secondarily ours, only by vertue of our Union with him.

3. The Intercession of Christ; Christ in Heaven stands besides the Golden Altar,* 1.55 he is gone to Heaven to make intercession, and what is the subject of the intercession of Christ in Glory? it's only the promises of the Covenant that yet remain unfulfilled, and it's these that he doth plead before the Throne of Grace, and the Lord Christ has a promise to be heard, Psal. 2.8. Ask of me and I'le give thee the Heathen for an inheritance: and he prays with assurance of audience, John 11.42. I know that thou hearest me always. When Christ was upon Earth, before our 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 was paid, the Lord did trust Christ upon his bare word, yet then he did accomplish many promises unto him at his request; for Christs inter∣cession begun from the Beginning, ever since the Fall, when his Priest-hood did first begin, for he was a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world;* 1.56 how much more shall we be

saved by his life? how much more will the Lord accomplish it on his part? now all that is due on Christs part is fulfilled, now he is gone to Heaven, and sits down at the right hand of God, and does only expect the accomplishment of those things which are the price of his own blood: we know that blood has a crying nature; and if it did cry so loud when it was but in the promise, much more will it do now it is blood shed, and set as a seal to the promise.

4. The experiences of all the Saints and thy own experiments: the Saints all of them have known the Lord by his name Jehovah, they all of them have by faith and patience in∣herited the promises; but in a special manner a mans own experience, from which he may argue, God that delivered me from out of the mouth of the Lyon and the Bear, will also deliver me from this Goliah,* 1.57 &c. and God has delivered me, and he will deliver me from every evil work. A man should treasure up every experiment as an assurance of the same faithfulness in the same extremity, and thereby set to his seal that God is true. A great part of the Communion of Saints should be in this, in imparting their experiments one to another, and thereby honour the faithfulness of God: and as it is our duty here on earth, and our comfort, so it shall be a great part of a mans happiness in Heaven, when a man shall tell stories of Gods mercies and faithfulness unto all Eternity.

But says the Soul, I may stay long for this promise to be accomplished; for God has set no time in his Word when it shall be, and therefore the Saints have waited till their eyes have failed,* 1.58 till the promise have come to the birth: the Apostle says it's not long, 'tis but a little while. Oh therefore set faith on work, and that looks as God looks, to whom a thousand years are as but one day; that which seems long to sense, is but short unto faith: consider much the waiting and all the long-suffering of God for thee, before thou didst take hold of his grace in Christ Jesus, and shall not we wait upon a great God that could have been, and was happy without us, and needed none of our services, we that are but as a worm, and unprofitable to him in whatever we can do?

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

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

2. When God does raise up in the soul an earnest expectation of the mercy, and a man begins to set himself to seek the Lord with more earnestness for it, then it's a sign it is near at hand. When Christ was to come in the flesh, there were those that waited for the consolation of Israel, and had special expectations raised up in them for his coming. And so it was with Daniel,* 1.59 when he understood by books the time of Jerusalems Captivity drew to an end, then he sets himself to prayer: for those expectations and enlargements of the heart are from God, and shall be answered.

3. When in the middle of all a mans seeking, his heart is brought into a quiet and an humble frame, and he is contented to submit to the will of God, when a mans heart is brought to a holy indifference, to be contented with God alone; as David was never nearer the Kingdom,* 1.60 than when his heart was as a weaned child, Vis me constituere ovium pastorem, aut regem populorum, ecce paratum est cor meum. When the soul is in such a frame, he may expect the promise shall not be long delayed to him.

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

[Doctrine.] §. 1. THE great promises of the Covenant on Gods part are personal promises: I will be thy God. There is objectum fidei duplex, a twofold object of faith, Persons and Things; and answerable to these the promises are personal and real, &c. We have seen that the Covenant on Gods part does consist in promises; and that these promises are ei∣ther absolute or conditional, either performed by God without any required condition in us, not only citra meritum, sed & conditionem, not only without merit, but also condition: or else performed by God upon a certain condition wrought in us, as a preparation or a quali∣fication of the subject to receive the promises. And we find in the next place that these absolute promises are of two sorts, answerable unto a twofold object of faith, that the Scripture doth hold forth: they are either personal or real, either promises of persons or

of things. [1] Promises of things that are absolute and real; and of these are chiefly four. (1) Ezech. 36.26. I will take away the heart of stone, and I will give you a heart of flesh. (2) Jer. 31.33. I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts. And these two are promises of conversion and of the power of God in Christ put forth up∣on the Elect of God. (3) Esa. 43.25. I, even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember thy sins. And unto this belong many other promises of remission. (4) There are also promises of perseverance, Jer. 32.40. I will make an ever∣lasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. [2] There are also personal Pro∣mises, and these are the great and leading promises of the second Covenant. Here I will shew you, (1) that there are such promises, and (2) shew you the nature of them, (3) the grounds of it, why the second Covenant must have such promises as these, (4) where∣in the excellency of these promises doth consist.

1. That there are some personal Promises in which all the three persons in the Godhead are made over unto the soul. The first great promise was, Gen. 3.15. personal, it was of the seed of the woman, that the Lord would give Jesus Christ his Son to be born of a wo∣man, and to take mans nature, and pitch his Tent with us, that he should take not the nature of Angels, but the seed of Abraham, &c. and so Esa. 9.6. To us a Son is given. And when the Lord came to renew the Covenant with Abraham, it is, That he will be a God unto him, and to his seed after him: and that is common in Scripture for God to say,* 1.61 I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And there is a further discovery of the promise in Esa. 44.3. I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy off-spring. And so Joel 2.28. I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh. So that these three are the great personal Promises of the Gospel, and in these doth the main grace of the new Covenant lye.

2. As for the nature of personal Promises, they do import a gracious propriety in the persons, which God doth by Covenant make over unto the creature. The end of pro∣mises is to give a propriety; and we know that a propriety amongst the creatures is no∣thing else but jus ad rem, when a man doth claim such a thing as his own, and has a power to use it, and dispose of it in a lawful way for his own benefit and advantage, as it seemeth good to him: so that propriety as it were puts the thing into the mans hand to do with it what he pleaseth, to make improvement and advantage of it, that it may be for his own accommodation, he may do what he list with his own, &c. As if a man hath a pro∣priety in Lands or Houses, he may either sell, or let, or give, or leave, or live upon them as he pleaseth. Now as there is a real propriety that respects things, so there is a personal propriety that respects persons, which is grounded either in natural or voluntary relations; as a Father has a propriety in his Son, and the Son in the Father, and the Husband in the Wife, and the Wife in the Husband, the Prince in the People, and the People in their Prince: and the intent of personal propriety is the same in its kind with that which is real, that every person that has such a propriety in another, should enjoy all benefits and advantages, as they could in a way of equity expect or desire to do: as the husband that hath a propriety in the wife, if there were no sinful defects in the persons that are so ap∣propriated, should receive from her all manner of help and assistance, as if he himself were the wife; and his wife receive from her husband all that kindness and support, as if she were the husband, and as if all were in her own power to use. And so it is in personal promises, the intent of them is to make over the persons, that when the Lord says, I will be thy God, the meaning is, whatsoever is in me as a God, shall be truly thine, my infinite power, my infinite wisdom, and grace and mercy, all shall be thine, that the soul may lawfully lay claim to it, and confidently expect it of him, and that as truly, as if the creature it self had infinite power, and wisdom, and mercy, and all in his own hands. So it is in giving the person of the Son, that we should have a propriety and an interest in him as our Brother, our Husband, our Head; and whatever is in him, whether of grace or merit, shall be as truly ours, as it is his, and as truly laid out for us, as if we had it all inhe∣rent in our selves: And so it is in giving the Spirit, it is a propriety in the person: so that the Spirit for conviction, for conversion, for sanctification, for renovation, for direction, and for consolation, doth as truly improve these for us, as if they were our own, and as if they were inherent in us, or we could use and exercise them according to our own pleasure: and they are these personal promises of the Covenant that do intitle the soul to such an in∣terest in the persons.

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

1. Man in his Fall had wholly lost God, and therefore he is said Eph. 2. to be without God in the world, one that had no relation to him, one that had no interest in him. It's true,

that Adam before his Fall had a natural propriety in God, both as his Creator, and as his Father,* 1.62 Adam was the Son of God; and so it's true of the Angels, they are called his Sons, because they did bear his Image,* 1.63 which no other Creature did; but after his Fall all Right unto God was forfeited, and man could not look upon him in any relation, either as a Creature or as a Son, for now he is not the Creature that God made him, your spot is not the spot of his children, for you bear not his Image or Similitude. Now in the second Cove∣nant, the Soul has his relation unto God, and propriety in God that was his happiness in his Creation; and if ever he be made happy again, his propriety unto God must be resto∣red. Therefore that is the purpose and intendment in the Second Covenant, to restore that which is lost by the breach of the first Covenant; and our great loss by the Fall was the loss of God, and a propriety in him; though we also lost the Creatures, and forfeited our lives and souls, lost our selves, yet our great loss was the loss of God; and if the Lord should have restored unto Man the inheritance of the Creatures again, yet all this would never have repaired his loss, unless he had found out a way for to make over himself again.

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

3. These Promises are the grounds of our Union with all the persons in the Trinity. That there is such a Union between Christ and the Soul is plain, and that it is not only unto Christ as Man, but unto Christ as God-man; and there is a Union that we have after a sort there∣fore with the Godhead of Christ, and there is a Union with the Spirit, which also is clear, 1 Corinth. 6.17. He that is joyned unto the Lord is one Spirit; and by this means there is a Union also with the Father, John 17.21. I would that they might be one as we are one; not only one in themselves, but one with us, after a resemblance of that unspeakable Union that is between the Father and the Son; and therefore God is said to dwell in us, 2 Corinth. 6.16. we are said to dwell in him, 1 Joh. 4.16. the Church is said to be in God, and the Faithful, to be in Christ Jesus,* 1.64 and to work in God, John 3.21. most of their works are wrought in God; and this Union is begun in this Life, and so far as it is wanting, so far is the Creature imperfect; it's the perfection of this Union in Heaven that is the full happiness and perfection of the Creature; and it's by vertue of these promises, that this Union between God and the Creature is begun; and Heaven, that is the perfection of this Union, is no∣thing else but the accomplishment of these promises: the Promise in the fulness of it makes Heaven.

4. It is in this Union that the foundation is laid of all Communion: Communion is pro∣perly of persons, though it be in things; Men can with things have no fellowship, this must be properly between persons;* 1.65 Our fellowship is with the Father, and with the Son Jesus Christ: and there is a fellowship of the Spirit also: now all fellowship is grounded in Union; and the very Communion of Saints that they have with all the persons, doth prove, that they have a Union with them also. Now it's an interest you see in the person that's the ground of fellowship; as the Covenant of Grace is a Covenant of Friendship, and it's likened to a Marriage Covenant. Now all matrimonial Communion is grounded upon the interest that they have in the person each of other; so that the Husband is not his own, and the

Wife is not her own; they have by their own consent freely made over the interest and propriety of themselves unto each other, that now they are not at their own dispose, wthout the mutual consent each of other: and so it's in this also; it's our Union with the person, that is the ground of our Communion; and all our personal interest in any of the persons is grounded upon these personal promises, by which the persons are made over to the Saints; and it is in these personal promises, that the Glory of the second Covenant does consist; it's said to be established upon better promises.* 1.66 The first Cove∣nant did promise Life and Happiness, which could not be without God, and the injoyment of God; for the Life promised must be answerable to the death threatned, which is an eternal separation from God, and from all Communion with him, in Hell; therefore the Life promised must be a fruition of God, in all ways of Communion, in Heaven: But yet there is something more in these particular promises of the Gospel Covenant.

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

2. The greatest Gift that ever God did bestow upon a Creature is a Person, and therefore the giving of Christ is call'd by way of excellency, The gift of God:* 1.67 If thou knewest the gift of God: And unto us a Son is given. It was a great gift that the Lord should give to Adam the Lordship of the whole world, the inheritance of all the Creatures: but there is no excel∣lency in Creatures in comparison of the glorious persons in the Trinity. Answerable to the excellency of the thing given, we do rightly value the gift; and answerable unto the gift of his Son, we may also conclude of the Father and the Spirit; for the gift of the Son is upon that ground so great, because he that has once attain'd an interest in the Son, the whole God-head is become his.

3. All the interest that a Soul has in the blessings of God, and benefits by him, have their foundation in our interest and propriety in the persons themselves; they are made over to us by these personal promises; and a man can have no more benefit by God, than he has interest in him: as the Psalmist having spoken of all the benefits and blessings that they have by God, he comes at last to shew the title and the conveyance of them all,* 1.68 and that is, Happy is the people whose God is Jehovah. The ground of all our benefits by Christ, is our Union with him, and the intendment of Union is Communication; and till a man become one with him, he can savingly have no benefit by him; as 'tis said,* 1.69 All things are yours, and you are Christs: it's your interest in his person, that gives you a title to his inhe∣ritance: as the Wife can have no claim to the estate and the honours of her Husband, but by her Union with him, and interest in his person; and answerable unto mens interest in persons, such is their title unto benefits by them; and they that have no interest in God, can have no title to any of the blessings of God; and therefore the fundamental promises and mercies are those that are personal; He that hath the Son hath life:* 1.70 there is no life from the Son, but by Union with him, you must eat his flesh and drink his blood, which are terms of Union, if ever you hope for everlasting life by him.

4. From our interest in the Persons, the personal promises give us boldness, and access to him; we have, says the Apostle, boldness and access to come to God by Christ.* 1.71 Now a Child comes to the Father with boldness, because he has an interest in his person as a Father; and a Wife has access unto her Husband with boldness, because she has an interest in him; whereas all ungodly men are strangers to God, and therefore cannot ingage their hearts to draw near to him, for they have no interest in him, and therefore must stand without and can have no access.

5. The great promises to Christ as Mediator lye in this, that he has an interest in per∣sons, and by personal promises they are made over to him, Psal. 89.26. He shall call me my Father,* 1.72 my God; and this Christ glories in, the Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; and it is this Christ takes hold of in his desertion, my God, my God; that high speech of Faith taking hold of these personal promises. It's a glorious inheritance that God has given to Christ, for he hath made him heir of all things: but yet his inheritance in all the Creatures is nothing in comparison of the inheritance he has in the Lord, as he is his God,* 1.73 and in the Spirit, which is therefore called the Spirit of Christ, because he re∣ceived not the spirit by measure. As the great delights of the God-head from everlasting were in the persons one of another,* 1.74 I was by him as one brought up with him, and I was his delight daily: so the great delight of Christ is in his interest in the person of the Father. He has also a great delight in the Saints, because they are his Seed, and his Spouse, and therefore he doth rejoyce over them as a Bridegroom over his Bride: but yet the main delight of Christ as Mediator, doth lye in his interest in the person of the Father, and of the Spirit; and as God made over his person first unto Christ by the Covenant of Redemption, so by that Covenant in him he made it over unto us, for he is Christs Father and our Father, he is Christs God and he is our God;* 1.75 I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.

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

7. Hence comes that glorious communication of properties that is between God and the Saints; That as Divines do observe, by reason of the hypostatical Union, there is a communication of properties, that what is done by the humane nature is attributed unto the persons, and the blood of the humane nature is called the blood of God, Acts 20.28. and God is said to be received up to glory, 1 Tim. 3. and Christ is called the Son of God, which is proper only to the Divine Nature,* 1.76 and the Humane Nature being taken into the same person, it comes under the same filiation; for the rule of the School-men is, filiatio est suppositi, filiation is of a person; the Son-ship belongs and relates unto the person, and not unto the nature: so from our Union with Christs person arise those strange communi∣cations which some observe, the Lord calling himself by the name of a Creature, Psal. 24.6. This is the generation of them that seek him; that seek thy face O Jacob: and that glori∣ous, and which some say is an incommunicable name of God Jehovah, yet it is said to be attributed to the Creature, through his interest in the person of God, it's the name of Christ, Jer. 23.6. And in his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is his name whereby he shall be called The Lord our righteousness: and this name is also gi∣ven to the Church, Jer. 38.16. And in those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely, and this is the name wherewith she shall be called The Lord our Righteousness, &c. and all this flows from interest in the person through personal promises.

8. Our interest in the persons is always the same, and varies not, though the dispensa∣tions are very various; and there is no Saint of God but doth find changes of the right hand of the most High, though the Lord in himself changes not: Sometime he lifts up the light of his countenance, and sometimes he hides his face; but yet in the middle of all this here is the comfort of the Saints, the Lord is still their God, and they have an interest in him. And so did Christ himself find a change of dispensations, there was substractio visi∣onis, a substraction of vision, but yet not unionis, of union: and when the Lord hid his face from him, then Christ flyes to a personal promise, and in that he looks upon God, when he could look upon him no other way, my God, my God, &c. and so doth the Church, doubt∣less thou art our Father. And there is a special Art and Mystery that the people of God have learned, when they are in the deepest desertions to recover themselves out of it, Cant. 5. there the Church falls in love with the person of Christ, and looks upon her own interest in him, and then she breaks out, this is my beloved, and this is my friend, and this recovers

her again, so that she glories in Christs interest in her, and hers in him, I am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine; the comfort of the Saints in their worst estate is, that God has an interest in their persons, I am thine, O save me, may every Saint of God say; and so they also have an interest in the person of God, this God is our God for ever, and ever:* 1.77 if there be never so great Changes or Dispensations, yet our relation unto the person is still the same, and therefore so should our claim be.

9. The highest objects of Faith are Persons; for there is a three-fold object of Faith: (1.) Primarium, primary, and that is all Divine Truth: (2.) Mediatum, mediate, that is Christ as Mediator: (3.) Ʋltimatum, ultimate, for through Christ we believe in God,* 1.78 there∣fore the ultimate and the highest object of Faith is a Person: Objectum fidei est jus incomplexum, the object of faith is an incomplex right. Now that which is the highest object of Faith, that is the most perfect, in which only Faith can rest, and therefore must be the greatest ground of Hope, and Love, as that wherein our happiness doth ultimately consist.

10. The highest act of Gods Love to us, is, in accepting our persons. Electing Love was set upon the person, and in Christ he doth accept our persons, and has respect unto them; therefore if he respect our persons so highly, being made over to him in Covenant, how much more should we set a high price upon his excellent person, being made over to us in Covenant? It is his Love unto our persons, that doth incline his heart to accept our ser∣vices, and reward them, and to bestow all good things upon us: and so should our Love unto the person of God be, that which should sweeten all his benefits towards us: he has not this Treasure only, but he has the root also upon which it grows;* 1.79 He shall inherit all things, I will be his God; and it is much more than all the Creatures can be to him, for he shall receive a hundred fold more in this life; it is not to be understood formalitèr, formally, sed eminentèr, but eminently, that is, they shall have all made up in God that the Creatures could supply, if they were a hundred times multiply'd; God shall be all in all to them, so that they can complain of no want, for the Lord is their God.

[Ʋse.] §. 2. First we may hence gather the devillishness of that Opinion, that denies all per∣sons in the Trinity, they do thereby make void the main of the New Covenant on Gods part, which doth consist in personal promises; for if there be no persons, then the promises of making of them over by way of interest unto the Saints is void, and of none effect: And truly of all the Abominations of this last Age which Satan has cast forth, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as Athanasius calls it, Orat. 1. cont. Arian. there is not any so desperate an Opinion, that strikes more at the root of all Religion, than this doth: all Heresie is the smoak that arises out of the bottomless pit, and it is commonly vented by some Star that falls from Heaven, some Man Eminent in the Church, and he making an Apostasie and De∣fection from the Truth, the Key of the bottomless pit is given him in judgment: a Key is potestatis symbolum, a symbol of power, as we know, and unto one man it's given as a spe∣cial Mercy, and unto another it's given as a special Judgment;* 1.80 to the one it's given to bind Satan, and to the other to let out his smoak; and wo to the man to whom such a power is given, as Revel. 20.1. Satan is ready enough to vent it upon all occasions, but he cannot do it himself, but it must be by Instruments; as the Devil casts men into prison by Instruments;* 1.81 now when he meets with fit Instruments for his work, and God in judgement gives them over unto an efficacy of deceit, that they do vent the Doctrines of Hell, the depths of Satan, then they do receive in judgement the Key of the bottomless pit to open it, that the smoak of it may be let forth, and the world receive its vent, which before was shut up in Hell, in the hearts of the Devils only, but now it is let forth to over-spread the Earth, and thereby the Sun and the Air is darkned; (so all the Truths of God are expressed) it's darkned as to all spiritual light, for that Satan doth aim at. Some do apply this to the Doctrines of Mahomet, and some unto several abominations of that Idolatry that brake forth in the West about that time, as Bright∣man understands it of both. And out of the smoak came Locusts upon the Earth: by Locusts in Scripture two things are commonly intended; (1.) That they are a devouring Crea∣ture, and are therefore threatned as a judgement, that they should seize upon all, and de∣stroy and devour all: (2.) They do go by great troops,* 1.82 and strangely over-spread the Earth wheresoever they come; and this some do understand of the followers of Mahomet, and some of the Discipline of Antichrist, as Paraeus; but still Brightman takes in both: and this I do assure you, never doth the smoak arise out of the bottomless pit, but it breeds Locusts, there doth arise out of it abundance of wicked and worthless men, that go by troops and would surely devour all; and it's Satans plot against the Church of God, and therefore the most dangerous, and that in which he doth put the most confidence, he doth love to raise persecution, and to roar like a Lion when he can, but if that do not accom∣plish his end, then he betakes himself unto this, he casts a flood out of his mouth; but still his end is the same, that the woman that was not devoured by the great red Dragon

might be carried away with the flood. Austin hath given warning to the Churches of a three-fold Persecution that they should surely undergo;* 1.83 Prima Ecclesiae persecutio fuit vio∣lenta per mundi principes; secunda fraudulenta per haereticos; tertia erit violenta & fraudulenta simul, &c. The first Persecution of the Church was violent by the Princes of the world; the second fraudulent by Hereticks; the third violent and fraudulent also.

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

[Answer.] Answer. For Answer to it, I would first lay down these positions: (1.) It's plain in Scri∣pture, that there is but one God, and that an Idol is nothing in the world, there is none other God but one, as it is, 1 Corinth. 8.4. The Lord thy God, is one Lord. (2.) The Scri∣pture speaks of Father, Son and Spirit, and they are said expresly to be Three, and there∣fore are distinguished from one another, 1 Joh. 5.7. For there are Three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these Three are one. (3.) The God-head in Scripture is attributed to them all, and the essential properties of an infinite being: He is called God the Father,* 1.84 1 Cor. 8.6. and the Word is God, the same Word that was incarnate, and was made flesh, and this Word is God, and the Spirit dwells in the hearts of the Faithful all the world over, and that both in Heaven and Earth, and therefore must be every where present changing the hearts of men, which nothing but an Almighty and a Creating Power can do, and doth know their hearts, for he doth supply them with graces and influences daily, and helps their infirmities, and teaches them to pray, &c. all which can be done by none but he that is God; and they are therefore said to be one, because the God-head of the Divine Essence is but one.* 1.85 (4.) There is something attributed unto one in the Scripture, that cannot be said of another: the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Father; the Father doth beget, and is not begotten, the Son is begotten of the Father, and cannot be said to beget; the Son is said to take flesh, the Word was made flesh, and so did not the Father; the Son was said to be sent, and so is not the Father, there∣fore they are distinguished, yet it's plain that they are but one God: this is plainly the Do∣ctrine that is delivered unto the Saints.

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

power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sate down on the right hand of the Ma∣jesty on high; but call them either Persons or Subsistences, so the thing be the same, I shall not contend for the words.

(3) But suppose that the manner of it we were not able to express, yet it is, and should be enough unto us, that the thing is clearly set down in Scripture, and that we walk by grounds of faith, and not by reason; it is enough to us that there is but one God, and yet that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three, and are yet said to be one: if we could not describe how three are one, nor how one is three, yet the deep things of God, we must not bring unto the rule of our blind, crooked, and presumptuous reason; a quomodo or how in the things of God, is hateful unto God, and not agreeing to the nature of faith,* 1.86 and is very unbeseeming Christians: Take heed lest any man spoil you through philosophy, the word notes to make a prize of you, and carry you away, as Pirates do another mans goods; and so there is many a man made a prize of at this day. Philosophy is nothing in it self but re∣ctified and raised reason, and res Dei ratio est, Tertullian: and whilst reason is subordinate unto Religion, and a hand-maid, it's of excellent use; but when it will step out of its place, and will needs be a Judge in the things of God, then it's vain: that man that will bring down the Scripture unto the rules of his own reason, will quickly be made a prey of by any seducers. Cum de rebus sibi subjectis pronunciat, philosophia audienda est;* 1.87 sed cùm de rebus ad fidem spectantibus, explodenda, When philosophy judgeth of things that belong to her, let her be heard; but when she judgeth of things belonging to faith, let her be exploded. Dav. And this has heen the true ground of all these Heresies, of Arminianism and Socinianism, which have, especially in these latter ages, pester'd the world, because they will arraign the highest Truths of God at the Bar of their own blind and presumptuous Reason and Understanding: And this is that which in answer to it Justin Martyr often pressed, De recta fidei confessione, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, pag. 375. It becometh the Churches adherents to measure divine things not by humane reason, but according to the intention of the Spirits doctrine. So having in the same Book affirmed the Union of the two Natures of Christ, he addes pag. 382. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, If you ask me the manner of this Ʋnion, I am not ashamed to say and confess my ignorance therein; but rather I glory in this, that I do upon the authority of God believe that which my reason cannot comprehend, nor my tongue express.

[Ʋse 2] 2. Exercise faith upon all the persons grounded upon these promises, and walk in the love of them all, and expect the sealing of them all, and so much these promises will carry you unto. Exercise faith upon all the persons grounded upon these promises, they are the great and ultimate objects of faith: now faith is imperfect that takes not in all the objects of faith; and it's a greater imperfection for a grace to fail in its object, than to fail in any of the acts of it. The Apostle, 1 Thess. 1. speaks of some defects in faith;* 1.88 and truly these are the great defects: there be abundance of objects of faith that faith doth not act upon, because we know but in part, &c. nay the greatest suspicion that a man has of his faith lies in this, if any object of it be willingly neglected: as in a mans obedience, it's a great ground for a man to question the sincerity and the truth of it, if the meanest duty thereof be willingly neglected; so it's ground enough to question the sincerity and truth of our faith: much more if a man do observe the lesser duties of obedience, and be precise in them; but the great and weighty things of the Law are neglected by him: so it's here, if a man take in lesser and inferiour promises; but as for the promises of the persons which are the great things of the Gospel, they are neglected, and faith acts not upon them. Here a mans faith should take in these particulars.

(1) That all the persons have a special hand in the salvation of a sinner, and that by these promises every believer hath an interest in them all, in reference unto these works.* 1.89 It's true, they having one and the same nature and essence, what the one of them doth, the other doth also; whatever thing the Father doth, the same thing doth the Son likewise: But yet though these be not opera propria, proper works, yet they are appropriata, appropriate. There are peculiar works attributed unto each person, as 1 Pet. 1.2. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctification of the Spirit, and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Now suitable to these appropriated works, so should a mans faith eye each of the persons, and his interest in them. When the soul is conversant about Ele∣ction, faith then must look upon God the Father; and when about Redemption, then faith must look upon God the Son; and when upon Sanctification, then faith must eye the Holy Ghost: because these are the works that the Persons have undertaken under the second Covenant, to accomplish in mans salvation, and they are by promise made over to these ends.

(2) One main intendment of God in the Gospel, is not only to advance the Attributes of the Divine nature, to glorifie his Justice, and his Mercy, and Grace by making higher discoveries of them, than ever could have been shewed forth under the old Covenant; but it is also to glorifie the three Persons in the Trinity in the hearts of Believers: and this appears plainly by Eph. 1.3, 7, 13. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus; in whom we have redemption through his blood, and have attained unto an inheritance; in whom after you believed, you were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise. So that to honour the Persons, and to exalt them in the hearts of Believers, is one great and main intendment of the Gospel; and therefore if your faith close not with them, you cross one great and main end of the Gospel of grace: and that must be done not only in receiving of blessings and benefits from the Trinity in common; but that a man take special notice of the distinct works of them all, what is done by the Father, and what is done by the Son, that in that blessing the person from whence it comes may be highly exalted in the soul: therefore we do read of distinct acts of faith exer∣cised upon the Son,* 1.90 and the Father: You believe in God, believe also in me: that all men may honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.

(3) As the order of their working doth follow the order of their subsisting (as the School-men observe) the works of the Father being first, and then the works of the Son; so it's in the work of grace, and all the benefits of it attributed to God the Father are first in order of Nature, and then those that are attributed to the Son; and therefore Ado∣ption being the act of the Father, is by some asserted to be first in order of all spiritual blessings that we receive by grace, before Redemption, which is an act of the Son, and of Sanctification,* 1.91 which is an act of the Holy Ghost: and this very consideration will give a man great light into the order of all spiritual blessings that we receive by virtue of the new Covenant; for the order of the blessings are answerable to the order of the workings of those persons from whence they flow.

* 1.922. Believers should exercise love towards all three Persons: God is love, and he that dwelleth in love, dwells in God, and God in him. There is a walking in love, and a dwelling therein, as a man dwells in his own house; there is not only a love of the Son, as says Christ,* 1.93 So I have loved you, continue you in my love; but there is a love of the Father also, that the soul is to look upon as distinct,* 1.94 If any man love me and keep my words, my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him. I say not that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father himself loveth you, beca•••••• you have loved me.

(1) It is a great comfort and honour unto the Saints, that they are come unto the innu∣merable company of Angels, and unto the Souls of just men made perfect, Heb. 12.23. And the promise is made good to them, Zac. 3.7. They have places [or galleries] to walk in amongst them that stand by, and that they can walk in the love of Angels, and of the general As∣sembly of the Church of the first-born, whose names are written in Heaven; but much more to walk in the love of all the Persons; that they are come unto Jesus, they are come to the Mediator of the new Covenant, to the blood of sprinkling, and unto God the Judge of all, and so can walk in the apprehension of the love of them all: and it's a great com∣fort that they can go to them all in prayer grounded upon the particular love of them all, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Spirit:* 1.95 Grace and peace be with you from him that is, and was, and is to come, and from the seven Spirits that are before the Throne, and from Jesus the faithful and true witness. And the soul tastes the love of the Father in giving his Son, and the love of the Son, in that he loved me, and gave himself for me, Gal. 2.20.

(2) That we might testifie our love to each Person distinctly, and suitable unto the love with which they have loved us, [1] let us fear to offend them all: not only fear to offend God the Father, because our God is a consuming fire, and it's a great and terri∣ble name,* 1.96 the Lord our God; but also fear to offend God the Son our Saviour: Take heed of him, obey his voice, provoke him not, for my name is in him; it is the rod of my son which it contemneth as every tree, &c. And Eph. 2.4, 30. fear to grieve or quench the Spirit, or resist his motions. [2] Perform duties by arguments and motives drawn from the love of them all,* 1.97 If any man love me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will make our abode with him: he that has my commandments, and keeps them, he shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and manifest my self to him. [3] Give glory unto them all, being affe∣cted with their love particularly, that the soul may say, Glory be unto the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, according to the intent of the Gospel, that as we were baptized in the Name of them all, so we may give glory to them all in a Gospel-sense. And the truth is, as this should be the great and principal object of our faith, so it should be of our love also: the highest love we can love God with, is to love him for himself: we may love God for his

benefits and his blessings, but yet that is not true love, unless the highest love be set upon the persons, Plus diligere famulum quam sponsum meretricis amor est, Aust. To love the ser∣vant more than the Bridegroom is adulterous love.

3. As in the work of Faith the Soul is to be exercised upon all the Persons, so also in the point of Assurance, which is an addition unto Faith, we should wait for the Witness, and the sealing of them all, because all of them set their seals unto the Evidences of the Saints: The scope of the Epistle of John is,* 1.98 that the Saints may know that they have Eter∣nal Life and there are Witnesses some in Heaven, and some in Earth, but yet the Testi∣monies that these give all of them are in the heart of a Believer: for so it is said, He that believes hath the witness within himself, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit,* 1.99 and these three persons in Heaven give a distinct witness unto the assurance of the Saints in their own hearts; there are three seals that are set unto it: though it's true, that a man know∣ing the Love of any one of them, he may by consequence, and by way of deduction con∣clude the Love of them all; yet a man should expect to have it not only discursive, but intuitive, & radio directo, by a direct beam, that a man may in Prayer from a principle of sealing, cry to God, Abba Father, and may say, I am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine: and so the Soul may walk in the Love of them all distinctly though not severally; and the Soul is never able to triumph and make his boast of God, till he has assurance of his inter∣est in all the persons; and in all these respects we see that the great grounds of a Chri∣stians comfort lye in his interest in the persons, and therefore it's no wonder if the great promises of the Covenant to a Christian be personal promises.

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

SECT. I. The Covenant of Grace makes God ours, and the Benefits hereof.

§. 1. LEt us come more particularly unto the words of the Promise, in which the main of the Covenant lyes on Gods part, for we have heard it's unfolded in promises, or to use the Apostles word, established in Promises,* 1.100 and these promises Musculus calls Caput foe∣deris, the Head of the Covenant: the chief and the bottom promise, on which the Cove∣nant stands, is this, I will be thy God: and Pareus calls it anima foederis, the soul of the Co∣venant; for it's the principal promise of the Second Covenant: as in our part of the Co∣venant, there is one great Commandment, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart; so there is in Gods part of the Covenant one great promise, and that is, that he will be our God, and we shall be his people, and therefore a great weight is to be laid upon it.

1. For the opening of it we are to consider there are Two things to be distinctly consi∣dered in God: (1.) Essentia, his Essence: (2.) Subsistentia, his Subsistence. (1.) The Es∣sence of God is but one pure and simple act of Being, but yet cannot be comprehended as such by a finite understanding, because it's infinite; therefore it is set forth unto us by several Attributes, which though in God they be all one, yet they are diversify'd accord∣ing to the different objects upon which they are set, and about which they are conversant, and the different acts that they do put forth unto the Creatures: and so when the Lord doth promise to be our God, he doth make over unto the Creature by promise an interest in all the Attributes of the Essence and Divine Nature. (2.) In this Divine Nature there are three distinct subsistences, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, is the word used by the Apostle;* 1.101 and why we should be offended, as some of late, at the word Person, by which it is expressed, I know not, but from the novelty and curiosity of this last Age: There is in the God-head, Fa∣ther, Son, and Spirit, and these Three are One.* 1.102 Now when the Lord doth promise to be a God to his People, he doth make over his whole self, God in Essence, according to all the Attributes of his Nature, and God in Subsistence, according unto all the persons or subsi∣stences in the God-head; and it is very necessary, that as in point of obedience we take in the whole latitude and extent of the Law, for the Commandment is exceeding broad, so in point of Faith also, that we take in the whole latitude and extent of the promises; that as in the one our hearts and desires in obeying may answer God's in commanding, so in the

other our hearts and desires in believing may answer God's in promising.

2. To be a God implies a sufficiency. (1) It is a term of Sufficiency, and so it is here, Gen. 17.1. I am God all-sufficient: he that is self-sufficient in himself, is all-sufficient to his people. What is there that can be necessary unto your happiness, but it shall be had in me? and therefore Psal. 144. ult. Blessed is the people whose God is Jehovah; because in God there is an all-sufficiency, that not only you shall have all happiness from him, but you shall have all things in him: so that as he is sufficient for himself, of and from himself, without going forth unto any other; so shall you have all things in him immediately, that you need look unto nothing else to make you happy; for all the perfections of a God shall be yours. (2) To be a God is a term of Soveraignty, for he is the most high King of Kings, and Lord of Lords,* 1.103 the most High rules in the Kingdoms of mortal men, and he is God over all,* 1.104 blessed for evermore. Therefore to be a mans God is to undertake the rule and government over him, and to rule and govern all things for his good, that they may be all unto him a blessing;* 1.105 that as Christ is made the head of all things for the Churches sake, so will the Lord rule over all things for his peoples sake, rule all as a God, as truly for their good, as for his own glory.

3. It points also to the manner of the fulfilling of this promise, it shall be as becomes a God, and in the way of a God: and so much also A Lapide hints upon the place, Ero tuus tuorúm{que} Deus, ut à vobis solus colar, I will be the God of thee and thine, that I may be worshipped by thee. Now there are two ways by which a people employ their interest in God, (1) by way of Communion, they come unto God, and they draw near to him, which are terms of Communion, (2) by way of Fruition, their happiness is in him, and he will be their portion and reward in the land of the living. When the Lord casts off a people from being a Church to himself, he will own them in ways of worship no more, he doth express it so,* 1.106 calls them Loammi, they are not my people, I will not be their God: he does not say, You shall not have the creatures to be yours, as the fruits of my bounty, you shall not have respite of torment, as the fruits of my patience; but yet when you have all things here below, you shall not have me in them all, in ways of communion here, or of fruition hereafter.

[Doctrine 2] The main intendment of God in the new Covenant is this, That he may become the God of his people. Every man that is brought into the new Covenant doth change his God, Jer. 2.10. it's said, Pass over to the Isles of Chittim, and send unto Kedar, and see if there be such a thing, has any nation changed their God? It's looked upon as a strange thing in the world, and yet this is the condition of all those that come under the second Covenant; and therefore as the great Commandment to a people is, Thou shalt have Jehovah for thy God, and thou shalt have none else; so the great promise on Gods part is, that I will be thy God, that though the earth be mine, and the fulness thereof, all souls are mine, yet I will be thy God, and thy portion, as if there were no other men in the world besides thee. There is a double change wrought in the Saints, (1) a change of a mans state, (2) a change of a mans life. The first is the great and the universal change that God works in men at their first conversion, and that the School-men do well say is mutatio circa finem ultimum, a change of a mans utmost end. Now finis ultimus & summum bonum inter se convertuntur, the last end and chiefest good are convertible: therefore he that doth change his utmost end, does also change his chiefest good, and he that doth so, doth change his God.

1. Here we are to consider, that all mankind that are out of covenant with God, have no interest in God, they have all of them another God. Eph. 2.12. they are all of them Atheists, or men without God. Before Abraham was taken into covenant with God, he did serve other Gods beyond the river with Terah his father, Josh. 24.2. but when he was ta∣ken into covenant, the main intendment of the Covenant was this, he shall change his God. Now I will make a covenant with thee, to be a God to thee and thy seed, and thou shalt worship the Nations god no more. It's true that there are no men but they have some impressions of a Deity upon them; every man worships some God, a Numen he doth ac∣knowledge, and there is a God that every one doth chuse unto himself, as it is said in Judges, they chose new Gods, but they are called Stercorarii, they are dunghil-gods, they are not the God of Abraham, they are not the God that makes over himself in covenant unto his people, but they are new Gods newly come up. It's true, he that is without the true God, will be ready to fancy any thing to himself as a God; therefore one man doth adore himself, and another this or that creature, and another serves his belly as his God, and the other he chuses Mammon for his God, every man as his fancy leads him; for all these Gods are nothing else but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.107 but the truth is, it is the De∣vil that is worshipped under all these forms as a God, Deut. 32.17. They sacrificed to de∣vils and not unto God: or Demons or new-made Gods newly come up, whom their Fathers

knew not: and so did the Gentiles in all their ways of worship, they sacrificed unto De∣vils,* 1.108 and not unto God. And so it is in the worshipping of Saints and Angels under Po∣pery, it's but worshipping of Devils or Demons,* 1.109 they repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship Devils, &c. And for this cause the Doctrine of wor∣shipping Saints is called the Doctrine of Devils, or Demons. And it's true in both senses, either the worshipping of Saints, or the worshipping of Devils in them. And this is in∣deed the Idolatry of all unregenerate men in the world,* 1.110 they do worship Satan who is the God of this world; and therefore all unregenerate men being of this world, they have no God but the God of the world, and therefore it's said of the world, 1 Joh. 5.19.* 1.111 The world lies in wickedness: it notes the highest subjection to the Devil that can be, to be subject to him as God. And this is the great sin of all unregenerate men, who are out of covenant with the Lord; and therefore it's well called by Tertullian, Principale crimen humani generis & summus seculi reatus, The principal crime of mankind and chief guilt of the age. So that every man that has not the Lord for his God in covenant, he worships the Devil for his God instead of the true God.

2. When men are in covenant with God, they do change their God, and Jehovah be∣comes their God. And that will appear in two things. (1) The Lord styles himself their God; and therefore when he had taken Abraham into covenant with himself,* 1.112 then he calls himself the God of Abraham: and it's said Heb. 11.16. of all the Saints, He is not ashamed to be called their God. And that's the great promise of the Covenant,* 1.113 I will be their God, and they shall be my people. He that overcomes shall inherit all things, I will be his God. (2) Upon this ground they do claim an interest in him as their God: so doth Moses, Exod. 15.2. Thou art my God, and thou art my father's God. So doth David, Psal. 63.1. Thou art my God, early will I seek thee: and so doth Esa. 7.13. Will you weary my God also? so doth the Church, God, even our own God shall bless us: this God is our God for ever and ever.* 1.114 And there∣fore all they that are in covenant with God, they have the Lord for their God.

Now what is there that doth make the Lord to become our God, that a man may say he has changed his God? There are three things in the new Covenant that give a man a propriety in God.

1. The Lord doth graciously and freely make over himself: it's an ordinary thing amongst men to make over a propriety, either in things or persons, by covenant; as you have heard, the wife by covenant has a propriety in the husband, and the husband in the wife; and so the Prince has a propriety in the Subject, and the Subject in the Prince. Now the Lord doth thus freely make over himself unto his people by covenant with them to be a God to them.

2. There is a Union with Jesus Christ that the Saints have, they are one body with him, and the Covenant of grace being made primarily with Christ, the Lord becomes his God in covenant, and so he saith, I ascend unto my Father and your Father,* 1.115 unto my God and your God: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Therefore the great intention of this Covenant was, that the Lord might become the God of Christ, as he is the Mediator, and being his God, and we being one with him, he becomes our God also.

3. There is a free and a voluntary acceptation and consent on the creatures part to em∣brace this God for his, and to give up himself to him, to perform all those acts of soul to∣wards him as becomes a God: the Lord will not receive a man for his that has another God, he must cast off all the dunghil-gods that before he served. He saith, What have I to do any more with Idols? He doth cast his Idols of silver and gold unto the moles and to the bats. It's not honourable for the great God to put himself upon a people to be their God against their will, and therefore there goes forth an illumination upon the hearts of his people, by which they chuse him for their God, and they will own no other: and this mu∣tual consent between God and them doth compleat their interest and propriety in him. How did Dagon become the God of the Philistins, and Apis the God of the Egyptians, and Chemosh the God of the Ammonites? it was, because they chose them unto themselves to worship them; and there is no means to set up a God over a people, and to intitle them to him but by their own consent: and so it is with the God of Israel, it is because they yield themselves to give the hand to the Lord:* 1.116 They gave themselves first to God (says the Apostle Paul) and then to us, by the will of God, 2 Cor. 8.5. And by this means it is, that he that is taken into covenant with God, doth change his God, and take the Lord for his God. The Lord doth make over himself unto him in the Covenant to be his God, and he does consent to it, and says, This God shall be my God for ever and ever, and I will have no other God but him.

[Ʋse 1] §. 2. First, see here the miserable condition of all those that are out of covenant with God: for they that are strangers to the Covenant of Promise,* 1.117 they are without God in the

world; and that will appear 1. in this, it's the greatest sin to live without God, it's against the great Commandment of the Law, and against the grand promise of the Gospel: the great Commandment of the Law is, Thou shalt have Jehovah for thy God, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God. If he that loves his wife loves himself, much more he that loves his God must love himself most; for he is, as the School-men speak, intimior intimo nostro, more intimate than our most intimate part: he is nearer unto a man than a man is to himself; and therefore conversion being a writing the Law in the heart, this being the great Command∣ment, this is specially written there, to love the Lord our God with all our heart: and the truth is, upon this all the other Commandments do depend, on this hang all the Law and the Prophets; and therefore Austin well observes, Qui non diligit Deum non diligit proxi∣mum, quia non diligit seipsum, He that loves not God loves not his neighbour, because he loves not himself. A man ought to love his neighbour as himself; but he that loves not himself can∣not love his neighbour: and he that doth not love God, neither doth he, nor can he love himself, he hates his own soul: and as this command to love God is the greatest, it is the grand promise of the Gospel, that the Lord will be our God. Now in a mans conversion as the precepts are written in the heart as soon as he is new-born to God, as the rule of his obedience;* 1.118 so also are all the promises written in his heart, as the ground of his faith: Ye are (says the Apostle) the Epistle of Christ ministred by us, written, not with ink, but by the Spi∣rit of the living God, in the fleshly tables of your heart. And therefore as it is in vain for a man to speak of obedience unto lesser precepts, if the great Commandments be wanting; so it's in vain to claim an interest in inferior promises, if the great promise, I will be thy God, thou hast no part in.

2. The baseness and unworthiness of a mans spirit is seen in nothing so much as in this, that a man can take any thing for a God. The Lord doth justly deride his own people, that they turned their glory into shame,* 1.119 they changed their glory for a thing of nought, the word in the Hebrew is* 1.120 nihilitates, nothingnesses: and the Heathen man could well scorn the Egyptians for that porrum & caepe nesas violare & frangere morsu. Men commonly count it a great matter what servants they have, and much more what yoke-fellow they take, as the companion of their lives, or what Prince they subject themselves unto; but here is the baseness of the spirit of man, that he cares not what God he hath, but he is contented to worship the creatures, which God has subjected to him as servants, nay to honour the De∣vil as a God, who is his enemy, and cursed above all creatures; and yet all men that have not the God of Heaven for their God, they worship the God of this world, the Prince of the air, the Devil. Therefore to be mistaken in a mans God, and to joyn himself unto a strange God,* 1.121 is the greatest reproach that can befal a man. It's said of Israel, That they joyned themselves unto Baal-Peor, and separated themselves unto that shame, and they were abomi∣nable secundum amorem eorum, according to their love, that is, as the Gods that they loved, as God is called the fear of his people.

3. It is more to lose God than to lose all blessings that come from God. And therefore Hos. 1.9. that's made the top of the judgment Lo-ammi; it's more than Lo-ruhamah, for to have God is more than to receive any mercy from God; and therefore this is the true dif∣ference between an hypocrite and a gracious heart, one is content with what comes from Gods hands, the other can be satisfied with nothing but God; Sicut mea tibi non placent nisi mecum, sic tua non satiunt nisi tecum, &c. As my good works please not thee without my self, so thy good things please not me without thy self. Bern. Let a man tender to God thousands of rams, and ten thousands of rivers of oyl, yet all this doth not please God, unless we give our selves to the Lord: and so it is with the Saints of God. Should God bestow all the creatures upon them in Heaven and in Earth, yet all this would never make them happy without God himself. Now if the Lord should strip you naked of all the comforts of the creatures,* 1.122 as one day he will all ungodly men; for it shall be said, Son remember in thy life time thou hadst thy good things; you should neither have bread to eat, nor cloaths to warm you, nor the Sun to give you life: If the fig-tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vine, you would think your selves miserable men to want all these. Now the peo∣ple of God can rejoyce in the want of these, can rejoyce and triumph in the God of their salvation;* 1.123 and yet at the last day to depart from God, and to lose your God to all eter∣nity shall be much more; for the greatest judgment that doth befal men is the loss of God, and it's very just with God to take men in their own sin: as they in the Gospel being in∣vited to the marriage, made excuses, and would not come; therefore that which was their sin was their judgment and plague, they shall not come, those that were bidden shall not taste of my supper: you will not come, you shall not come; and so they will have none of God, Israel will have none of me, that's your sin, and shall be your plague, you shall have none of me, I will not be your God for ever: for he that has not the Lord for his God in this life, shall

have no interest in him in the life to come. It's the misery of all unregenerate men that they speak of God as another mans God, and not as their own; as Laban said to Jacob,* 1.124 the God of your fathers, and Pharaoh, I have sinned against the Lord your God. But this is the happiness of the Saints, that they can say, The Lord is our own God; as Tertullian said to Marcion, Christus in Evangelio tuo meus est, Christ in thy Gospel is mine, &c.

4. He that has not the Lord for his God, shall surely have him for his enemy; and as he doth rejoyce over his own Covenant people for good, so he will rejoyce over you for evil:* 1.125 he will watch over you for evil; you shall have all evil to befal you here, as pledges of eter∣nal wrath, Heb. 10.27. As a people in Covenant with God do receive all mercies as pledges of glory in Heaven; so do they; there is an expectation of wrath, &c.* 1.126 All acts of common goodness are in wrath to them: if the Lord do suffer them to prosper, and they be fed as a lamb in a large place, it's in wrath, that their table ••ay become their snare, and to fat them against the day of slaughter. Nihil est infoeliciùs foelicitate peccantium, quâ poenalis nutritur impuritas & voluntas mala roboratur, &c. There is nothing more unhappy than the hap∣piness of sinners, whereby their penal impurity is nourished, and their evil will fortified, August. And if the Lord forbear to punish them, it's in wrath; why should they be smitten any more? And if the Lord do hear their prayers, and grant their desires, it's in wrath: he may grant their request, but send leanness into their souls, Q••osdam ad utilitatem exaudit, quosdam ad damnationem, Some he hears for their profit, some for their damnation. Aug. And if he be∣stow mercies, Iratus dat amanti quod malè amat. The whole design that the Lord hath in all his dealings is against such a one for evil. Lord, who knows the power of thy wrath!* 1.127

[Ʋse 2] 2. We may hence learn, what the happiness is of a people in Covenant with God, they have the Lord for their God. 1. Consider every man has a treasure which in this life he doth lay up: one man hath treasure in Earth, and another hath treasure in Heaven, as that wherein he does place his happiness, which is the chief good, upon which he sets his heart; which if he may attain, he says it is enough, and by this he values himself and all things else, in which he glories: the rich man glories in his riches, and the wise man in his wisdom, and the strong man in his strength, &c. Now in this a godly man doth glo∣ry, that he is the Lords treasure. For Saints are his Jewels:* 1.128 and as a godly man is Gods Jewel, so God is his, and in him he has full satisfaction: and without this chief good they contemn all things else, Omnis copia quae non est Deùs meus, egestas est, All abundance that is not my God is want. The Scripture pronounceth a blessedness upon such, Psal. 144. ult. Blessed are such who have Jehovah for their God. Now unto happiness (as the Philosophers say) there are three things required, it must be 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, perfect, pro∣per, and eternal good, which properties are to be found no where but in God in Covenant. (1) It must be bonum perfectum, a perfect good, a general and universal good extending unto all things, and all times, and all conditions: for the Lord is a God all-sufficient,* 1.129 he can make a man happy according to the whole life, as Moses said to Israel, The Lord alone led thee, and there was no strange God with him. And the people of God shall need blessings from none but their own God, God, even our God shall bless us. (2) It must be proprium, proper good: there is nothing can be said to be a mans own that can be taken away from him: all a mans estate and riches and honour here are but this worlds goods, and they shall cease and fail him, and not follow him into another world, naked he came in, and naked must he go out; nay his gifts and tongues will fail: I, but God is a mans own, that he can never lose. It was the folly of the Heathens, which Austin derided, that they tyed their Gods, that they might not be stoln; such are the dunghil-gods of the world, qui non pos∣sunt custodire custodes, who cannot keep those that keep them. But this is our God, we have wait∣ed for him, and he will save us, it is our own God. (3) It must be perpetuum, eternal:* 1.130 the eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath is the everlasting arms: they tempted Basil with money, but he replied, Da pecuniam quae permaneat, ac gloriam quae semper floreat, Give me money that will abide, &c. Therefore you see how the people of God may satiate their souls with fatness, and how God has promised they shall be satisfied with goodness,* 1.131 for with him is the fountain of life, and it will run for evermore; there are pleasures at his right hand for evermore.

2. This is the ground of all the great things that the Lord hath done, and will do for his people: as David says, The Lord has done great things for us whereof we rejoyce.* 1.132 This lets us see (1) the fountain of all the great things that have been done for his people; and truly you have lived in the times, when the towers fall, and the mountains skip, and the Sea goes back, &c. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses,* 1.133 but we will remember the name of the Lord our God; they are brought down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright, for their rock is not as our rock, nor their God as our God, our enemies themselves being Judges. Therefore say, Had not the Lord been on our side, they had swallowed us up quick:* 1.134

for they eat thy people as bread,* 1.135 and drink them also at sweet wine, though they shall prove a cup of trembling in their hand, and God will punish them who have punished his people.

(2) The Lord has spoken great things concerning his people for time to come, specially in the latter days, because the Mystery of God shallbe finished. Consider, new Jerusalem shall come down from God out of Heaven, and then the Churches foundations shall be laid with Saphirs,* 1.136 which is to be understood, non de doctrina, sed de hominibus, not of doctrine, but of persons, i. e. then the Lord will lay the foundations of Churches with choice men, and not with common and ordinary stones, that shall be built up a spiritual house unto himself; and the glory of the Lord and of the Lamb shall be the light thereof, and the name of the City shall be Jehovah Shammath; and the Kingdom and Dominion under the whole Earth shall be given to the Saints, and Satan shall be bound from raising up any per∣secution against the Saints for a thousand years: so that there shall be as it were a trium∣phant state of the Church in this life, that they that hated them shall be dumb before them, and shall lick up the dust of their feet, and the Lord will make them to know and acknowledge that he has loved them: and this is a sufficient ground for it, Rom. 8.32. If he has given us his Son, shall he not with him give us all things. So I say, if he hath given himself,* 1.137 we may reason from the greater to the less, he will give all things else: Qui dedit regnum, nonne dabit viaticum? He that hath given a Kingdom, will he not give a viatic? Wise men do use to make the building answerable to the foundation; no man doth lay a foundation of Marble to cover it with a roof of straw, and set upon it a mud-wall: and this we should consider the rather, because before the accomplishment of these promises there is a great cloud that will overshadow all the Gentile Churches in this Western part of the world, and then our hearts are apt to fail us, and say our bones are dry, our hope is past. He that could but look into the enlargement of the soul of the Almighty in this promise, and could measure the height and breadth and length of it, might easily read in the face thereof what great things he will do for his people, even when he yet sees no∣thing in preparation or tendency thereunto.

(3) He may be assured of the acceptation of his services: and that consists in two things, [1] ut sunt in ordine supernaturali Deo grata, as they are in a supernatural way ac∣cepted by God, not only as natural actions, but as acts flowing from grace, and the imme∣diate influence and motions of the Spirit of Christ: [2] ut ordinationem habent ad vitam aeternam, as they have respect to an eternal reward, and the ground of all their interest in God; for jure venit cultos ad sibi quis{que} Deos. And this is the ground of acceptation of services, Lord thou art my God, early will I seek thee: and of expecting a blessing, God, even our God, shall bless us. A man can expect nothing from a strange god, but the worshippers of Baal did expect he should hear them, because he was their god; and so do the Saints also: and upon this ground it is, that Luther said, That one good work of the Saints, ex fide & in fide est pretiosius quàm coelum & terra; & totus mundus non potest reddere dignam maercedem pro unico bono opere, flowing from faith and in faith is more precious than heaven and earth, &c. it is accepted of our God, and this is to walk before him to all well-pleasing.

* 1.138(4) They shall be sure of a special presence and providence. [1] A special presence. The Lord being Abrahams God, tells him, I will be with thee in all places where thou shalt come: the Lord is my shepherd, though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, yet I will fear no evil:* 1.139 umbra quâ morientium occupantur oculi. They were resembled by Shew-bread, be∣cause God sets them before his face for ever, his eye and his heart are never off them from one end of the year to the other. [2] There is a special providence over them, the Lord is their glory, and therefore they are the glory of the world, they being the image and glo∣ry of God unto them: and upon all the glory there shall be a covering, there is the secret of the pavillion of God,* 1.140 in which he hides his people; they have their Chambers into which the King doth bring them: therefore be not discouraged when you look without you, he is no fool that is wise by the wisdom of God, and he is not weak that can say, he is strong by the power of his might; therefore though innumerable difficulties in thy condition in the world, and adversaries encompass thee round about, and threaten to ruine thee, fear no∣thing, thy God is with thee.

(5) In the saddest condition of the Saints, in reference to the decays of their inward man, this is their cordial, that God is their God. There are two sad states of a Saint, Apostasie and Desertion. [1] Apostasie, they may fall from God into sin, and may re∣lapse into sin again; and relapses are very dangerous, worse than the disease, and yet the people of God are not secure from them, they may fall into the same sins, and their hearts may strangely depart from the Lord; and then erubescit conscientia, conscience blusheth. Ter∣tull. Yet this is the way to recover the fall, the Lord in his Covenant is thy God to re∣store thee: Behold we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God. This was when they

were under the sense of dreadful Apostasie from God. [2] In a state of Desertion, when the Lord hides his face, takes away the light of his countenance; and yet now this doth raise up the soul again to be able to say, My God, my God, though thou hast forsaken me; and this is properly to take hold of God, when a man lays claim to his interest in him as his own God.

2. How should a man know whether he has Jehovah for his God, and whether he has an in∣terest in God by virtue of this grand promise of the Covenant or no?

1. If he has chosen the Lord for his God, his will is the leading faculty, and the primum mobile in the lower world: and if it be an act of Election, it must be free; that as we be∣come God's, because he chose us, as Christ says, Thine they were, and thou gavest them me: so the Lord becomes ours, because we chuse him; and the soul of man is in nothing more free than in his choice, specially in the choice of his God; and therefore 'tis said,* 1.141 They joyned themselves unto Baal-Peor, and separated themselves unto that shame. So in conver∣sion a man doth change his God; the great work of grace is upon the will, The Lord shall perswade Japhet, vocatione alta & secreta, by a deep and secret vocation, and all that power is put forth by making them a willing people, Psal. 110.3.

2. He that has Jehovah for his God must have no other God, Psal. 81.9. There shall be no strange God in thee: thou shalt have none other gods but me. And therefore Dagon falls before the Ark. And it was the great objection of the Senate against worshipping of Christ as a God in their Capitol, when offered by Tiberias, because he would be God alone; it's the great objection that Nature has against exalting of God in the heart: when God is exalted, all lusts must give place, Satan then falls from Heaven as Lightning,* 1.142 and all the Idols of the soul give place to God: What have I to do any more with Idols? There are Pa∣relii in Nature by way of reflection, two Suns, but there cannot be so in the Soul in re∣ference to Gods; and if there be so, and any thing allowed in the soul for God but the true God, that mans interest in God is but a fancy.

3. If the Lord be thy God, thou wilt exercise all these acts of soul towards him that becomes a God; for that is to have Jehovah for thy God: for Mic. 4.5. All nations do walk in the name of their gods, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. There is a twofold worship of God, (1) Cultus naturalis, natural Worship, which is inward, and there is something in nature that dictates it without a word of institution. (2) Institutus, instituted Worship, an outward worship that depends upon an additional manifesta∣tion of his will: and these outward acts of worship may be interrupted, but the inward acts can never be, but you may be abundant in them, namely to fear him as a God, to trust him as a God, and to love him and believe in him as a God: and these acts let thy soul be most in, offer all thou hast to him, and expect all good from him: he it is that is called the hope of Israel, because all their hopes are in him, as all our springs are in him: look for your happi∣ness from no other, depend upon none but him, take up this noble resolution before all the world, and say it shall never be said that the King of Sodom made Abraham rich by the things of this life, I will have all from my God, and then they are all blessings indeed, be∣cause God comes home to the soul with every mercy, and the more immediately any mercy comes from God, the sweeter it is; and this should make a man walk worthy of God, and of such an interest in him. It was said of Felix by Tacitus, Jus regium servili ingenio exercuit, He exercised the kingly power with a servile mind: a greatness of mind, a Princely spirit answerable to the greatness of your interest is becoming you: it is the honour and glory of the Saints to be always shewing themselves worthy of their high calling before the world.

SECT. II. God in the Covenant has made over all his Attributes.

§. 1. LET us now come unto the first thing to be considered in God, and that is his Divine Essence: there is a twofold discovery, a double manifestation of God that the Scripture speaks of, the face and the back parts of God: Gods face is his Essence;* 1.143 for that is to see him as he is, we shall see him face to face, which is the vision that the Saints and Angels have of God in Heaven; for their Angels behold the face of your Father in Heaven, Mat. 18.10. And this is that in which the happiness of rational creatures doth consist, it is this which destroys sin, and perfects grace, and makes the creature impeccable: our conformity unto God in holiness and happiness is grounded upon our vision of him,

1 Joh. 3.2. We know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is: and it's true, that this is also promised by God unto his people in this promise, to be their God in fruition, as will afterwards appear; for this promise is never fully accom∣plished till we come to Heaven,* 1.144 and yet even then we shall not find out the Almighty to per∣fection; for an infinite Being can never be comprehended by a finite understanding. It's the happiness of God to know himself to perfection, We shall know him sufficiently for our perfection, but we shall never be able to know him according unto his perfection; but the know∣ledge of God in his Essence doth not agree unto a mans present state, the imperfection whereof is set forth by a threefold similitude, 1 Cor. 13.12. (1) of a glass, (2) of a rid∣dle, (3) it is answerable to the knowledge of a child, of the things of a man. Therefore the knowledge that we have of God in this life is not of his essence or his face, but of his back parts, non sicut est, sed sicut vult, non as he is, but as he wills. Bern. And the back parts of God are those Attributes that he is pleased to express of himself in the Scripture, by which he is made known, either viâ negationis, in a way of negation, as he is infinite, im∣mortal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable; or else viâ causalitatis, in a way of cau∣sality, as he is holy, and merciful, and just, and wise, &c. These being excellencies in the creature are attributed unto God, as being wrought by him; and therefore must needs be in him in a more glorious and transcendent manner, than they can be in any creature. This is a knowledge of God suitable unto this life, and it is an interest in God that is attain∣able in this life, God has made over himself to his people in all his Attributes.

[Doctrine.] Observe hence, That the Lord in the Covenant of grace has made over unto his people all the Attributes of his Divine Nature. Here for the opening of it we must shew, (1) That it is so, that Gods Attributes are made over; (2) That this is peculiar to the second Covenant, and is the Saints priviledge or portion; (3) The manner of making them over, how they are in God, and how a man may conclude that they belong to us. (4) To what end they are made over unto the Saints. (5) What a glorious revenue such have who have an in∣terest in the Attributes of God, and how infinitely more it is than a mans interest in all the promises of God, and all the creatures of God for his inheritance. Lastly, the applica∣tion of all unto our selves.

1. That the Lord has made over all his Attributes unto the Saints. And that will appear by these arguments or demonstrations. 1. The Lord is said in Scripture to be the portion of his people, their lot, and their inheritance: so the Church, Lam. 3.24. The Lord is my portion,* 1.145 says my soul. And it is the same claim, and in the same way that Christ made unto God, Psal. 16.5. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance. The word signifies to divide into parts, as the land of Canaan was divided by several lots, and every man had his share: and thus it is here, there is a division and a distribution made, all ungodly men have their portion out of God,* 1.146 because they are not in Covenant with him, and they have their portion in this life and in the things of this life: Son remember that in thy life time thou hadst thy good things; but in this a Saint is not satisfied, he will not be put off with this worlds goods: as Luther says, Valde protestatus sum me nolle sic satiari, I greatly protested I will not be so satisfied.* 1.147 And the Lord says, I am thy exceeding great reward: the word in the Original doth signifie praemium laboris,* 1.148 the reward of thy labour, &c. and the Hebrews having no Superlatives, do express them by an Adjective and an Adverb; and so it is here 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 exceeding great, and it's as much as to say, thy greatest reward. There are variety of rewards that God gives unto all his labourers, even in this life; though it be true, as Ma∣nasse Ben Israel has observed, That this life is mundus laboris, the world of labour, and the world to come retributionis, of reward; yet the reward is begun in this life. There is no man that shall labour for God in vain, no man shall shut his door, or open it for nothing; but yet God doth give many things as a reward unto those to whom he doth never give himself, because there are many that do work for God, that do never give themselves unto God: and therefore Jehu shall have a Kingdom, and Nebuchadnezzar shall have Egypt for his hire, &c. they have their reward from God, but yet the Lord himself is not their re∣ward. And even the people of God have many great blessings from the Lord, as the re∣ward of their services;* 1.149 for the Apostle Paul says, All things are yours: but yet the great∣est of all their rewards, and that without which all the rest were nothing, lies in this, that the Lord is their God. Now how doth God become the portion and reward of his people in this life, but as he has revealed himself. There is a discovery of God that is beyond the capacity of grace in this life, and the people of God by virtue of this promise may re∣joyce in the hope of it, as Rom. 5.2. but yet they cannot possess it in this life; but as the Lord has revealed himself to his people in this life, so he hath made over himself unto them. Now the great discovery of God being in the Attributes of the Divine Nature, it's in thi•• that he has made over himself unto his people: this is the portion Christ

had, and his reward, and ours also, by virtue of the same Covenant.

2. This will appear also if we consider the Promises are, that we shall have all in God; He that overcomes shall inherit all things, I will be his God; the Lord is his Inheritance,* 1.150 and he that has God he doth inherit all things, he shall have a hundred-fold more in this life,* 1.151 that forsakes any comfort of it for God, in this present time: Now a man cannot under∣stand this formaliter, formally, but eminentèr, eminently, he shall have that in God that shall ex∣ceed all this, if they were a hundred times multiplyed; and so the Lord is a Sun, and a Shield,* 1.152 and how is all this to be understood, but that we have all in God? It's true, that a Chri∣stian has all things in promises, but yet the promises are not the root of his inheritance, but there is something that is a root, and is the foundation of all the promises, and that is the Attributes of the Divine Nature, and the goodness and faithfulness of God, &c. which I conceive also is the meaning of that, Isai. 2.6. and last: Come my people, enter into your Chambers, &c. it's refer'd unto the mind and the state of the Soul, and so it doth signifie pacatum animi statum, the quiet state of the mind: But I conceive this is not all the mean∣ing,* 1.153 that the Soul is quiet as in its Chambers of refuge, in the time of the greatest trouble and unquietness, but as Forer hath it, Ne solliciti essetis de rerum visibilium vicissitudine, sed de Deo, &c. be not solicitous about visible things, but about God: And the Chambers in which the Soul only rests, are the Chambers of Promises, and of Providences; For upon all the Glory there shall be a defence; but the Attributes of God are the secrets of his presence in them both, so that the people of God have all in him, as there are attributes in him that answer unto all their conditions.

3. So much the several relations in which God stands to his People do imply; the Lord is said to be unto them a Father, I will be their Father, and they shall be my Sons and Daugh∣ters;* 1.154 and he is said to be their Husband, Thy Maker is thy Husband; and their Friend, as he was Abraham's Friend, and he was called the Friend of God; and the terms of friend∣ship are mutual; and it is the sweetest relation; a true friend is as a mans own soul. Now what do all these relations import amongst the Creatures, but this, that answerably to the Wisdom and the Power, and the Mercy, and the Love that is in me, saith God, so will I lay them all out for you, as the duties or offices of my relation do require; and we know amongst men, relations are great obligations, and they do carry with them vast affe∣ctions; they are maxima efficaciae, of greatest efficace, as the School-men speak: there∣fore though it be less to say, I will be thy Father, thy Husband, or thy Friend, than it is to say, I will be thy God, because this imports an Infinite Being; yet it is as much, he being a God to stand in these relations, as if he should have said, I will be thy Father, and Hus∣band, and Friend, after the manner of a God, whatever there is in infinite wisdom, and in infinite power, and in infinite goodness or holiness, to dispense, it shall be laid out for thee, suitable unto the relation in which I stand unto thee; for though men in their rela∣tions act weakly as men, yet in the relations which God stands in to his People he doth act infinitely, and as it becomes a God.

4. It will appear also by the expressions in Scripture, that the Saints have interest in several Attributes of God, and from their interest in some of them, we may conclude their interest in all, for God is not divided; Integram salutem à Deo diviso sperare non possu∣mus, we may not hope for an entire salvation from a divided God, Psal. 59.10. he is call'd not only the God of Mercy, as he is commonly, but the God of my Mercy; so of all the Mer∣cy that was in God, David lays claim to it as his Mercy; it's in God indeed subjectivè, but yet it is mine, even all the Mercy that is in God, and he is the God of my Mercy:* 1.155 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; and the Apostle's exhortation is, Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might; the meaning is, that very Omnipotence that is in God, is by the Covenant on Gods part, so made over unto his people, that it becomes as effectually theirs unto all the ends and intents thereof, as if they themselves were the subjects of it; and the meaning of the Apostle doth arise unto this height, that they should take unto themselves as great confidence in the overcoming of enemies, be they never so powerful, and in performing of duties also, be they never so difficult, as if they had Omnipotence in their own hand, to exercise and put forth according to their own desires, and for the effe∣ctual procuring of their own happiness; and on this ground it is, that the Saints are said to glory in God, and make their boast of him all the day long,* 1.156 and they triumph in the God of their salvation, because they do look upon all things, as having the attributes of God in∣gaged unto them, and by this means the Soul treads down strength, for what can be too intricate for infinite wisdom? and what can be too hainous for infinite mercy, or too dif∣ficult for infinite power, &c? and so the Soul does laugh at all oppositions, and all the power of man to scorn, because he looks upon himself with all the Saints to be interessed in all the Attributes of God, and fortified by them.

5. The great end of Christ's coming into the world was to bring us unto God: and that was not only,* 1.157 that all the Attributes of God should work for us, as they did for Christ, which because we had forfeited, therefore they all acted against us, and should have done for ever; but that Christ by bringing us to God, might give us also an interest in them all, that they should all become ours, as they were his; for Christ is but the way, as he him∣self saith, I am the way, the truth and the life: and therefore Aquinas hath well branched Divinity into these heads, De Deo & de Christo prout via est nobis tendendi in Deum, Of God and of Christ, as he is the way tending to God. Christ came to reconcile all the Attributes of God unto Man, and the great purchase of the death of Christ was not an interest in all the Creatures, but an interest in all the Attributes of the Divine Nature, that they should be ours, and should act for us.

* 1.1586. The highest object of faith is God, he is, Objectum ultimatum, the ultimate Object, Christ is but Mediatum, the Mediate Object: Now what is there in God that is revealed un∣to our Faith, but his Attributes? we know him no otherwise but by his back parts, and we know that every Attribute of God is an object of Faith in the Scripture, and whatever Faith lays hold on as its object, it makes it to become its own, in ipso amplexu, in the very embracement. He that takes hold of Christ by Faith makes him his own; Thou art my Lord and my God, and if it lay hold of its promises, they become its own; and there is no∣thing that gives a propriety to the Soul, but its receiving of it, and appropriating it; he loved me, and died for me, and gave himself for me: Thus Faith argues and appropriates Christ and all his Benefits; and so it is in laying hold of every attribute of God, that doth appropriate it unto his person, and it becomes his own, rests upon infinite wisdom, and lays hold on infinite power, and relies upon infinite mercy, and holiness, and grace, and all shall be thine: Believe Soul, and all shall be thine; for all the objects of faith are offered and propounded by God, and nothing is required to make them ours, but receiving them; as it's said of Christ,* 1.159 To as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the Sons of God, to them that believe in his Name; so it's of promises, and of attributes also, and if they be not ours, it's because we receive them not; our interest lies in our application.

§. 2. This is peculiar to the Second Covenant, that the Lord should make over unto his people the inheritance of all his Attributes. 1. It's true, that Adam had an interest in God, or else he could not have lost it: But we have heard of Mans great misery in the Fall, that it lay in his loss of God,* 1.160 and we know that if he had continued in that state of Innocency, that Covenant would have brought him unto God; for death threatned upon his breach of it was eternal separation from God in Hell, therefore the Life promised must be an eternal fruition of God in Heaven; but yet it was not such an interest as the Saints have under the second Covenant, for that was limited only unto one condition, that men if they did stand in their integrity, the Lord would be so unto them, but if they fell, the Lord would become their God no more, but now is become their enemy, &c. But there is this in the New Covenant, that the Lord is their God in all conditions whatever, and they have in all conditions an interest in all the Attributes; and they may expect that they shall be all imployed for them, and every Saint may conclude with the Psalmist, sure∣ly goodness and mercy shall follow me all my dayes; which is more than the petra sequens, that Rock that followed the People of Israel in the wilderness, in their long journey; they had wisdom to direct them, and power to protect them, and mercy to pardon them, and grace to heal them; and so it is of all the other Attributes of God, they belong unto his Peo∣ple in all conditions, and though there be never so great changes in them, yet there is no change in the Lord.* 1.161 We read in Isai. 57.17, 18. of a man in a wicked way, and the Lord corrects him, but he goes on freely in the way of his heart; now what should the Lord do? Felix cui Deus dignatur irasci, &c. Happy man with whom the Lord is angry: but if this avail not, casts he him off, as he did the Devils, and the Angels that sinned? nay, the At∣tributes are now ingaged, and though the man be unfaithful to God, yet the Lord has en∣gaged himself to be his God, and therefore he says, I have seen his ways, and I will heal him, I am his God, and he is mine for all this, &c.

2. Under the Second Covenant there is a fuller and a more glorious discovery of all the Attributes than there was under the First Covenant. As the Saints have a greater in∣terest in the Attributes of God than the Angels have, so they are more fully revealed un∣to the Saints, than they were to the Angels; and therefore they are said to go to School to the Church to learn;* 1.162 for by the Church they are taught the manifold wisdom of God: The Lord Christ as Mediator is a Glorious Stage, upon which all the Attributes do strange∣ly act their parts;* 1.163 and therefore the Lord saith of Christ, My Name is in him, and he is therefore called,* 1.164 the Image of the invisible God, because all the Glory of God doth shine forth in him. (1.) Here are some Attributes that could never have been discovered under

the first Covenant, and those are [1] the mercy of God, as it respects misery; for had the first Covenant continued, there had been no misery, and therefore no place for mercy: [2] the love of God to mankind, when he did catch at man fallen, and did let the Angels go, as it is Heb. 2.6. [3] the patience and the long-suffering of God; for there had been no place for these, if the Lord had not been provoked by sin against the sinner; for it is it that hardens them in their impenitency, and magnifies this patience of God that he can bear so long with such sinners. (2) All the Attributes under the second Covenant are dis∣covered in a far higher way than they could have been under the first Covenant. [1] There was higher wisdom discovered than in the Creation; indeed there was great wisdom in making a World and in giving a Law, but there is a 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, manifold wisdom in this, Eph. 3.10. that the Angels that had studied the wisdom of God in the first Edition, ever since their Creation, now do desire to look into this Mystery,* 1.165 or they stooped and with great diligence and observation looked into it: but now there is such a discovery of wisdome as was never known to the world before; which is a second Edition, and has put the Angels to School again; and therefore Aquinas says, There is a threefold know∣ledge of the Angels, 1. matutina, morning, that which they had of God in their Creation, 2. respectiva, respective, that which they did attain further of God rebus ipsis, from their own experience and observation, 3. the knowledge that they have of God in Christ, and that he calls meridiana, meridian knowledge. [2] There is a greater power under the second Co∣venant than was under the first Covenant; for that was but to command a creature to stand up out of nothing, and it was done by a word; but now for the Godhead to joyn it self into a personal union with the creature is much more: the power of God over a crea∣ture is not so much as the power of God over himself, for to forgive sin is an act of power;* 1.166 to support a creature against himself, and his own revenging hand under the guilt of sin, shews the depth of wisdom and grace. [3] There is greater Justice under the second Co∣venant; for the first Covenant being broken, Gods rejection of Adam was but rejecting of a creature; and the Angels they were but Gods Servants, and he might punish them for their sin; but herein is higher Justice, when God will not spare his Son; and his strong crys and tears moved him not, nay and God himself was to be his Executioner, and yet his Justice is pleased with it, It pleased the Father to bruise him, Esa. 53. conterere, it signifies to grinde one to powder, for that is to make one contrite, &c. he hath put him to grief, and he was wounded for our transgressions, and was bruised for our sins. [4] There was a greater discovery of Gods truth under the second Covenant. Under the first Co∣venant the Lord had spoken the word, the day thou eatest thou shalt dye; and the Lord was as good as his word, and had cast off man, and Angels by it, but they were as clay in his hand, he had no need of them: but now if his Son will undertake it, surely one would think God would either abrogate his Law, or mitigate it; but the Lord will do neither, his truth shall stand rather than Heaven or Earth, and therefore if the Son of God be made sin, he shall be made a curse also.

3. Under the second Covenant we have a firmer hold upon all the Attributes, than we could ever have had under the first Covenant: the Lord was the God of Adam, and also of the Angels; but yet so as he might by their Covenant become their enemy, if they were not confirmed by his grace, in the new Covenant: therefore the Angels are beholding to Christ for their confirmation, as well as men are for their reconciliation; but the Lord becomes the God of his people so under the second Covenant, that he is their God for ever and ever, this God is our God for ever and ever.* 1.167 The wisdom of God is eternally thine, and shall never be turned against thee, as the manner of enemies is, they turn your own ammunition against you, many times. His mercy is everlasting mercy, and his power is everlasting power, and his loving-kindness is everlasting.

§. 3. What is the manner how the Lord makes over all his Attributes unto his people? This Question is of moment, that so we may know the tenure by which we hold so glorious an inheritance. Now the manner of it is this.

1. Man by the Fall having departed from God, and thereby lost and forfeited his in∣terest in him, and become to him wholly a stranger and an enemy,* 1.168 there was no way to restore a man to a title in God again, unless sin, which was the cause of enmity, were taken away, as that which did take God off from man; as if ever a mans inheritance in the creatures were restored, that must be taken away which did deprive man of them; therefore the great business that God had to do, and which was the great thing in his eye by Christ was 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Heb. 10.5. to take away sin, to prepare him a body, that he might bear the iniquity of us all, &c. and therefore he is set forth as a propi∣tiation for the remission of the sins that are past, through the forbearance of God, Rom.* 1.169 3.25. and as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world.* 1.170 Therefore the Lord can∣not

become our God immediately,* 1.171 no not so much as by Law, but in the hand of a Me∣diator, that is Ministerio, by the intervention of a Mediator, who is as it were a days-man, to lay hold upon both parties. Now the Lord therefore becomes Christ's God in Cove∣nant, and makes over all his Attributes unto him,* 1.172 and therefore saith Christ, I go to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God; and therefore says the Apostle, Eph. 1.3. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it's that which Christ lays hold of for him∣self and his people,* 1.173 My God, my God, &c Now how doth the Lord becomes Christ's God? as he is the second Person? no, that he cannot, for so he thinks it no robbery to be equal with God. One person cannot be said to be a God to another, having all of them the name of God given to them, and all of them having one and the same Essence or Di∣vine Nature. But as Christ is Mediator, as he is God-man, as the Word is made flesh, so the Lord is become Christ's God by the Covenant that he did enter into with his Son, when he did possess him in the beginning of his way,* 1.174 that is, of all his goings forth towards the crea∣ture, and therefore did anoint him and set his King upon his holy hill, which is the same word as is used Psal. 2.6. And by this Covenant the Lord did wonderfully mani∣fest his love to his Son, by ingaging himself that all the Attributes of the Divine Nature should work for him:* 1.175 the Love of God should work for him; for the Father loveth the Son, and shews him all things, and gives him all things into his hand; and the Power of God works for him, Esa. 42.6. I will hold thee by the hand, and I will keep thee: and the Justice of God works for him, that when he had paid the debt, he should be released out of prison; and therefore after he had lain three days in the grave, to shew forth the truth of his death,* 1.176 the Lord sent an Angel as a publick Minister of Justice; for he was taken from prison and from judgment: and the Faithfulness of God is also ingaged for him: Thus saith the Lord,* 1.177 to him whom man despiseth, and the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship because of the Lord that is faithful, and he shall chuse thee, &c. And we may see what it is in vers. 8. In an acceptable time have I heard thee, in a day of salvation have I helped thee, I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant to the people to establish the earth, &c. So that Christ has a double inheritance, (1) in God, all that is in God is his, and all works for him: for the Lord is become his God.* 1.178 (2) In the creatures; for he is appointed heir of all things. Now all the Attributes being in this manner made over unto Christ by the Father, and he given as a Covenant to the Nations, and as primus foederatus, the first federate in the Covenant, and that covenant∣ing being not only for himself, but as a second Adam for us; hence it is, that whatever is made over unto Christ by his Covenant, is made over unto us also, he being our head, and so we come not only to have the same claim to the creatures that Christ had, and can say all things are ours,* 1.179 but the same claim also unto God that Christ has; for we can say, that whatever is in God is ours, because he is become our God; and therefore he is said to love us as he loved Christ: and a great ground of a Christians consolation comes in by it, that they may know that thou hast loved them, even as thou hast loved me, and that the love where∣with thou hast loved me may be in them, that is, that this love in the apprehension and assu∣rance of it, may be shed abroad in their hearts abundantly; and that under this notion, that it's the same love that God bears unto us, that he did bear unto the Lord Christ, as Media∣tor; it is to be understood of an as of similitude, not of equality; it was such a love as made over not only all creatures unto Christ, but all Attributes unto Christ, and it was a love that gave Christ an union and an unction; and such a love it is unto us in both: but consider it is but pro modulo, according unto our condition, so as the Lord Christ in all things may have the preheminence.

2. The Lord hath made over all his Attributes to Christ as Mediator, that they shall all of them work and be employed for us, according unto the necessity we are in. For Christ did not only as Mediator make way for all the Attributes to work, and to be put forth for us, that so no Attribute might stand in the way of mercy and goodness towards us; and so Christ came in as causa removens prohibens, &c. but all the Attributes thus made over to Christ in covenant, are all of them to be acted and exercised by Christ as Mediator; as the government of all the creatures is committed to him, so also the discovery and the exercise of all the Attributes of God are committed to him; and therefore it's said, My Angel shall go before thee;* 1.180 and that Angel that God sent and led his people in the Wilderness was Christ, called therefore the Angel of his presence, or of his face, because in him the face or the glory of God is discovered,* 1.181 and not only because he doth behold his face, for so do the other Angels: it cannot be spoken of Christ as God, for so he is not the An∣gel, that is, the Messenger of God sent forth from God; and it's said of this Angel, that the name of God is in him. Now the name of God is whatever God is made known by; and therefore when the Lord doth publish his Attributes he saith, he will proclaim his name,

Exod. 33.19. and therefore all the Attributes of God are in him, and by him to be act∣ed and exercised; for the Father judgeth no man, but has committed the administration of all things to the Son, to this end, that all men may honour the Son, even as they honour the Father: and therefore Col. 1.15. he is said to be the image of the invisible God.* 1.182 All the glorious Attributes of God do shew forth themselves in Christ, he it is that acts them all: the love of God to the Saints is exercised by Christ, and all the grace of God is dispen∣sed by Christ, and the wrath of God against his enemies is executed by Christ; and there∣fore we read of the wrath of the Lamb: for it's he that shall give every one of them their portion. Now if it be so, that all the Attributes be in the hand of Christ to exercise and act, then the Lord raigne, therefore let the earth rejoyce. Christ Jesus exerciseth all the At∣tributes of God for his people in another way than ever they could else have been acted by God immediately. Now if we be in Christ, and by a mystical union make up one body with him, then as he doth exercise and act all the Attributes of God, as the So∣veraignty of God is given to him, and he sits upon the Throne of God in the administra∣tion of all things; so they shall be all laid out for us, for the Church which is the body of Christ, and the fulness of him that fills all in all.

3. Though all the Attributes be made over unto us in this manner, yet it's after a cer∣tain order in the Attributes: the Attribute that the soul doth first close with is the mercy and the free grace and love of God; and by that a man comes to have an interest in all the rest; and the Attribute that is ingaged for all is the faithfulness and truth of God. (1) The attribute that the soul first closes with is his love and mercy and free grace, which are the attributes that the Lord doth mainly exalt in this life, and has most gloriously set forth, and therefore 'tis called riches of mercy, and the glory of God, the knowledge of the glory of God. It's this attribute in which the Lord doth mainly glory,* 1.183 and therefore it's called his glory; and it's said, that mercy rejoyceth over judgment; for in the time of this life under the offers of the Covenant of grace the attribute that God doth mainly exer∣ercise in the Gospel is free grace, that God is in Christ reconciling the world, and has sent abroad the ministry of reconciliation; and God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. This is the great Load-stone that doth draw in the heart unto God,* 1.184 God who is rich in mercy, out of his abundant love, &c. Now the soul being thus drawn in with a cord of love, the Lord giving a command unto loving kindness to fetch in such a wandring soul unto himself, hence the soul at first coming unto God grounded upon his mercy, by closing with him in this, is made partaker of all the attributes of God, and has an interest in them all; but so as the soul doth close with mercy first, and with free grace. As it is in the offices of Christ, the soul doth close with them all, and has an interest in them all; but yet so, as it doth take Christ as he is offered him by the Father, and that is, first as a Priest, as a sure∣ty for sinners, and as one set forth to be a propitiation for sin; and the soul having in this manner closed with Christ as a Priest, and having a title to the Priestly Office, now he has taken whole Christ, and submits to him as his Prophet and King also: thus as the imme∣diate object of faith that justifies is Christ dying and rising, and as made sin, and as made a curse for us, &c. and then the soul having closed with Christ, it has an interest in whole Christ with all his Offices: so it's here also; though all the attributes of God are glori∣ously displayed in the second Covenant, yet the attribute that mainly the Lord delights to honour is mercy and free grace; and the soul first closes with this, and so comes to have a title and an interest in all that is in God, in every attribute. (2) As his love is the first attribute that the soul closes with, and so comes to have an interest in them all; so it's his faithfulness that is ingaged for the exercise of them all, and therefore all our forgiveness is put upon his faithfulness: He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.* 1.185 How do we know that the pardoning mercy of God shall be exercised towards us, when we have sinned? God is faithful who has promised:* 1.186 and he hath wholly made over himself unto us in every attribute, and the promise and the oath of God are both grounded in his faithfulness for the performance thereof; so that the faithfulness of God doth not only assure us that all creatures shall work for us, shall all work together for our good;* 1.187 but that all the attri∣butes of God shall work for us in their season and in their order: as it is said, That the stars in their courses fought against Sisera, so there is an order for the working of all the attributes, and every one of them in their courses work for the Saints, the faithfulness of God is ingaged for them so to do.

§. 4. What are the ends for which God has in Covenant made over the Attributes unto his peo∣ple? They are many, and we shall best discover them by the use that the people of God have of all the attributes in the Scripture.

1. That they may be all discovered and made known unto the Saints: there is in all men a blindness of heart, and that specially in reference unto God, from whom they are estran∣ged

through the ignorance that is in them.* 1.188 Now they having an interest in them all, the Lord will proclaim his name, and cause his mercy and goodness to pass before them, though not in that visible manner as he did unto Moses,* 1.189 yet in a more spiritual way they do behold the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus;* 1.190 and therefore the great aim of God in all his works is the discovery of his attributes unto the Saints, and all his great works are done to that very end, and therefore he gives them a Law that he may manifest his Holiness: To shew his power he has made a world, to manifest his love he has given Christ, to declare his grace he doth pardon sin, and to shew his justice and wrath he has made Hell, and laid the foundations of the bottomless pit: and this is the first end why God has made over his attributes unto his people, it is that they may know them; and therefore the great thing the Saints look at in all Gods works, and his goings forth is, what attributes are discovered: I would see thy power and thy glory in the Sanctuary:* 1.191 He saved them for his name sake, that he might cause his power to be acknowledged.

2. God hath made over his attributes to his people, that they may take from them all grounds of faith, with an assurance that they shall be all exercised for them according unto their necessities:* 1.192 so the Mercy of God, I have trusted in thy mercy, my heart shall rejoyce in thy salvation. Here is mercy the object of faith, and an assurance that this attribute shall shew forth it self in a work of salvation, and deliverance for him; I have trusted in the mercy of God, for the bringing me out of this and another affliction, and I have been de∣livered;* 1.193 therefore I will always exalt the mercy of God. So for the Power of God, the soul can argue from thence,* 1.194 when men threaten, and Devils rage, and the fiery furnace may be heated seven times hotter to consume the soul that has no help amongst creatures, yet says Daniel and the three Children, the God whom we serve is able to deliver us. And the Lord encourages the soul from the assurance of his power, Is my arm shortned, that I cannot save, is any thing too hard for the Lord, is there any restraint to omnipotence? And so also Christ puts them upon it in this, With man it's impossible, but with God all things are possible; it's spoken in reference to a work of Sanctification, when the Disciples said, Who then can be saved?* 1.195 So for the Eternity of God, Trust in the Lord for ever, for the Lord Jehovah is a Rock of Ages: and so men are said to take hold of the strength of God. And so of the Holiness of God, I have sworn by my holiness, that I will not lye unto David: and there∣fore Psal. 23.6. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And so Abra∣ham believed God was able to raise him up again from the dead, if it might stand with his glory; he did not question his will, but that his power should be put forth for the accom∣plishment of his promise. We know that the ultimate object of faith is God through Jesus Christ;* 1.196 our faith and hope is in God: now the highest object of faith in God is the attri∣butes of God, that he has discovered: for we can believe in him no otherwise than we know him, and as he has revealed himself; and the way of Gods revealing himself unto his people in this life, is only by his back parts, which are his attributes, and therefore this is the way of the acting of faith in this life, and all the promises of God, and the pre∣cepts and the threatnings of God are all of them founded on his attributes, and in these doth the strength and stability of them lye, because the Lord Jehovah is a rock of ages: As it is in ends, all intermediate ends work in the strength and the power of the utmost end; so it is in objects also, Objectum mediatum fidei movet in virtute objecti ultimati, & ab eo perfectionem accipit, The mediate object of faith moves in the virtue of the ultimate object, and receives perfection from it.

* 1.1973. That from these the soul may receive all principles of grace: grace is called the Life of God; and the Divine Nature, the Image of God created in the soul it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, according unto God. Now in an image there are two things required, (1) Proportion or similitude and resemblance. (2) There is a deduction or a derivation, it must be taken from it. As there is a resemblance of the nature of God, so there is a derivation of it from God. Now though the incommunicable attributes of God are so called, because there are in the crea∣tures no footsteps or resemblances, yet there are of the attributes that are communicable; from them the image of God is derived unto us, and we are made partakers of his holiness, holy as he is holy,* 1.198 and merciful as he is merciful, and wise as he is wise: If any man want wis∣dom let him ask it of God; as all of them shall be employed for man without him, so all of them shall work in man an image or a resemblance of himself within him; that a man behold∣ing the glory of the Lord, is transformed thereby into the same image. And this is to be made the rule to judge the measure of our graces by; for primum est mensura reliquo∣rum, &c. The first is the measure of the rest in that kind. So far as they do come short of bearing a resemblance with the communicable attributes of God, I say of bearing a re∣semblance (for they are in God by nature, but in us by grace, and by new creation; they are nature in him, they are not so in us) so far we are to bewail the defects of our graces;

and so far grace is the image of God in us but in part, a good work begun, and no more; and it is a discovery of his attributes, which are the original pattern that doth perfect his image in us, which is but the counterpane; and therefore we shall be perfectly like him, when we shall see him as he is, 1 Joh. 3.3.

4. God hath in Covenant made over his Attributes, that from these the soul may take all rules of duty: and as the highest objects of faith are in God, so from him are the high∣est rules of duty: and therefore Eph. 5.1. the exhortation is, Be ye imitators of God,* 1.199 and be you holy in all manner of conversation, because he is holy: and so from the Soveraignty of God it's the ordinary argument, thou shalt do thus and thus, for I am Jehovah thy God. And David takes his rule from this in the preparation he made for the Temple, the house must be exceeding magnificent; and therefore all his preparation, though the wealth of a Kingdom, was but an act of his poverty; for it is for the Lord, who is a great God; and dwells not in Temples made with hands, &c. And it's the argument that he himself useth as the rule unto them in their performances, Mal. 1.13. I am a great King, and my name is dread∣ful amongst the Heathen: As the soul is never rightly bottomed upon a promise, till it is carried out into that attribute upon which the promise doth depend; so the soul is never grounded in duty, till it looks beyond the precept, and sees the attributes in God, which are the foundation of the duty; and this is properly to walk worthy of God, Col. 1.10. That ye may walk worthy, &c. It doth not note exactam proportionem,* 1.200 sed quandam decen∣tiam & convenientiam, not an exact proportion, but a certain decence and convenience; when a mans duties are done by rules taken from so great a God, and proportionable unto the nature, holiness, and excellency of that God. God is a Spirit,* 1.201 and therefore must be wor∣shipped in spirit and truth.

5. That the great motives unto duty, and the great restraints from sin be taken from these. It's a matter of great consequence, not only that we do the duties that God re∣quires, but also what motives they are that fill the sails in our performances. For a man to perform high duties upon low motives, argues a heart full of flesh: to preach the Gospel is a high service, but to do it to serve a mans belly or his pride, to gather Disciples after him, that he may have the credit of a Teacher of others, and be cryed up amongst them; this doth in a great measure blast all his service; therefore let men look to their motives in their performances. And so for sin, it's not enough to abstain from sin, but a man is to have an eye upon the principle that lyes the restraint upon him, what it is; many a man may be kept from sin for fleshy aims, as Haman refrained himself till he came home, and so King Joash during all the days of Jehoiada: the fear of man will restrain lust many times, where there is no fear of God. There are as it were several topicks from which the arguments and reasonings of the soul are taken; for the Word of God is quick and power∣ful, &c. Heb. 4.12. the one refers to principles, for 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 is the seat of principles; and the other to the dianoetick faculty, a mans arguments and reasonings from those principles; and there are some high and noble motives suitable to the nature of grace, and there are some low and sinful motives agreeable to the nature of flesh; and the Word of God is a cu∣rious discerner of both, and it's a great matter from what topicks a man doth take the ar∣gument that does mainly act his spirit in duty; and as the highest rule of duty is to be found in the attributes of God, so the noblest motives unto duty are to be found in them also: Joel 2.13. Rent your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and gracious, he is long-suffering, slow to anger, and of great kindness, who knows if he will return and repent? And Gen. 17.1. I am God all-sufficient, walk before me, and be up∣right. There are arguments enough to be taken from God, and those of the highest kind, to quicken a soul in all duties required of him. And so it is also as to restraint from sin, Hos. 3.5. They shall fear the Lord and his goodness: Heb. 12.29. Let us have grace to serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.* 1.202 Thou shalt wor∣ship no other God; for the Lord whose name is jealous, is a jealous God.

6. That they may be unto the Saints the ground of prayer; and that is in three things. (1) They desire that God would manifest his attributes, it's something of God that they would have discovered, therefore they cry out with the Psalmist,* 1.203 O send out thy light and thy truth, send forth thy mercy and thy truth: it is the discovery and manifestation of an attribute, that is the great thing the people of God do beg in all their prayers:* 1.204 Let the power of my Lord be great according as thou hast said. (2) It's the great argument that they use in prayer, the main argument of faith is from an attribute, and a mans interest therein: Remember me O Lord for this, and pardon me according to the greatness of thy mercy,* 1.205 for thy mercy and for thy truths sake. And Asa argues from the power of God, It's all one to thee to save with few, as with many. (3) They do come to God under such an attribute suitable to the mercy that they beg, and their faith is staid thereupon, and 'tis a great mat∣ter

to look upon God under an attribute that answers our necessity; as Christ when he would speak of Judgment,* 1.206 and give God thanks for it, he call him righteous Father; and when he begs Sanctification for his people, he calls him holy Father: and so when Moses prays for the pardon of sin, he calls him the Lord merciful and gracious.

7. That they may admire and adore the Lord for the excellencies that are in his Di∣vine Nature, and that they may give him the glory of every attribute. Glory is but the shining forth of an excellency, the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Effulgence and brightness of it, Heb. 1.3. and our giving glory is but the reflexion of this excellency. Now we give God the glory of his works and of his going forth unto the creature; but we should not only give him the glory of these, but also of the excellency of his own nature: there is none holy as the Lord, who is a God like our God, pardoning iniquity? If we had hearts truly spiritual, we would admire God more for the excellencies that are in himself, than for all his goings forth to the crea∣ture; and so the Saints and Angels in Heaven do.

8. That in the manifestation of every attribute and the working of it for his people, the Saints may rejoyce, and particularly give God the glory of that attribute, which he hath now so eminently put forth for them, and that they may glory in their inheritance thereby.* 1.207 Be thou exalted, O Lord, in thy own strength, so will we sing and praise thy power. I will sing of thy power,* 1.208 and I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning, for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. To thee O my strength will I sing, for God is my defence and the God of my mercy:* 1.209 and so do all the Saints, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which is, and was, and is to come. The attributes of God are the last city of refuge that the Saints can flye unto,* 1.210 even the Name of the Lord is their strong tower: and when the Lord doth make bare his arm, and takes to himself his great power, and sends forth his mercy, and relieves his people in their distresses, Oh! how then do the Saints triumph and rejoyce in him? The last refuge is in God, and the highest triumph is in God; and these are the glorious ends for which God has made over his attributes unto the Saints.

§. 3. See the glory of this inheritance: that of the creatures is indeed glorious, and that of promises is more, but the foundation of all and top of all lyes in attributes. It's of no small concernment for a soul to know the glory of his own inheritance, partly because there is a prophaneness of heart in all men that do undervalue spiritual things, as well spi∣ritual priviledges as spiritual truths, or spiritual graces, with Esau, who did despise the birth-bright, Heb. 12. and partly that the soul understanding it, may receive satisfaction, and see an all-sufficiency in it;* 1.211 for godliness hath 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a self-sufficience going with it, as it is 1 Tim. 4.8. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Perfect good seems to be self-sufficient: and for this cause the Apostle prays for a spirit of illumination, Eph. 1.18. That the eyes of their understanding being opened, they might know what is the hope of their calling, and the riches of this inheritance which God has prepared for the Saints; that God whose are all things, and of whom are all things, yet his portion is his people; they are of all people his peculiar treasure: and what a glorious inheritance the Lord has chosen to himself in them, making up one glorious body with the Lord Jesus Christ! Now if it be necessary the eyes of our understanding should be enlightned to know the glory of Gods inheritance in us, how much more the glory of our inheritance in Gods attributes? that the soul may be able to rejoyce in the goodness of the Lord, and say, Thou art my portion, says my soul: that as Calvin ob∣serves upon that place, Zac. 9.12. Satis praesidii in uno Deo, There's safeguard enough in one God, so it may be said of all things else, there is wisdom enough, and holiness enough, and all to be had in him; and it is enough, if it be in him alone. There is a threefold inheri∣tance that Christ hath stated upon his people, for Christ is heir of all things, (1) by Na∣ture and Generation, (2) by Donation, as he was man; now the first belongs unto him alone, and he cannot communicate it; and the other he doth impart unto us, as we are one body with him: and as we partake with him in the same Sonship, so we do also in his inheritance,* 1.212 and this inheritance of Christ the Saints have a treble benefit by, (1) 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as he is the Heir of all things, we have by him an inheritance of creatures; as Christ is God, he comes not under an act of Gods will, and therefore it's spoken of him as he was Mediator. (2) He has an inheritance of promises; for they are all made first unto him,* 1.213 to him were the promises made, not of seeds, as of many, but as of one who is Christ; and therefore it's in him that all the promises are Yea and Amen: as we were chosen in him, he was first elected, and we in him; so the promises were first Yea, and then Amen in him, and by virtue of our union with him unto us. (3) There is a higher in∣heritance, and that is,* 1.214 that the Lord is the portion of Christ, The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup,* 1.215 &c. Answerable unto this is the inheritance that Christ has made over unto the Saints, who as they are fellows with him in his Unction, so they are Coheirs with him in his Inheritance:* 1.216 as they have an inheritance in creatures, for all

all things are yours, whether life or death; and also in promises,* 1.217 which is beyond what they have in any of the creatures; so they have an inheritance that is far beyond both these, and that is in God himself, Rev. 21.7. He shall inherit all things, I will be his God.* 1.218 Now if we consider it, we shall see that there are great riches in this; to have all the attributes of God theirs, is greater than to have all the creatures and the promises of God made over to them.

1. The Attributes of God are nothing else but the transcendent perfections that are in God, the Divine Nature shadowed forth to us according to the capacity of the crea∣tures, in which the Lord as in his back parts, that is, pro nostro modulo, according to our ca∣pacity, makes known himself unto us, and causes his goodness to pass before us; and if the Lord would take any soul of us, as he did Moses, and in this manner discover himself, there is nothing in the world would affect the soul like unto it; for if these be the perfe∣ctions of God, how infinitely must they needs exceed all things that are in the creatures? for they are all in him after the manner of a God, and therefore all the attributes may be predicated of God in abstracto; he is Wisdom, and Holiness, and Mercy, &c. because they are all of them the Divine Nature: all the excellencies that are in the creature are recei∣ved from him; and therefore surely there is infinite more in himself. Thence the Saints have been more taken with the Divine Excellencies that are in the Nature of God imme∣diately, than in all the blessings and benefits that come from him:* 1.219 as Hanna after the bles∣sing she had received from him, she admires his goodness and the excellency that is in him, there is none holy as the Lord, and who is a Rock save our God? and if the Saints did not do so, their love were not of a right kind,* 1.220 plus diligere attractum quàm sponsum meretricius amor, to love the token more than the bridegroom is adulterous love.

2. This is the foundation of all our interest, and all the comfort of it, either in creatures or in promises. How comes it to pass, that all things are yours, and promises yours? &c. but because the Lord is our God; and therefore it's brought in as the foundation of all blessedness, having spoken of all creature-comforts in the highest, he adds this,* 1.221 Blessed are the people that are in such a case, yea blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. There is a blessedness therein without the creatures, and the only foundation of blessedness in the creatures lyes in this. (1) In creatures; consider this is the difference between the por∣tions of godly men and wicked men, they may both possess the same thing, but with a different temper, and the one has only a title unto creatures, as a gift of God, but the other, as he has a title unto God; the one has them by a single, and the other by a double title; and so a little that the righteous has, is better than great riches of many wicked, be∣cause he has all that he has conveyed unto him from his interest in God, as the Original thereof. (2) In promises; it's true that their inheritance in them is very glorious, far beyond that of Adam in Paradise, but yet the foundation of all the promises is an attri∣bute, and they must all lead the soul unto God, and his interest in him that did promise; for Faithful is he that has promised, and he will also do it. There is a promise of pardon of sin, but still it is to be resolved into an attribute,* 1.222 He is faithful and just that forgives us our sins. As all the precepts of the Law are to be resolved at last into the authority of the Law-giver, so all the promises of the Gospel are to be resolved into the power and faithfulness of him that made the promise; so that every promise is but a line to lead the soul into this centre, first unto Christ, unto whom the promises were first made, and through Christ unto God who made the promises. It's full of sweetness, when a man can look upon all the creatures in the world, and can say all things are mine, all shall work together for my good; when he can look into the precepts and promises of the Word, and can say, I have claimed it as mine inheritance for ever, for it is the joy of my heart; but much more when the soul can look upon the attributes of God, which are as far above creatures and promises, as the Heaven is above the Earth, in comparison, and can claim a propriety in these also; and therefore it's the Motto of the Saints, Tolle Deum, & nullus ero, Take away God, and I am nothing. If I had all the creatures in the world, and all the promises in the Word, yet if I have no interest in God, all these could be no good to me.

3. It's the last refuge of the Saints in this life: The name of the Lord is a strong tower,* 1.223 and his name is his attributes, called the Memorial of God; it's the property of men to flye to the city of refuge that is next unto them, and at hand, and therefore in danger the Saints are apt to betake themselves unto creatures, and think that their mountain shall stand strong; but then God breaks all their hopes and expectation in the creatures, and the mans provision proves to be made of snow, and it melts away;* 1.224 and being thus beaten off from creatures, now the Saints betake themselves unto promises, and they suck these breasts of consolation. But when the soul looks upon himself, and finds his unsuitable∣ness

unto them and his title but baffled, he can find no sweetness in them; now unto what shall the soul flye? it comes to Attributes, and under them it sits down securely, and can rejoyce in the Lord when creatures fail;* 1.225 and when a man has not a promise that his soul can pitch upon, yet he can say, The Lord, the Lord merciful and gracious: and from thence, though he hath not a promise, yet he can gather as it were a half-promise, and that is, who knows if he will return and repent, &c. Joel 2.14. The Lord in this doth delight to train up the soul to an immediate dependence, and therefore doth often reduce a man unto such extremities, that he may see the foundation upon which all his mercy is built; and there∣fore as he deals with comforts and signs in reference unto Christ, so he deals with crea∣tures and promises in reference unto God. Now God gives unto his people the consola∣tions of the promise, and signs of his grace, to refresh them in their way, that they may be unto them as grapes in the wilderness; but yet he will sometimes hide the consolations of his Spirit, and withdraw his light, and sometimes will hide the light of a mans own gra∣ces from him, on purpose that a man may flye unto Christ, and see that it is in him only that we hold them, and from him we must fetch them also; the Lord will let his people enjoy the comfort of promises and of creatures, but sometimes he will turn away from us as it were the comfort of them both, that our souls may retire unto him alone, in whom our happiness and comfort doth consist; so that a man that has for many years walked in the light of Gods countenance, and enjoyed the assurance of his love, yet shall be brought unto acts of recumbency again, and to lanch out into the fulness that is in Christ, and the all-sufficiency that is in God, as if he were to begin all anew; and therefore Bernard, de Amore Dei cap. 2. has such an excellent speech of himself, who did daily strive to see his interest in God: Manibus pedibús{que} sursum tendo ad te, sed respiciens factum, sum mihi ipsi de meipso laboriosa & taediosa quaestio, I do greatly tend upward to thee, but beholding the work, I am a tedious question to my self. Now he says his heart is filled with joy in his interest in God, Clamo, vociferor, Domine, bonum est nos esse hìc, sed repentè cado in terram quasi mortuus, & respiciens, nihil video & me ubi priùs eram invenio, in dolore scilicet cordis, & afflictione spiritûs, &c. I cry, Lord, it's good being here, but presently I fall on the earth as dead, and looking back see nothing, &c. Now in such withdrawments, blessed is the man whose God is Jehovah; and in the failing of all the rest of his comforts, yet he can rest and stay his soul upon this Rock of Ages.

4. This shall be the only happiness of the Saints in glory, when this promise shall be perfectly fulfilled; for there will come a time when both creatures and promises shall cease, for the earth and all the works thereof shall be burnt up, when the Heavens do shrivel together as a scroll, and then the good things of thy life-time will take their leave for ever; for God did but set up the stage of this world to be as the wilderness through which the Saints should pass into Canaan; but the stage of this world shall be taken down, and all the promises of God shall come to an end, for they shall all of them speak in their due time, and not lye: there is a time for the finishing of the whole My∣stery of God;* 1.226 and the Decrees of God shall bring forth in mercy, or in wrath, and the promises shall be delivered of all the blessings that are in them, and the threatnings shall be eased of all the plagues that are in them. Now when both these inheritances shall cease, what has a Saint then to live upon? Now he has a higher inheritance, and that is of At∣tributes; for then God shall be all in all, and in him alone shall the happiness of the creature consist;* 1.227 and it is observable, that then our perfect happiness begins in God, when creatures and promises are come to an end; and therefore the soul that has his in∣terest in him, can take his leave with delight of all creature-comforts, as never to have use of them more, as Elijah did part with his mantle when he was taken up into Heaven, because they see that it shall be infinitely made up in God, though it come not in in this low way, as it did unto his people in times past, suitable to their low estate, while they walked as servants upon the earth.

5. Creatures and promises could never make a man happy, if a mans interest in them were never so clearly discovered to him; for it could never put his soul into a fruition of the chiefest good, it would only make all to be faith, and we should rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God;* 1.228 and it is true, that this is a joy unspeakable and glorious, Fruitio est actus voluntatis circa finem, & importat quietationem & delectationem anima in amato, Fruition is an act of the will about the end, and it imports the quietation and delectation of the soul in its beloved. Medin. But the soul would be for ever unquiet, and always full of restlesness, still tending towards God,* 1.229 therefore it enjoys him as the end of faith and hope, and thence souls in Heaven are made perfect, not only because their image is perfected by the beati∣fical vision, but also because they are put into a fruition of that which was the highest and ultimate object of their faith and love, and fruitio est nobilissima actio voluntatis, the most

noble act of the will; and it's this act upon the highest object that doth perfect the will, and the perfection of the will is the perfection of the man, as the act of the will is the act of the man.

[Ʋse 1] §. 4. From hence see the misery of all those that are out of Covenant with God, they have all the Attributes of God against them, and they have no inheritance in him; thou mayst have large revenues amongst the creatures, (for God doth give Kingdoms unto the basest of men) but it is but mica canibus projecta, a crum thrown to a dog, as Luther speaks of the Turkish Empire; and in them all thou shalt but inherit the wind,* 1.230 for thou hast no in∣heritance in the Lord, he is no God to thee, tolle meum & tolle Deum, take away my and take away God; it is unto thee as if there were no God. And here it's good to consider,

1. If a man had all the creatures armed against him for his destruction, as all men out of Covenant have, for the Creation groans under their service, that is the bondage of corruption spoken of Rom. 8.21. but also they are very ready to make war upon thee; for when a man is taken into Covenant with God, there is a league made with the beasts of the earth, the stones of the field, and the creeping things of the ground,

And God will hear the Heavens, and the Heavens shall hear the Earth,* 1.231 and the Earth shall hear the corn, and the wine and the oyl, and they shall hear Jezreel; and I will sow her unto me in the earth, and will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy, &c.

All the creatures shall work together for their good; and yet if God arm the meanest of the creatures against a man, they shall destroy him. Pharaoh the great King of Egypt that durst presume to war against God, cannot contend with Flyes, nor with the Lice and the Frogs, he cannot fight a pitcht battel with the waves. Now if a man cannot stand out a battel with the smallest of the creatures, how can he fight against God? Therefore I would a little reason with you, as God doth with his people: if thou hast run with the foot∣men,* 1.232 and they have wearied thee, how wilt thou contend with horses? and if in a land of peace they have wearied thee, what wilt thou do in the swellings of Jordan? if thou canst not stand it out against creatures, how wilt thou be able to endure when the Lord shall rise up, and all his Attributes shall be armed against thee? For as this is the great comfort of the Saints, and their last refuge, so it's the great terrour unto wicked men, and their last destruction.

2. Consider if it were but a threatning, what a miserable thing it is to lye under any evil aspect thereof: the Lord has spread out the Expansum of his Word over the rational world, and the Lord rules all by it, and according to it he will judge them all,* 1.233 Did not my word overtake your fathers? for the Decree will surely bring forth, it will not always carry the judgment in the womb of it; and if it be so terrible a thing to be under the power of any one threatning of God,* 1.234 what is it to lye under the evil aspect of all the threatnings of God; that there is not a word in this book but speaks terrour unto the man? much more under the evil aspects of all the Attributes of God.

3. This is the happiness of the Saints, that they have something in God to plead for them, they have as it were a threefold Advocate, (1) within themselves, and so the Spi∣rit pleads the causes of the soul: (2) without them, and so Jesus Christ is an Advocate with the Father: (3) they have something in God himself, I say not that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father himself loves you, &c. So here is the misery of wicked men, not only the Spirit pleads against them, and will strive with them no more, but becomes unto them a spirit of bondage in themselves, and binds them over unto wrath; and Christ pleads against them; as Luther tells a story of one Doctor Krans. in a Tract of his, De Fascina spirituali, in Gal. 3. Ego Christum negavi, ideo stat coram Patre, & accusat me; illam cogitationem tam fortiter conceperat, ut nullâ adhortatione, aut consolatione sibi pateretur ex∣cuti, at{que} ita desperavit, & seipsum miserrimè occîdit, &c. I denied Christ, and therefore he stands before the Father, and accuseth me, &c. The learned do for our understanding frame a holy kind of conflict between the Attributes of God, according to the liberty allowed them in Scripture, speaking of God after the manner of men, in the work of our Redem∣ption, as if the Lord were reduced into some straights by the cross demands of several Attributes, Justice calling for vengeance upon sinful and cursed creatures, and with Justice the Truth of God doth joyn to make good his threatning, the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye, and mercy on the other side pleads for compassion towards miserable and sedu∣ced man; and this sets infinite wisdom on work to reconcile the different pleas of the At∣tributes of God in mans redemption: but what a misery will that man be in, that shall have no Attribute of God to plead for him; but they shall all joyn in their pleas and de∣mands against him, not only those terrible Attributes that the soul is afraid of, as Ju∣stice, and Truth, and Holiness, but also the Attributes in which a mans hope is? Men cry out God is merciful, Oh but mercy is set against thee, O sinner, and thou hast no interest

in his mercy, he is not the God of thy mercy, and his patience and long-suffering thou hast no claim to; but all these Attributes shall joyn also with Justice in their pleas against thee: what is there that can stand in the way to hinder the fulness of wrath from falling on such a soul?

4. The perfection of this misery thou wilt never know, till thou comest unto Hell, as the fulness of this promise can never be known by the Saints till they come to Heaven: here you may enjoy your inheritance in creatures and promises, but thou that art a Saint shalt enter one day upon the inheritance of Attributes more fully than can be enjoyed here, there where they all shall be set forth gloriously for thee, in their full lustre, to make thee happy in the Lord: so also it shall be a mans utmost misery when he comes to Hell, that all the Attributes of God shall be in his utmost extremity turned against him for ever, and thou shalt know God to be perfectly an enemy unto thee, and all that is in God; as he is the God of his people, all that is in him is for them, so all that is in him is against thee. And then every Attribute shall act to the full for ever. Here in this life Justice doth not act its utmost, and God does not stir up all his wrath; there is by the Kingdom of Christ not only a benefit comes upon all the creatures, for they all stand and continue in their being by it; but there is a suspension upon the workings of all the Attributes of God towards wicked men, that though they have an evil eye at them from day to day, as 'tis said, God is angry with the wicked every day, yet he does not immediately break forth against them; but when the Kingdom shall be given up unto God the Father, and God shall be all in all, this restraint upon the Attributes in the actings of them shall cease, and every Attribute shall have its perfect work against thee for ever, and then he will shew his power upon the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.

[Ʋse 2] 2. Take comfort in the Attributes of God, look upon these as the main of thy inheri∣tance, and shelter and shrowd thy self under them from day to day, for this is your strong hold, you are prisoners of hope, and this is the desire of the Saints. As Bernard, de Amore Dei cap. 1. speaks in reference unto Christ, he would not only touch him with Thomas, and put his finger into his side, &c. sed totus intrem, us{que} ad ipsum cor Jesu, &c. in sanctum sancto∣rum, I would enter wholly, even into the very heart of Jesus, &c. into the holy of holies. So should the soul wholly hide it self in these Chambers, this secret of his Pavilion. 1. In the middle of all creature-comforts, and inward consolations of thy Spirit, let thy heart rise from them, and say, Surely this is not my portion; there is indeed a great deal of sweetness in this, but yet there is much more in that which is my portion: a gracious heart should rise in this manner, and please it self with thinking, if there be sweetness on Earth, much more in Heaven, Si adeò splendeat terrestris Roma, saith Fulgent. So we should rise from our pri∣viledges and comforts below, and our inheritance in them to that in God; and so as Christ comforts himself in this,* 1.235 The Lord is the portion of my inheritance.

2. If at any time God takes away the creatures from thee, retire unto him and say, Lord, my portion was not in them, I can stand upon the ruines of the world, and can say I have lost nothing; for the time will come when God will put an end unto all creature-comforts, and he will supply all immediately in himself; and therefore so he give thee more of himself, it's no matter what thou dost lose of all things else, Christ says Mat. 21.22. that man hath a treasure. Now where there is so, there are some Exchequer-days when the Treasure comes in: a worldly man that has his treasure and portion in this life, when God takes away the creatures his soul dyes within him, that's the best day to him that brings in most of that treasure; but he that has his portion in the Lord can re∣joyce in his income that way, even when he is deprived of the creatures: and it's a dis∣paragement unto God not to rejoyce in him alone, as if there were not enough in him, as Elkanah told his wife, Am not I better to thee than ten sons? Cannot all my comforts be supplied in thee?

3. Do not unworthily fear the fear of man; it is true that they do speak high, and they will threaten much, and the people of God are apt sinfully to fear, because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy, and so by and by are apt to say a confederacy with the wicked: O! should you fear who have infinite wisdom and infinite power of your own, either to disappoint or to resist, it doth plainly argue, that you are not acquainted with, and do not make use of your interest in the Attributes of God in Cove∣nant, Should such a man as I fear, and should my heart quail, and fear in the evil times? Let us never profane the name of the Lord our God in this manner:* 1.236 says Christ, Why reason you because you have no bread? perceive you not, have you your hearts yet hardned, when I brake the five loaves, &c? It's the most unworthy thought that could lodge in you, after so much experience of my power and provision for you, to think you should want: consi∣der, you have had so much experience of my power and infinite wisdom that has wrought

for you, when your own reason was at a non plus, and infinite power, when your hands did hang down, and your knees feeble: consider the setting forth of every Attribute of God, and delight your souls in it, Hos. 13.3. He will scatter them as smoak out of a chimney. A man should look upon them, and laugh them to scorn, from a high assurance,* 1.237 that vincet mea audacia in Christo: this raiseth in the soul only true courage, and a holy greatness of mind.

4. Look upon the Attributes as having an interest in them; and as in a strait you eye a promise, and expect its accomplishment, do the same with attributes also, and thereby honour them by taking hold of them: if thou sin, eye mercy, the Lord merciful and gra∣cious, pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin: if thou want wisdom, look on him as the Father of lights; and if power, be strong in the Lord, and the power of his might, &c. And sometimes thou mayst have no creatures, no hills to look to, then look towards God: when thou knowest not what to do, it may be there are no promises that thy soul can fasten upon, yet there is an attribute left which will be tabula post naufragium: now expect the goodness of God to appear for thy succour in his putting forth of an attribute; for none of them shall fail in their season: there are no graces in the Saints but there is a sea∣son for their working, Phil. 4.10. Your care for me, says the Apostle,* 1.238 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 doth revi∣viscere, it doth flourish, or wax green again; so that graces have their opportunity of work∣ing, there is a spring-time. Now we do not say, that a tree is dead that bears not fruit always, but that which doth not bring forth in the Summer, which is the season of fruit, and therefore I cannot but look upon it as an act of Soveraignty, that of Christ's cursing the fig-tree, Mark 11.13. for the Text says, The time of figs was not yet come.* 1.239 Some say that the fig-tree in this country did bear fruit all the year; but that this word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 will not bear: for it is plain there was a season of the fruit of this Tree, as well as of other trees. Some say, that the time of the ripening and the gathering of fruit was not yet, but there might be expected green figs; but there was no fruit, nor hope of fruit, for the Tree had leaves only. Innuit Christum hoc facto altius quid significâsse, ficum scil. symbolum esse populi Judaici, Kem. Christ hereby signified the Jewish Church, from whom the Lord expected always fruit, because the season of it was always, and this was an act of absolute Soveraignty over the creature, and he that created it might curse it at his pleasure; but the Lord does never expect fruit but in the season of fruit: at the season he sent to the Husband-men, that they should give him of the fruit of his Vineyard;* 1.240 for that grace is not idle that doth not act at all times, but Quae non operatur quando dabitur 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, That which doth not act when a season shall be offered. So also there is a season, an op∣portunity for the exercise of every attribute; and as the Lord expects the one of us in its season, so should we, and we may with boldness and comfort expect the other from him in the season. The Hebrews say, In the mount will the Lord be seen. If thou hast sinned at any time, then expect that pardoning mercy shall be put forth; say, The Lord is the God of my mercy, now pardon me according to the greatness of thy mercy. And if thou be at any time assaulted with temptation, expect that the Power of God shall be put forth for thee, and that the Lord shall say, My grace is sufficient for thee. If thou be at any time per∣plexed with difficulties, and thou knowest not what to do, now look up unto infinite Wis∣dom, The Lord knows how to deliver the just out of adversity; though I know not which way to scape, yet say, deliverance shall come from some other hand, as Mordecai said; though I cannot see from whence it shall come, and I cannot in my wisdom see a way of deliverance, yet it shall come; now is the season for such an attribute to shew forth it self; and therefore now I can look for the acting of it with comfort, as having an inte∣rest in it, God is a help found in the time of need, he is a help promised before,* 1.241 but he is never found so to be before the season; when the soul is in trouble, then he puts forth him∣self, and makes bare his arm; and therefore as the Apostle says, He is as having nothing,* 1.242 and yet possessing all things. So the Saints, they have them not in possession, but they have them in their right of inheritance, and for their use, as their occasions and necessity do require; that if it were possible for them to stand in need of the service of the whole Creation, all the creatures should work for them, and wait upon them in their necessity; and look what experiences the ancient Saints have had thereof, they in the like cases and necessity may expect, if it stand with Gods glory, and their best good: the Moon shall stand still, and the Sun shall go back, and the Lyons shall stop their mouths, the fire shall cease to burn, and be a defence, the Ravens bring meat, the Heavens shall rain bread, the Rocks shall give water, &c. and whatsoever attributes the Lord has at any time ex∣erted and put forth for the Saints in the season of their need, that you may expect, ground∣ed upon the same Faithfulness, the same Covenant and Oath that was performed unto them; and it's the highest priviledge and happiness of the Saints, to have the Attributes

of God lye as a rescue for them,* 1.243 as the Angels did behind the Myrtle-trees, in the bottom, when there can be an expectation from nothing else in the world; as David speaks of his enemies,* 1.244 They did imagine mischief, and consulted how to cast him down from his excellen∣cy, whom God had exalted, but says he, My soul wait thou on God only, my expectation is from him alone. He can now look up to God, and expect salvation from him, when he can see no hope any other way. As we are not the fountain of our own grace, but it is laid up in Christ,* 1.245 and we can expect that all the grace that is in Christ shall be put forth answerably unto our necessity in the season of it, and therefore our grace shall abound as our trials and occasions do increase; for suitable unto them shall our supplies of the Spirit be, Phil. 1.19. says the Apostle, For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ: So the fountain of all our happiness is not in our selves, but in our God; and all the attributes that are in him, shall be managed and put forth for us, as our necessity shall require, according to the Love, Wisdom, and Faithfulness of a God; so that if thou couldst stand in need of infinite wisdom, and infinite power, and grace, and mercy, all of them should be put forth and exercised for thee; not only a conspiracy and combination of all the creatures, but also of all the Attributes of God, all of them shall work together for thy good.

5. Is not this a mighty ground of assurance, that all the creatures shall be given you, and that the Lord here will deny you nothing that may be for your good? He that gives the greater, will he deny the lesser? He that makes over all that is in himself, will he deny any thing that is in any of his works? Surely it was a good saying of Bernard, for the things of this life, Qui dabit regnum, non dabit viaticum? &c. He that gives a Kingdom, will he not give a viatick or livelihood? And also of the Apostle Paul, He that spared not his Son, shall he not with him freely give us all things? There is a higher inheritance, a greater gift of God, than giving Christ as our Mediator, which is this, in giving us himself, that is the Fountain of it. Now if it be a good argument that he will deny us nothing that may be for our good, he that gives the greater, will he deny the less? He has given us his Son; much more because he has given us himself will he give us all things. Every wise Builder doth build answerably unto the foundation; he doth not lay a foundation of Marble, and set upon it a mud-wall, and cover it with a roof of straw. Now the Lord that has laid so glorious a foundation as this in the giving of himself, surely he hath thought nothing too much or too dear for the Saints. O! what heart can but admire his love! The love of the giver may be seen in a very small gift; and so there is unto the Saints peculiar love seen even in temporal favours,* 1.246 a small token may be magni amoris indicium, an argument of great love; but much more the greatness of love is seen in the greatness of the gift. Now of all other this is the greatest; and therefore to distrust God for mercies and blessings of an inferiour nature, of meat and drink, deliverance and preservation, it is the most unworthy thought that can enter into the heart of a Saint; for if the Lord hath, like a God, be∣stowed himself, it is a principle of the basest unbelief and jealousie of spirit to doubt, whe∣ther he will not bestow all things else.

* 1.2476. Hereby the Saints may see wherein their all-sufficiency lyes, I am God all-sufficient, and the all-sufficiency of God lyes in the Attributes of God, which he has made over unto his people: and hence it comes to pass, that there is unto the Saints an 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, self-suffi∣ciency, as there is in God an 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.248 All-sufficiency, 1 Tim. 4.8. Godliness is profitable to all things: and it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a perfect good, I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound, every where, and in all things I am instructed: I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me.* 1.249 It must needs be a perfect good that makes a man self-sufficient, that he can want nothing else; and therefore it's said, A good man shall be satisfied from himself, it notes full and abundant satisfaction.* 1.250 I am full of the burnt-offerings of Rams, and the fat of fed beasts. Now how is Self considered here? not in opposition to God, for so there is in a mans self no satisfaction; for there is nothing but emptiness; but it is self in union with God, for tolle meum, & tolle Deum, take away my, and take away God: and so there is satisfaction in a mans self, for Deus est intimior intimo nostro, he is as the utmost end, and our chief good, nearer to us than our self, and as it were more one with us, than we are with our self; therefore it is in the all-sufficiency of God that the self-sufficiency of a Saint doth lye.

[Ʋse 3] 3. It's a Use of Direction, and that unto two sorts.

1. Unto all the ungodly of the earth, who are ingaged against the Saints, and confe∣derate against them that are of a contrary party; the men of this world; for the Lord Christ saith, If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Here is a double dire∣ction to you. (1) Let fall your desires, and cease your hopes of prevailing against the Saints; for all the Attributes of God are ingaged for them, beat your swords into plow∣shares,

&c. It's the misery of all ungodly men, and they have so much of the Devil in them, that though they be frustrated, and see that they labour in vain never so long, yet their hopes are born up, and they think, surely if that plot did not take against the children of God, yet this will; as men that are deluded in the Philosophers stone, they try this and that experiment; but that did fail by a mischance, now they'l try another, and then they have great hopes, but all comes to nothing: for so it's with the Devil himself, and it's his envy blinds him, and it doth so besot him, that though he hath con∣spired against God and his people so often, and sees that he cannot prevail, but still his own weapons are turned against himself, and that which he thinks shall be for the ruine of the Church, that still tends to its advancement; yet he is a restless and an indefati∣gable Spirit, he constantly walks about as a roaring lyon seeking whom he may devour. Now if men would be perswaded to lay down their hopes, all their endeavours would imme∣diately cease; but the delusion that Satan has upon their spirits is, that he feeds them still with new plots and fresh hopes, that they cannot say, Esa. 44.20. Is there not a lye in my right hand? And if they consider duly, this doctrine must needs bring down all such hopes: has the Lord given unto them, thinkest thou, an interest in all his own Divine Ex∣cellencies to this very end, that they may be food unto thy malice, and that they may pe∣rish by thee? what conceit can be more vain?* 1.251 It's true they are a people that are injuriis opportuni, exposed to injuries, the worm Jacob, that every man is ready to tread upon, lyes to every ones mercy, as the complaint is, They eat my people as they eat bread, and they are as a cup in their hand, it's as easie to destroy them as to drink; but yet do not promise thy self much that way, for thou wilt never prevail, because all the Attributes of God are made over unto them for their succour and their portion the Lord Jehovah is a man of war, though he may never appear till the day of battel,* 1.252 and then he will fight for them against all their enemies, and shall certainly be victorious, and lead captivity captive, &c.

(2) Let this be a means to raise up your fears in the way that you go; for he that lifts up his hand against these anointed ones of the Lord, all the Attributes of God are ingaged for them against him. It was good counsel given by Gamaliel, Act. 5.39. Refrain from these men, and let them alone, lest you be found fighters against God: and did ever any man fight against God and prosper? Hast thou a counsel able to out-plot infinite Wisdom, and a power that does exceed the holy arm of the great and terrible God? &c. There is no such way for a man to ingage the Attributes of God against himself, as to ingage against those that have an interest in the Attributes of God; for the Covenant that God hath made with his people is offensive and defensive, and the Lord will surely appear for them; it's therefore a design that did never prosper in the hand of any that did undertake it, nay be sure thou wilt perish under the power of those attributes: there is no such way to turn the edge of them all against thee, as this is: as it was said of Canaan, It's a land that eats up the inhabitants; so we may say of this, it's a work that devours the workers, the Lord will rebuke Kings for their sakes, if they touch his anointed; and there is no ven∣geance like unto that of the Temple, thou wilt surely perish in thy own opposition; for it doth arm all the Attributes of God against thee, and they do arm the Church against thee, and therefore the worm Jacob must thresh the mountain;* 1.253 and when the strength of the Churches enemies is greatest, and their hopes highest, when they are folded up as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards,* 1.254 they shall be devoured as stubble ful∣ly dry; and in the same place where they did expect the destruction of the Church, they shall be sure to find their own.* 1.255 Now also many nations are gathered against thee that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Sion; but they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel, for he shall gather them as the sheaves in the floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Sion, for I will make thy horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass, and thou shall beat in pieces many people, &c. They are to the world as a burdensom stone, all men will be lifting at them, till they be broken in pieces by them; it's their own folly to dash and fall upon them, percussum è pectore ferrum.

2. It's a Use of direction to the Saints that have an interest in God, as their God in Covenant, and so are intitled unto all the Attributes of God. (1) Exercise faith upon every attribute, and thereby make it to be your own in the use and improvement thereof: Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, that is, let your faith take hold of the strength of God, and thereby let it rise unto such a height of confidence, as if you had almighty power in your own hand to exercise; if thou be in any streight, and dost want wisdom to direct thee in thy way, be thou wise by the wisdom of God, and let thy faith raise thee up unto that height of confidence, that it is as impossible for Satan to out-wit thee, as it is to go beyond infinite Wisdom; and so if thou sin at any time, question thy par∣don

no more than if thou hadst infinite mercy in thy own hand, and wert able to pardon thy self; for it's all made over to thee in this one promise, I will be thy God for that which is originally and essentially in God, that by our dependency becomes ours, as truly as if we were the subjects in which it doth reside.

(2) It should raise up in a man a holy greatness of mind suitable unto such a priviledge: and it's a thing of no small concernment, that the people of God should be raised up to such a holy greatness; for it would free them from those vain hopes and fears, and those low imployments that now they are busied about, for 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, there is nothing great here below: a man should look upon all things with the eye of God, to have all the Attributes of God made over to him: if dangers offer themselves, the soul is not surprized; for as God sits in Heaven, and laughs them to scorn, when the workers of Babel did build a Tower to their own confusion; so do the Saints also, the virgin, the daughter of Sion doth laugh thee to scorn, &c. If wisdom shew it self, and a man hath to do with the policy of an Achitophel, he fears it no more than folly, and believes it shall be as he prays, Lord turn it into folly, and he laughs at the plot. And if the guilt of sin rise up in his consci∣ence, he can say, Though I have sinned, and am a sinner, yet God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, and grace is free, Jesus Christ is ascended up into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of God: for it's a fault in the Saints, they think when they sin it's their duty to question their estates, their interest in God: and it's good to question it for tryal and examination, but not by way of diffidence unto a mans dejection; for the way to in∣crease a mans sanctification is not to weaken his faith in the point of justification: and if the power of sin do prevail, yet a man goes forth against it in the strength of the Lord, and he saith, Though it be to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 impossible, yet it is possible with God, and his power is ingaged for my perfection; and this were to live the life of God, as grace is called, Eph. 4.18.

(3) Sing unto God the praises of every Attribute; for as we should look through all that is in Christ, that our hearts might take in whole Christ, and the Church doth so, Cant.* 1.256 5 and Paul, Phil. 3.7, 8, 9. so should we of all the Attributes of God also: Be thou exalted in thy own strength, O Lord, so will we sing and praise thy power: and I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning, for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of trouble. Observe the attributes that at any time God discovers to thee, in thy straits specially, and unto those sing praises: it's all that the Lord expects as a return for all that his attri∣butes work for you, that you should give them glory: and the way to ingage any Attri∣bute of God for you again, is to give it the glory of any of the former discoveries there∣of, and the way to disingage an attribute is to neglect to give that attribute its glory, when it has been put forth: Cessat gratiarum decursus ubi cessat recursus, &c. Where the re∣curse or return of graces ceaseth, the decurse or flowing forth of fresh graces ceaseth. For the Lords aim under the new Covenant is the glory of the attributes of his nature, as well as the glory of the persons, that they all of them may have their due place and order in our hearts; and as the Lord doth distinctly put them forth in their order for a man, as his necessity does require, so he does expect that we should take them as our portion, and rejoycing in the Lord therein give unto them in our hearts their particular and distinct honour; for the Lord is not a God of confusion, he loves to have every thing done distinct∣ly, he cannot delight in a general confession of sin, because generals do not affect nor afflict; neither can he take pleasure in a general thanksgiving and blessing of his Name, but he delights to be honoured by distinct apprehensions in the soul; and as it brings the greatest honour unto God, so it will surely bring the sweetest consolation unto the crea∣ture.

* 1.257(4) Get a resemblance of every Attribute stampt upon thy heart. There is a double image that we read of; that of God after which we were created, and that of Christ ac∣cording to which we are renewed, Rom. 8.29. Now as we must get an impression of all the graces that be in Christ, receiving of his fulness grace for grace, that we may be confor∣mable to the image of Christ; so we must also of all the Attributes of God, that we may be made conformable to the image of God: there is something in grace that doth 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, make us God-like, as Nazian. And he that is a Christian, saith Ignatius, is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a man that carries God with him wheresoever he goes, he has an image of the Omnipotency of God, and may say, I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me: and also of the Eter∣nity of God, he doth all things upon eternal principles and unto eternal ends; and of the Immutability of God, his heart is established and will not shrink, he is not changed with ev••ry wind, but he is steddy in his course, as the Sun going forth in its strength. [1] This is the only ground of assurance, that thou hast an interest in that attribute; for if it work no resemblance of its self in thee,* 1.258 it is none of thine: For beholding would trans∣form

thee into the same image: if thou wouldst know whether thou hast an interest in any of the graces of Christ, look into thy own heart and on the prayer of Christ in Heaven, look into the workings of thy own heart, and see if there be any resemblance between Christ and thee, and then thou maist conclude it; so it's here also, if thou hast an in∣terest in any Attribute, there is a resemblance wrought in thee. [2] This will give thee a ground of assurance, that it shall be put forth for thee, or else it will be exercised a∣gainst thee; he that shews mercy shall attain mercy; and on the contrary, he shall have judgment without mercy that shews no mercy; and therefore it's of great concernment to the Saints, that they may have in themselves an image and resemblance of every At∣tribute; for though their portion lye not in that, but in God, yet in that is a great ground of their assurance that it's theirs, and shall be acted for them in its season.

CHAP. III. The Beatific Vision of Gods Essence explicated and applied.

SECT. I. What the Saints Happiness in the Vision of God is.

§. 1. WE now come to the second particular in this great Promise, and that is, The Lord doth hereby make over his Essence to his people. In the Essence of God there are two things which the Lord himself distinguishes, his face, and back parts, Exod. 33.23. Similitudo ab hominibus sumpta, quos non agnoscimus, nisi ex parte,* 1.259 si aliò conversa sit eorum facies, &c. The similitude is taken from men, whom we know not but in part, if they turn their face from us. It notes to us that weak and imperfect knowledge that we have of God, or can have in this life, which is but as if a man should see a mans back, and no more; whereas ex oris & vultûs intuitu perspicua est cognitio, The per∣fect knowledge we have of a man is by his face only; so here the one of these is agreeable unto the state in this life, and that is in the attributes, and the other is agreeable unto the state of the life to come: for here we do behold God non sicuti est, sed sicuti vult,* 1.260 not as he is, but as he wills. In the opening hereof there are these particulars to be spoken to. (1) That all the happiness that the Saints shall have for ever is nothing else but a fruit of the promise, which they have here a right unto. (2) That their portion lyes in the very Es∣sence of God. (3) The manner how this becomes happiness unto them, and that is by way of Vision. (4) The nature of this Vision, as it conduces unto happiness, is to be opened also, and how the creature can be said to see God in his Essence, or as he is.

1. All the happiness that the Saints shall have in Glory for ever, is nothing else but that which is in the promises here made over to them. Godliness has the promise of the life that now is,* 1.261 and that which is to come, and therefore the life to come and all the glory and happiness of it is in nothing else but a fruit of the promise,* 1.262 and so the Saints are said through faith and patience to inherit the promises: and therefore eternal life is said to be promised be∣fore the world began: so that eternal life is but a fruit of the promise,* 1.263 and Heaven is but a promised inheritance; though it's true, that refers unto a promise made unto Christ, and not unto us; for a purpose there might be concerning us before we were, but a pro∣mise doth suppose the partie to whom it is made subsisting. This promise therefore was made unto Christ as representing our persons, as standing in our stead, as being our sure∣ty, one that received a Covenant and a promise for us; and therefore Heaven is a King∣dom which he has promised unto them that love him Jam. 2.5. and so Chap. 1.12. and this is the promise that the Lord has shewed us, even eternal life.* 1.264 Hence there is a double distinction that is commonly used by our Divines.

1. That the Saints have a double right to Heaven. There is (1) Jus ad rem, a right to the thing; as an Heir has to his Land in his nonage, which as yet he enjoys not, because he is not meet for it, he is not able to manage it, and therefore is under Tutors and under Guardians, till the time appointed by the Father: and so it is with the Saints till they be made meet, Col. 1.12. (2) There is jus in re, when a man has a right to it as being in possession of it. It's true that we have not so a right to Heaven, because we look on it but

by an eye of faith,* 1.265 and we rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God, Rom. 5. and it is by faith that we walk, and not by sight, and that argues that we have not the thing in possession, but in expectation only; but when we come to possess it, it is none other but what in the promise we had a right to: it is the fiducial vision that we have of God in this life, that (as it prepares the soul, so also) gives us an interest in the beatifical vision, which is only pro∣per to the life to come.

2. Divines say, That the Saints have a threefold title unto Heaven and Glory in this life, (1) in pretio, as there is a purchase made; for Heaven is as well a purchased possession as any thing that we do injoy in this life. There are two things in the satisfaction of Christ, there is debitum legale, a legal debt, so he paid the old debt; and there is superlegale meritum, a superlegal merit, and so he made a new purchase; answerable unto the two be∣nefits by Christ which the Apostle speaks of,* 1.266 Eph. 1.7, 14. we have by him redemption and an inheritance, &c. (2) The Saints have another title, and that is jus promissionis, in the pro∣mise: for it is a promise intailed upon them, as it was made unto Christ before the world began. Eternal life is made first unto him, and it is that which he himself doth glory in, thou shalt shew me the path of life,* 1.267 in thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand are plea∣sures for evermore. And by virtue of the same Covenant and promise the Saints do claim eternal life, that Jesus the Mediator of the Covenant did, though it belong unto him pri∣marily, and unto them only in his right, and at second hand. (3) They have a title in pri∣mitiis, in the first-fruits, as they have received the first-fruits of the Spirit: So Israel had unto Canaan, God did give them a promise many hundred years before, but yet they were stran∣gers unto their own inheritance that the Lord had promised them, and many of them dyed in faith, not having received the promise, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the Patri∣archs did; but when the Lord had once brought them into the borders of the land, and they had tasted the grapes of Eskol, this gave them a further title, because they had tasted of the good land that the Lord had promised them: And so it is with the Saints, who have received the first-fruits of the Spirit, and in them tasted that the Lord is gracious: for the first-fruits are a further pledge of the crop; it is called an Earnest, which is a further se∣curity than barely a promise; therefore all the happiness of the Saints that they shall have in Heaven is a fruit of the promise; and they do enjoy glory by virtue of the same Covenant, that they obtain grace, which is therefore called an everlasting Covenant, not only because it shall never be broken, as a Covenant of salt which stands for ever, but because the fruit of it is to everlasting in a mans eternal inheritance.

§. 2. The portion of the Saints lies in the very Essence of God, which will appear to us by these demonstrations.

* 1.2681. By clear Scripture, Psal. 16. ult. In thy presence is fulness of joy 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in faciebus, in thy face is fulness of joy, according to Gods own language, thou shalt see my back parts, but my face thou shalt not see and live: therefore it is in the face of God that the fulness of the joy and the happiness of the Saints doth consist; for in that the happiness of Christ as Media∣tor, who is our head, doth consist; and when we come to Heaven we have not a happiness apart from Christ, as if he had one happiness, and we another, for we do enter into our ma∣sters joy, and 1 Joh. 3.3. it is see him as he is, that is, not as he does now discover himself pro captu humano, according to our capacity, in a glass and in a riddle, rather as he is not than as he is; but we shall see him with open face, according to his Essence, that is, as he is.

2. The ultimate object of faith is that in which the happiness of the Saints doth consist, and that which is the highest thing in the promise, in that doth the glory and the perfe∣ction of the creature lye. Now there are many intermediate objects of faith, but the ultimate is glory:* 1.269 So 1 Pet. 1.21. Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. And the last thing in the promise is eternal life, and that being once attained, all the promises are at an end; therefore it is in the Essence of God that eternal happiness lyes.

3. Without this nothing can make the Saints happy. (1) Nothing in this life can: they have in this life four things: [1] They have glorious promises, but those are but of an inhe∣ritance to come, and we believe that which we see not, and therefore hope for it, for faith and sight are opposed; there is a fi••••••al presentiality unto faith in the promise, but it is not beatifical; and therefore an inheritance of promises will never make a man happy, because it keeps the soul in a continual longing, and in an hungring and thirsting condi∣tion, and therefore is unsatisfied. [2] Of graces; but they are also imperfect, because they do not make a mans soul perfect;* 1.270 till a man be actually united unto God the Foun∣tain of all happiness and perfection, he can never be happy: it's true, Gratia electis infun∣ditur, ut actiones peragant ordinatas ad vitam aeternam, Grace is infused into the Elect, that they may perform actions ordinate to life eternal, as Aquinas. But these graces have respect unto an

eternal reward, they do but make us meet for a further mercy, Col. 1.12. to make us meet for the inheritance of the Saints in light. [3] In creatures: a mans happiness does not consist in them, because they are finite, and the soul is ordained to be happy in an infinite good; and therefore when a man shall be made happy by going to Heaven to enjoy God, he doth take his leave of the creatures; they were his inheritance in his way, and were to him a viatick, but afterwards God shall be all in all, and a man goes to God with joy,* 1.271 and is glad to see the Moon under his feet; so the Saints of God in this life continue still longing for their future happiness. [4] There is an inheritance of Attributes;* 1.272 and so the Saints have an interest in God here, and a vision of him; for they may behold him in his back parts and live, as the Lord discovered unto Moses. Now no man can be perfectly hap∣py in this life, and therefore the discovery of God in his Attributes being the way of Gods revealing himself in this life, there is a higher way of manifestation, in which the happi∣ness of the Saints doth consist, and that is a seeing his face, which is his Essence, or seeing him as he is, which is reserved for them. (2) There is nothing but this in the life to come that can make them happy. It's true, there shall be in this Paradise a confluence of all good things, and there shall be every way perfection, fulness of joy, rivers of pleasures for evermore. Consider [1] the glory of the place; it's the Palace of the great King; and if there be so much glory and magnificence in Kings Palaces, what is there in the Palace of him that fills all, and is all, and is the King of Kings? Paul was taken up into the third Hea∣ven, and yet he was not glorified, but afterwards he had a thorn in the flesh, and had need of the grace that should be sufficient for him: so that to be in Heaven is not that which makes the Saints happy, therein the formalis ratio, the formal reason of their happiness doth not lye; and therefore says Paul, I desire to be dissolved, not to be in Heaven,* 1.273 but to be with Christ, which is best of all. It is more to be with the Lord Christ, than to be in Hea∣ven; and therefore Luther said well, Malim praesente Deo esse in inferno, quàm absente Deo in coelo, &c. I had rather be with God in Hell, than without God in Heaven. [2] There is a glorious society; for we are gathered here unto the innumerable company of Angels, and the souls of just men made perfect, Heb. 12.23, 24. we be here, as Tertullian says, Ange∣lorum candidati, the Candidates of Angels, &c.* 1.274 and I will give thee places to walk amongst these that stand by: but as it is here in the Communion of Saints, there is a great deal of sweet∣ness; yet herein is not the perfection of the happiness of the Saints, but it's in a higher communion: so it is glorious to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of God; but they have all of them their happiness from the same fountain, and that is in God himself. [3] There shall be a glorious and a full enjoyment of Jesus the Mediator;* 1.275 he doth pray that they may be where he is, that they may behold his glory; and it's that which Job doth glory in, I know that my Redeemer lives,* 1.276 and that I shall see him with these eyes: and Paul also longed to be dissolved and to be with Christ, and to be ever with the Lord. But the height of the happiness of the Saints cannot consist in this; partly because Christ himself as he is Mediator, has a happiness in another,* 1.277 thou shalt shew me the path of life; and there is an eternal life promised him, as well as promised us; and therefore he having his own blessedness from another, he doth direct us unto a higher Fountain of our blessedness: and partly because that which was not the highest object of our faith, can never be the greatest ground of our joy. Now Christ as Mediator is not the highest ob∣ject of our faith and hope, and therefore cannot be the perfection of our joy. [4] In Heaven there will be a perfection of graces: For when that which is perfect is come,* 1.278 then that which is in part shall be done away: and this is after a sort a mans happiness; and there∣fore the School-men do distinguish between beatitudo subjectiva & objectiva, subjective and objective beatitude. There is a blessedness in us, which doth consist in the perfection of grace in the man, (for glory is nothing but grace perfected) and that haply is the meaning of the souls of just men made perfect, that is, their graces are perfected in them,* 1.279 and what is lacking in any of them is supplied, that which is in part is done away; and this doth in∣deed wonderfully perfect the soul, but grace perfected is but a creature (though it be the new creature,* 1.280 and we are Gods workmanship created in Christ unto good works) and there∣fore it hath but a finite good, that can never make the soul of man happy, which was or∣dained for an infinite good. The perfection of grace is but a consequent of happiness; for we shall therefore be like him, because we shall see him as he is. Therefore in the life to come there is nothing for the happiness of the creature, both men and Angels, to con∣sist in, but the Essence of God.

4. It will appear from the nature of blessedness, that nothing can make the creature blessed but the Essence of God, and that will appear in three things. (1) Nothing can make a man blessed but that which doth perfect his graces. Now there is nothing can do this but the beatifical vision, which is a vision of God in his Essence: answerable to a

mans vision of God,* 1.281 such is the perfection of the image of God in the man. Now while we know in part, so long we are sanctified but in part, for the vision of God is transfor∣ming;* 1.282 but it is a perfect vision that doth work in the soul a perfect sanctification; see∣ing God in his back parts will not do it, it's seeing his face; this doth perfect the Angels, they behold the face of their Father, and so it shall do us when we shall be 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. (2) There is nothing can make a man happy but that which makes him impeccable; because the soul will still be in fear so long as he is a sinner. Adam had a posse non peccare, a power not to sin, but that did not make him happy; there must be a non posse peccare, an impossibility of sin∣ning; now this only the vision and essence of God can give: and therefore Suarez de bea∣tif. Vis. saith, Visio beatifica excludit omnem defectum tum erroris, tum inconsiderationis, ideò fa∣cit voluntatem impeccabilem, The beatifick Vision makes the will impeccable, &c. (3) There is nothing can make a man happy, but that which gives unto the soul a fulness of satisfacti∣on, Psal. 17. ult. when he sees his face he shall be satisfied, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, it notes a fulness and an abundant satisfaction, so that the soul desires no more: In beatitudine impletur omne deside∣rium beatorum, All desire of the blessed is filled up in blessedness. Aquinas. Now the soul will ne∣ver be satisfied while it sees any thing beyond what it doth enjoy, till the soul can write a nil ultra, &c. There is primum verum, a first truth, and till the understanding come unto that, it will never be satisfied in inferiour truths: and there is ultimum & summum bonum, a last and chiefest good, and till the soul comes to that, it will never be satisfied in inferiour goods; but the soul will be always aspiring, because it sees something further to be at∣tained, donec requiescat in te, until it can rest in thee, as Austin. The happiness of the blessed God consists in himself, and in the perfect vision and fruition of that blessedness consists our blessedness also.

§. 3. But what is the manner how the Lord becomes the happiness of his people in his Essence? That is by way of vision, We shall see him face to face, 1 Cor. 13.12. We shall see him as he is, 1 Joh. 3.3. (1) To this end the Lord will discover himself unto them as he is, and he will shew unto the Saints his face then, as now he doth his back parts, while they live here: he dwells in light inaccessible, that no man doth, or can see; but he will make himself visible then to compleat their happiness, and that not only to the eyes of the mind, though it shall be chiefly there,* 1.283 (and therefore glory is not only radicaliter in corde, but redundanter in corpore) but yet he will discover himself unto their bodily eyes also, as, in my flesh I shall see God. (2) There shall be a glorious light, by which the soul shall not only be enlight∣ned, as his eyes are by the light here in this life, but it shall be elevated and enabled to see that which else it could never see: as it's in the light of grace here, the pure in heart do see God,* 1.284 Mat. 5.8. and Moses saw him that was invisible, &c. The Psalmist says, In thy light we shall see light. There is a double light the Saints have, there is a light of faith here, and there is a light of glory that is reserved for hereafter, Lumen quo divinam essentiam tanquam objectum beatificum visione intuitivâ recipere posset, Synop. purior. Theolog. pag. 807. That light whereby the soul can by an intuitive vision receive the Divine Essence as a beatifick object. Whether this shall be by a light immediately created of God, or whether it shall be per naturam humanam Christi glorificatam, veluti instrumentum Divinitatis conjunctum, by the hu∣mane nature of Christ glorified, as a conjunct instrument of the Deity, we will not now inquire or dispute. But (3) this vision of God, though it shall be of his Essence, yet not of it unto perfection; for so it's infinite, and therefore cannot be perfectly understood or com∣prehended by a finite understanding, as that of the creature must still be, though it be glo∣rified. There shall be enough unto our perfection, but we shall never be able to know God unto his perfection; and therefore the School-men do affirm, that though all the Saints for the substance of their happiness shall see God in his Essence as he is, yet quoad mensuram ex sola Dei voluntate pendet & ex arbitraria dispensatione, as to the measure it depends wholly on the Divine Will and his arbitrary dispensation. And this is the ground of the degrees of glory in Heaven, that as there are different discoveries of good here, which are the ground of the different degrees of grace here, so it shall be in glory also.

§. 4. Now follows the Nature and Properties of this Vision as it conduces unto the bles∣sedness of the creature.

1. Here we see God by Negatives only, and speak of him rather as he is not, than as he is, viâ negationis, by denying to him the imperfections of the creatures: it's one of the highest ways that we have here, and therefore we say he is invisible, incomprehensible, and eternal, &c. that is, he hath neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but we shall then see him in all those Positive excellencies that be in him, and we shall come to the know∣ledge of him in that low way no more.

* 1.2852. Here we know God but by way of Resemblance and Metaphors taken from the crea∣tures; he doth speak to us heavenly things in an earthly manner; he is said to be the Lord

of Hosts, a man of war; and he is said to be a Rock, a Fountain, a Father, an Husband; and he is said to have a face and back parts, to be the ancient of days, to have a garment white as snow, and the hair of his head as pure wool, and his Throne as a fiery flame.* 1.286 And so we see him Discursively, as we can gather something of God from these similitudes; but we shall then see him Immediately, and Intuitively as he is in himself, and not through the glass of the creatures any more; not by Ideas taken in by the weak and imperfect colle∣ctions of our understanding, but by the glorious, pure, and perfect representations of himself.

3. They shall see God as their own, and all the excellencies that are in him as their own portion. It's but a little the Saints do see here of God in this life, a small portion is known of him; but yet there is this difference between the sight of the Saints that they have of God here, and other men, as the Apostle says,* 1.287 It has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to the Saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you the hope of glory. They read it as they do the Scripture as their own evidence; but other men they read over all the mysteries of godliness and Heaven, as the evidences of other men, and not as their own portion; they cannot say as the Saints do, Christus in Evangelio tuo meus est, Christ in thy Gospel is my Christ, as Tertullian to Marcion. There is a great difference between a strangers looking upon the glory and excellencies that are in a man, and of his wifes looking upon them; the one looks upon them and admires them, and is affected with them, and will talk of the fine sight he has seen, and there's an end, he lets the discourse fall again, it's not his concern to be thinking of it; ay, but his wife looks upon them with another eye, as being hers, and because she has an interest in his person, she has a setled esteem of them, and the thought of it is always her contentment. So do the Saints look upon the fulness of Christ here with delight, and so they behold the glory of God with satisfaction, for their soul says unto the Lord, Thou art my por∣tion.

4. They see themselves in God. There is indeed much of God discovered in all the creatures, and yet they are but only vestigia Dei, the footsteps of God, and yet the Saints delight to behold them, because they see something of God in them; and the more of God is discovered in any creature, or any passage of providence, the more their hearts are affected with it, Psal. 8. When I consider the heavens the works of thy hands: it's the speech of Christ, he is much affected with the creatures, and the sight of God in them; but there is more of God discovered in the meanest Saint, than there is in the Sun, Moon, and Stars, and in the most glorious creature. Dan. 12. 'tis said, They shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their father, the glory of the Sun is not to be compared unto them, &c. To see beauty is a great delight to the eye, but much more for souls to see their own beau∣ty: to see the image of God in the Saints here is glorious, and to see it in a mans self is more comfortable; much more taking shall it be, and more comfortable, to see it here∣after when it shall be perfected.

5. They shall see all things that concern themselves in God. Adam had a Law writ∣ten in his heart, that was the guide of his way; and the Saints have also in their hearts a rule, as well as in the book; but the Saints in Heaven have no other book but God, Beati in Deo vident omnes actiones & circumstantias ad se pertinentes, The blessed see in God all actions and circumstances that belong unto them. This is the book in which they shall read lectures in his face for ever, the Dectatis speculum, the glass of the Deity; as their happiness shall be wholly in God, for God shall be all in all; so their direction shall come from him immediately; and so shall their consolation and their acceptation, they shall see that God is pleased with them for ever, whatsoever they put their hands to; and they shall be no more in doubt of the rule, and go with their way hid no more; as many of the Saints here walk uncomfortably, because sometimes their duty is hidden from them, the rule in some particular cases is dark to them, and they droop many times, because they know not what to do, though their eyes be lifted up; yet be of good chear, poor soul, it shall be otherwise when thou comest to enjoy this vision of God in glory.

6. It shall be a vision that shall be everlasting, we shall behold his face for ever: here in this life, in our greatest discoveries of God, there is an interruption, a veil that is drawn between us and our God; and though now we are sometimes in the light, by and by we walk in darkness again; but in Heaven the discovery shall be perpetual, we shall see his face, so that he will never hide his face from us more, we shall never lose the sight of God unto eternity; God will never withdraw himself from us, for he doth em∣brace you with everlasting mercy, and sin shall never interpose, or cause an Eclipse.

This is the extent of this glorious Vision, which shall never be accomplished till thou come to glory: here we are to have it in our eye continually, and to exercise faith about it; O walk in the hope of it, for here is the happiness of the Saints; and if the Attri∣butes of God that are discovered to them, and made over to them be not sufficient to make them happy, yet surely there is enough in the very Essence of God himself; know he is thy God in Covenant quantus quantus est: and if there be enough in him to make himself happy, surely there is enough to make thee happy also; and therefore blessed is the soul whose God is Jehovah.

SECT. II. Questions touching the Beatifick Vision resolved.

§. 1. FOR the further opening of this point, it being of highest concernment, as that wherein the perfection of our blessedness lyes, there are several Questions to be resolved. (1) Why the happiness of the creature must consist in vision? (2) Whether this vision can attain to the Essence of God, to see God as he is in himself or no? (3) Whether it be only an intellectual vision, or corporal with the bodily eyes also? (4) What is the happiness that doth follow upon this vision, that we may see how this vision doth conduce to the blessedness of the creature?

[Quest. 1] It's true, that the happiness of the creature lyes in God, who is the chief good; but why should it consist in the Vision of God?

[Answ.] 1. Our eternal happiness doth consist in vision, because this is the way by which God doth dispense all things unto us, it being the only way that is agreeable to the rational nature: for as the Lord doth expect that all that comes from us should be reasonable ser∣vice, modo naturae rationali proportionato, proportionate to our nature; so all that he doth commu∣nicate unto us, he doth it in a rational way: this is the way of nature, and this is the way of grace; and therefore the Lord will make it to be the way of conveying all things to us in glory.

(1) This is the way of Nature: the will of man is appetitus rationalis, a rational appetite; and therefore it can receive nothing, unless there be a Dictamen of the understanding that goes before; and answerable to the Dictamen, such is the choice and election of the will; and hence come such various impressions upon the will, sometimes there is a good inclination, and a good purpose or resolution, the man is almost perswaded, and by and by the will is off again, because the understanding represents things otherwise, not holding on in its former light: and when there is in the understanding an ultimum dictamen, a last dictamen, then doth the will firmly and constantly close; and therefore sin came in that way; Satan knew that there was no corrupting of the will but by the understanding; for an im∣mediate access to the will there was not, therefore the woman was deceived, and this 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 lyes in the understanding properly. This is the way of nature, there must be a light in the understanding, and that brings resolution and election, and all things into the will, and acts it.

(2) This is the way of Grace also: the Lord when he will change the will, doth it first by a spiritual illumination of the understanding, and from thence there doth by the power of grace come an effectual determination of the will to embrace that ultimum dictamen, last dictate of the enlightned understanding; and that makes a free and chearful choice of that supernatural good, which is to the understanding by a spiritual and heavenly light discovered, and clearly apprehended thereby: there is a teaching that goes with the draw∣ing of the Father, Joh. 6.44. And so it is for all growth and increase of grace also: for grace is improved in the same manner as it is at first created; men grow in grace, as they grow in knowledge;* 1.288 as the Lord will enlarge the affections, so he doth first raise the ap∣prehensions of the man.

(3) Glory being in some respects but the perfection of the same grace (for Divines com∣monly say, that grace and glory differ but in degrees) therefore the way that the Lord took in the one he doth take the same in the other also; as he sanctifies the man modo connatu∣rali, in a connatural way, so in the same way he glorifies him: as it is in this life, vision doth increase grace, and answerable to the degrees of vision, such are the degrees of grace; so it's perfect vision that doth perfect grace: in the same way that Satan brought sin and death into the soul,* 1.289 namely by the understanding; for the woman was deceived, as it is in 2 Cor. 11.3. so the same way will the Lord bring in grace and life into the soul, it comes

in by the understanding, the eyes of our understanding being enlightned by a spirit of revelation;* 1.290 and the same way doth glory enter into the soul, namely by the understanding also; and therefore it must be in a way of vision.

2. Divines do commonly conclude, that the main and essential part of glory doth con∣sist in contemplation: This is life eternal to know thee the only true God.* 1.291 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. And Heb. 12.14. For without holiness no man shall see the Lord. It's the happiness of Christ, in thy presence, or in thy face is fulness of joy, it is in the Hebrew 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in the Plural. Now the manner of the Hebrews is to put the Plural Number when the excellency and transcendency of a thing is expressed, as Cant. 1.3. Thy love is better than wines: or else to set forth the great variety of the glorious discoveries of God, which the Lord gives unto his own people in Heaven: and in this is the fulness of the joy of Christ after his Resurrection from the dead, and so it is with the Saints, Psal. 17.15.* 1.292 I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. The Saints sleep in the grave, and they do awake unto the vision of God, and they shall see his face in righteousness, and they shall be satisfied with his image; the which in the original doth signifie full and perfect satis∣faction,* 1.293 so that there is no place to receive any more. There is a great satisfaction in the discoveries of God to the soul here in this life, in the joy of the Holy Ghost, they do re∣joyce with joy unspeakable and glorious; but yet there is still something to be added, they are not in such a condition, but their faculties may be enlarged, and their satisfaction in∣creased: but there is a full satisfaction hereafter unto which there can be no addition. But what is meant by his image and likeness? Here some do understand it of the image of God created in us, which shall then be perfectly restored when they come to glory; the good work that is begun in this life shall not be perfected till in the day of the Lord.* 1.294 Though I do not find the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 any where used in Scripture for the image of God created in man, or renewed in him, but two other words; yet this word I find in Scri∣pture to be put either for a corporeal, or an intellectual image, Exod. 20.4. Thou shalt not make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing in heaven above, not make unto thy self a corporeal or visible representation of an invisible God: 'tis said,* 1.295 the image or the simili∣tude of God shall he behold, it's spoken of an intellectual image and representation of God in a glorious manner unto the understanding, full of glorious excellencies, though under no shape: and this was a priviledge, that the Lord would give Moses a further discovery of himself beyond what he would do to any man upon earth. And so I should take the mean∣ing to be here, it's not the image of God in us, but the discoveries and manifestations of God unto us; that is, unto our understanding, in which our fulness of joy and satisfaction doth consist: Cùm tenebrae mortalitatis transierint, manè astabo & contemplabor, When the darknesses of mortality have passed away, in the morning I shall stand and contemplate, Austin. In contemplatione divinorum maximè consistit beatitudo, Beatitude consists in the contemplation of divine perfections, Aquinas. It's true, that this shall be the greatest torment in Hell, the contemplation of their misery, and the reflexion upon their own lost and irrecoverable condition; it's concluded, that poena damni, the punishment of loss is the greatest part of the torments there; and that can no otherwise afflict or be a torment but by the con∣templation thereof: and surely in this doth the blessedness of God consist, namely in beholding of his own perfections, and the glorious persons delighting themselves in each other; for the Lord is blessed for evermore and from everlasting, when there was no creature, but his blessedness lay in himself, and the contemplation of himself was his blessedness; and if this do make the Lord blessed, surely then in the contemplation of him much more must the blessedness of the creature consist, therefore happiness must consist in vision.

3. Because the understanding is the leading faculty, by which all good is brought into the soul: it's true, that the souls in Heaven are called souls made perfect,* 1.296 Beatitudo cùm sit summa perfectio perficit totum, Beatitude seeing it is the highest perfection perfects the whole soul in all the faculties thereof. There are three things wherein the happiness of the Saints doth consist. (1) A perfect Vision, or perfect understanding. (2) A perfect Fruition which is nobilissima operatio voluntatis, the most noble operation of the will, Medina. (3) Perfect Joy and exultation, joy unspeakable and glorious, everlasting joy upon their heads,* 1.297 in thy face is ful∣ness of joy, and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore: and by this means the whole soul is made perfect; but yet the leading faculty still is the understanding, and for this cause seeing blessedness comes in by the understanding,* 1.298 satisfaction also comes into the whole soul by those revelations, manifestations, visions, and discoveries of God made unto the soul. Aquinas saith of blessedness, that it is in intellectu primariò, & in voluntate per conse∣quens & secundariò, In the intellect primarily, and in the will by consequent and secundarily. Seeing therefore that this vision doth carry with it Fruition, Delectation, and whatever may

make the whole soul to become perfect, therefore it's no wonder, if the Lord is said to be the portion of his people by way of vision, and the blessedness of the Saints be said to consist therein.

[Quest. 2] §. 2. Shall the Vision of God in glory be corporeal, or shall it be intellectual only; discoveries of God unto bodily eyes, or unto the eyes of the understanding only?

[Answ.] 1. The Essence of God in glory cannot be seen with bodily eyes, it cannot be a corpo∣real vision, which is manifest, (1) from Scripture, 1 Tim. 6.16. He dwells in light inacces∣sible, whom no man has seen or can see, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Now there shall be a vision of God, that's plain, for we shall see him face to face; therefore it's spoken of bodily eyes, when he says, No man can see thee; they can see him with the eyes of the mind, but they cannot with the eyes of the body: and (2) it will appear by reason drawn from the na∣ture of a body; for the body, though it shall be made spiritual, yet it shall not be made a spirit, that is, it shall not lose the essential properties of a body. Now nothing can be seen with bodily eyes, but bodily objects; but God is a Spirit, and therefore invisible, Col. 1.15. i. e. in reference unto bodily vision, &c. The School-men indeed speak of the elevation of bodily subjects to work upon Spirits; and so here they speak of the elevation of bodily eyes to behold a spiritual object; but these are but the empty conceits of men; for the body shall retain even in glory its essential properties, and shall have a happiness suitable and proportionable unto them in objects fitted to the bodily senses; for beatitude, though it be radicaliter in corde, yet it's redundanter in corpore, &c. and this shall be either per lumen gloriae, as, in thy light we shall see light: or else in natura Christi glorificata, veluti Divinitatis conjunctum instrumentum. And so is that to be understood, Job 6.19, 26. I shall see my Redeemer with these eyes. And 1 Joh. 3.3. When he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is: it shall be in the appearing of the great God and our Sa∣viour Jesus Christ; but yet this cannot be a corporeal, but it must in the essence of bles∣sedness be an intellectual vision.

* 1.2992. That there is an intellectual Vision of God, will appear three ways. (1) By the visions of God that the Saints have here by an eye of faith; they shall see his face, Num. 12.8. The similitude of God shall he behold, it's a speech of visio mystica, the mystick vision that the Saints have in the life that now is, by discoveries made unto the eye of their faith; for God hath given them new understandings,* 1.300 to this end, that they may be able to know him that's true; and if there be discoveries of God and his glory unto the understanding of the Saints here, how much more in glory in the inheritance of the Saints in light? (2) It will be made appear by the Angels: says our Saviour, They do behold the face of your Father which is in heaven,* 1.301 and they are Spirits, and have no bodies, and yet in all their imploy∣ments about the creatures (for Christ doth in the Oeconomical Kingdom govern all things by these, the spirit of the living creatures is in the wheels) they never lose the vision of God, they carry their Heaven with them wheresoever they go, though they are not always resi∣dent in loco beatorum; as the Devils do carry their Hell about with them, though they are not always in the place of the damned. Now we shall be in Heaven 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as the An∣gels, and shall have like discoveries of God as the Angels have: but theirs are to their understanding; so discoveries of God will be according to ours also. (3) It will appear in the souls of just men made perfect before the Resurrection, they have the vision of God, that's plain, because their souls are made perfect: now nothing perfects the soul but the beatifical vision, because nothing renders it impeccable but this, and finis ultimus perficit agentem & actionem, the last end perfects the action and Agent; therefore there is an intelle∣ctual vision of God, in which the substance or the essence of happiness doth consist.

[Quest. 3] §. 3. But can there be an intellectual Vision of Gods Essence? Can the understanding of man immediately see the Essence of God, or be made happy thereby?

[Answ.] 1. There must be a vision of the Essence of God; for (1) the promise is, 1 Cor. 13.12. That we shall see him face to face,* 1.302 and we shall know even as we are known. The opposition is between the knowledge that now we have of God, and what we shall have hereafter; and they are compared in two things, [1] in the manner of knowledge, which shall not be the same; now we see in a glass, but then immediately we shall see without a glass: but if we should see God per abstractam imaginem, (as Gomer hath a disputation of it in Joh. 1.17. part 1. pag. 328.) though it were the purest glass, more clear than crystal, yet it were seeing in a glass still, which is wholly denied; we shall no more see in a glass, but face to face. [2] In the imperfection of our vision: we now see darkly, and the reason is from the manner of it, because we see in a glass; but then it shall be perfected, because we shall see face to face; so much is manifested to Moses, thou shalt see my back parts: the Attributes of God are discovered here in this life, but there is the face of God discovered, which must be something beyond what is called his back parts, that shall be discovered to the soul,

which here he cannot see and live, but hereafter he must see, or he cannot live, therefore there is a vision of the Divine Essence.

(2) It will appear by reason also, the chief good of the creature is in God alone, that which is called Beatitudo objectiva, objective Beatitude, which doth only satisfie and fill the heart of the Saints; and it's in the vision and fruition thereof that the soul rests. Now any image of God or manifestation of God that is created cannot be our objective hap∣piness, for these are but creatures, as the discoveries of God unto the soul by the Spirit in a way of Ordinances are; therefore the soul can never rest in them, can never look up∣on them as its happiness; as the Saints receiving here the joy in the Holy Ghost, they are exceedingly ravished with it, it's joy unspeakable, Ego mihi visus sum tanquam unus ex illis beatis, I seemed to my self as one of those blessed ones; but yet the soul is not satisfied with it, but when he sees Gods face he is satisfied with his likeness, that discovery that there is of God in his own face, but is never satisfied till then.

2. Though we shall see God in his Essence, yet we shall not see the Essence of God un∣to perfection. There is a twofold knowledge: (1) Apprehensionis, of Apprehension, when a man knows any thing truly. (2) Comprehensionis, of Comprehension, when a man knows any thing perfectly, secundùm modum cognoscibilitatis, as it is knowable, or to the utmost that it may be known. Now the Essence of God being infinite, cannot be comprehended by any finite understanding; even the Angels themselves cannot know all that is in God; for an infinite Being cannot be known and comprehended but by an infinite understanding: We shall know so much of Gods Essence as will tend unto our perfection, though we cannot find out the Almighty to his perfections.

As for the measure of the manifestation, it depends ex sola Dei voluntate & dispensatione arbitraria, wholly on Gods pleasure. As there are different degrees of grace in this life, and the Lord doth give unto men different degrees of light, according unto the measure of grace that he has appointed them unto; so he has appointed them also to different degrees of glory: says Christ, To sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. As the souls that he shall save are given by the Father, so also the measure of their grace and their glory is appointed by the Fa∣ther; and answerable unto the degrees of glory that they are appointed by the Father, such shall be the manifestations of God unto them when they come unto glory: therefore as glory is of grace, so are the degrees of glory also: as here the Lord dispenseth divers gifts as he will, so he doth in Heaven; some have more of the presence of God and clearer discoveries than others have, because it's not by necessity of nature, but by an act of the will. And therefore whereas some do object we cannot see the Essence of God perfectly, therefore not at all, because Essentia est simplicissima, most simple; and if we see the Essence of God we must see all his Attributes, and so the knowledge of God, &c. and we must know as much as God knows, &c. it's true, if God did glorifie his people as a natural Agent, we might conclude he must ad ultimum potentiae, discover himself to the utmost; but seeing he doth it as a voluntary Agent, who acts certo moderamine, by a certain measure, so much of his Essence they shall know as he will discover, and that shall be so much as is for their perfection, though not to his perfection.

[Quest. 4] §. 4. How doth the Vision of Gods Essence conduce unto the happiness of the creature?

It makes the creature happy in these particulars.

[Answ.] 1. A man hath hereby a full and perfect accomplishment of all the promises: for as the end of Christ is but to bring us unto God, the same is the end of all the promises, it's but to bring the soul unto God. He has indeed given us exceeding great and precious promises, 2 Pet. 1.3, 4. There are promises for the way and for the end, for this life and for that which is to come, and the top and the coronis of them all lies in this, that he doth give himself; and till the soul do attain this, it is never satisfied.* 1.303 Now how sweet is a promise that a man has waited long for, and prayed long for? The desire attained is a tree of life: how much more then is the fulness of a mans desires when all of them are at∣tained, and accomplished in him who is the well of life &c.

2. In this is the accomplishment of all the whole purchase of Christ, the accomplish∣ment of all the works of the Son and Spirit in the Mediatory Kingdom; says the Apostle Peter, Ye are begotten to an inheritance immortal and incorruptible and undefiled, and without ho∣liness no man shall see the Lord; therefore holiness is the way to vision,* 1.304 and the highest end of the work of Sanctification it's but to make you meet inheritors with the Saints in light, Col. 1.12. Now it's a joy unto Christ to see his work carried on in the world, to see his grace and glory communicated to us, to see of the travel of his soul: and therefore shall it not be so to us to see it accomplished in our selves? That though the blood of Christ were as it were shed in vain in respect of many persons unto whom it was offered, they trample

under the blood of the Covenant as an unholy thing; yet to us it's not in vain, but the grace of God has been effectual to bring us unto glory.

3. Then God shall be all in all, 1 Cor. 15.28. that is, as Christ is now all in all, Col. 3.11. so after this life God shall be all immediately, when the Mediatory Kingdom of Christ, in reference unto this life,* 1.305 shall be at an end: Quicquid frustulatim ab omnibus creaturis nobis mendicandum est in hoc seculo, ille unus omnium nobis instar erit, What God is now to us by bits in the creatures, he will be then in himself, &c. The power and efficacy and sweetness of things is much abated by their manner of conveyance, as we say in the Galenick Physick; and as comforts from the Spirit in the joys of the Holy Ghost are far beyond those that come in by the creatures, though God may be enjoyed in them both, because it is more immediately, dulcius ex ipso fonte. Now all things are of God that we have here in this world, but it's but by the creatures; but when God shall be immediately all in all, all things shall come from himself, and from his own hand: as when God doth punish men by the creatures, it's much less than when he doth it immediately, as it is the wrath of God in Hell which shall be the immediate executioner; so it is when God doth comfort men by the creatures and by himself immediately, there is as much difference in the one as there is in the other.

4. There shall be perfect Sanctification; for by his vision we shall be like him: there is an image begun in this life, but it's not perfected; God being all in all in Heaven, we shall read his will,* 1.306 and our duty, in his own face for ever. (1) The ways of instruction shall be no more as now we have here in this life; but as in ways of consolation God shall be all in all,* 1.307 so in ways of instruction also: Sine codice in verbo leges, Thou shalt read in the Divine Word without a book: and we shall know him as he is, and the reason of all his actings and dealings with us, Quicquid nos latet ibi ratio erit manifesta, cur hic electus & iste reprobatus, cur alius moritur in infantia, alius in senectute, &c. (2) Our wills shall be made perfect, for the souls of just men are made perfect, and they shall be perfectly de∣termined unto good, that they shall have non posse peccare, an impossibility of sinning for ever; impeccability in Christ was from the hypostatical Union, but it is in the Saints from the beatifical Vision.

5. We shall have perfect communion: here while we are at home in the body we are strangers to the Lord; it's true we have here a fellowship, but it is with much imperfection and frequent interruptions, dulce commentum, sed breve momentum. Joh. 17.24. I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me, that they may behold my glory. This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise, Luk. 23.43. And they shall be ever with the Lord. I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ. The communion that we have here is but begun, but it shall be perfected for ever. Our communion here has much imperfection in it, partly be∣cause of sin, which separates between us and our God; for answerable to our conformity such is our communion, amor complacentiae, love of complacence is grounded thereupon; and partly through our weakness, there is much that we are not capable of the manifesta∣tion of, there is much that we cannot see and live. Now that being taken away and healed by the beatifical vision, we are able to take in what we cannot of God here; though as our weakness and imperfection is begun to be healed here in this life, we are so far capable, and we shall be fully capable when it shall be fully healed. Here also is much interruption, (1) by sin, we provoke God to hide his face from us. (2) For our tryal, the Lord doth many times hide his face to exercise our graces; but neither of them shall be hereafter, we shall sin no more, and the time of our tryals will come to an end, the Lord will never turn away from us, but he will cause the light of his countenance to shine upon us without a cloud for ever.

6. There shall be fulness of Fruition. Austin says, Frui is more than uti, frui finis est, usus mediorum: frui est cum gaudio uti, Fruition is of the end, but use of the means, &c. Frui∣tion is the delight and satisfaction that the soul has in the possession of the thing that it has attained,* 1.308 satisfied with thy likeness, there are pleasures for evermore, such pleasures as the men of this world never tasted; nay the joys of the Holy Ghost are such as eye hath not seen; but the joys of Heaven are such as the Saints have not tasted; when there is no place left for desires; hunger and thirst have an end, the soul thirsts for God no more. In Heaven they cannot pray,* 1.309 because they stand in need of nothing to perfect their happi∣ness, all is enjoyed in God, and they see all to be theirs, and that they are out of danger of losing their happiness; and even in this life there is much sweetness in the sealing work the work of assurance, because a man sees all is his, and that there's no danger of miscar∣rying as to his eternal state; much more is it there when he is in possession of all those glories, that the Lord gave him the first-fruits of here.

SECT. III. Application.

[Ʋse 1] §. 1. FIrst see here the folly and the misery of all unregenerate men, who place their happiness in any thing else that is not God, and forsake God, and the happiness that is to be had in him, for the creatures sake. 1. See their folly: sin is never seen a∣right, unless it be seen to be a foolish and an unreasonable thing:* 1.310 The fool has said in his heart that there is no God, and this fool is every unregenerate man; and the great folly of a man lies in his utmost end, or else his great wisdom; for he that doth erre in that is a fool, though he have all the wisdom of the world beside; all his wisdom without this tends to no other end but to deceive and undo himself: and therein doth the wisdom of a godly man properly consist, that he doth never miss his utmost end, and therein the mean∣est Saint is wiser than all ungodly men, though they may be counted the wise men of the world. Consider

1. What a folly is it for a man to frame to himself a happiness? for he that gave him a being, he only can appoint him to an end, he only can prescribe him a rule; therefore he that will be faber foelicitatis, the framer of felicity unto himself, he doth make himself a God, and create his own Heaven, which will prove but a fools Paradise in the end; for God hath appointed for man no other happiness but in himself, in his Essence lies his por∣tion, and without this nothing in this world should satisfie, neither doth it a gracious heart that is truly wise: Tua non satiunt nisi tecum: omnis copia quae non est Deus meus, ege∣stas est: tolle Deum & nullus ero, &c. Thy good things satisfie not unless with thy self: All abundance which is not my God is want: Take away God and I shall be nothing. These are the speeches of grace and godliness that carry a man directly towards God. Now for a man that is Gods creature to create to himself a happiness and an imaginary Heaven, is the greatest folly in the world, because it consists only in imagination, the excellency of all things here below as a mans portion being but a fancy only, as the word is Act. 25.23. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, with much fancy. And as a dreaming man that dreams he is full, and when he awakes his soul is empty: so it is with them on whom the Lord pours out a spirit of slumber, and though they dream of Heaven, yet they awake in Hell. There are several ranks of creatures as the Lord has pleased to set them in the world, all being in his hand, as clay in the hand of the potter. Now a man may as rationally chuse to him∣self another shape than God has given him, and degenerate into a beast, as chuse to himself another end, and fancy another happiness and perfection in that condition in which he is created. This is certain, he that will walk by his own rule, and will be his own master, he must look to be his own Saviour; and he that will appoint to himself an end, and will create his own Heaven, must expect that shall be his Hell in the end.

2. When you forsake your happiness in God, you turn unto creatures that have no worth, or sufficiency in them, and therefore Jer. 2.13. they are called broken cisterns.* 1.311 (1) They are cisterns, comforts they have none in them, but what they put into them; for a cistern has not a spring, the water doth not arise out of it; what therefore if God put no comfort into the creatures, the cistern is but empty, it will have no water; all the comfort that is in the creatures God puts into them, there is none of them can hurt us apart from God, nor comfort us apart from God; and therefore the Saints in all their mercies taste the love of God, and delight themselves in his goodness, as Nehemiah acknowledged Gods goodness in all his favours from the King. (2) A cistern will hold but a little when it's put into it, for it is of a narrow capacity, there is a great deal of difference between the fulness in the cistern and in the fountain. As it is with the Saints in point of grace, so it is with the creatures in point of comfort; the fountain can never be drawn dry, nay the more it is drawn, the quicker the springs are, there is never the less; and it is most true in God, the more a man doth draw happiness from him, the quicker the returns are, and there is never the less in God; for he doth communicate good as the Sun doth light ema∣nativè, by way of emanation, and that must needs be without diminution, &c. but the crea∣tures are but as the Moon, Rev. 12.1. that has but a little light, and that but borrowed, and as soon as the Sun turns away its reflexion, its light is darkned, and the Moon is cloathed with sackcloth, and its light doth not appear. (3) Water in a cistern will dye, and lose its vigour, as we see it is in a standing pool, Gen. 26.19. it's said of the servants of Isaac, that they digged a well of living water, so water in the spring or fountain is called, but it is not so with water in the cistern, it will dye and putrifie, and stink, and grow noisom in

the end; creature-comforts will not be comforts always, the good that is in them will not be always sweet: let but the Lord change the mind of a man, and that which was before sweet, will be bitter, even the water of gall: take a man that is converted, and the crea∣ture-comforts that before he delighted in are not now pleasant to him, dulce est istis suis vo∣luptatibus carere; and it is so to ungodly men also when once they are converted, the world passeth away and the lusts thereof; sometimes the creature leaves a man, but the comforts of it will certainly, before a man dyes, and let once the lust pass away, a man has no desire to it, and he finds then no satisfaction and contentment in it, Prov. 25.27. The searching out of glory is not glory, that is, search it to the uttermost, and there will never be a satiety, it will be glory still; but take the choicest and the sweetest contentments in this life, and they will be so: a man may eat honey till it will not be honey to him, but prove loath∣som; and so a man may in the enjoyment of any creature be nauseated, and his soul may loath that which before was dainty meat; but in God it is not so, the comforts that there are to be had in him are always fresh, living, and vigorous; for they are in him as water is in a fountain. (4) If God put into the creatures any comfort, it is but into cisterns that are broken, and they'l leak out, they cannot hold them long; for sin hath made a crack in all the creatures, that as fast as God puts comfort into them, they do leak them out again:* 1.312 as it's in reference to the Word of God, we prove leaking vessels, and let the things slip from us that we have heard; so do the comforts also of the creatures that God gives us, in reference to all the sweetness and comfort that is put into them by God. If a man have an Estate, he puts it into a bag with holes; when a man hath gotten it, all his care will not keep the comfort of it long; for there is a vanity by sin come upon all the creatures, they are blasted quickly. It's true that in the Creation they were but cisterns, and it was but little that they could hold, a mans great comfort and satisfaction came not in by them, they were made to be his servants, but not his portion to enjoy; and there∣fore by sin there is a vanity put into the creatures, that though they may satisfie a while, yet their comfort will quickly be gone, as they themselves will: for the world passes away, and the fashion of it, and it is but a fashion and an outside, and no more.

3. If you place your happiness in any thing else, you do but forsake God: other things may be enjoyed in subordination to God, yet so as your Heaven must be in him alone; but they must not come in competition with God, for he will be God alone. When Parmenio made the motion to Alexander to accept the terms that Darius did offer, and perswaded the King to it, he told him the Heavens could have but one Sun: and surely the heart of man can have but one God, there can be but one last end, one chief good. Now as a man that doth not sell all cannot buy the Pearl, for it is to be had at no other price, as says Christ,* 1.313 He that forsakes not all that he has, cannot be my Disciple, all things are to be forsaken, not only as an oblation, but as a condition, without which Christ is not to be had: so it is also in this,* 1.314 he that will have his portion in God must have no other God, they that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy, the word doth signifie to keep also, as of Jacobs keeping of sheep, taking care of them as his charge, that none of them were lost or did miscarry; and so men do keep lying vanities, their great care is over them, that they lose them not, that their Idols be not taken away from them. And so Prosper also says, of all those things in which men place their happiness, labore quaerunt, cura servant, & anxiâ delecta∣tione possident, they seek them with labour, keep them with care, and possess them with anxious de∣lectation. And it's used for the most heedful observation, Psal. 130. and thus it is with a great deal of heed, care, and industry that men preseve their Idols. So all these things that we are so careful of, they are but lying vanities, or the vanity of a lye; to shew the emptiness of them they are called vanities in the abstract in the Plural, which is ordinary with the Hebrews to do: though they are nothing but emptiness, yet they are such vanities as carry that curse with them, that they do raise a mans expectation, and he believes great things from them, and by that means they become a lye; and therefore men of low degree are vanity,* 1.315 and men of high degree are a lye; he cannot say, Is there not a lye in my right h••nd? and Rev. 22. Every one that loves and makes a lye. Now what is the misery of that man and his folly in it?* 1.316 why, he doth by observing these but forsake his own mercy, that is, that mercy which is offered to them, and might become their own; had not they neglected it by ob∣serving lying vanities, it might have been truly their own; whereas none of the things that they so observe could be; for it is but this worlds goods, if we are not faithful in that which is another mans,* 1.317 who shall give you that which is your own goods? Now God may be a mans own, but it cannot be said of any creature-comfort without God; and therefore here is your folly, to be observing these lying vanities, and forsake your own mercies.

4. God will set himself against all these things in which you do place your happiness a∣part from him; and there is no such way to engage God against the choicest contentments

as this is, that thou shouldst place thy portion in them, for thou makest that creature an Idol, and the Lord will set himself against them in a special manner.* 1.318 The Prophet Isaiah speaks of a Judgment that the Lord would bring against that people, and the daughter of Sion should be left as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and as a besieged city: and what is that great inquisition that God makes at such a time? it's only for the Idols, and upon these he will suddenly stretch forth his hand; the Idols he will utterly* 1.319 abolish, he will utterly divide them, or cut them in pieces. The Lord said, he would search Jerusalem with candles,* 1.320 the meaning is, that the Lord would make a diligent and a very exact search, and therefore ac∣censa lucerna quaerere is a Phrase for exactness in this kind, and it notes not only things open, that are discovered in the face of the Sun, and may be seen by its light, but the most secret things that are hid in the dark, abstrusissima & in tenebris latentia; the Lord will in this man∣ner search Jerusalem with candles, and the great things that the Lord doth search for and dis∣cover are the Idols, as appears in Ezech. 8. he doth shew the Prophet the things which are done in the dark, in the chambers of their imagery; and be sure if it become an Idol, the Lord is engaged against it to destroy it; for he will not give his glory to another, nor his praise unto graven images.

5. It's a folly in this, because there is no need of it, for there is a sufficiency in Go••; you may be happy in him, though you have nothing else; for he is all-sufficient to himself, and his happiness lies in himself, he is God blessed for evermore, and shall he not be sufficient unto thee? He useth this as an argument to Abraham, he will need no other,* 1.321 I am the All-sufficient God, walk before me, and be thou perfect. He will need no other, he shall inherit all things, I will be his God. If a man can be happy that has all things, then surely he may be whose God is the Lord; he is the happiness of the Angels and of Christ himself, and of all the Saints after this life, when all the comforts of the creatures shall be no more; and there∣fore can you seek happiness in any other? As I may reason it with you concerning Christ, have not you need of a Saviour? and is there salvation in any other, has the Lord any more sons in his bosom to bestow? and is there any defect in this Christ? can you look for a better? do you expect one that shall be able to save you more perfectly, than he who is able to save you to the uttermost? will you go away? whither will you go, if you de∣part from Christ? So I say also concerning God as your happiness, have you n•• need of happiness? You are neither the fountain of your own being or well being, can it be had in any other but in God, who is Lord of all? and is there any defect in him, that he cannot make thee happy in himself, as well as he has done the Lord Jesus Christ? who says,* 1.322 With thee is the fountain of life, and in thy light we shall see light. It's a great folly for a man to go far, and labour hard for that which may be had near home, and at an easie rate; it's the folly that the Lord did reprove in Judah, Esay 30. They went down to Egypt for help, and they sent their Ambassadors, and they were at Zonan and Hanes, and they were at great cost, they sent their gold and silver on the back of Asses and the bunches of Camels, &c. and they did trim their way, turn themselves into every fashion and every shape, abased themselves unto the dust, and all to attain the favour of man, whereas it might have been had from Gods protection at an easier rate; for your strength or security is to sit still, and rest upon the Lord for ever, for he is a Rock of Ages: so it is in point of provision as well as of protection, we knock at every door of the creature, and with great weariness and pains labour in the fire* 1.323, and so by labouring in the creatures in this manner a man doth sustain duplicem jacturam, a double loss (1) Operae, (2) Materiae, both of labour and matter: a man doth lose the crea∣tures and his labour about them also; for the Lord of Hosts doth in judgment make them labour in the fire, and weary themselves for very vanity, whereas all might be had in God easily and at a far better rate: surely Nimis avarus est cui non sufficit Deus, He is too avari∣tious whom God doth not suffice.

6. There will come a time when you will have need of God, who did offer himself unto you to be your portion, and you have refused him, and then you can expect no other, but as you have rejected him, so he should also reject you: Israel would none of me,* 1.324 so I gave them up, &c. There will be a time when the chanels of all the creatures shall be stopped, and your portion in them shall be no more; but it shall be said, Son remember that in thy life time thou receivedst thy good things, they were given thee, but they were only for thy life-time, and in them thou didst place thy happiness and thy portion; and therefore they are called thy good things; for that which a man doth chuse to himself to place his happiness in, that is his good things: and then the soul must return to God that gave it; and at this time will the Lord send thee unto those things wherein thou placedst thy happiness and thy portion: Go now unto the Gods that you have chosen, and let them deliver you. When we come unto God in the day of our distress he will say, Go to the pleasure, riches, honours whom you have chosen, and let them deliver you: and then also the Devil will deride your folly, as what

is sweeter than revenge to evil Spirits? and what will insult more over a person in misery? a great part of revenge lies in this, to laugh at our destruction; for when revenge is once entred and has taken possession of a breast, pity never returns there: the Devil mocked the King of Babylon,* 1.325 How art thou fallen from heaven, O great Lucifer, son of the morning! he that gloried in the greatness of his power, &c. And the same God who doth beseech you here,* 1.326 as if he had need of you, he will deride and scorn you hereafter; that God that doth laugh here at wicked men, though Princes, when they are engaged against his people and cause in the world, the same God will also laugh at their misery and confusion in the life to come. Therefore as it is a folly here to despise or deny Christ, because you shall meet him one day, For there is a day appointed when he shall judge quick and dead, and we must all ap∣pear before the Judgment-seat of Christ, and then they that have despised him here, shall be despised by him in that day; for Christ says, He that is ashamed of me before men, of him will I be ashamed before my Father, and before the holy Angels: The same thing I say concer∣ning God, do not place your happiness and portion in another; for the time will come that you must return unto God, and if he be now rejected by you, he will surely then reject you, and say, Depart from me, I know you not. And this doth absolutely set forth the folly of those that live without God, and who have their portion in this world, because God doth fill their bellies with his hid treasures, Psal. 17.14. by hid treasures he means exquisitas & non vulgares delicias, exquisite and not vulgar delices, Mol. not only the common contentments and comforts of this life that other men have, but the richest and choicest comforts that the world can afford God bestows upon them; but it is only to fat them up unto the day of slaughter, to fill their bellies, that the fatting may go before the killing-time, therefore he doth feed them as a Lamb in a large pasture.

§. 2. Their misery also is very great, who place their happiness in any thing else but in the Essence of God; for they that do so, live without God in this world. 1. Their por∣tion of creatures that they have chosen will fail them: and I tell thee, O man or woman, that hast so done, thou art but a steward, and it's but for a time that these things are put in∣to thy hands, thou must lay them down, the Princes Robes must be laid down as well as the beggars rags, the candle of the wicked shall be put out, and you shall lye down in sorrow; you have something now to supply you and bear up your spirits, which are the creatures, whom you have chosen for your gods, your portion they are, but that candle that you make so much of, though it may burn long, yet it will be put out at the last; but the happiness that the godly man has chosen is the Sun, it will not be put out.

2. If thou be without God, and placest thy happiness in any thing else, all things that thou dost enjoy and place thy happiness in, are given thee for a curse and for a plague; as Saul gave his daughter Michol to David to be a snare to him; and that which is thy sin shall be thy punishment; you will have your portion in this life, so you shall; you have lost God in his image, in his favour, in his fellowship, and in his fruition: as Christ made that their punishment, they will not come, they shall not taste of my supper. Sin cannot have a worse punishment than it self, nor a worse name than it self: so if you will not have your portion in God, you shall not for ever, but shall be without God here, and without him hereafter, when God shall be all in all.

3. Your misery will be the greater, that it was your own mercy that was offered to you; you might have had I am for your portion: now to see Abraham and Isaac sit down in the Kingdom of God, and your selves shut out, Oh what a misery will it be to reflect then upon those creatures that stole away your hearts from your Creator, and one that of∣fered to be a Redeemer! This is the worm that will gnaw thee for ever, to think I might have been as happy as any of the Saints in glory, but I withstood my own happiness, and am undone for ever; and thus the miserableness of thy condition will be unutterable, that the tongues of men and Angels are not able to express it. And as men can never know what it is to have their portion in the Essence of God till they come to Heaven, for hac in re cognitio nostra penè tantùm Grammatica est: so a man can never tell what it is to lose a mans portion in God till he come to Hell. And if a man could before-hand lay an ear unto that bottomless pit, and but hear how the misery of this loss is set out there with weep∣ing, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, it would cause a mans heart to fail, and fall asunder within him as drops of water. But because the way of the working of the Spirit in this life is by the Word, and if men hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they believe if one should come from the dead again: therefore this is the way that we must attend upon. But more particularly, his misery that loseth the chief good is unspeakable in these particulars.

1. From the capacity of the soul of man. The Lord did make himself to be the portion of his people, and he created all souls capable of so high a happiness and glory as himself and his own Essence; for they are all created for the enjoyment of God himself: other crea∣tures

were created to enjoy a good within the compass of their own nature, and therein did their perfection consist; but man was created to enjoy a good above his own nature, and in his enjoyment of it he was to be perfected, and so long as he falls short of this, he falls short of his perfection; therefore when souls come to Heaven, and enjoy God in his Es∣sence, they are called Souls made perfect;* 1.327 and all other perfections that men have are grounded upon this, and do flow from it, namely the perfection of their faculties, graces, and comforts. Now of this capacity all the souls of men were created; there is not the wickedest man in the world, even such as perish for ever, but they have souls created ca∣pable of God, and of a happiness in his Essence, and they can be happy no other way. Now a restless life is a miserable life; it was that which David did groan under, Psal. 55.6. Oh that I had wings like a dove, then I would flye away and be at rest: and there is no unquiet∣ness like to that of the soul, a restless spirit is one of the greatest miseries that can befal a man. Eccles. 2.23. speaking of men labouring in the creatures, he saith, his heart takes no rest at night, even when he is taken out of the mill of his calling, and his body is laid down to rest, yet has the man a restlesness all the while; and therefore it is that Christ speaks, Mat. 11.29. and promises as the great inducement, Come unto me all that are weary,* 1.328 and you shall find rest unto your souls. Psal. 38.8. I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. A mans heart trades up and down amongst the creatures, and he is always driving on such troublesom trades, that he is never at rest in his own spirit; and therefore a man by believing is said to enter into rest; and the greatest judgment that can befal a man is,* 1.329 that God should swear in his wrath against him, that he should never enter into his rest: it is not spoken of Heaven any otherwise than as faith gives a man an interest here, for we that believe are entred into it, because it is faith gives a man an interest in God, and bottomes his soul upon him, and upon nothing else; for there is a threefold rest there spoken of in that Chapter. (1) A rest of the Sabbath, that men did enter into according to Gods in∣stitution, when he ended his works; which is one of the strongest places against the ima∣ginary anticipation of the Law of the Sabbath that is in the Scripture; for then men en∣tred into this Sabbath when God ended his works, but that was from the foundation of the world. (2) There is a rest of Canaan, into which Joshua brought them, and they were entred in Davids time; therefore that cannot be meant, for then he would not have spo∣ken of another rest. Now (3) what rest is it then that remains yet for the people of God? That rest is a ceasing from their own works, from all their sinful cares, labours, practices, and supplies, which are to be had in the creature, and a quieting and resting the soul in God, which is our salvation; and answerable unto a mans enjoyment of God,* 1.330 such will this rest of his soul be; and when he doth perfectly enjoy God, then shall his rest and the Sabbath of the soul in glory be fully perfected.

2. He that hath not the Lord for his portion will chuse unto himself any thing else, and set his heart upon it; and it's the greatest misery of all unregenerate men, that they have their portion in this life. Now what is a mans portion,* 1.331 but that which he chuses unto himself, and that in which his soul rests and receives satisfaction, that is the mans por∣tion, and this all men that are unregenerate have in the things below, something that is not God; though it be the works of God, it's not the Essence of God; and the greatest spiritual judgment that can befal a man in this life is this, to be given up to the ungodli∣ness of a mans own spirit, to have his portion in any thing else, in that which is not God; this is to lay out his money for that which is not bread; whereas a gracious heart saith, Thou art my portion, O Lord. And Esay 57.6.* 1.332 Amongst the smooth stones of the streets is thy portion. They did use by the rivers to worship their Idols, and to build Altars to them there, as well as upon the mountains, and under every green tree; and because they could not all of them have smoothed stones fitted for it, therefore they made choice of the fittest they could find, the smooth stones of the brook, which the water, by its continual running had smoothed; and in these you have placed your portion, and the happiness that you ex∣pect is to come in by these; and seeing you have chosen it, you shall be sure to have it, and Ipsi erunt sors tua, ut non nisi lapides & inutilia saxa possideas, Forer. They shall be thy portion, thou shalt possess nothing but stones. And by this means a man turns his glory into shame;* 1.333 God is a mans glory, and it is highest honour to have an interest in him, or have any rela∣tion to him, though it be but by way of office, much more is it an honour to have a portion in his Essence; and therefore the Lord calls himself their ornament, as Jer. 2.32. Can a maid forget her ornaments, but they have forgotten me their ornament, days without number; and they turned it into shame: all Idols are so called, they offered sacrifice unto that shame, it's spoken of Baal-Peor; that which is filthy in it self, and so is matter of shame,* 1.334 which is malum turpe, and that which is dishonourable unto the man, and therefore truly his shame, which is nothing else but the apprehension of an excellency abased. Now the greater the

excellency, the greater must the shame be, and the confusion in the apprehension of the abasement thereof.

3. For a man to have no recompence for all his labours but barely creatures, and the comforts of them, is a great misery. It's true, that the Saints may lawfully have respect to the recompence of reward;* 1.335 so had Moses, and so had Paul: We make, says he, things not seen our scope and aim in all our labours and endeavours;* 1.336 and so did Christ: For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, and despised the shame. It's true there is a recompence in obedience,* 1.337 in the keeping of Gods commandment is great reward, the excellency and honour of the work is a sufficient reward for the worker, though there were no reward after∣wards to come. Now Christ having bought all the services of the creatures, he doth imploy them all in his Kingdom, they are all sent by him to work in his Vineyard, and there is no man shall labour for Christ one hour in vain, but as ungodly men do perform to him unsanctified services, so they shall have unsanctified rewards; and as their services be seemingly services, but really sins, so shall their rewards be seemingly blessings, but really curses. And as Christ said of the Pharisees, they fasted, and they prayed, and gave alms, but they had a reward here below only; they did it to be seen of men, to be well spoken of for it, which they obtained: now to have a mans reward in any thing that is below God, that's a mans mi∣sery. But the recompence of the Saints reward lies in God himself, when he will take from them all the good things that they enjoy below, and all that communion which they enjoyed here with him, where they see his back parts, there they shall see his face for ever, and therefore it's beyond the hopes and the expectation of the Saints:* 1.338 He shall come to be glorified in his Saints, and admired in them that believe. Now the ground of admiration is the over-plus of expectation, they shall say as the Queen of Sheba did of Solomons glory, We have heard of thee here below, but the half was not told; and this glory lies in God alone. It's true there is not the meanest reward, but it is beyond the desert of the best of our services, and it is meerly free grace that rewards them; but if the Lord should give a man (as he did Nebuchadnezzar Egypt for his hire) Kingdoms and Nations, as the reward of his services that he did in this life, and yet say to him at the last day, You have your reward, you were herein for ever miserable.

4. Thy portion in the creatures will fail thee for ever, and deceive thee as a brook that passes by; for all flesh is grass, and the glory and the pride of it is but as the flower of the field, and it will be said to thee, In thy life-time thou hadst thy good things: for as you brought nothing into this world, so it's certain, that you can carry nothing out, but the soul shall be stripped of whatever is dear to it here below; for they are this worlds goods, and given but as a viaticum in the way, till a man come to his journies end, and whether they be ad regnum, or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, ad supplicium, as Chrysost. it's all one, they are not of any use in the life to come; and therefore when all men have acted their parts here, and are gathered into their own place, then there shall be a general conflagration of the world, when the earth and all the works of men shall be burnt up;* 1.339 for they are but for the present time of this life, and they will afterwards be of no further use to a man for ever; but here∣after God shall be all in all,* 1.340 and God will work all things by himself immediately. Here he doth comfort us by the creatures, and rules us by Angels, by Magistrates, and Ministers; but that shall not be in the life to come, for he will work all himself immediately. In this life we are to be taken up about God, the knowledge of God, and the love of God; but we are busied with many things else, cumbred about many things, and we are to take care of the things of this life, in our calling, which interrupts our abiding with God: but these imployments are but for the support of humane society in this present state, that we might serve God, and the good of Community; but we shall be taken up with God, and the things of God only in the life to come, and with God immediately, not God in the crea∣tures, as now we are. In this life we take pleasure in many things besides God, the works of God are sought out by his servants, and we please our selves with the comforts that he has given us in our way: for in this life God heaps variety of benefits upon us, he loads us daily with his benefits; but after this life there shall be but one great reward, and a man shall go out unto creatures for nothing unto eternity; there shall be a comfort in them, but not out of necessity, but variety, all of them seeing God in themselves, and in each other; but if a mans portion be in any thing without God, I tell thee thou must leave it behind thee,* 1.341 when thou comest to lie down in the grave, and so having kindled a fire you compass your self in your own sparks, you shall lye down in sorrow. All the comforts, of an ungodly man in this life are compared to the light of a candle, not only because they are maintained by creatures, base matter here below, but also because they will go out in the end, for the longest candle will end in a snuff; but now the light of the godly and their comfort being in God, it shines as the Sun more and more unto the perfect day.

5. It shall be unto you according to your desire, you shall never have any part or por∣tion in God for ever; that which is thy sin shall be thy punishment: as Christ made it to them that were invited, they shall never taste of my supper; so it shall be with you, you will have no interest in God, neither shall you have unto eternity, depart from me you cursed, cursed with eternal destruction from the presence of God, and the glory of his power;* 1.342 and this is called utter darkness. It's true our Divines commonly say, that the Torments of Hell are of two sorts, (1) Poena damni, something privative, which is the loss of God, and the happiness of the Saints. (2) Poena sensus, which is something positive, a punishment inflicted by God immediately upon soul and body. But it's said commonly by Divines, that it's the first that is the greatest part of a mans torment, and it's that which makes Hell properly such, which is demonstrated (1) from the meritorious cause of it, which is sin. There are in the Law two things, [1] the precept, [2] the prohibition. Now the mind of the Law-giver was most in the precept, and therefore the omission is a greater offence than the commission, if they be apart considered: now the punishment of loss is proportioned un∣to the omission of the precept, as the punishment of sense is unto the commission of the sin. (2) It will appear in this, that the blessedness of the Saints in Heaven doth mainly consist in the vision of God, that they shall see him face to face; and in this is the happiness of the Angels and Saints, yea of Christ himself, Psal. 16.1. therefore on the contrary doth the misery and damnation of the wicked lie, that they shall be deprived of the vision of the face of God for ever: Mille gehennae poenae, at nihil est quale à gloria Dei excludi, & à Deo odio haberi, &c. Chrys. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Basil in oratione de extremo Judicio.

6. He that has his portion in any thing below God, and not in the Essence of God, God will be ingaged against him for ever, and his judgment shall flow from God immediately▪ For either thou must have thy happiness in him immediately, or else thy misery will come in immediately from him for ever: for as after this life God will not govern by the crea∣tures, nor comfort by the creatures; so neither will he afflict or punish by them, but it shall be from his own immediate hand; therefore the fire of Hell is not material fire, as some have fancied, but it is Gods dispensing himself in wrath;* 1.343 for our God is a consuming fire. It's disputed amongst the School-men, Whether the Devils who were unto men incensores in culpa, abettors in the sin, shall be also tortores in poena, &c. tormentors in the punishment. And it's denied by some of them solidly upon these grounds. (1) The Devils ministery shall last no longer than the time of the ministery of good Angels, and that shall be but for the time of this life; for Satan shall be the God of this world no more after this life, and the good Angels shall be Principalities and Powers no more; for all rule and all autho∣rity shall be put down, whether good or evil; and therefore what power soever Satan has over wicked men while they are here (for he works effectually in them) he shall have no power over them hereafter. (2) The Devil himself being the greatest in sin, shall be the deepest in torment; for Hell is prepared chiefly for the Devil and his Angels. Now who shall torment the Devils? who can have power over them? this must be by God imme∣diately, it must be done by his own hand: Therefore man being appointed to partake with the Devil in the same torment, and by the same fire, look what it is that torments the Devil, that also must be the torment of those that in a way of sinning have given themselves unto him. (3) No creature can make a man perfectly miserable; there is no creature that can deprive the soul of God, and shut out all hope of mercy, make it utter darkness; if the soul did not apprehend it to come from Gods hand, his hope in God would still be continued; but as God hides his face in mercy sometimes here from his own peo∣ple, so he shall shew the wicked his face in wrath for ever; and therefore as in Heaven he is immediately the happiness and the glory of the Saints, so in Hell he is immediately the torment of the wicked: and the Lord Christ, as he is man, shall pronounce the sentence against them, but it is as God, that he shall inflict the punishment. As the sufferings of Christ here upon earth, the greatness of them lay in this, that God hid his face, and it pleased the Father to bruise him: so the same way will God t•• with all unregenerate men; and therefore cursed art thou, O man, if thy portion be 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in the Essence of God for good and for blessedness, it shall lie in the Essence of God for misery and torment for ever.

[Ʋse 2] §. 3. Therefore let your hearts and thoughts rise unto this height to seek God for him∣self, and be satisfied with nothing else; for all the creatures and the good things of this life are but given by the Lord to try men, whether they will prove baits to them, and to see whether they will rest satisfied in them without God: and herein lies the power of godliness, when a man is carried towards God for himself, and when there is nothing that comes from God will satisfie without God; for a regenerate mans happiness lies in the

Essence of God, and in the vision thereof; and in this lies the happiness of Christ as Me∣diator,* 1.344 that the Lord is the portion of his inheritance and of his cup. It's true, that Christ hath a great deal of satisfaction in seeing the travel of his soul, and is satisfied in the Saints, they are his friends, and his Spouse, and his brethren, &c. but yet the happiness of Christ as Mediator doth not consist therein, but only in the enjoyment of God himself, the vision of his Essence; and in this is the sincerity of a mans heart made manifest, when his heart is right with God, and he can say, Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee. And truly in God a soul shall have all things, he that gives himself will deny thee nothing. Oh the height of the happiness of the Saints! that that which is the happiness of Christ, and the blessedness of God himself, that shall be thy blessedness also; and therefore we may cry out, O the blessedness of that man whose God is Jehovah! Now the ways of attaining of this blessedness are these.

* 1.3451. By way of Ʋnion with Christ; for God is first Christs God, and then our God: Christs end is to bring us unto God, and it must be by entring into Covenant, and there is no way of coming into Covenant but by Union▪ be one with Christ, and then God is thine in Covenant.

* 1.3462. By a work of Regeneration: Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Grace is above nature, and grace is a principle that doth qualifie a man for the en∣joying of God: there is no beatifical vision without a fiducial vision, no seeing God, with∣out holiness no man shall see the Lord; for it is by this that a man is made a meet inhe∣ritor with the Saints in light.

* 1.3473. There must be Self-resignation to God. Give your selves unto the Lord; for he that will have Christ to be his, must be Christs: he that will have the Lord for his portion, must also himself be the Lords portion; and therefore the Scripture speaks it reciprocally, The Lord is the portion of his people.

[Ʋse 3] 3. See the riches of the Love of God under the second Covenant, called the riches of his grace, Eph. 1.7. Indeed it was great Love that the Lord was pleased to shew to man in his Creation, when he did make over all his creatures to him for his use, even all the works of his hands, and great was his bounty therein; but all this is nothing in compa∣rison to the second Covenant; for so bountiful is his love, that he gives himself; that he will not only act for you, but he will be yours truly, wholly, entirely yours, so as your happiness shall consist in him, and not in your self, he will be your chief good, and your utmost end, and the bottom of free grace lies in this; the ground of his giving his Son, and of all the great things in the new Covenant is this, they were the men of his good will that should be happy in himself, and he will bestow himself upon them. And that he may do so, he gives them his Son to bring them to God: all tends but to this end.

[Ʋse 4] 4. It's the highest ground of comfort and assurance unto faith in the world: if God give his Son, if he give himself, therefore he will give them all spiritual and temporal blessings. There is unto the Saints all things in God; therefore when the Lord desires to give unto his people full assurance, Heb. 6.17. as if he were in dispute about it, it's said, When he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself, as if the Lord had been soli∣citous about it, and so desirous to give a man ground of fulness of assurance, that if there had been a greater, God would have sworn by it; but because there was no greater, he swore by himself: and so it's here in this particular also, the Lord is desirous to shew his Love unto his Saints to the utmost, and Love is mainly seen in the bounty of it. Now if there had been a greater gift than himself he would have bestowed it; but because there was no greater he gave himself, and made over his own Essence to them: which is not only a strong ground of assurance that you shall be happy (for he is the blessed God, and his blessedness lies in himself, and he is his own blessedness) but that he shall accord∣ing to the possibility of the creature become thy happiness also; and it's a sure ground, that he that gives himself will deny nothing that may conduce to bring thee unto that glorious end, which is the vision of Gods own Essence, in which the height of his Love and of thy happiness 〈◊〉〈◊〉; and therefore Psal. 84.11. He will be a sun and a shield, he will give grace and glory and he can withhold or hold back nothing, non prohibebit, &c. He that has given himself, and could not withhold himself and his own Essence, surely there is nothing else that he can withhold from thee that lovest him.

[Ʋse 5] 5. Admire the happiness of the Saints: blessed men that you are, who have your por∣tion in the Lord:* 1.348 O the blessedness and the infinite happiness of that people who have, as their trust, so their portion in God alone! O happy must that creature be that hath his happiness in an infinite Being. It is the glory, of the righteousness of the Saints, that it is setled in another, and not in themselves; and therefore the Saints should glory in their portion, and make their boast of God, Psal. 34. My soul shall make her boast of God: in God

we boast all the day long. The word in the Original is laudabit se, shall praise it self,* 1.349 admire its own happiness and blessed condition: every man answerably unto what he places his happiness in, so he doth solace himself, and glory in it.* 1.350 Rich men boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, and praise their condition, as the only happy men in the world; but this doth properly belong unto the Saints: and therefore though thou art in never so mean a condition below, though thy commons be short, and thou art fed in the world as a Lamb in a large place, yet thy happiness ends in God, and that doth please thee more than all the corn and wine and oyl in this world; as it did Christ,* 1.351 the Lord is my portion, the lot is fallen to me in a fair ground, I have a goodly heritage. Who is able to mea∣sure that happiness that lies in an infinite Essence and an infinite goodness? I have seen an end of all perfection, but thy commandments are exceeding broad: so say all the Saints, no∣thing is to be compared with a God.

[Ʋse 6] Lastly, If this be the happiness of the Saints, then look through all the means that lead unto this end, and let this be the great thing in your eye; for Christ, and Promises, and Ordinances, all of them are but to this end to bring you to God; therefore look through them all to a further end, Christ himself is but a medium thereunto, and therefore for this happiness sigh and groan, and be not satisfied with any thing else, no not with the graces of God, and communion with Jesus Christ; but consider, the enjoyment of the ulti∣mate object of faith is God, and then will our happiness be compleated, when we shall be ever with the Lord, then, and not till then.

CHAP. IV. In the Covenant of Grace God makes over all the Persons in the Trinity.

SECT. I. The distinct Offices and Acts of each Person in the Trinity in this Covenant.

§. 1. I Now come unto the third Head in this great and glorious Promise, and that is, When the Lord doth promise to be the God of his people, he doth make over to them in Co∣venant all the Persons in the Divine Nature; for they had all of them a hand in the making of the Covenant, and therefore all the promises of the Covenant come from them all, they all of them do make over themselves unto the Saints: and this will appear, (1) by looking upon them all as free Agents, and those that are absolute Lords, and have domi∣nion over their own acts, and they have all given themselves. [1] God the Father has made over himself, I will be unto him a Father, it's spoken of Christ; and therefore he is called by the Apostle the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by this means he is our Father, my Father, and your Father, my God and your God, say Christ.* 1.352 [2] He gives the Son unto us, Unto us a Son is given, and therefore he is called by way of eminency, the gift of God, Joh. 4.10. Rom. 8. He that spared not his own Son, but gave him to death for us all. And yet the Son is not so given by the Father, but he doth also freely give himself; for he saith, I and my Father are one, not only one in essence, but also one in will,* 1.353 in refe∣rence unto the great work of Redemption; and therefore God doth ••o sooner make the motion to him, Psal. 40. it is brought in as the consultation held in Heaven before the Lord dispatched Christ into the world, but Christ saith, Lo I come to do thy will O God.* 1.354 I came not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. There is none that takes away my life, but I lay it down of my self. [3] And the giving of the Spirit, it's sometimes said to be the gift of the Father, and therefore called the Promise of the Father, which they were to wait for, Acts 1.8. and sometimes the gift of the Son, I will send the Comforter: again,* 1.355 The Comforter that I will send you from the Father, Joh. 15.26. and the Comforter whom the Fa∣ther will send in my name. Which is not to be interpreted as a promise only of the gifts and graces of the Spirit to come in but at second hand: but as the giving of the Son is a giving of his person, and giving us an interest therein; so giving the Spirit is a giving of the per∣son of the Spirit also, and giving us a personal interest in him: and as the Father and Son

are one, so is the Spirit also one with them; and therefore has the same will with them, and doth freely bestow himself upon the Saints for their portion, as the Son doth to ac∣complish the great designs of the Gospel.

2. This will appear from the union of a Saint with all the Persons in the Trinity. The Scripture speaks distinctly,* 1.356 not only of a union with Christ, but with the Spirit, he that is joyned unto the Lord is one spirit, i. e. not only makes up one spiritual body with him, but also is one with the Spirit that dwells in him; and therefore Joh. 17.21. Christs prayer is, That they may be one,* 1.357 as we are one: not only one amongst themselves, but one with us also, according unto that glorious and unspeakable union that is between the persons amongst themselves, of which this is but a shadow and a resemblance. God is said to dwell in the Saints, and they are the habitation of God through the Spirit, 2 Cor. 6.16. and they are said to dwell in God, Joh, 1.4, 16. and 1 Thess. 1.1. which is in God the Father, &c. and to work in God, Joh. 3.21. And our Divines do commonly say, that in glory our union with God shall be perfected; and they say, that the soul is capable of an union with God, as it does appear in its union with the Son; for the mystical union is not only unto Christ as Man, but unto the Godhead, as well as unto the Manhood of Christ; for we are made one with whole Christ both God and Man. Now by this means there being but one Essence, there must follow a glorious union with all the Persons, and if this be perfected (as some make that to be the intent of Christs prayer, Joh. 17.21. That they may be one with us, as thou Father art in me) if there be a perfection of their union hereafter, then surely there is an union that is begun in this life with all the persons in the Godhead; and so much also our parti∣cular union with them does imply, for all communion is grounded in union.

3. It will appear from the distinct Communion of the Saints with them all: Our fellow∣ship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.* 1.358 And there is a fellowship of the Spirit also,* 1.359 1 Cor. 13.14. (1) There are distinct manifestations: Christ says, I will manifest my self to him; and there is a distinct Love, He that loves me shall be loved of my Father. I do not say that I will pray the Father, for the Father himself loves you; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father also: and therefore there is the love of the Son discovered, and the love of the Father also. Sometimes the love and good will of the one is let into the Soul, and sometimes of another; and the soul is drawn out and ravished sometimes with the love of the one, and sometimes with the love of another: and we honour them distinctly, and believe in them distinctly, honour the Son, as they honour the Father, and believe in God, believe also in me, Joh. 14.1. Answerable unto the manifestations and discoveries that are made, such are the apprehensions and the affections of the Saints. Some are mightily at first conversion taken up with the love of the Father, and they see that Christ was but his servant in that work, and the fountain of free grace was in the Father, and the plot to re∣deem was his, and it was his will that Christ came to perform, and therefore their hearts and faith are mainly drawn out towards God the Father. Others there be that have the love of Christ set on upon their hearts, who though he were God, and in the form of God, and thought it no robbery to be equal with God, yet he did empty himself, and humbled himself unto death, even the death of the Cross; and he came off freely upon the motion of the Father, which was so much the more, because all the acts of the Father, though they are acts of Love, yet are acts of Majesty also, and there was no dishonour or con∣descension in the Father; but the acts of Christ were acts of ministery and of humiliation, and that even unto the death of the Cross, that he should be made sin, and made a curse; and the Love of Christ is discovered unto them as passing knowledge. There are distinct manifestations of them all, and therein is the ground of their communion with them all. (2) There are distinct communications, the Father opens his bosom, and he reveals his counsels. There is a book in the right hand of him that sits upon the Throne, he reveals his mind unto Christ,* 1.360 and by him unto his Saints; and therefore he is said to come out of the bosom of the Father, and therefore man is said to hear and learn of the Father: and the Son communicates his righteousness, his graces, his victories, his priviledges, his inheri∣tance, and the Spirit doth convey unto the soul his right and his warmth (for the Spirit is as fire) his holiness and his comforts, for he is the oyl of gladness; his communion doth consist in giving and receiving and returning. Now there is something that all the Saints do receive from each of the persons, and there is a peculiar glory that they do return un∣to them all, answerable unto the mercies that they do receive; and by this means propor∣tionable unto the mercies they receive, such is the communion that the Saints have, some∣times with one person, and sometimes with another; they know that he that has com∣munion with the Father has communion with the Son and with the Holy Ghost, because they are one; but my meaning is, that person which a mans heart is at the present affe∣cted with, and drawn out unto in a more special manner, that he has a special communion

with, which is something of the Love of the Father, and the manifestation and communi∣cation of the Father, sometimes of the Son, and sometimes of the Spirit, and answerable unto these our communion is said to be with each of them.

4. It will appear by these distinct acts of office which they have for the good of the Saints undertaken; for though opera ad extrà sunt indivisa, and we cannot say that one works, but the other works also; and therefore we cannot call them opera propria, proper works; yet they are appropriata, appropriated, in the Scripture they are more specially attri∣buted some unto one, and some to another. Eph. 1.2, 3. Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, and blessed us with all spiritual mercies in Christ: and for Christ, we have Redemption through his blood, &c. and as for the Spirit, Eph. 1.13, 14. After you believed you were sealed with the holy Spi∣rit of promise, who is the earnest of your inheritance. And so 1 Pet. 1.2. Elect according to the fore-knowledge of God, through the sanctification of the Spirit, and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: therefore by reason of the special interest that they have given unto the Saints in themselves, they have undertaken distinct offices; and this is plain in Son and Spirit, which are terms of office. He that is sent doth imply as much as to be imployed in the business of another, and to receive his commission from another. This will appear, (1) in the work of Conversion and Election, the Father begets, calls, draws: For no man (says Christ) can come to me, except God the Father draws him. Christ he receives men, but he receives none but those that the Father has given him, he gives him the souls that he must save, and they that come to him are so given him of the Father, these shall come, and none else, he will in no wise cast them off. And as Christ receives them, so the Spirit unites God and the soul; for he is the bond of union between them and their Head, he that is joyned unto the Lord is one Spirit; and we are one Spirit, baptized into one body; and therefore in the work of Election each of them have their distinct acts and office. (2) In all the duties of the Saints they have their proper and distinct works; as in hearing, it is God the Father whose the truths are that they hear,* 1.361 they are a mystery hid in God from ages and from generations. The book of his counsels are in the hand of him that sits upon the Throne, who is the Word of God, that is, the Interpreter of the Fathers mind, as the word of a man is of the mind of a man, which I conceive is the proper meaning of that expressi∣on; and so Joh. 1.17. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ merito∣riously; for there is not a truth revealed but cost the blood of Christ, and it is as the Lamb that was slain, by virtue of his Priesthood, that he doth open the book, Rev. 5. And so the Spirit is the Eye-salve that gives us an understanding to receive the truths that are re∣vealed, and doth ingraft the word into the heart: so in prayer also,* 1.362 the Father is prayed unto; and therefore Christ teaches us in our prayers to look up unto God, and to cry, Our Father; not but that Christ and the Spirit may be prayed to, for they are God, they are believed in, and therefore are to be prayed unto; but yet because of the different of∣fices of the persons in this work of prayer, therefore we are mainly directed to pray unto the Father; so that he hears prayers, and the Spirit indites them,* 1.363 and the Son he offers them with his own odours, Rev. 8.3. (3) It will appear also in the sealing of the Saints, which, I conceive, is not the working of grace, as some say, and so the allusion is of a seal, modo naturali, and so the Spirit in working an impression of the image of Christ upon the soul is said to seal it, leaving the like impression in the man; but it is after a man believes;* 1.364 and I conceive, that sealing is used in Scripture chiefly in a metaphorical sense, to assure and to mark out a person, as it's said Ezech. 9. They were sealed, that is, set apart for it, and seal the stone, that is, to make it sure, to ratifie and confirm it. Now there are the distinct seals of all the persons unto the evidences of the Saints, they have all of them a distinct witness, 1 Joh. 5.7. The Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and they three agree in one, they do all of them testifie the same thing, but yet they do all of them give a di∣stinct witness in the hearts of the Saints; as they did witness unto Christ, the Father from Heaven, and the Son in his Baptism, and the Spirit descending as a Dove, so they do also unto the souls of the Saints: and therefore Sacraments are called Seals: not that they do work the righteousness of faith in any man; (for they do not work grace, but streng∣then and witness grace) but because they do assure it unto the man that doth receive them, and for that cause are said to be sealing Ordinances.

§. 2. Now these distinct acts of office they do perform, are grounded upon the distinct interest that the Saints have in them all: and I call these acts of Office upon a double ground. [1] Because they are but for a time, during the present administration of the mediatory Kingdom, which shall have its period, and then the Father will draw souls to Christ no more, the Son will present sacrifice to God no more,* 1.365 the Spirit will no longer assist, call, purge, sanctifie, seal; but all the graces of the Subjects of the Kingdom of

Christ shall be perfected, and all Gods ends in the Covenant of grace attained; and then the offices that were undertaken but for the accomplishment of these ends shall be laid down. [2] Because there is a personal glory that doth redound unto each person by these offices: there be natural acts that do add to the essential glory, the glory of the na∣ture; but acts of Office being personal, they add unto the glory of the persons that do perform them;* 1.366 God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, the Father hath the glory thereof; and the Son he hath taken the form of a servant, and paid the service, and made a purchase, and he has the glory thereof, all Nations are given unto him, and the honour of it in the hearts of all the Saints: Joh. 5.23. That all men may honour the Son, &c. And the Holy Ghost he works all in the hearts of the Saints, he begins the good work,* 1.367 and he perfects it; for all the graces of the Saints are but fruits of the Spirit, and therefore he has a distinct glory also. The great end and intent of God in the new Co∣venant was not only to shew forth the Attributes of his Nature, and to glorifie them in a higher way than ever they were formerly under the first Covenant discovered, as we have formerly seen; but also to exalt the glory of all the persons in the hearts of the Saints, that they might, with hearts ravished with the love, goodness, and the offices of them all, cry out, Glory be unto the Father, Son, and holy Ghost, and pray unto them all, Rev. 1.5, 6. Grace be unto you, and peace from him which was, and is, and which is to come, and from the se∣ven Spirits before the Throne, and from Jesus the faithful and true witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth, who has loved us, and washed us from our sins by his own blood, and has made us Kings and Priests unto God, and the Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever, &c. They have each of them their peculiar glory of the distinct works that they themselves have wrought, and all of it is grounded upon this distinct in∣terest that the Lord doth promise to the Saints, that he will be their God.

5. When the Saints come to glory, their communion with all these glorious persons shall be perfected, they shall not only have perfect sanctification, but communion; and as their communion in this life is not with God only, but with all the persons distinctly, having hearts affected with love, and sensible of the communion of them all, so it shall be much more in Heaven; for the communion here that we have shall be perfected. Now in Hea∣ven we shall have not only the vision of God, that is, of his Essence, but also of all the persons, we shall see God in Trinity, as well as in Ʋnity; for what we have here by faith, we shall have there by sight; but here we have that by faith, therefore we shall see them there, or else we cannot see him as he is; and according to our vision, so shall our commu∣nion be, but we shall have a distinct fellowship and sweetness in the Father, Son, and Spirit for ever.

Now the grounds of it are these. 1. That our happiness might appear to consist in the vision and fruition of them all, therefore they are all of them distinctly made over by Co∣venant to us, we shall not only see God in his Unity, but in his Trinity also, not only the glory of the Divine Essence, but the excellency of each of the persons. This is a mystery now that is inconceivable unto us, which we are not to pry into, which the Angel in a vision told Austin while he was studying and did endeavour to comprehend, he did but attempt to empty the Sea with a spoon into a pit, Scrutator Majestatis opprimitur à gloria. This Mystery is here discovered only to the faith of the Saints; but that revelation which is in this life imperfect shall be perfected in Heaven, and our knowledge which in a way of faith is imperfect (for faith is a grace that doth suppose imperfection) that shall be per∣fected in vision; for in Heaven whatever doth suppose sin, or implies imperfection, shall be done away; therefore the Father as distinguished from the Son, and the Son from the Father, the nature of the generation of the Son, and the procession of the Holy Ghost, which now we have only revealed unto us that it is so, the nature and the manner of it we shall understand, so far as the creature is capable of such glorious and inconceivable mysteries, and then in them all shall our happiness consist, and our soul is to have its por∣tion in them all.

2. That the soul may honour them distinctly; for the aim of God in the new Covenant is not barely the glory of the Divine Essence, and to exalt in the hearts of the Saints the Attributes of the Nature, but the excellency of the persons also; that they may honour the Son,* 1.368 as they honour the Father, that they may give glory to the Father, Son, and holy Spirit, and may cry always day and night, Holy, holy, holy, Rev. 4.8. repetitâ acclama∣tione unum Jehovam celebrant, quem etiam trinum agnoscunt, Bright. And the Lord doth in Scripture exceedingly stand upon a distinct glory, and to that very end requires not only a general and confused, but a distinct acknowledgment; not only that we should know God to have all goodness and all sufficiency in him, but the particular attributes and ex∣cellencies that are in God; and not only to know Christ, to have all fulness in him, but

that the soul see the several offices and the particular excellencies that are laid up in Christ, as the Church doth, Cant. 5. for as else a man can never give God glory till his particular excellencies be known and discovered, so a man will never be in his own soul affected with it (for they are particulars that do affect:) as whilst the Queen of Sheba heard but a general report of the wisdom of Solomon, she was so far affected, as that she was moved to come a great journey, even from the farthest parts of the Earth to hear his wisdom; but when she saw his wisdom in the particulars of it, when he had answered all her questions, and she had seen all his glory, there was no more spirit left in her,* 1.369 they were the particulars that did affect, his wisdom, and his house, and his servants, &c. As it's in confession, they are not generals that do affect, it's a small thing for men to say, That they are all sinners, and they have broken all the commands; but when a man sees his sins in the particulars set down in order before him, then is his soul amazed, and he doth abhor himself, never till then: and so it is in thanksgiving also. Now because that all the persons shall be glorified, and they shall all have great glory, therefore it must be di∣stinct; and that it may come from a heart truly affected with it also, therefore he must give unto each person his distinct glory.

3. That a man in this life may exercise distinct acts of faith upon them all, Joh. 14.1. You believe in God, believe also in me, not only to the glory of God the Father, but of the Son and Spirit also; that faith may have an eye unto God the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, as Eph. 1.14. and unto Christ as the Son, in whom he is well pleased, as Mat. 17.3. there∣fore he is in the bosom of the Father able to reveal all his Fathers counsels unto the Saints, and interceding as he is the Son, and therefore is very powerful with him,* 1.370 he can∣not deny the cry of a Son, Heb. 7. ult. Though Christ as he is God cannot pray, because he can stand in need of nothing that he should go out of himself for, for he is God all∣sufficient;* 1.371 yet it is the Godhead that gives an efficacy to all that is done in the humane nature. There are two things Christ does as he is a Priest. (1) His Satisfaction, and the sufficiency thereof is put upon the Godhead in the Scripture, Acts 20.28. The blood of God, and, We are made the righteousness of God in him, 2 Cor. 5.21. and Heb. 9.14. He offered himself by the eternal Spirit without spot to God. (2) His Intercession: and though he doth intercede by the power of his satisfaction (for he doth enter within the most holy place) and doth sprinkle the blood with the incense, his blood is a speaking blood; yet the pre∣valency of his Intercession is commonly put upon the strength of the relation between God and him, Psal. 2.7, 8. Thou art my Son, &c. Ask of me and I will give thee, &c. Thou art Christ the Son of God, it's the confession of Peters faith, and is also called the Founda∣tion of the Churches faith, 1 Cor. 3.11. And so there is Divine Worship given to Christ as Mediator, they worship the Lamb, this is by reason of union; and yet it is evident,* 1.372 that the humane nature remains a creature after its union, and therefore it is as he is the Son, and so is coessential with the Father, this is the formalis ratio, the proper cause of this Di∣vine Faith and Worship; and so the Holy Ghost also he is to be believed for himself and his own testimony: the Spirit is truth,* 1.373 and the Scriptures are to be believed only for the testimony of the Spirit, 2 Pet. 1.21. But holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost; therefore we are commanded to hear what the Spirit says unto the Churches; he is called therefore the Spirit of faith, 2 Cor. 4.13.

4. That we may honour them in our prayers distinctly: for whomsoever a man is to believe in, him he may pray unto, Rom. 10.14. How can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And therefore in our prayers we are not only to go unto God, but un∣to each of the persons, with distinct petitions, suitable unto the acts that they have un∣dertaken, and the offices in which they have made over themselves unto the Saints under the new Covenant. Christ he prays to the Father, Holy Father, righteous Father, I will that those that thou hast given me be with me, sanctifie them by thy truth. And Stephen at his death, Lord Jesus receive my spirit. And the Disciples, Lord increase our faith. And so doth the Church, Tell me where thou feedest, &c. The Apostle commonly speaks of them all together, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fel∣lowship of the Spirit be with you. And Rev. 1.5, 6. Grace from him that is, and was, and is to come, and from the seven Spirits that are before the Throne, and from Jesus the faithful and true witness. And as it is a mans duty to believe in the Son as well as the Father, so it is to pray to the Son distinctly, as also unto the Father: for as our faith must distinctly take in all the objects of faith, or else it is imperfect; (for there are two things that tend to the perfection of any grace: (1) When it takes in all the objects in their extent and latitude. (2) When they do put forth compleat and perfect acts upon these objects: thus I say, as faith must take in all its objects, or else there is something wanting in it, as the Apostle speaks of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the wants of faith) so must faith give unto each

of these their due and proper glory; and Christ being to be believed in, he may be prayed unto, nay it's an honour that belongs unto him, and therefore our faith must give it to him.

5. That the soul may have a distinct fellowship and communion with them all; and there is a fellowship with the Spirit;* 1.374 we are by the Gospel brought into communion with God, and it's a distinct fellowship and communion that we are to have with all the persons, our communion is as large as our relation, and the soul is to look upon himself as reconciled to them all; and therefore all of them are become our friends; and we have a particular and distinct interest in them all. Now how is a man said to have fel∣lowship with God, or to walk with God? it is when the thoughts of a mans heart are taken up with God, and he has an eye unto him, and unto his glory from day to day: As a man is said to have communion with the Devil, when he walks with his temptations, and the desires and thoughts of his heart do run out towards the unfruitful works of dark∣ness; a man has fellowship with the Devil in all things, as it is said; Prov. 6.22. The law shall talk with a man waking, and keep him when he is asleep, and lead him when he goes; how is this is? it is but in the thoughts and the meditations of a mans own heart, by the sug∣gestions and directions thereof, where it doth richly dwell; so it is in this also, it is com∣munion with God, and Gods dwelling in the soul, animus ascendit frequenter, &c. the soul frequently ascends, there is gratiarum decursus & recursus, a flowing down and reflowing of gra∣ces, and in this doth our communion lye. Now a man having an interest in all the persons, all of them having undertaken something for a mans good by way of office, and a man receiving something from them all, and returning praise to them all, there is in the soul a distinct fellowship to be exercised with them all; sometimes the thoughts of his heart being drawn out to the Father, and sometimes unto the Son, and sometimes unto the Spirit; and observing the witnessing of them all, and the sealing of them all unto the evidences of the Saints, sometimes we walk with the Father, and sometimes with the Son, and sometimes with the Spirit; and the more distinct a mans communion is, the more sweet it is.

6. That a man may draw arguments and motives unto duty and against sin from them all, and a mans interest in them all. We are said to be baptized in the name of them all,* 1.375 Mat. 28.20. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Now what is it to be baptized into the name of the Father? it's conceived to be taken from the manner of marriage, wherein the wife doth transire in nomen, in familiam, &c. into the name and family of the husband: or of servants, who had their masters name called upon them;* 1.376 and therefore no man might be baptized in the name of a creature, it is that which Paul detests, that he should baptize in his own name; and therefore the meaning is, to be baptized in fidem, in cultum, into the faith and worship of God; and so you are unto them all, and give up your names unto them all; and therefore unto each per∣son we owe both faith and worship distinctly, all manner of duty and obedience, because we are distinctly baptized unto the faith of them all, to believe in them, and worship them: and a man should draw arguments to keep him from sin from them all, and his interest in them all, the Father is greater than all, and it is by his will we are sanctified: If we call him Father, who without respect of persons judgeth every man according to his works. Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear, 1 Pet. 1.15. And he says of Christ, I send my Angel, but take heed of him, obey his voice, provoke him not, for my name is in him. And grieve not the holy Spirit, by whom you are sealed to the day of redemption, do not resist the Holy Ghost, do not tempt him, lest he forsake you, and say, I will strive with you no more. A man should fear the evil aspect of any word of God, and the estrangement of any pro∣mise of God, that he should be in such a condition, that he cannot go to it with boldness and comfort, and be kept off from an Ordinance of God, that he cannot eat the Passover with the people of God in the season of it: how much more when a man shall look up upon the Father, Son, and Spirit, and sees any of these estranged from him; for they seek the glory one of another, and delight to have each other honoured in the hearts of the Saints; and if thou walk unworthily towards any of them, they are all of them provoked and displeased thereby.

§. 3. Let us now take a view of the particulars, how, and in what respect each person doth make over himself unto the Saints in the second Covenant, that we may see how they have an interest in them all. 1. God the Father makes over himself in Covenant unto the Saints as he is the Father;* 1.377 therefore Christ calls him My Father and your Fa∣ther, my God and your God. The Saints also call him our Father, 2 Thess. 1.1. In God our Father, &c. Christ is his Son by nature, as he is God, and as Mediator, he is taken into the same Sonship by the grace of personal Ʋnion, Luke 1.35. That holy thing which shall

be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And we are also taken into the same Son∣ship by the grace of Adoption, by virtue of the mystical Union, even as the Manhood of Christ is by the personal Union. Now what is it to have an interest in him as a Fa∣ther, that we can call him Abba Father? The sweetness of that relation is very great un∣to the Saints; for he is the Father of mercies, and he is the Father of lights,* 1.378 by which Ma∣jesty, Holiness, and Perfection is intimated, for so much Light doth signifie, 1 Joh. 1.5. and therefore he is said to dwell in light, and Heaven to be an inheritance in light, and he is the Fountain and Father of all Light, whether it be lumen fidei, or lumen gloriae,* 1.379 the light of faith, or the light of glory: and from hence Saints looking upon God the Father making over himself unto them, are greatly affected, considering, (1) they have the honour of such a relation; and truly the highest honour of the Saints is that of Sonship, as it was the highest honour of Christ in his relation, that he was the Son of the Father; and we count it a high honour to stand in relation unto a Prince, as David said, Is it a small mat∣ter to be Son-in-law to a King? It is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a priviledge or prerogative to be called the Sons of God, Behold what manner of love the Father has shewed us,* 1.380 that we should be called the sons of God! Now we are the sons of God in this life, we have this title of honour put upon us, though it is true our condition doth not seem answerable unto such a relation; adoptionis fructus nondum apparet, &c. 1 Joh. 3.2. (2) We may be sure to be acquaint∣ed with his secrets, and see all his actings; for the Father loves the Son, and shews him all that he himself does: he did so to Christ, and in your measure he will deal so with you also; for the Son is in the bosom of the Father, and therefore he knows his mind and his purpose, The secrets of the Lord are with them that fear him,* 1.381 i. e. the secrets of his counsel with them, and the secret of his providence over them, his Law is in their hearts. (3) He loves you as a Father, My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And we know the bowels of a father to his son by Abrahams to Ismael for his everlasting state, his love did rise so high, though we are begotten not of the will of man, but of God. And though Absolom were a disobedient son, yet David doth love him, so that his heart went out to him, even when he rebelled against him, there is an efficacy in love. (4) As a Father he'l hear your prayers: Father I thank thee, that thou hast heard me, I know thou hearest me always, whatever you ask of the Father, he will give it you also that are his children. It is by our sonship that we prevail with God in prayer at any time, we have an Advocate in the Father, The Father himself loves you, saith Christ, and therefore whatever you ask the Father be sure you shall speed, and Christ argues the case with us, Why should you doubt this? If you know how to give good gifts to your children that are evil, how much more shall your heavenly Father give to them that ask? (5) He will as a Father give you a supply for all your wants: The Father loves the Son, and has committed all things into his hand, all judgment is committed to the Son; so he will give you as a Father the greatest gifts, he gives his Son, his Spirit, he will give the Holy Ghost to them that ask him, he will give grace and glory, he doth not think Heaven too dear for them, because they are sons, and his own Essence he will make their portion and happiness. (6) He rejoyceth in your prosperity here in your well-doing, when wisdom is justified of her children, he rejoyceth in their well-doing, a wise son maketh a glad father: he loves to see them pro∣sper, to see their graces grow, and their souls thrive, that they may have all good things both here and hereafter. (7) He spares them in their services, as a father spares his son that serves him, though they be weak he doth not reject their offerings, and he doth ac∣cept the will for the deed; does not deal with us as an enemy that watches for our halt∣ing, but as a father; we do not stand without as the rest of the world do, but we come in∣to the inner Court. (8) Lastly, they have an interest in him for correction, Whom I love I chastise, says God; and in all their afflictions he doth pity them as a father,* 1.382 he doth cor∣rect in judgment, not in fury, but in measure, &c. it is for their profit, that they may say it was good for them, &c.

But more particularly this must be premised,* 1.383 that under the first Covenant all the per∣sons had an equal hand in the same things, and there were not opera propria, but what the Father is said to do, that the Son and Spirit also are said to do; so that they have not their appropriata, any peculiar works appropriated unto them, but whatever is done, is done by the Godhead joyntly; and the same thing that is said to be done by the Father, is said to be done by the Son also, that as God the Father is said to create all things, so is the Son also, Joh. 1, 3, 4. All things were made by him, and without him was nothing made that was made; and so it is said of the Spirit also, Gen. 1.2. The Spirit moved upon the face of the wa∣ters. Job 26.13. By his Spirit he has garnished the heavens; which doth not note the in∣strument or the minister by whom the Lord wrought, but only the order of the working in the Trinity, for the order of working is answerable to the order of subsisting; the Fa∣ther

works by the Son, and the Son works by the Spirit; and therefore Job 33.4. The Spirit of God made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life. It's attributed unto the Spirit alone: and not only in the work of Creation, but also in the upholding of the things created; for Joh. 1.3, 4. In him was life, that is, omnia per ipsum sustentari, &c. which is expounded by that, in him we live, and move, and have our being, and that Col. 1.17. By him all things consist, as well as were made by him, and in a more special manner the image of God, in which man was created, was from them all, Gen. 1.26. Let us make man in our own image, which was but one and the same of all the persons; for it is added, in the image of God created he him:* 1.384 the life is the light of men, which is as much as to say, homi∣nem per 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ad imaginem Dei creatum, as Chemnitius. Thus under the first Covenant all things were carried on by the Godhead joyntly, and whatever was done is said to be done by them all, without any appropriation of any thing unto one person more than ano∣ther. But when we come to a second Covenant, then though God works all in all, yet there is a special kind of appropriation of the actions, some more peculiarly unto one per∣son, and some unto another, vel quoad agendi modum, vel quoad actionis terminum in quo se unius personae operatio potissimùm elucet, &c. Med. p. 37. Synops. purior. &c. p. 103. In which, though there be a joynt concurrence of all the persons by way of consent, for they have all but one will, yet they may be in a special manner so appropriated unto the one, as they cannot unto the other; so the Father is said to send his Son, and the Son cannot be said to send himself; and so the Son is said to be incarnate, the word was made flesh, and to take upon him the form of a servant, which cannot be said of the Father; and so the Father and the Son are said to send the Comforter, which cannot be said of the Holy Ghost;* 1.385 and the Holy Ghost is said to form Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the holy thing conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost; and the Holy Ghost is the bond of Union be∣tween the two Natures, and the bond of Union between Christ and us, which cannot be said of the Father, or the Son, though there be a consent of will, and so a concurrence of all the persons unto every action that doth tend unto our salvation; for having one and the same Essence, they have all of them one will also; yea they have so taken upon them∣selves the special offices and acts, that per solennem quandam appropriationem, by a certain solemn appropriation, some of them are said so to be done by the one, as that they cannot be said to be done by the other; and it is according unto these appropriated Acts, that the persons are made over unto us under the second Covenant: for though the will of the Father and the Son be one and the same, because the Essence is but one; yet as the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Father, so eadem voluntas distinctè appropriat se alteri ut donanti & mittenti, alteri ut dato & misso, Cocceius de Testament. Dei Disput. 9. Thes. 92. The same will doth distinctly appropriate it self to one as the giver and sender, and to the other as given and sent. Now answerable unto this consent of will, such are the offices that they have undertaken, and such are the actions and operations that they do put forth, and by this distinct consent of will unto the several actions, which in the Scripture we see they do appropriate unto themselves, (for it is the Word of God, and the Lord speaks it of him∣self, and not any man) according unto these do they under the second Covenant make over themselves to the Saints, that, answerably to these several acts and offices, they may be able to look upon each person, to whom in Scripture they are appropriated, and from that person in faithfulness to expect the accomplishment of them, because they have each of them undertaken it, speaking so of themselves in the word, as if such acts did properly belong unto them, and thereby manifesting the distinct appropriation of their wills un∣to each of them.

This being premised, let us now see how each person has made over himself unto Belie∣vers in reference unto the second Covenant. (1) As a distinct object of their faith; for there are distinct acts of faith to be exercised upon all these persons answerable unto their appropriated acts:* 1.386 Ye believe in God, says Christ, believe also in me; for though the ultimate object of faith be God (for by Christ the Mediator we believe in God) yet the several per∣sons are to have faith distinctly exercised upon them,* 1.387 answerable unto that distinct reve∣lation of themselves.* 1.388 (2) As a distinct object of worship, That every man might honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. Grace and peace from him that is, and was, and is to come, and from the seven Spirits that are before the Throne. (3) As distinct grounds of their consolation; for though God be the God of all consolation, yet there is a distinct conso∣lation comes from each person, answerable unto their appropriated acts, which is the ground of a distinct communion. (4) For their salvation, each of the persons having their proper work in bringing many sons to glory; but it has been shewed, that these ap∣propriated acts, which I called Acts of Office, are but for a time taken up with reference unto the mediatory Kingdom, and when that shall be ended, and all the Saints perfected

and glorified, and the Kingdom again given up into the hand of the Father, then God shall be all in all; and the persons shall act joyntly without any such appropriation for ever: and look what the Spirit in the Word has spoken of each person, that we may be assured of, that each person has undertaken; for the Spirit of God knows the mind of God and the things of God, and the Lord would never have spoken so of himself, but that he would have us to look upon them as acts that the persons had each of them undertaken for the Elect, and these we way build upon in the new Covenant, that they have and will perform.

SECT. II. The Actions undertaken by God the Father in this Covenant.

§. 1. GOD the Father has spoken of himself distinctly, and has taken upon himself some appropriated acts, and hath in them made over himself unto the Saints for their consolation and salvation, which we shall demonstrate unto you in these par∣ticulars. 1. All things begin at God the Father, he is first in order of working, as he is in the order of subsisting; he was the first Plotter and Mover in this great work of mans salvation; for the Son saith, He can do nothing of himself in it,* 1.389 but what he sees the Father do; and therefore Luke 24.9. Christ calls it his Fathers business: as though Solomon built the Temple, yet the Platform was revealed unto David, and by him was left unto his son; so though Christ, this Solomon was to build the Temple, the man whose name is the Branch, yet the Platform of all was laid by the Father; and therefore he is in Scri∣pture every where said to have the first and the great hand therein: and I shall reduce these to two heads. (1) The Actions that are undertaken by the Father. (2) The Relations in which the Saints stand unto the Father.

1. The Actions, that according unto Scripture-acceptation the Father has undertaken, and these are of two sorts. (1) There are some acts that are eternal and before time. (2) There are some that are done by the Father in time. 1. The actions of the Father before all time, and they are these. (1) He did from Eternity purpose to glorifie him∣self in the Son; for the Father will be glorified in the Son, Phil. 2.11. The great end of all the acts of Christ, and of all his life is this, that every tongue might confess,* 1.390 That Je∣sus is the Lord, unto the glory of God the Father; for this is the highest way of glorifying the Father, and therefore Christ knowing that to be the Fathers end, that he might shew himself to be the Fathers servant, he did aim at this end, and it was always in his eye in all things that he did, I seek not mine own glory, but the glory of him that sent me, Joh. 8.50. There is one that seeks not his own glory, and therefore Heb. 1.2, 3. he is called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which is the shining forth of the glory of the Father; for his great aim was from Eternity to be glorified in his Son; and therefore 1 Cor. 11.7. Christ is said to be the image and glory of God, and the woman the mans glory, the head of Christ is God. Now glo∣ry is the manifestation and the shining forth of some supereminent and transcendent ex∣cellency. And it was an argument of great excellency that was in man, that all the creatures were created for man, and put in subjection unto him; but the highest ho∣nour of man was the woman, who was created in the same nature, having a reasonable soul, as himself had; and souls know no sexes, being created after the same image, and unto the same glory with himself, and yet this glorious creature should be created for man, and put in subjection unto man, for the woman was created for the man: so also God hath great glory by all his creatures, for Prov. 16.4. He made all things for himself; and he has a more special honour from the reasonable creatures, the Angels and the Saints; but yet the top and the highest of God the Fathers glory is, that the Son, who thought it no robbery to be equal with God in glory, yet shall give up himself to the glory of the Father; and this is a far greater glory than the Father has by all the creatures in Heaven and Earth. And there is a double glory that the Father did seek by the Son: (1) That the Son himself should give him glory, should seek his glory in all things, reflect all his own glory upon the Father, and attribute all to him, and be con∣tent to veil his own glory, that the glory of the Father might appear. (2) He has the glory of all that glory that is given to the Son by the Saints, it's all ultimately resolved into his glory who is the Father, as all the promises of God in Christ are in him Yea,* 1.391 and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us, Phil. 2.11. All the confessions and acknow∣ledgments that are made unto Christ, do all of them redound unto the praise and glory of

God; for the more the Son is glorified, the more it redounds unto the glory of the Fa∣ther, whose glory the Son seeks in all that he does; and therefore in every respect the Father is glorified in the Son: and this was the great plot that God made from everlast∣ing. (2) The Fathers purpose was to glorifie the Son in the Saints, that he might make him the head of both the Creations of God. [1] To them that stood; so he is the head of all Principalities and Powers, that they should all hold of him; and so they should all honour the Son as they honour the Father;* 1.392 and therefore it's said Heb. 1.6. the Angels do worship him; and so Angels are round about the Throne, Rev. 5.11. The Father will receive glory from no creature, but it shall be by the Son; for the great glory of the Father we must still remember comes in by him, and all the honour that they do unto the Son redounds unto God the Father. [2] As for them that should fall, as well as those that stood:* 1.393 All men must honour the Son, even as they honour the Father, and he that honours not the Son, honours not the Father; and therefore Christ says, All thine are mine, and mine are thine, I am glorified in them; so that all the glory that the Son had, its foundation was laid in the plot and purpose of the Father. I speak of his manifestative glory; as for his essential glory, he had that from himself, as he is God of himself, and was therein equal with God; and did no more receive his glory from another, than he did his essence from another; but having one and the same essence, they must needs have one and the same glory; but as for the glory that he hath amongst the creatures and from them all, it's from and by the plot of God the Father: to this end was Christ the head of both Crea∣tions.* 1.394 (3) The purpose of the Father was to glorifie the Elect, which he chose to him∣self out of both Creations; and therefore 'tis said Ephes. 1.4. He has chosen us in him be∣fore the foundations of the world were laid. He chose him as the head, and the Elect as the body:* 1.395 He has made known unto us the good pleasure of his will, according as he purposed in him∣self to gather together all things unto one, whether things in heaven, or things on earth. There is a Mystery in the Gospel which is called the hidden Wisdom, which God hath ordain∣ed before the world unto our glory; it was free grace to mind the glory of the Elect next to the glory of his own Son,* 1.396 and that as the Son shall glorifie him, so also the glory of the Son shall come in by the glory of the Saints; and the Son ingaged, who was the Lord of glory, to bring many sons to glory by this, because therein should his own glory consist; for at the day of Judgment the great glory of Christ shall be in his Saints, He shall come to be glorified in his Saints, and be admired in them that believe, &c. And if he did look upon man as fallen, he need never have taken up such a purpose as this is; for being enemies, he had a prison that was large enough to have held them all,* 1.397 for Tophet was prepared of old, he hath made it deep and large, and he needs not their service nor their friendship, he could have destroyed them, and, as John Baptist saith, Of these stones he could raise up children unto Abraham. But yet it was the loving-kindness of the Father, that did think thoughts of peace towards them, and he had an eternal purpose of good will: and as the Father will be glorified in the Son, so shall the Saints also; and therefore they are said to be elect ac∣cording to the foreknowledge of God the Father, 1 Pet. 1.3. and the plot is in Scripture com∣monly attributed unto the Father. (4) It was God the Father that made the motion unto Christ the Son, who called him and appointed him unto this work, Joh. 8.42. I came not of my self, it was an honour that Christ did not take upon himself, Heb. 5.5. But he that said, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee, he doth ingage him in the work by the highest relation, and the greatest obligation that can be, as he was his gift, so he must be obedi∣ent unto the Father in this thing;* 1.398 and therefore In the volume of the book it is written of me, that I should do thy will O God, and this is intended in these two expressions, Prov. 8.22, 23. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 he possessed me,* 1.399 for the servant is part of his masters goods; and therefore it's said, That he is his money, Exod. 21.21. Now as soon as the Son became in the purpose of the Father his servant,* 1.400 immediately he possessed him, and he is called the beginning of all the ways of God towards the creature. The first step of all the good will that was towards the creature, and all the goings forth of God towards him was laid in the Son, he is the be∣ginning of his way: and it is said 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 I was set up from everlasting, it's the same word in Psal. 2.6. I was anointed from everlasting, it is spoken in the purpose and intention of God; for the efficacy of it took not place till after the Fall, neither was he actually anoin∣ted, till he in the humane nature received the Spirit without measure, and was anointed with the oyl of gladness above his fellows. (5) He proposed it unto the Son by way of a Covenant; for the Covenant was originally made with Christ,* 1.401 and so 2 Tim. 1.9. there is a promise of eternal life, not unto us, but unto him; and also in Tit. 1.2. eternal life that was given us before the world began; he did appoint him the office that he should undertake, him has God the Father consecrated, and sanctified the service that he should do, Joh. 10.18. I lay down my life, and this commandment I received of my Father. And to shew the intention of the

Fathers Spirit in it, he did swear, that he should be a Priest, and it was the word of the Oath made him so to be; For him hath God the Father sealed.* 1.402 And it was by this Co∣venant that most properly Christ became the second Adam, 1 Cor. 15.47. As the Lord made a Covenant with the first Adam for an image and an inheritance, which he was to transmit unto his posterity; so also he did with the second Adam: only here was the dif∣ference; though the first Adams consent to the Covenant was voluntary, yet he being a creature, and subject to a Law, when the mind of God was made manifest in a Covenant, and to deal with him in a Covenant-way, it had been his sin to withdraw his consent. But now the Son being God equal with the Father, it was every way free with him to have consented unto the terms of this Covenant, or not; but he did it freely, Lo I come to do thy will, O God. (6) In this Covenant he did appoint unto his Son what glory he should have, and what glory and grace the Saints should have: He hath given us eternal life,* 1.403 and this life is in his Son: so that all the grace that ever should be communicated to the Saints here, and their glory hereafter, it should be all laid up in him, as in a common Treasury: It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; in him are hid all the treasures of wis∣dom and knowledge. And when the Saints enter into happiness, they do but enter into their masters joy, all is laid up in Christ for them. And God doth appoint Christ what glory he should have for his personal glory,* 1.404 That he should be exalted at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and have a name given him above every name, and that he should be glori∣fied in the Saints, and admired in them that believe;* 1.405 the Father has given him to have life in him∣self, that he may quicken whom he will, and hath given him power to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man. (7) The Father did appoint him the souls that he should save; for Joh. 17.10. All thine are mine; I pray not for the world, but those that thou hast given me, &c. The Father and the Lamb have each of them a book of life, and they do answer one another;* 1.406 for every soul that God would have saved, he did give unto the Lord Christ by Cove∣nant: so that as he did measure out suffering to Christ, and sins too, for he had our sins unto a number laid upon him; so he did souls also that he was to bring to glory; and he knew all the souls that were given him of the Father, and the travel of his soul is seen in them. (8) The Father appointed all the degrees of grace they should have here, and of glory hereafter. Christ is but a Steward to dispense that eternal life which is laid up in him to that end. There is a measure of the age in the body of Christ,* 1.407 and the measure is appointed by the Father, and so are the measures of glory also, Mat. 20. It is not mine to give, says Christ, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. (9) The Father did ingage unto the Lord Christ, that the service which he should do, should be accepted for the Saints, and that he would delight in it: It pleased the Lord to bruise him, &c. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, and shall prolong his days, the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. (10) The Father did ingage him∣self to fit him for the work he was to do: Then said I, Lo I come,* 1.408 as in the volume of the book it's written of me, to do thy will, O God; sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not,* 1.409 but a body hast thou prepared me. And Esay 42.6. I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a Covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.* 1.410 I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved, there∣fore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoyceth, my flesh also shall rest in hope, &c.

2. There are some acts that take place in time, though the decree and purpose of them was from everlasting; and these acts of the Father either concern Christ or the Saints, they are acts that are more immediately terminated in him, or in us.

1. The Acts of the Father which do more immediately concern Christ are these. 1. When the fulness of time appointed by the Father was come, then he sent him into the world, and that which was before only in Decree and Covenant, he doth now put in exe∣cution, Gal. 4.4. When the fulness of time was come, God sent his Son made of a woman, &c. So that the sending Christ into the world was God the Fathers act:* 1.411 mos Scripturae est tem∣pus exactum ac finitum impletum dicere, the Decree of his coming into the world was from everlasting, and the Son did ingage himself unto it by Covenant from everlasting; but yet there was a set time appointed by the Father when this should actually be put in execu∣tion, and when that time was come, and fully accomplished, then God the Father did put this great plot in execution; and therefore when Christ came into the world he is said to come out from the Father, Joh. 16.28. I came forth from the Father, and came into the world. And again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. So that the Son's taking our flesh is done in obedience to the Father, and he is said to be sent unto that end: the Father did not only send him in reference to the office that he did undertake being made flesh, but he did also send him to take flesh, Non ideo missus Filius, quia Verbum caro factum est, sed ideo missus, ut Verbum caro fieret, The Son was not therefore sent, because the Word took

flesh, but therefore sent, that the Word might take flesh, Austin. Why did not Christ come soo∣ner into the world, but in the last days? The reason in respect of Christ was, because the time was not come that was determined by the Father, and he was as well obedient in the time of his coming, as in the coming it self, his obedience was seasonable, it was in the ful∣ness of time. But why did not God the Father send his Son sooner into the world? As it is not for us to know the times and the seasons, so it is not for us to inquire into the reason of them. Bernard gives this reason, Cùm magis esset necessarium, tunc primò ferret auxilium: all ways had been used, and all means tryed, and all in vain, and now non ap∣parebat Angelus, non loquebatur Propheta, &c. The Scepter was departed, Prophecy ceased, and all ways of intercourse and converse between God and man seemed to be at an end, now is the season to recover lost man; now therefore the Father did appoint him to come into the world, and he saith, Lo I come to do thy will, O God.

2. God the Father did ever since the Fall command the Son to undertake the actual ad∣ministration of all things, and all was done by him as God, and as having the government upon his shoulders ever since the Fall: for (1) the Kingly office of Christ immediately took place as soon as the Priestly office;* 1.412 and therefore 'tis said Joh. 5.23. The Father hath committed all judgment to the Son, he has given all things into his hand. So that it was he that continued man in his being, and the use of his reason; for else the day that he did eat he was to dye; but Joh. 1.9. He it is that inlightens every man that comes into the world; it's spoken of Christ after the Fall, and it is spoken of him, because he was made flesh: it is an act of Christ that is common to all mankind, which can be nothing else but the light of reason, and those common principles of natural light that mankind is endued with. (2) He it was that cast Adam out of Paradise, and plucked him out from the Tree of Life, he it was that made void the first Covenant in respect unto any hope of life by it, and set an Angel to keep the way to the Tree of Life, which was the first office that Christ did appoint unto the Angels after he had actually undertaken his government, and was to further the design of the Gospel, by shutting man out of hope of having life and salvation by the former Covenant, which they had broken. (3) He it was that gave to the old world the Spirit of Prophecy;* 1.413 for it is the testimony of Jesus, Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied of these, saying, Behold the Lord cometh with thousands of his Saints, &c. for the dis∣covery of the will of God, and for the gathering of that small harvest that he had out of the world of ungodly men, &c. (4) They being gathered, and there being but few, and the Earth being overspread and filled with violence, he it was that brought the floud upon the world,* 1.414 and destroyed it: My Spirit shall not strive, whose Spirit? 1 Pet. 3.19, 20. By which Spirit he went and preached unto the Spirits which now are in prison, who sometimes were disobedient in the days of Noah. They were then men upon Earth, but they are now Spirits in prison. (5) He gave the Law, and he did appoint and institute all those legal ways of worship, and all those types and shadows of the Law, which were but praeludia humanita∣tis, preludes of the humanity, that it might be represented unto the faith of his people as lively as might be, till the fulness of time appointed by the Father was come, Heb. 12.25. (6) He it was that brought Israel into Canaan, and planted them a Church there unto himself; Esay 5.1, 2. I will sing unto my well-beloved a song of my beloveds concerning his vineyard, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which is generally conceived to be a name given unto the Messiah, and he had a vine∣yard in a fruitful Hill, he fenced it, and gathered out the stones, planted it with the choi∣cest Vine, and built a Tower in the middle of it, and made a Wine-press therein: and all this is the act of him whom he doth call my Beloved.

3. The Father did prepare the nature that Christ was to assume unto union with himself:* 1.415 Burnt offering hadst thou no pleasure in, but a body hast thou prepared me, he that cal∣led him to be a Sacrifice, he did prepare a body, &c. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, by this is included the soul also, that very individual nature, though formed by the Holy Ghost, yet according to the appointment of the Father;* 1.416 for in him was the fulness of the Godhead bodily to dwell, that is, he was to take our nature thus prepared into a personal union with himself, so that not only that Christ should take the nature of man, but that very individual soul and body that he was to take was appointed and prepared by God the Father, which he would have to be as a Sacrifice to himself, and unto him he would give this grace of union, that it should become one with the second Person in the Godhead.

4. This very humane nature thus prepared by the Father, and by the Son thus assumed, the Father did fill with all habitual grace,* 1.417 Col. 1.19. It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell, the meaning is, not only that he should have fulness of grace in himself, but such a fulness also that he might convey and communicate unto us, that all the ful∣ness of the creatures should be derived from him,* 1.418 That of his fulness we may receive grace for grace; he hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son: and he is therefore said to

receive the Spirit without measure, because he has the Spirit so as to fill all the Saints, the Spirit so as to dispense the Spirit: this cannot be spoken of Christ as God, for so he cannot receive the Spirit, and so he cannot receive grace; but it's spoken of him in reference to his humane nature, which the Father prepared and anointed, as he saith, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for the Lord hath anointed me, he cannot be said to be anointed as God, but as he is Mediator; and therefore there is a double grace comes from the Father upon this nature of Christ, a grace of Ʋnion, and a grace of Ʋnction also; so that though the Godhead of Christ were infinitely holy, yet his Godhead doth not qualifie the humane nature; but he being the Fathers servant, and the grace that was to be dispensed, was by the appointment of the Father; therefore it is the Father that laid up this grace in the humane nature of Christ, as in a common Treasury, making him a second Adam, that he might dispense it unto us.

5. Having in this manner prepared him, the Father did send him forth into the world, and owned him before the world to be his Son: at his Baptism, Mat. 3. ult. A voice came from Heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son: and in his Transfiguration, Mat. 17.5. it was again repeated, and 2 Pet. 1.17. God the Father gave him glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well plea∣sed. God the Father did declare him to be the Son of God with power, partly by the doctrine that he preached, for no man spake as he spake, he spake of heavenly things as one that had seen them; for he came down from Heaven, as one that came out of the bosom of the Father; and also by the Miracles that he wrought the Lord did give a testimony to him to be the Son of God, by opening of the eyes of the blind, healing the sick, raising the dead, &c. So that the Father did eminently owne him to be his Son before all the world, that men might believe in him, which is a thing of mighty concernment to us; and Heb. 1.6. when he brings his first begotten Son into the world, he saith, Let all the Angels of God worship him; so that he is owned by the Father before men and Angels, as the person that it was the design of the Father to set up as the Head of all Principalities and Powers for the happiness of his Saints, and the glory of God the Father.

6. The Father did appoint how long he should live upon earth, and what death he should dye: He was delivered by the determinate counsel of God; and therefore Christ tells them,* 1.419 My hour is not yet come, and that is given as the reason, why they that were so malicious had not seized upon him sooner, it was because his hour and the power of darkness ap∣pointed by the Father was not yet come; he was to dye a crucified death, being made a curse for us; for it's written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree, Gal. 3.13.

7. The Father also becomes Christs Executioner. It is true, sin did not only set God against us, but all the creatures also; and therefore Christ standing in our stead, he shall have men to be his enemies, and they shall seek to destroy him, he shall be delivered into the hands of men, and they will serve the turn to destroy his body, but it is no more that they can do; but it is the soul of man that was the great Traitor against God, and men cannot reach the soul to afflict it; therefore it pleased the Father to bruise him, when he made his soul an offering for sin; and therefore his great satisfaction being there, his great pur∣chase is made thereby; for it is said, He shall see of the travel of his soul, which then mainly begun in the garden, though it's true all his life time he had been a man of sorrow, but specially when he cryed out 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. yet he had then some lucida intervalla, but in the three hours darkness, when he fought it out between God and him alone, then the Lord did inlarge his faculties for wrath, and poured it out abundantly, when all the gra∣ces of Christ did act to the highest, to take hold of God, and to uphold himself. To have been in Abrahams bosom then when he was about to slay his son, even his only son, and seen what strivings of heart, and rendings of bowels, what great grief possest Abraham at that time, how should a man of compassion have been affected! But there was much more love in God to his Son Christ, and yet to bruise him was that which he delighted in: it was unto him a sweet smelling savour, when he was offered up upon the Cross: God that doth not delight in the death of a sinner, yet he doth delight in the death of a Son, that the sinners may live and be saved eternally.

8. God the Father being in this manner satisfied by his Sacrifice, he doth raise him from the dead: he is said to be raised by his own Godhead, that is the Spirit spoken of Rom. 1.4. & Heb. 9.14. he himself saith, I have power to lay down my life,* 1.420 and I have power to take it again, he received a commandment from the Father concerning both; but he is said to be raised by the Father, because he was by the Father as a Judge condemned as an offender and malefactor, executed, cast into the prison of the grave, which I under∣stand by that in Esay 53.8. Now the debt being paid, the Father doth grant him a de∣liverance, and sends an Angel, a publick Minister of Justice, to manifest that his debt is

paid, and the Father satisfied thereby; and therefore it is unto the Father that he did look for it,* 1.421 thou wilt not leave my soul in statu separato, in a separate state, nor my body in the grave, &c. thou wilt not suffer thy holy One to see corruption.

9. God the Father gave him glory, and exalted him far above all Principalities and Powers, and might, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but in that which is to come.* 1.422 He has a glory that he is invested with above all the Angels in Heaven as he was Man; whiles he was upon earth he was made lower than all the Angels for a little while, but now he has more glory as he is Man than all the Angels are capable of; as he has more grace than they have, therefore he must needs have more glory, and that as he is Man; by this means he is gone to Heaven as our Fore-runner, to take possession for us: Joh. 14.2. I go before, says he, to prepare a place, and therefore it is expedient for you that I go away.

* 1.42310. He receives the fulness of the Spirit from the Father: Christ waited for the pro∣mise of the Spirit as well as we, for the full accomplishment of it; for as the faculties of Christ were inlarged, so did his grace exalt it self, though he was always full of grace and truth; and therefore as he was said to grow here, in all things he was like unto us, only without sin, so in the growth and in the degrees of the perfection of his humane nature; therefore when he came to Heaven his faculties were inlarged, as ours shall be; and so there is the fuller measure of his receiving the Spirit in glory, than he had when he was here upon earth; for when he was here on earth he knew not the day of Judgment: Of that day knows no man, no not the Son, while he was upon earth, but when he came to Heaven it was revealed unto him; it was first revealed to Christ, and by Christ unto his Servant John, and therefore he did himself open the book, which was sealed to him, as well as it was unto us, but he did open it, and looked therein, &c. They were such discoveries as the Lord did not communicate unto the humane nature of Christ, till he came to glory, and then his knowledge (as also his grace) was perfected; therefore Joh. 7.39. that's gi∣ven as the reason why the Spirit was not yet given in its fulness,* 1.424 because Christ was not yet glorified, he did not fully dispense it unto us, because he had not in fulness received it; for every promise is first made unto him, and in him unto us, and it is first fulfilled in him, and through him in us also.

11. God the Father has put him into the actual administration of his government as he is man, Dan. 7.14. all Angels, Principalities and Powers being made subject to him; and so much his sitting at the right hand of the Father does imply,* 1.425 namely the actual admi∣nistration of all things, and that as he is man; for he must as well rule as man, as he shall judge as man: as he is God in prosecution unto the Covenant that God the Father made with him, so this Kingdom has been in the hand of the Son ever since the Fall, and so it's true, that the Father judges no man, but the Son has all judgment committed to him; but while he was man here, he was in a state of humiliation, and it was the time of his ministery; but in Heaven is the time of his Magistracy, and the Lord hath now made him to be both Lord and Christ; and now he doth actually rule the world as man, whereas before his ascension he could not; for as he was man he received not himself up into glory: and this is the glory that the Father did promise to give him, and to glorifie him with himself therein before the world was, that that nature which he should take should be exalted above all creatures, and the actual government of all things should be committed thereupon unto him, and so as man he is made the head of all things for the Churches sake, Eph. 1.21, 22.

§. 2. But there are some Acts of God the Father that more immediately respect the Saints, and are terminated on them, and they are also very many, as, 1. the work of Vo∣cation, when men are turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,* 1.426 that's attributed unto the Father, Joh. 6.44, 45. No man can come to me except the Father draw him; he that has heard and learned of the Father cometh to me. To come to Christ is to believe in him, as appears vers. 35. He that comes to me shall never hunger, and he that believes on me shall never thirst. He expounds coming to him by believing in him; for he knew who they were that believed not, vers. 64. And therefore said I unto you, No man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. And the Lord speaks not of the will here, no man will come, but of the power, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, no man can come. There is a dispute between us and the Arminians about the power of nature unto acts of grace; and they say there is auxilium sufficiens, sufficient grace which God gives unto all men; but Christ in the Text denies any such power, he saith, No man can come to me, ex∣cept the Father draw him. What is this drawing? It is not a forcible act by which vio∣lence is offered upon the will of man; and yet it's called drawing, because it's an act of al∣mighty power: the words note the sweetness and the efficacy of grace, grace works pow∣erfully, and therefore God is said to draw, and it works sweetly, and therefore man is said

to come, as if he were not drawn, trahitur animus & amore, &c. it doth consist in a spiri∣tual illumination of the understanding, and in an effectual perswasion and determination of the will; for it is a drawing, that is, a teaching, as the next verse makes it mani∣fest; and in this is the foundation of eternal life, as it is in us begun: all this was in the purpose of God towards him, but the man was dead in trespasses and sins as well as others, without Christ, and without God in the world; and therefore the Saints actually conver∣ted, are stiled by the Apostle, the called according to his purpose.* 1.427 But how is this work at∣tributed to God the Father, that the power and the act of believing and of closing with Christ is from him, the teaching and the drawing is the Fathers act? Here I meet with a deep silence amongst all Interpreters, only I find this to be offered by Kemnitius,

That the grace that we receive is laid up in Christ by God the Father, and in the Gospel Christ is but God the Fathers Servant; and therefore though grace be given unto us by Christ, yet it is by the appointment of the Father, and Christ is only the Fathers Servant in it, and so the principal efficient of faith is God the Father, though you do receive it im∣mediately from Christ.

This is true, that all the grace that we receive from Christ all our days here, and all the glory we shall have to Eternity, was by the Father laid up for us in Christ, and in the whole work Christ is but the Fathers Servant; but why in a spe∣cial manner is this work of the Father appropriated unto the work of conversion and vo∣cation? The ground of it I conceive to be this: In the Covenant that passed between Christ and the Father, the Lord did require this service of him, that he should lay down his life, and give himself for the Elect, he gave himself a ransom for many, and he did make him a promise, that he would give those souls unto him again. Therefore as in the fulness of time the Lord did give Christ for them, Ʋnto us a Child is born,* 1.428 unto us a Son is given, and so he is called by way of eminency the gift of God; for though he were promised from the beginning of the world, yet he was not actually given and exhibited till the last days; so there is a time also when God the Father must fulfil this promise un∣to Christ, to give souls unto him, as he has given himself for them, in obedience to the Father. Now when are souls given unto Christ? It is when they come to him, and be∣lieve in him, they are not actually any part of his charge till then; and therefore they are said to be without Christ, they have no actual relation to Christ, or Christ to them,* 1.429 for the union between Christ and the soul is matrimonial, and it is the Father that gives them each unto other; and therefore marriage between Adam and his wife is made a type and resemblance of it, or rather mystery, called by the Jews Cabala, Eph. 5.33. This is a great mystery, but I speak of Christ and the Church: so that it's God the Father that gives Christ to the soul, and gives the soul unto Christ, he it is that doth joyn them in a marriage-covenant for ever. Therefore as when the time appointed by the Father was come, he sent his Son actually into the world; so when the time of love is come, that a soul should be converted, who before lay polluted in his blood, then doth God the Father send his Spirit in Christs name into the soul, who doth discover the beauty of Christ and the free grace of God the Father, how ready and willing he is to bestow him; and the mani∣festation of this grace of the Father is made effectual to the soul, not only to perswade, but also to enable it to accept of Christ upon the terms that he is offered. And upon this ground the work of vocation is mainly attributed unto the drawing and the teaching of the Father; because as they were in the purpose of God, and in the Covenant between Christ and the Father given to him from all Eternity, so they are by the Father actually given to him in the fulness of time, that is, when the time of their conversion appointed by the Father is come; and therefore the inlightning of the soul in this work is attribu∣ted unto the Father, 2 Cor. 4.6. God that commanded light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, &c. and by the same almighty Word that he did that work in the Crea∣tion, he doth shine into our hearts, discovering Christ unto us and the glory of God; all the incommunicable Attributes of God are gloriously set forth in the Man Christ Jesus, and so the power by which the soul is enabled to believe, is the power of God the Father, Eph. 1.17, 19. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would shew you what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of the mighty power which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead: so that if any soul be brought home unto Christ in a work of vocation, it is by the almighty working of God the Father, and you are to acknowledge his grace, as well in giving you unto Christ, as in giving Christ unto you.

2. In the work of Reconciliation: though all the persons were wronged by sin, their essence and glory being but one, yet the suit against sin doth mainly in Scripture run in God the Fathers name, God has reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ;* 1.430 and God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. This was properly the act of God the Father,

Rom. 5.10. When we were enemies, we were reconciled unto God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled shall we be saved by his life:* 1.431 it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell, as being to reconcile all things to himself, &c. What is it to reconcile? It is properly amicitiam diremptam resarcire, to set them all at one again, who were before friends, but now at variance amongst themselves. God is an enemy unto all men by nature, the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord, and we are enemies unto God, and are deeply root∣ed in enmity, in our minds, both by secret flattery, and by open hostility, every way, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.432 haters of God; but now God is no more an enemy unto us, but he loves us with the same love that he loves the Son, Joh. 17.23. and they are no more enemies unto God, but they are called the friends of God, and the Lords possession, the Fathers in∣heritance is in the Saints, Eph. 1.18. The riches of his inheritance in the Saints. Thus it is God the Father that offers reconciliation, when you are a great way off he doth run to meet you, and he doth fall upon your neck, and kiss you, and he lets you see, that he has forgotten all the wrong done to him,* 1.433 and that though the earth be his, and the fulness thereof, yet he is taken with nothing so much as with your love; it is to gain your love that he doth all that he does, and he it is that is the person in whom you are properly reconciled, and with him properly the peace in Scripture is said to be made, for the Son is the Peace-maker, Shiloe, he makes peace by the blood of his Cross, and it is by his Spirit that we have access unto the Father; therefore reconciliation is properly unto God the Father, and herein is the soul properly made the friend of God, the en∣mity being slain thereby.

3. Justification is properly the act of God the Father, putting upon a Believer the righ∣teousness of Christs not imputing his sin; for he that made Christ to be sin for us, he it is also that makes us the righteousness of God in him, 2 Cor. 5. ult. and it is by his grace that you are justified freely, who did set forth Christ to be a propitiation, Rom. 3.24, 25. There is a double act of God the Father in the work of Justification. (1) There is an Imputation of righteousness, Rom. 4.6. Blessed is the man to whom God imputes righte∣ousness without works. There is a righteousness that is wrought by Christ, called the righ∣teousness of God, because the Godhead gave an efficacy and an excellency thereunto, and this under the second Covenant by virtue of our union with him is counted ours, as our sins were by the Father counted his, and it is this counting of the Father that is truly imputation; and so much the word in the Greek doth properly signifie; so that though Christ had no sin, yet through the Covenant between him and his Father, our sin is counted his, and though we have no righteousness, yet by virtue of union his righteousness is counted ours;* 1.434 and so it being an act of grace, for we are justified freely by grace, so it's true, justitia nostra est indulgentia tua. (2) There is Remission of sin, that is,* 1.435 a non imputation, Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputes no sin, &c. that is, though we be sinners in our selves, yet the Lord doth not count us so, but looks upon us as pure and unspotted in his sight: it's true, that the righteousness wrought for us is the righteousness of Christ, he brought in everlasting righteousness, Dan. 9.24. But how shall this become ours? This is by an act of God the Father, imputing his righteousness unto us, and that is counting his righteousness ours, and he looking upon us as being one with him; and though it is true that we are sinners, and every sin hath a guilt na∣turally and necessarily going with it, for there is a difference between reatus personae and reatus poenae, guilt may be separated from the person, but it can never be from the sin; now the Lord will not impute sin in the guilt of it unto the person; but though he doth sin, and that doth carry a guilt with it, yet it shall not be charged upon the person for ever.

4. Adoption, that also is properly an act of God the Father upon a Believer; a man made one with Christ, 1 Joh. 3.1. Behold what manner of love the Father hath shewed unto us, that we should be called the sons of God. Adoption is properly an act of God the Father graciously receiving a man into the number of his sons, and giving him his Spirit, the pri∣viledges and the inheritance of a son: so that though it is by Christ that we have this 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Joh. 1.12. that is, because Christ is the Son; therefore we being made one with him, we also become sons of God by the Sonship of Christ, only his Sonship is natural, and ours by grace, as our union is, and by this means the Father of Christ is our Father also, Joh. 20. I ascend unto my Father and your Father, to my God and your God, &c. yet is it an act of God the Father, that doth receive us as sons, by virtue of our union with him, who is the Son of the Father. Now consider the benefit we have by it. (1) We have the spirit of sons, Rom. 8.15. before we had but the spirit of a servant, a spirit of bondage. (2) We receive the honour of sons, Joh. 8.35. Th•• servant abides not in the house always, but the son abides always: so we are of the family and of the houshold of God, and he is not ashamed to be called our Father. (3) We have the boldness and the access of sons,

Eph. 3.12. We come not as servants to a master, as guilty persons to a Judge, but as children unto a father. (4) We have the Inheritance of sons; for being sons we are heirs, Rom. 8.17. Coheirs with Christ, and so may claim Heaven by a double right, by virtue of the purchase made, and the price paid for it, and also because we are sons, and therefore the inheritance doth belong to us, for all the sons of God are heirs of God also.

5. We have also acceptation with God, Eph. 1.6. He has made us accepted in the beloved, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, it is to embrace a man with love and special favour and acceptation, which doth proceed from this love; and this also in the Scripture is double. (1) To their persons, he had respect unto Abel, and the Lord tells Cain, If thou dost well thou shalt be accepted,* 1.436 that when they do come before God he doth respect them above all the world beside, to him will I look, Esay 66.2. I will cast a more favourable eye upon him than upon all the world beside; whereas the person of a wicked man, as well as his service, is an abomina∣tion to the Lord. (2) To their services, Psal. 17.14. Let the words of my mouth be acce∣ptable in thy sight. It is that which the Lord does promise, Exod. 28.38. that their Sacri∣fices should be accepted before the Lord, what they do doth please him, and he doth not reject any of their services, as he doth other mens. It's said,* 1.437 He spreads the dung of their sacrifices upon their faces, Mal. 3.3. It doth imply two things. 1. That the Lord doth reject their Sacrifices with indignation, as if they had offered dung in their solemn feasts. 2. Summo dedecore eos afficiam, I will spread the highest reproach on them, so Mercer; as you do unto a man, when you cast dung in his face, the Lord will reject their services, and in∣stead of honouring them in them, he will cast shame upon them also; whereas the servi∣ces of the Saints are [1] accepted ordine supernaturali as flowing from a heavenly and su∣pernatural principle, and [2] ad vitam aeternam ordinata, services appointed unto an eternal reward. Other mens services are not thus accepted, but as they come from a principle of nature, so they shall have no higher reward, they shall rise no higher than the head of the spring from whence they flow.

6. There is a Communion also that the people of God have with the Father, 1 Joh. 1.3. Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. There is a communion that the Saints of God have distinctly with all the persons when they receive mercy from them all, and rejoyce in the love of them all, and they do return to them again all the glory of the grace of them all; as faith is distinctly to be exercised upon all the persons, so the soul should strive to have a distinct fellowship and communion with all the persons. (1) A man should pray to the Father: for saith Christ, Your Father knows that you have need of all these things. (2) You are to give thanks to the Father, who has blessed you with all spiritual blessings. (3) You are to rejoyce in his love: says Christ, I will love him,* 1.438 and he shall be loved of my Father. I say not that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father himself loves you: you are in his bosom, receive all gifts from him as from a Father, and come to him as to a Father, as one that has communion with him and access to him as unto a Father. (4) Glory in the witness of the Father;* 1.439 for there are three that do bear witness in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and these three are one, you are not only to have the Spirits testimony and seal upon your evidences, but the Fathers also bearing wit∣ness in your souls, testifying unto you the adoption of sons. There is a glorious communion that the Father gives unto his people, as Christ had with the Father, so may you also in and through him.

SECT. III. The Relations undertaken by the Father and Christ in this Covenant.

§. 1. THE Father having in this manner made over himself in Covenant to his people, they have an interest in all the relations of the Father; for we are not only re∣lated unto Christ, but by him to the Father, and as we are to exercise faith upon Christ under all relations, so we are also upon the Father; and these relations are both honoura∣ble and comfortable also to the Saints.

1. God the Father is our Father: says Christ, I ascend unto my Father and your Father,* 1.440 to my God and your God; that they may glorifie your Father which is in heaven. Be you mer∣ciful as your heavenly Father is merciful; and therefore says the Apostle, Rom. 1.7. Grace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, &c. Now what is there in such a re∣lation as this is unto God the Father? We shall see what it was unto Christ, the only be∣gotten Son of the Father, and see how in all things he is a Father to us as he is unto Christ,

though it be in a lower way, for Christ in all things must have the preheminence. (1) It is the great honour that is put upon Christ as Mediator,* 1.441 that he is the Son of God; we saw his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. That holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God: and in this he is exalted above the Angels, Heb. 1.5. Ʋnto which of the Angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, and I will be unto him a Father,* 1.442 and he shall be unto me a Son, &c. Altissimi Filius ac proinde co-altissimus ipse ejusdem penitùs altitudinis & dignitatis. And in this manner the Saints do partake pro modulo; it is the greatest priviledge of the Saints that they do receive from union with the Son, and that in which they are exalted above the Angels: That as they do stand before God in a higher righteousness in their justification; (for though the righteousness of An∣gels be perfect in its kind, yet it's but the righteousness of a meer creature; but the righ∣teousness of Christ is called the Righteousness of God, 2 Cor. 5.21. which though it were wrought in the humane nature, and therefore was not the essential righteousness of God, for that could not be imputed, yet it was that which being wrought by him that was God and man, the Godhead had an influence into it, and gave it an excellence and efficacy;) so they have a higher sonship in their adoption, that is, it's founded on a higher right than that of the Angels, even in the Sonship of the second person in the Trinity; for Christ as Mediator was not a Son by adoption, but by generation, his humane nature being taken into the same person, did by virtue of that grace of union partake of the same Son∣ship; for there was not a double Sonship of Christ, one as he was God, and the other as he was man, for subjectum filiationis est suppositum, the subject of filiation is a person, as the School-men speak. Now as Christ had great glory from other things, in relation to the Angels,* 1.443 for he is the Head of Principalities and Powers, and to the Saints, he is the King of Saints, the holy of holies, and from all the creatures, for he is the beginning of the creation of God, and is the head over all things to the Church; yea in reference to God him∣self, for he is Gods King, I will set my King, and the man Gods fellow; but there is none that is a term of so high an honour unto Christ as this, that he is the Son, and it's this that the Lord doth publish to the world as the ground of all the rest,* 1.444 Psal. 2.7. I will de∣clare the decree, the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, &c. so it is with the Saints, they are called the glory and the first-fruits of all the creatures, the excellent ones, Kings and Priests unto God, to whom the Angels are but servants and ministring Spirits; but yet there is no title of honour like unto this, that they are called the Sons of God. Men do glory in titles of honour, as Pharaoh did in this, I am the Son of the ancient Kings; and the Jews gloried in this, We have Abraham to our father. The Saints have a higher glory, that Jesus Christ is their Father, for he has a successive generation that none can number,* 1.445 he shall see his seed, and shall prolong his days upon earth; and yet to be the sons of God the Father is a far higher honour; for Christ himself says, My Father is greater than I: it is to be understood of him as Mediator only; for as he is God, he is equal with the Father, and thinks it no robbery so to be.

2. As God is the Father of Christ, so he loves Christ as his Son, and therefore he doth call him 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.446 my beloved Son, Mat. 3.17. and the Son of his love, Col. 1.17. there is an Hebraism for most beloved; as the man of sin, i. e. the most sinful man, the child of wrath, one who is subject unto the highest displeasure of God, and the son of perdition, i. e. one utterly and eternally lost; so the son of his love is one tenderly beloved by him, the most beloved of the Father; and this was the great thing that Christ gloried in, even the love of his Father, Joh. 5.20. The Father loveth the Son, and it was this that did bear up his spirit under all his sufferings, that he did abide in his Fathers love, Joh. 15.10. Thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world, Joh. 17.24. and in this also you bear a part with Christ, Joh. 14.21. He that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him,* 1.447 Joh. 16.27. The Father himself loves you, Joh. 17.23. Thou hast loved them, even as thou hast loved me; non aequalitatem denotat, sed similitudinem, it denotes not equality, but similitude. [1] He loved him from Eternity, and so he doth you. [2] He loved him as a Son, and so he doth you, ad similitudinem filii naturalis, so he doth love you as sons. [3] He loves Christ to Eternity, to give him the fruition of himself, and so he loves you also. Now as the great glory and comfort of Christ was in the love of the Father, so also should this be the great glory and the comfort also of the Saints, that though we may glory and rejoyce with joy unspeakable in the love of Christ that passeth knowledge, yet specially in the love of the Father, Christ being but a gift that flows from God the Fa∣thers love; therefore Joh. 4.10. Christ is called by way of emincency, the gift of God, and next to the giving of Christ, the love of the Father is principally seen in this, that we should be called the sons of God, Behold what manner of love the Father has shewed unto us, 1 Joh. 3.1.

3. The Son knew the mind of the Father, and is acquainted with all the Fathers coun∣sels, the glory of God the Father is made known to the Son, all the excellency of his per∣son; No man knows the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him;* 1.448 and so for all actings of the Father, The Son can do nothing of himself,* 1.449 but what he sees the Father do, for the Father loves the Son, and shews him all things that he himself doth, and he will shew him greater works than these, that you may marvel. This is not to be under∣stood of Christ as God, but as he is Mediator; and so as there was an Idea and a Platform in the mind of the Father, so this is also discovered to the Son, that all the great works that God doth purpose to accomplish in the world, he is able to look into all the Fathers counsels: that as when Solomon was to build the Temple, it is said, That David gave him a pattern of all, according as he had received of the Spirit, 1 Chron. 28.12. Solomon was to build the House, but he received the Platform from his father; so it is in Christ also, the man whose name is the Branch, he it is that must build the Temple of the Lord, Zac. 6.12. but yet he must do all according unto the pattern, for he is but God the Fathers ser∣vant in that which he doth, and he must receive the Platform from the Father; therefore it's the Father that doth discover to the Son as a fruit of his love all his own works, and he doth that which he hath seen of the Father, Joh. 8.38. And the discoveries of these se∣crets of God unto his Son were by degrees more and more: he will shew him greater works, he had shewed him some great works already in healing the sick, and raising of the dead; but yet he lets them know, that these were not summum sibi ex operibus Dei mandatis, but when he did come unto glory, his own discoveries should be perfected, and then as he had his works more fully revealed unto him of the Father, so also he should shew them forth unto the world; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Christ was not yet glori∣fied: so it is with the Saints, according unto their measure the Father loves them, and therefore he shews them all that he himself doth;* 1.450 and as Christ is in the bosom of the Father, so are they also after a sort, for the bosom is the seat of secrets, and the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, they are Jesuron, the seeing people, they do hear and learn of the Father, they shall be all taught of God,* 1.451 and as a Father he will not conceal his pur∣poses in all his great works from his children, only he doth discover them by degrees, as he did unto his only Son: Hos. 6.3. His going forth is prepared as the morning; and there∣fore they must follow on to know him: and though now there be many veils drawn before the eyes of his people, for very many of the secrets of God are yet under a veil, the ful∣ness of time for their discovery being not yet come, for he revealed his word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Heb. 1.1. and the Lord has promised,* 1.452 That he will destroy the face of the covering that is upon all people. [1] It is a great and a thick covering, it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which is the man∣ner of the Hebrews, when they would express a thing highly, they do it by a duplication, Esay 28.16. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 though some would render the last word by the Parti∣ciple, a covering spread forth upon all people, and the face of the covering, that is as much as involucrum facierum, a covering spread upon their faces. Now to have a covering upon their faces, it notes guilt and dishonour, which God saith he'l take away; but I do not conceive that to be all that principally is intended, but with Calvin and Forer, rather, ignorantiam & caecitatem veluti quodam velo diffusam, ignorance and blindness diffused as by a certain veil: there is a double veil, and God will take both away, a veil upon the truth, and a veil upon the heart also, and both shall be swallowed up, that is, shall be utterly removed, and there shall come a time, that the Sea of glass that is now mingled with fire, shall be clear as crystal again, and the Temple shall be opened, so that a man may see in∣to the Ark of the Testimony, which formerly had a veil before it,* 1.453 that it could not be seen, it was in the secret of the Pavilion of God; but then the most secret mysteries shall be exposed unto the common view of the Saints, but it shall be when the Kingdoms of the Earth shall be given to the Lord Jesus Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.

4. The Father is pleased in Christ his Son, he delights in him, and so he did before the world, he was the delight of God the Father from all Eternity. I was his delight daily,* 1.454 this is my beloved Son, Mat. 3. ult. and therefore even amongst men children are called the desire of their parents eyes, and that upon which they set their mind, their hearts do go out unto them, Ezech. 24.25. so in your measure, you that are Saints are the delight of God the Father from day to day, he loves you as well with a love of complacence, as with a love of benevolence; and therefore he calls the name of the Church, Esay 62. Hephziba, my delight is in her, the Lord takes pleasure in his people, his delight is in them that fear him,* 1.455 and them that hope in his mercy. Therefore the carrying on of the work of Redemption to the full accomplishment of all the gracious intentions of the Father is called the pleasure of the Lord, Isa. 53.10. which was to prosper in the hands of Christ, it being of all the works of God that in which he doth most delight: as when a man sets his greatest love upon

any thing or person, in that he has the greatest delight to see it prosper, and thrive, and succeed; never did an earthly father take so much delight and full satisfaction in the pro∣sperity of a child (and yet we know that a wise Son makes a glad father) as the Lord does, to see the souls of his people prosper, and the ways of his grace to be fully magnified towards them; because all the love of the creature is but a drop, unto the love of the Father which is in Heaven; as the Lord has more delight in Christ, than he has in all the Saints, so he has more delight in one Saint, than he has in all the creatures besides; be∣cause he bears unto them a greater love, and hath from them a far greater glory: There is joy in heaven, says Christ, over one sinner that repents, and so there is amongst the Angels; why? because theirs is a joy in the Lord himself, and it's the happiness of the Saints that they can joy in God; and we may well make God our Father our delight, when he does make us his delight; he that has the Son, and the Saints, and Angels in glory to delight in, that yet he should declare, that his delight should be with the sons of men here below, what an amazing condescension is this of our God? how does it ingage us to delight in him only?

5. Jesus Christ as he was the Son, had a glorious and a sweet communion with the Fa∣ther; so Christ saith, Joh. 14.10. I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and he dwells in me, it notes that constant communion that he as Mediator had with the Father, Joh. 16.32. Ye shall leave me alone, and yet I am not alone, but the Father is with me; and therefore upon all occasions he did retire himself unto the Father, as his great support in the days of his pilgrimage:* 1.456 and so have the Saints also; our fellowship is with the Father, they have access by one Spirit unto the Father, Eph. 2.18. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, he leads us by the hand, and by our sonship we have boldness with him, Pater nomen pietatis & potestatis est, Father is a name of piety and power, Tertul. Oh the infinite sweetness that is for the soul to walk before God the Father in ways of holiness, that in these ways he may enjoy fellowship and communion with himself! There is a great deal of sweetness in a communion of Saints, our Bre∣thren, but much more in communion with Christ our Husband, but most of all in com∣munion with God our Father, he is to be taken as well for a pattern of the one, as of the other.

6. As God is the Father of Christ, so he doth hear the prayers of Christ; and therefore Christ says, Father I thank thee, that thou hast heard me, and I know thou hearest me al∣ways, Joh. 11.41. And though his satisfaction be always referred unto his Godhead, Heb. 9.41. yet his Intercession refers unto his Sonship,* 1.457 Heb. 7. ult. the word of the Oath makes the Son, who is consecrated for evermore; men that know how powerful the name of a father is, and what bowels it moves, may well assure themselves that it is much more in him who is the Father of mercies, as well as our Father; and therefore if we know how to give good gifts to our children, and will give them suitable to their necessities, surely so will he much more; and such a man must acknowledge that our Father is. Saints may assure themselves, that they have not only an Advocate without them which is Christ, with the Father, and an Advocate within them unto the Father, for the same word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 is used of both;* 1.458 but they have an Advocate in the Father also: and it's that which Christ puts them upon, not only to look upon his Intercession, as that which doth prevail only, but to the Fathers love, and the bowels that are in himself, the Father himself loves you.

7. As a Father he gives Christ an inheritance: Thou art my Son, Psal. 2.7, 8. I will give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance. He has appointed him heir of all things, Heb. 1.3. and all that are the sons of God are heirs, Rom. 8.16, 17. yea all that are sons of God are first-born,* 1.459 and therefore they have a double portion; All things are yours, and Rev. 21.7. He that overcomes shall inherit all things, &c. And it's such an inheritance as none else have in the creatures, for it is one thing to hold it by right of a servant by providence, and ano∣ther by the right of a son:* 1.460 for the son abides in the house always, and 'tis an inheritance in promises of grace and of glory, which no other men in the world have; Gods inheritance is in them,* 1.461 and theirs is chiefly in God, therefore Heaven is called the Kingdom of the Fa∣ther, in this life it is the Kingdom of Christ. There is a progress and a regress of this King∣dom, it is from the Father, and returns unto the Father again.

8. Christs great comfort in departing this life was, that he should go to the Father, If you loved me you would rejoyce,* 1.462 because I go to the Father: this would make the thoughts of death sweet, and the thoughts of Eternity desirable; Christ at his death resigns his soul into the Fathers hand; the people of God in this world are as it were orphans, but they have a Father in Heaven, and who would not make haste to him? for your happi∣ness and your home is in your fathers house:* 1.463 In my Fathers house are many mansions; and Christ is gone before to prepare a place for you, 1 Joh. 3.1, 2. Now we are the sons of God, but it appears not what we shall be, that is, adoptionis fructus nondum apparet. It's in

our Fathers house that our portion is laid up; therefore long for the adoption even the redemption of your bodies, and in the mean while keep the truths that you have heard, that you may continue in the Son and in the Father,* 1.464 that you may have both the Father and the Son, abide in their favour and their fellowship, having once attained it; keep the commandments of the Father, and abide in his love, as Christ the Son did, Joh. 15.10. and the day will come that thou shalt shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of thy Father.

Concerning the relations of the Father under the second Covenant, we are to take this general rule, that in the same relation that he stands unto Christ, in the same, according to our place and station, he stands unto us; yet so, as Christ in all things is to have the preheminence, for that in all things must be reserved unto him, Col. 1.18. and the ground of this rule is from that, Joh. 20.17. I ascend unto my Father and your Father, my God and your God. This benefit the Saints have by their union with the Lord Jesus Christ, that they not only stand in many sweet and comfortable relations unto him, but through him in their own sphere they stand in the same relation unto God the Father together with him.

§. 2. The second relation of the Father unto Christ is, that he is Christs King and his Lord, 1 Cor. 11.3. The head of Christ is God, the head of every man is Christ,* 1.465 and the head of the woman is the man. It's not spoken of Christ ratione naturae, in regard of his nature, for he is God equal with the Father, and he counts his equality no robbery, he takes but what is his own; but ratione oeconomiae, in respect of his office, that he has undertaken by the appointment of the Father. Now how is the Father the head of Christ? as Christ is the head of the Church, and the man of the woman, that is, in respect of the guidance and government he has over us, and so Christ is the Churches head, is called the Churches King, and it is usual in the Hebrew to call Princes, heads of the people. Num. 14.4. Let us make us a head, and return into Egypt, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a prince, a ruler; Judg. 11.8. They said unto Jeph∣tath, Be thou our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead; be thou our King:* 1.466 Hos. 1.11. it's spoken of the conversion of the Jews, after they were called Loammi, and therefore it's not yet come, they shall appoint unto themselves one head: Ezech. 37.24. David my servant shall be King over them, and David my servant shall be their Prince for ever; it's spoken of their chusing Christ to be their King, and their glory in the day when the Lord shall raise up the Tabernacle of David that is fallen down. So here by Head is meant, that the Father is Christs King, and he doth rule him as a King in the whole work of his Mediatorship; and he is Christs Lord, so he himself doth call him, Psal. 16.2. It's the speech of Christ, as appears by the whole Psalm, and he saith unto Jehovah, Thou art my Lord, Adonai. Now in this relation the Father also stands to all those that are Saints, and members of Christ, he is their Lord, and their King also, Mat. 22.1. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a cer∣tain king that made a marriage for his son: God the Father is the King,* 1.467 Christ the Son is the Bridegroom, the Elect of God is the Spouse, the Lambs wife, their marriage is their union with Christ, and the marriage-feast are the Ordinances, unto which the guests were by his servants invited; and of how great consequence this is, we shall see in the person of Christ himself, as God the Father is his Lord and King.

(1) He doth give unto Christ a Law, as he is his Lord and King; for God the Father is the great Law-giver, Christ doth nothing but as the Fathers subject, and in obedience unto him; so Esay 42.1. he is called but the Fathers servant, and he does only the Fathers business, Luk. 2.49. and he receives a Law from him, Joh. 10.18. This commandment have I received of my Father; this law is in the middle of my bowels, and it was a law commanding him to lay down his life for his people; and so do the Saints, for Christ is God the Fathers King, Psal. 2.1. [1] Because he receives his government from him, he it was that did anoint him, and set him up, he did receive his Kingdom from the Ancient of days, Dan. 7.14. [2] He hath from him the laws and rules of his government; for he says, I came not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me; therefore all the laws that he gives, they are no other than those he has received from the Father. [3] For the ends of his government, they are also prescribed him, For I seek not mine own glory, but the glory of him that sent me. Now it's a happiness for any people to have a wise and a righteous Law-giver, and this is a comfort and an honour to the Saints, that they have Christ their King, and the law that he has given them is a royal Law, Jam. 2.8. much more should the Saints rejoyce in this, that he that is Christs King and Lord, is their Lord also, and he that is Christs Law-giver is also theirs: the subjection of the Angels should be enough unto a man that he should be brought into subjection, but much more we should be content to receive the law at his mouth, and rejoyce in it, when he is unto Christ himself a Lord and a Law-giver.

(2) As he is King and Lord to Christ, he carries him through all his service; for pro∣tection

doth properly belong to a Prince in the duties of subjection, which are required of him; and therefore Kings have those names given them in Scripture, they are called Latibulum, a hiding place from the wind, Esay 32.2. and the shields of the earth, and they are for defence, Psal. 47.9. and the Angels of God, 2 Sam. 14.15. And they are for pro∣tection also to a man in his way, Psal. 91.11, 12. so the Father doth promise Christ, Esay 42.4, 6. I have called thee in righteousness, I will hold thee by the hand, and I will keep thee, &c. and in this Christ comforts himself, that his Father was at his right hand, Psal. 16.5, 9. Here also is the happiness of the Saints, that the same God that protected Christ, that girt his loyns, and strengthened him for his work, the same God has also undertaken their protection in all the services that he calls them unto, Joh. 10.28, 29. he saith, I will give unto my sheep eternal life, and none shall pluck them out of my hand, for the Father, who gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand. Is there any service that can be so hazardous as that which Christ was called unto to conflict with, even the curse of the Law, the powers of darkness, and the wrath of God imme∣diately? yet Christ did strengthen his faith in this, that he had the power of the Father engaged therein, as he was his Lord; we have assurance of the same protection in all our services that Christ had in his, therefore let not your hearts be troubled.

(3) God the Father doth destroy Christs enemies, and as his King doth fight his battels, and doth engage himself mightily therein, Psal. 110.1. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, till I make thine enemies my footstool. God the Father is engaged in all the victories of Christ, that he shall conquer, and there is none shall be able to stand before him: and as he doth destroy Christs enemies in the worst season for them, that so it may be with an utter destruction, so shall he do yours also; for the Lord doth but wait for an evil time,* 1.468 that they may be insnared, as Zeph. 2.4. They shall drive out Ashdod at noon day. In those hot countries they did keep their houses in the heat of the day, it was the worst season to travel, I but then shall they be cast out. Christ has assured you of a victory,* 1.469 Rev. 19.14. the Armies in Heaven followed him upon white horses, as an em∣blem of joy and victory, and therefore they are said to be cloathed in white Robes with palms in their hands, Rev. 7.9. and they are said to have gotten the victory over the beast, his image, the mark and the number of his name, Rev. 15. There are many great promises unto them that do overcome, To him that overcomes I will give to eat of the hidden Manna, and he that overcomes shall inherit all things, I will be his God. And the Apostle insults upon this,* 1.470 and says, Rom. 8. We are more than conquerors through him that loved us. And here is the ground of a Christians comfort, that the power of his Father is as truly engaged for his conquest as it was for Christs, and we may as well expect victory, as Christ himself did, Rom. 16.20. The God of peace shall tread Satan under your feet shortly.

(4) Christ is to give an account unto the Father as he is his Lord, and we find that he doth so; as the creatures give an account of their services unto Christ, so he does give an account of all his services unto the Father. Zac. 3.11. The Angels had been sent in messages throughout the Earth, and they return unto Christ an account of their service, they answered the Angel of the Lord that stood amongst the Mirtle-trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, &c. but Christ gives his account to the Father, Ezech. 9. ult. the man cloathed with linen reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me; and at the last day he shall give up the Kingdom to the Father, with an account of all the service that he has been engaged in, 1 Cor. 15.24. All the accounts of the creatures are passed with Christ, We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, 2 Cor. 5.10. but having received them, Christ does as the Fathers servant pre∣sent them all unto him, as a part of the service that he himself has undertaken: so that here is the happiness of the Saints, your accounts shall pass before the same Father that Christs accounts do; and he that doth now present your persons and your services unto the Father, he will then also unto the same God and Father present your accounts, and give you your discharge and your sentence, Come you blessed of my Father.

(5) As the Father is the King, so from him does Christ receive his reward, Psal. 16. ult. Thou shalt shew me the path of life, in thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore: and the comfort and happiness of the Saints lyes in this, that they shall have glory from the same hand that Christ had his glory,* 1.471 Come you blessed of my Father; it's your Fathers pleasure to give you a kingdom. There is a double Throne that we read of, Rev. 3.21. He that overcomes shall sit with me upon my Throne, as I overcame, and am sat down with my Father upon his Throne. The Throne that Christ now sits upon is the Throne of the Father; for so Heaven is called; and so all the Saints, when they come to glory, do sit upon the Throne of the Father, that Throne that he has prepared for them from the foundation of the world: but Christ has also his own Throne which shall be at

the day of Judgment, when he shall sit upon his Throne, and all Nations shall be gathered together before him, and the Saints shall sit upon that Throne also; for so he saith, They shall also sit upon twelve Thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel at the day of Judgment; there∣fore they shall sit with Christ upon his Throne; and in Heaven they shall sit with him also upon the Fathers Throne. And the ground of all is this, because when God the Father did make Christ his King, he did not put the power out of his own hand, and he did not di∣vest himself, but the Kingdom of the Father is carried on in the Kingdom of Christ through the whole administration thereof; and therefore in the work of grace, 2 Cor. 5.19. God is in Christ reconciling the world, it's the Father that doth put all things under Christ, 1 Cor. 15.27. And the Saints have not only Christs name written upon them, Rev. 3.12. but Rev. 14.1. they have the Fathers name also written in their foreheads.* 1.472 It was an ordinary manner in those parts, that servants should receive the name of the master for a mark of the person for whom they lived, and Souldiers the name of their General or chief Commander, &c. and this mark was sometimes in the right hand, and sometimes in the forehead; so that they are professed servants not only of Christ, but of God the Father also, whose servant Christ is in all that he doth; and therefore Rev. 11.16, 17. The kingdoms of the earth are said to become the kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ, not only Christs Kingdom, but the Fathers Kingdom also; though it's true, that the actual and immediate administration of it, is in the hand of the Son, Joh. 5.23. The Father judges no man, yet in the Son the Father reigns. There is a time for the regress of Christs Kingdom into the hand of the Father, that he may immediately administer it again, as he did from the beginning, and that I conceive is meant by the subjection of the Son, 1 Cor. 15.28. Then shall the Son also be subject unto him, that put all things under him,* 1.473 &c. He is subject during all the time of his Kingdom; for he does rule but as the Fathers ser∣vant, and he says, As the Father gave me commandment, even so do I; but there is a grea∣ter subjection that yet Christ must shew unto the Father. [1] He is now the Fathers servant, and yet so as he rules the world; and therefore as you have heard he is called God the Fathers King: but after the day of Judgment having put down all rule and all authority and power that was substituted by him, he shall give up his government into the hand of the Father, and he shall rule the creatures as Lord of all things, as Mediator no more; but having brought them under his government unto the Father, he, together with that great Church and general assembly of the first-born, shall come under the im∣mediate government of the Father for ever. [2] He is now the Fathers servant, and subject to him, but it is in a secret and unobserved way, the government is in his hand, though the Father rules in him; but then he shall lay down all at the Fathers feet before men and Angels, and become subject to the glory of the Father.

§. 3. God the Father stands unto Christ in the relation of a Friend, or a Companion; and so he calls him, Zac. 13.7. the word there doth properly signifie two things,* 1.474 (1) So∣cium, a mans companion, one that he doth enjoy intimate communion and fellowship with. (2) Amicum sive proximum, a friend, Christ is one that is near to God the Father, one with whom he doth enjoy the most intimate society, and so much the expression of his be∣ing in the bosom of the Father doth intimate,* 1.475 Joh. 1.18. for there are three things which it notes, (1) arctissimam conjunctionem, the nearest conjunction, (2) ardentissimam dilectio∣nem, the most ardent love, (3) secretissimorum communicationem,* 1.476 the communication of the deep¦est secrets: it is used of wives, Deut. 13.6. and of friends, Luke 16.23. Now there are four great acts of friendship, as the Philosopher has observed: (1) 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, benevolence,* 1.477 a true well-wishing, desiring his good, as the good of his own soul; as we read, thy friend which is as thy own soul. Thus as the Son seeks the glory of the Father, so does the Father seek the glory of the Son, as truly as his own glory; so Joh. 14.13. That the Father may be glorified in the Son; and therefore he saith, He that honours not the Son, honours not the Fa∣ther, Joh. 5.23. so he doth seek the salvation and good of the Saints, even as his own glory; for as he will be glorified in the Son, so he will also be glorified in the Saints; and therefore though the Lord Jesus Christ be in glory already, yet he is not satisfied with his own glory, but takes care that his friends may be partakers of it, and therefore he will leave Heaven once more, that he may come again to fetch you; for his glory is not perfect without you: and this he doth as he is the Fathers servant also, because the glory of the Father as manifested is not perfected till all the Saints be brought home to him, and are glorified with him.

(2) 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, concord, friends have one mind, idem velle & idem nolle est firma amicitia, to will and nill the same thing is firm friendship: Again, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, he that doth chuse the same things: so it is with Christ, Joh. 10.30. I and my Father are one, that is, we have the same will, and we act in the same time, we carry on the same design; and so it is

with the Saints also; and therefore he doth by an almighty power, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself,* 1.478 subdue their will unto his will, that they chuse the things that please him, and they say always, Not my will, but thy will be done; and therefore Sal∣vian makes this the happiness of the Saints,* 1.479 quia ex voto agunt humiles sunt, hoc volunt, pau∣peres sunt, pauperie delectantur, sine ambitione sunt, ambitum respuunt, &c. because they live by prayer, they are humble, &c.

(3) In friendship there is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, beneficence, a readiness and a willingness to do all good unto the party beloved: so is God the Father a friend to Christ, he gives him glory, he sets him at his own right hand, and gives him dominion over the works of his hands, and has put all things under his feet, Psal. 8. And so he is a friend unto the Saints also; for he has made them heirs of all things, and has given them all things necessary unto life and godliness; the most precious things he bestows upon them, himself, and his Son, and his Spirit, his Grace, the ministry of Angels; and he has subjected all the actings of his Pro∣vidence unto their prayers, and they all work together for their good; he doth imploy them in the highest and most honourable services, and he doth bestow upon them the greatest rewards.

(4) 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, All friendship is in communion, Arist. Eth. 1. so the Father is a friend to Christ, Joh. 5.20. The Father loves the Son, and shews him all things that he himself doth. Abraham is called the friend of God, and therefore there is such a fellowship that the Lord has with him, that he cannot hide from Abraham the thing that he means to do; and so there is a communion that he has with the Saints, a constant communion, they come and sup with him, and make their abode with him, Joh. 14.23. They dwell in God, that is, in the sense and the apprehension of his love from day to day, 1 Joh. 4.16. they are in the Father and in his Son Christ: friends do impart secrets, and divide grief,* 1.480 and multiply joys; and because we cannot ascend up unto God, therefore he will come down to us: We will come to him, and dwell in him, &c. There is a great deal of sweetness in society, where a man loves, We took sweet counsel together, and walked to the house of God in companies; but there is none like unto that that is between Hea∣ven and Earth: I saw heaven opened, and the Angels ascending and descending upon the sons of men, Joh. 1. ult.

* 1.481§. 4. As Christ is the true Vine, so the Father is the Husbandman: Christ is not here spoken of as a head in heaven, for so he has no dead members; but it's spoken of him as spreading himself into a visible Church, which is sometimes compared unto a Vine, Jer. 2.21. and sometimes to an Olive-tree, Rom. 11. and of this Vine the Father is the Hus∣bandman or the Vine-dresser: for there are branches in this Vine that do bear no fruit, parentes pampinarii. Now there is a double act of the Father in this relation. (1) The unfruitful branches he takes away, that is, all hypocrites and unsound-hearted in the Church visible he takes away, partly because they dishonour the root, and partly because the husbandman has no fruit by them,* 1.482 For who is he that plants a vineyard, and doth not drink thereof, he lets it out unto vine-dressers, &c. and it was to yield for the fruit of it a thousand pieces of silver; there is nothing more hateful than an empty Vine; Hos. 10.1. and these branches he takes away, and they are cast out. [1] They are cast out of the hearts of Gods people, and out of their prayers, and in the end they are cast out of their society. [2] They wither: their gifts wither, and their former seeming graces from which they had their greenness decay, their lamps go out. [3] Men gather them, Here∣ticks gather them, or profane men gather them, for they shall be gathered together in bundles, those of their own kind, and all those spiritual judgments that compleat a man for separation from God, befal such a man, and this punishment is from God the Father, who is the Husbandman. (2) All the branches that are fruitful he doth purge them, that they may bring forth more fruit. There are two parts of Sanctification, and there is a growth of a Christian seen in them both; there is a growth in grace, the new image is more visibly seen; and there is a growth in mortification, or the decay of the old image: the new man is renewed day by day, and the old man decays day by day, &c. In visible Churches the purging of the members is the Fathers act, the remainders of sin are the great misery of a Saint. Now to whom should a man look to be cleansed? It's true, that it's the sprinkling of the blood of Christ upon the conscience by which it is done; but it is properly the act of God the Father applying this blood; for every degree of grace in the one or the other, it's an act of the grace of the Father. But more particularly, here are three things to be spoken to for the opening of this relation, that we may re∣ceive the fruit, and taste the sweetness thereof. (1) How and in what respect is Christ com∣pared to a Vine? (2) Why is he said to be a true Vine? (3) How is the Father said to be the Husbandman? and what doth he unto this Vine as he is the Husbandman?

1. How and in what respect is Christ compared to a Vine? and here we are to consider, that the visible Church is in Scripture compared in Scripture to four trees, because there is no one that is able to resemble it. (1) It's compared to an Olive-tree,* 1.483 Jer. 11.16. Rom. 11.17. and that for its profitableness; for the Olive-tree is for light, which makes the lamp to burn, and there is all light in the Church; and it's for nourishment to be eaten,* 1.484 and so there is all food in the Church; and it's for ornament, for oyl makes the face to shine, Psal. 104.15. the trees of the Lord are full of sap, &c. (2) It's compared to a Palm-tree, Psal. 92.12. The righteous shall flourish like a pa••m-tree, which lives always; so there is a flourishing and a greenness and glory that is upon the Church of God, and that in the greatest winter of affliction, when other trees do cast their leaves. Again, a Palm the more weight it has hung upon it, the more it grows, and the deeper it takes root, as the Walnut-tree, the more it's beaten, the more it bears. (3) It's compared to a Cedar, Psal. 92.12. and Ezech. 17.23. He shall grow as a cedar in Lebanon. [1] For its deep root∣ing, for it's the strongest of all the trees: as the wood of it is of all other least subject unto putrefaction; so in respect of the deep rooting of it it's of all other trees least subject unto subversion; so the Israel of God is said to be, He shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon,* 1.485 &c. [2] For its growth and height; it's therefore called the Cedars of God, Psal. 80.10. [3] For it's spreading nature, the boughs spread to the Sea, and the branches to the River, therefore the birds make their nests and sing in the branches of it, Psal. 104.17. [4] But the Church is specially in the Scripture compared unto a Vine, [1] for its excellency; for in the Parable of Jotham this is recorded amongst the most excellent, the Vine, the Fig-tree, and the Olive, Judg. 9. [2] For its spreading nature; for it will not only compass the house, but it will fill the land, Psal. 80.9. [3] For its fruitfulness, it is the fruitful Vine; and the excellency of its fruit is such,* 1.486 that it is said by it to chear God and man, Judg. 9.13. it's said to chear God and man, where by Elohim I should un∣derstand great men, the great ones, as well as the mean ones, are cheared and revived by it: Some do expound it of God, and how the Lord was pleased with it, and it was of∣fered unto him in Libamina, for a drink-offering. [4] Of all trees there is none requires so much husbandry, and such a continual labouring about it; it is a tree that hath more enemies than any other, whether they are suckers from within, which call for continual pruning, or beasts from without, which will surely waste the Vine, and root it up; or else the Foxes, Cant. 2.15. for they all will spoil the Vines, and prey upon the grapes: and it 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in this respect that the Church is called and compared to a Vine. And it's of this Vine that Christ is the root; for it's not spoken of Christ as he is a Head in Heaven, so he has no dead members, there are membra praesumptiva quae ad columbam non pertinent,* 1.487 but it's spoken of Christ spreading himself into a visible Church here upon earth, and his being the root notes two things: (1) Their union with him, as the branches have with the root; and therefore they are said to be in him, even those that bear no fruit: some are in him only by profession, and some by a real coalition. (2) They may suck sap from him, for the foolish Virgins have the oyl in their lamps from him, as well as the wise that have oyl in their vessels; the one have the oyl of gifts, from whence their greenness comes, though they afterward wither, and the other have the oyl of their graces; the one has it from the Spirit of Christ assisting, and the other from the same Spirit inhabiting or infor∣ming; for there are two sorts of branches in this Vine, as the Text makes manifest.

2. Why is he called the true Vine? He may be fitly resembled to a Vine, as he is called the true light, Joh. 1.9. and the true bread, Joh. 6.32. because he has the excellency of the Vine in a spiritual sense, he is a spiritual Root that has spiritual branches, and they bear spiritual fruit; for omnia corporalia sunt imagines quaedam rerum spiritualium, all cor∣porals are images of things spiritual: and as Christ did condescend unto the lowest con∣dition for our salvation, he became a worm and no man, Psal. 22. so he doth compare himself unto the lowest of creatures for our instruction; but yet so as the creatures are but shadows and weak resemblances in respect of those spiritual excellencies that are in him; so he is the true bread, and so his flesh is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed,* 1.488 that is, it is spiritual nourishment, and is to the soul that which all earthly food is to the body; for as the creatures are but shadows of God, so Christ and spiritual things have the truth of all excellency, of which the creatures are but resemblances.

3. How is the Father said to be the Husbandman? There are six main acts of the Hus∣bandman, and all of them are in the Scripture attributed to God the Father. (1) The husbandman doth plant the Vine: it's true here both in the root and branches, both are the plantation of God the Father. [1] It is true of Christ the Root, who though in some respect he be called a Branch, as he did grow out of the dead and withered stock of the house of David, as a branch out of a dry tree, and yet so the Father brings him

forth, Zac. 3.8. Behold I will bring forth my servant the branch; yet as all the other branches do grow upon him, being one with him, so he is in a more special manner termed a Root, the root of David, as he is called, Rev. 5.5. and it is the Father that did cause this branch to grow,* 1.489 Jer. 33.16. and it's the Father that planted this Root; for he bids you look unto him, Zac. 6.12. The man whose name is The Branch, he shall build the Temple of the Lord, and he is made unto us of God wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. It's by the Fathers appointment that he is become the Churches Root; he had never had a Church built upon him, had not the Lord laid him in Sion as the chief corner-stone, 1 Pet. 2.6. and a Church had never grown out of him, as the root, had it not been of God the Fathers planting; for he has given us the rule, Mat. 15.13. Every plant that grows alone in the Church, and is not planted by the Father, shall surely by the Father be rooted up. [2] He it is also that doth plant, or ingraft all the branches into this root, Esay. 60.21. Thy people shall be all righteous branches of my planting, that I may be glorified; and therefore Rom. 6.5. we are called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, planted together into the likeness of his death and his resurrection, created in Christ unto good works, for we are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, things made by him, Eph. 2.10. Now if we do consider Christ not only as a Head in Heaven in reference unto the Church mystical and invisible, but as he is a root on earth, spreading himself into a Church visible, and the great benefits that we have thereby, as the incomes of Ordinances, the labours of Officers, and the fellowship of Mem∣bers, we owe these all unto God the Father, he is the Husbandman that planted them all.

(2) The Father as Husbandman fenceth the Vine: he that plants the Vine, he it is also that makes the fence; for the invisible Church of God has spiritual enemies, in hea∣venly things; but the visible Church, that has variety of outward enemies; as the lily a∣mongst thorns: sometimes the Foxes by their subtilty seek to spoil the vines, and some∣times the wild Boar out of the wood doth endeavour to root it up, and yet it is preserved, the bush is in the fire, and yet it's not consumed, it is because there is a hedge about it, Joh. 10.29. says Christ, My Father that gave them me is greater than all, and no man can pluck them out of my Fathers hand: Job 1.10. Thou hast made a hedge about him, and all that he has round about; and this hedge of protection is sometimes made by Gods own imme∣diate hand, Zac. 2.5. God himself is a wall of fire about Jerusalem, he doth himself be∣come their hedge and their defence; upon all the glory he doth stretch forth a covering: and sometimes he doth make others to be a hedge, sometimes his own Angels, and they pitch their Tents round about them that fear the Lord;* 1.490 they were round about the Throne; and sometimes he does make Rulers, which are the shields of the Earth, to become the shields of the Church, but their protection and defence is the work of the husbandman. Now when the Lord doth pluck up the hedge, and break down the wall of the visible Church, we then see what terrible inroads all the enemies do make, and how they come in and spoil her; The Boar of the wood doth waste it, and the beasts of the field devour it, Psal. 80.13. so that it's God the Father only that makes the hedge, and he it is that doth remove the fence, and he it is that has the hand in making it up again.

(3) He as the Husbandman doth hire labourers into his Vineyard; for it is the work of God the Father, Mat. 20.1. as he is the Lord of the harvest, so he doth thrust forth labourers into his harvest; as he is the husbandman, so he doth hire labourers into his vineyard, which is the visible Church, and the labourers are the officers and the work∣men that do labour therein, and they are said to be hired, (1) ratione pacti, because there doth as it were a bargain and an agreement pass between God and them; for answerable unto a mans end, such is the implicite agreement that he makes with God; and answe∣rable unto that, so God will give a man a reward: if a man do it for profit, he shall have it; but then he is said not to serve Christ, but his own belly; and if he do it for praise of men, Christ saith, They have their reward, &c. (2) Ratione praemii, in regard of reward, because there is no man that shall labour in Christs Vineyard, but he shall have his re∣ward, answerable unto the penny that he himself did agree for; for no man doth labour there in vain, there is a certain wages promised him, &c. And this belongs unto God the Father, there is not a man whose gifts you injoy, and whose labours you have, and do prize, but he is hired by the Father, and he it is that gives him his hire. Now we know that labourers in the vineyard have been very precious to the Saints, and are the glory of the Churches, a Crown of twelve Stars, Rev. 12.1. they are all of them hired by him that is the Husbandman, and the Lord of the Vineyard, &c.

(4) It's the husbandman that waters the vineyard, and the vine that he himself has planted, as it's said Esay 27.3. I will water it every moment: and there is a double wate∣ring, sometimes he does it by the dew, Hos. 14.5. I will be as the dew to Israel, and he shall

grow as the lily, &c. that is, in a secret, silent, and insensible way, as the Manna fell in the dew, without any observation; there is a secret River that doth refresh the City of God, Psal. 46.5. and the Church is secretly refreshed and supported no man knows how; and it's also watered by the rain, the former and the latter rain, in a more glorious way;* 1.491 the Lord comes in, and doth revive the Church, and all men shall see that it is his work, and that it is from Heaven only, and both put together, as the dew and as showers upon the grass, Mic. 5.6. which tarrieth not for man, it waits not for the sons of men, the Lord doth wait for no humane concurrence or the joyning in of any of the creatures, but he doth water his own vine himself, that it doth flourish and grow, and these waters are all the gifts and graces of the Spirit, which the Father doth send; for the giving of the Spirit is called the promise of the Spirit, Acts 1.4. for the succus vitalis, the vital juyce of this Vine is the Spirit.

(5) He pruneth it as he is the Husbandman, the unfruitful branches he takes away: Joh. 15.2. Every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away; but yet there is the skill of the husbandman in it, who will have in his Church no unfruitful branches: though for a while they may continue, yet he will gather out of his Kingdom whatever doth offend, and whoever works iniquity: and he prunes it in the fittest time, in its sea∣son, when it may be best for the vine. It may be some do wonder that the Lord lets wicked men alone to continue in the Church so long, why they are not immediately cast out; truly if the Father be the Husbandman, let us leave it to his pruning, for it's his work, and he will do it, in his time and season, we must not undertake to direct him which season is best, he keeps it in his own power, and he doth it at the fittest time; so that after this pruning the other branches may grow better, and the Father hath under∣taken it; and though there may be some hypocrites that may a long time escape the eyes of men, and the censure of the Church, yet they shall not escape the Fathers eye, who is the Husbandman. There is a spiritual Excommunication that goes forth against them from him, and he will surely cast them out as dead branches, and he hath provi∣ded a fire for them, and they are burnt; and there is no man that burns so fiercely in Hell as such dry wood prepared for the fire; for all the vessels of wrath are fitted to de∣struction, as well as the vessels of mercy are prepared for glory.

(6) The fruitful branches he doth purge, as the husbandman, that they may bring forth more fruit: and in this are the two parts of Sanctification. [1] The destroy∣ing of the old man; for the Lord Jesus Christ hath as well bought off in our Re∣demption the power of sin, as the guilt of sin, Tit. 2.14. he hath redeemed you from all iniquity, that he may have the more communion with you,* 1.492 and that he may fit you the more for use, 2 Tim: 2.21. If a man purge himself, &c. and also that your services may be the more pleasing unto him, Mal. 3.3. 1. He doth it by Ordinan∣ces, Eph. 5.2, 6. He doth cleanse them by the washing of water through the word, and they are clean through the word that he doth speak unto them. 2. Sometimes by the inward motions of the Spirit, discovering the filthiness of sin, and stirring up a mans heart to hate it, and himself for it, that a man shall make it his business to mor∣tifie sin; and as Christ suffered in the flesh, and ceased from sin, so he doth arm him∣self with the same mind, his resolution is the armor that strengthens and establishes his heart therein. 3. Many times the Lord doth it by shedding abroad his love in the soul, so that the sense thereof makes a man to purifie himself from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit, as the exhortation also is, 2 Cor. 7.1. Having this hope [such exceeding great and precious promises] let us perfect holiness in the fear of God. [2] The reviving of the new man; it's the Fathers end that they may bring forth more fruit, for they are ordained to bear fruit, a vine is of no worth, if it be not fruitful; therefore Col. 2.19. they are said to increase with the increase of God 1. Some say the increase of God is a great and glorious increase, as the mountains of God, and the Cedars of God,* 1.493 and the wrest∣ling of God. 2. Some say it is the increase of God, quae est à Deo tanquam à primario ef∣ficiente, which is from God as the prime efficient: Paul may plant, and Apollo water, but God gives the increase: therefore we should honour the Father in the work of Sanctification as well as we honour the Father in his Election. 3. Some say the increase of God is ad Deum tanquam finem ultimum, is to God as the last en••: And when doth a man bear more fruit? [1] When he doth the duties that he did formerly neglect, and is more abun∣dant in them, 1 Cor. 15. ult. [2] When he doth exercise more grace in them, and there is more of the inward man in them, Rev. 3.2. though he doth the same duties, yet it is more fruit to God than formerly, when he doth it with more pleasure, and the commandments are none of them grievous to him, it is his meat and drink to do it, his comforts do come in by his duties, as well as by the promised rewards, and he is

also more constant in the performance of them, and doth not perform duty only by fits: inconstancy in any man is an argument of weakness, 'tis a reproach to have it said, a mans righteousness is but as the morning dew, and as the early cloud that passeth away.

§. 5. We come now unto the last particular of the personal and appropriated relation of God the Father as he stands unto Christ, and in him unto us: as he is his Father and our Father, our God and his God, his friend, so he is the fountain of the life of Christ, and in him the fountain of spiritual life to us also,* 1.494 and that is set down, 1 Joh. 5.11. God hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son: we see of what person it's spoken, it is the Father that hath given us this life, and laid it up in his Son, as in a common Trea∣sury,* 1.495 that from him it might be conveyed unto us. So Joh. 6.57. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. Here in the opening of it I must shew, (1) Whether this be spoken of Christ as he is God, or as he is Mediator? (2) How Christ as Mediator is said to live by the Father? (3) What the life is that we have from Christ? (4) That all this life that we have from Christ and is in him, is from the Father, he that is the fountain of the life of Christ, is also the fountain of our life.

1. Whether it be spoken here of Christ as he is God, or as he is Mediator, God manifested in the flesh? That it's not spoken of Christ as he is God, there are three things do clearly make it manifest. (1) It's spoken of Christ with respect unto his Office; for he speaks of himself as sent by the Father, and sending is a term of office. Now as he is sent by the Father, so he lives by the Father: but he is sent as Mediator, and it wholly relates unto his Office in which he is by the Father imployed; and therefore it is as Me∣diator that he lives by the Father. (2) It's spoken of Christ as he is fed upon by the faithful, I live by the Father, so he that eats me shall live by me, which refers to him as he is made man; for so he saith vers. 34. He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood, hath eternal life, &c. Now the Father is the fountain of life unto Christ in the same respect that Christ is the fountain of life unto us; but it is as Mediator that he is so to us, as he hath flesh and blood, for so he becomes unto us a natural head; and therefore suited to be an object of our faith, fit both to be our surety here, and our Advocate in Heaven; our surety here, as having our nature, and therefore being able to pay our debt; and our Advocate hereafter, as having our nature still upon him, and therefore knows how to have mercy and compassion, the same nature in him will incline him thereunto. (3) I con∣ceive, that it were dangerous to say, that as he is God, so he lives by the Father, though I often find that Divines writing of the eternal generation of the Son, do speak of the Fathers begetting of the Son by the communication of the same Essence, that he is God of God, &c. But surely he that is God, must be without cause, he must have his Being from himself, he must be the first and the last; he that hath his essence from another must have his sufficiency from another, and he that is from another must be unto another; for he that is the first cause, he must also be the last end, Rom. 11.36. For of him, and to him, and through him are all things, &c. and therefore he that is not God of himself, is not God at all. I dare not therefore say, that he hath the Divine Essence communicated by eter∣nal generation,* 1.496 but rather he is à seipso Deus, à Patre filius, essentia ejus principio caret, personae verò principium est ipse Deus: it's spoken of Christ, therefore not as he lives in himself, as he is God, but as he is Mediator made by the Father the fountain of life unto us.

2. What is the life, which as Mediator Christ receives from the living Father? There are two words in Scripture unto which commonly all things excellent or desirable are compared, and those are Light and Life; and so all misery is set forth under the two contraries, and they are Darkness and Death, as Psal. 97.11. Light is sown for the righteous: in thy light we shall see light, &c. And so life also, Psal. 30.5. In his favour is life: Psal. 36.9. With thee is the fountain of life:* 1.497 thy loving-kindness is better than life; life is that which doth com∣prehend in it all good things, as the lesser is comprehended of the greater; for the life is more worth than meat, and the body than raiment; and so it implies that Jesus the Media∣tor doth receive all things that are good, excellent, and desirable from God the Father, he doth live by the Father, &c. he is unto him the fountain of all good things: But this is but general. I find life in Scripture used four ways, as standing in opposition unto a four∣fold death in us. (1) There is a death in reference to the guilt of sin, a man being under the sentence of the Law dead; and in opposition thereunto there is a life of Righteousness in Justification: therefore it's said Rom. 5.17, 18. For if by one mans offence death raigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gifts of righteousness shall raign in life by one Jesus Christ: therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all to condem∣nation, so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification to life. (2) There is a death in reference to the dominion of sin; and thus we are said to be dead in trespasses and sins: and so there is a life of Holiness and Regeneration, when the Lord

saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and stand up from the dead, Eph. 5.14. Joh. 5.25. When the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear it shall live: and so he doth quicken those that are dead in trespasses and sins, Eph. 2.5. they are made alive unto God. (3) There is a death in sorrow, and under misery, as the Jews were in their Captivity, they were dry bones dead, and their restoring of peace and comfort was a resurrection from the dead, Ezech. 37.12. and so Heman is free amongst the dead, as they that are wounded and lye in the grave, &c. and in opposition thereunto there is a life of consolation,* 1.498 1 Thess. 3.8. Now we live if you stand fast in the Lord, that is, this will be one of the greatest com∣forts of our lives, our happiness, our glory, and crown of rejoycing, &c. Rom. 7.9.* 1.499 I was alive without the law once, alive in performances, and alive in presumption, alive in com∣forts, alive in confidences, and that is the meaning of Hab. 2.4. The just shall live by his faith,* 1.500 and in the same sense it is used Heb. 10.38. He that shall come will come, and will not tarry,* 1.501 now the just shall live by his faith. There is a double sense of these words: [1] In mat∣ter of Justification, Gal. 3.11. No man is justified by the law, it is evident, for the just shall live by faith. [2] In matter of consolation in any affliction, and so faith doth not only make a man live, keep body and soul together; but it makes a man live a comfortable and a chearful life also, non est vivere, sed valere vita, &c. (4) There is a death eternal, which is an everlasting separation from the vision and fruition of God, who is the fountain of life, and so we read of the second death; and so there is a life of glory, Joh: 3.36. He that be∣lieves not in the Son of God, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him; and Heaven is commonly in the Scripture called everlasting life, &c. Now in all these respects the Son lives by the living Father, and they that are one with him do live by him.

1. Christ as Mediator receives from the living Father a life of justification: he was made under the Law, and under the curse, 2 Cor. 5.21. it pleased the Father to make all our sins meet upon him, he did bear the sins of many, he did appear the first time of his coming into the world loaden with transgression,* 1.502 but he shall appear the second time without sin, Heb. 9.28. and this was by the Fathers imputation,* 1.503 and his voluntary sus∣ception; but when he arose from the dead, he is acquitted by God the Father, and there∣fore is said to be justified in the Spirit, i. e. by his own Godhead, and 1 Pet. 3.18. he is said to be quickned by the Spirit, that is, he raised up himself by the power of his own God∣head; so being raised he is justified, that is, he is acquitted from the guilt of all the sins that he did before lye under; and so he is taken from prison, he did not break prison, but he was released, and had a fair discharge, and the judgment that was past upon him he was absolved from.* 1.504 Now as the sentence of his condemnation came forth from the Father, so must also his justification, and as he says, Joh. 16.10. Ye see me no more, to note that his death should fully satisfie, and his sacrifice be perfectly offered: as for other Priests, they came often to present their Sacrifices which were imperfect, and the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin off the sinner.* 1.505

2. He received from the living Father a life of holiness and sanctification: Col. 1.19. It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell. What fulness is here meant?* 1.506 an habitual fulness of grace, Joh. 1.16. Of his fulness we have all received grace for grace: as he was anointed by the Father, he received not the Spirit by measure;* 1.507 for God gi∣veth not the Spirit by measure unto him. It's true, that grace in the humane nature of Christ, which is the subject of habitual grace, is not infinite, for that only belongs to the Holiness of God; but yet there is all fulness in it, because it's laid up in him, that he might dispence it; and there is a sufficiency, and there are supplies of the Spirit for all the Saints; and therefore he is called, Dan. 9.24. The most holy,* 1.508 or holiness of ho∣linesses; the humane nature is capable of more grace, and therefore of greater glory, by reason of its personal union, than all the creatures in Heaven and Earth, either men or Angels; for he is the Son of Righteousness.

3. He received from the living Father a life of consolation. It's true, if we look to his condition amongst the creatures, so he was a man of sorrows; but if we respect his communion with the Father, and the fulness of the consolation of the Spirit (for where the Spirit is truly a Spirit of Sanctification, there also he is in perfection a Spi∣rit of Consolation) so he is said, Psal. 45.7. To be anointed with the oyl of gladness above his fellows: his blessed Soul had experience as of greater and higher priviledges, so of far greater comforts than of the creature, men or Angels; and though it's true, that when he bore the sins of men, and the wrath of God, there was substractio visionis, and therefore he is said 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which is as much as extra confortium vivere,* 1.509 to live with∣out society: he was to be sequestred as in a wilderness, and set apart unto grief, and to nothing else, yet it was but for a short time; for as the Sun did recover its light again, so did his Spirit also, and his Soul was filled with unspeakable joys, as he before

under-went unutterable sorrows; therefore he says, Joh. 15.10. I kept my Fathers com∣mandment, and abide in his love; my heart is glad, and my glory rejoyceth, &c.

* 1.5104. He received from the living Father a life of glory: Thou wilt shew me the path of life, in thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore: and therefore,* 1.511 Rev. 3.21. He that overcomes I will grant to sit with me upon my Throne, even as I overcame, and am sate down with my Father in his Throne, &c. Jesus Christ has a Throne on which he now sits ruling the Nations, having received a Kingdom from the Ancient of days, and he has a Throne in the Church; a Throne is set in Heaven, Rev. 4.2. and there is a more glorious Throne to be erected at the last and great day, when he shall sit upon the Throne of his Glory, &c. but all this while Heaven is the Fathers Throne; and when the works of God are perfected here below, the Kingdom shall be given up into the hands of the Father again: and thus Christ as Mediator, as sent by the living Father, so he received from him a fourfold life, and therefore may be fitly said to live by the Father.

* 1.512But it may be objected from Joh. 5.26. As the Father hath life in himself, so he has given to the Son to have life in himself. How is it said that Christ hath life in himself, when he receives his life from the Father? I answer, Christs meaning is this, he did publish him∣self to be the fountain of life, and he doth commonly tell you, that there is a double foun∣tain of life, (1) there is the living Father; but so life could not have been derived unto us being dead; for there is no way to receive any thing from God, but by the hand of a Mediator, therefore the Father hath appointed another fountain of life, and that is his Son, and in him he hath laid up life, as in a common Treasury; though as Mediator the fountain of his life be in God, yet in reference unto us; the Father hath given him to have life in himself: it's not spoken of him as he is man, but as he doth raise the dead by an Almighty power, and they shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live, as he is an everlasting Father, and begets souls unto the Lord, and as it is given unto him: and therefore it must belong to him as Mediator, and not as God, and it is said, He has given this power to him, because he is the Son of man: therefore the meaning is, that God the Father being the fountain of life, man being fallen, and separated from God, and dead in trespasses and sins; now if the Lord will convey life unto us, it must be by ano∣ther hand; and therefore he hath made the Son the fountain of life, and the fulness there∣of to dwell in him: and so the Son has life in himself, as the Father has life in himself; the Father conveys it to the Son, and the Son receives it of purpose to derive it unto us.

3. Having seen what the life is that the Son receives from the living Father, and how he lives by the Father, let us in the next place consider, how we that are members live by the Son also: and it will appear, that answerably to the life that Christ received from the Father, so is he the fountain of life unto the Saints. (1) A life of Justification; for he is become Jehovah our Righteousness,* 1.513 we are made the righteousness of God in him: so that there is no condemnation unto them that are in Christ Jesus; for the debt is paid, and the bond is cancelled; for the Lord hath brought in an everlasting Righteousness, and such as sin can never spend. Thus we live by him a life of Justification, he is made unto us of God wis∣dom and righteousness. (2) We have from him a life of Holiness and Regeneration; we are dead in our trespasses and in the uncircumcision of our life, till by him we are quickned; and therefore, 1 Cor. 15.44. it's said, The first man Adam was made a living soul, that was his state in his creation, and God did breathe into him the breath of life, and he became a living soul, that is, such a nature as he had, such he could propagate unto his posterity, and so from the first Adam we are made living souls; but if they were dead, Adam could not revive and quicken them again; and therefore that belongs to the second Adam, he is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in spiritum vivificum, for a vivifick spirit, we have the unction from the holy One, 1 Joh. 2.20. and therefore the Spirit that we receive and that dwells in us, is the Spirit of the Son, he is the head from whence our influences come, and he is the root from which all our sap is derived, it is of his fulness only that we receive grace for grace. (3) We receive from Christ a life of consolation: for he it is that sends the Comforter, the message is, Esay 61.2. he is sent to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the ca∣ptive, and to publish the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of Jubilee, the time of rejoy∣cing;* 1.514 his work is to revive the spirits of the contrite ones; he gives them strong consola∣tion and good hope through grace,* 1.515 and that's the meaning of that place, Hab. 3.2. Re∣vive thy work in the middle of the years. The Church was then in captivity, and in great affliction, and they were as dead men under the hand of God, it is such a reviving that they beg: and all the incomes that the Saints have from the Spirit of consolation, it is a life that is derived unto them from the Lord Jesus Christ; from whom the Spirit of Sancti∣fication comes, from him comes also the Spirit of Consolation. (4) We receive from

Christ a life of Glory; he is gone to Heaven as our Fore-runner, and having prepared a place for us, he will come again and fetch us; we can never be received up to glory, if Christ had not been first received; and then he receives us also into the same glory, we enter into our masters joy: it is his by a personal purchase and propriety, it is ours by our mystical union and fellowship with him only; and therefore it is said; That he doth raise us up at the last day. And Phil. 3.21. He shall change our vile body, that it may be like to his glorious body; and when he shall appear, we shall be like him, 1 Joh. 3.3. so that our life is hid with Christ in God, but when Christ who is our life shall appear, we shall appear with him in glory, Col. 3.3.

4. God the Father is the fountain of life unto the Saints: and that two ways, (1) as he is the fountain of life unto Christ, and as he lives by the Father. (2) As by the Fathers appointment and decree he is made the fountain of life unto us. (1) As the Father is the fountain of life unto Christ; for, Joh. 14.19. Because I live ye shall live: if he did not give himself, we could not live by him. Now, Col. 3.4. And when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory. Christ is our life causativè, non es∣sentialiter, &c. and he gives us life, because he hath life in himself, but that is given him from the Father; there is a righteousness in him by which we are accepted, and the ful∣ness of habitual grace in him by which we are sanctified: all this is laid up in him by the Father; it is upon this ground only, that he is the fountain of life unto us, because he himself lives by the Father; therefore in all the glory of Christ,* 1.516 the Father should be honoured, because all the fulness of Christ he doth receive it from the Father: There∣fore whensoever we have recourse unto Christ for righteousness, holiness, and comforts, and see him to live by the Father in all these; and when we look up unto him who is our Head, and see him exalted above all Principalities and Powers; and that he lives by the power of God; now say, Christ lives by the power and the glory of the Father, and the life that I live is by the faith of the Son of God. (2) As by the Father he is made the fountain of life unto us; for the Father did give eternal life unto us when he laid it up in the Son: therefore it is said, That they killed the Prince of life;* 1.517 as he is the King of Righteousness, and the Prince of Peace: it is said Moses was a man of peace, but he could not command peace in the mutinous and murmuring people, but if he had been a Prince of peace he could; and so Christ as a Prince of life can convey life, and dispense it, Rev. 22.14. We having fallen and forfeited Paradise and the Tree of Life, we were se∣cluded from it: Now God the Father hath appointed another Tree of Life, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will give unto men a right or a priviledge to eat thereof also, which they were formerly shut out of. So that you see, it is the Father that hath given him power to quicken whom he will, to have life in himself, and to give eternal life to as many as believe in him.

SECT. IV. Our Covenant-Interest in Offices, Acts, and Relations of the Trinity applied.

[Ʋse 1] §. 1. HAving finished the doctrinal part, and seen how God the Father makes over himself in the Covenant of Grace to the Saints; for their portion lyes in God, not only in the Attributes of the nature, but in an interest in the persons also; and we have an interest in all the actions that the Father appropriated, whether they be eter∣nal, or in time, and those whether terminated in Christ immediately, or in us; and we have seen how we have an interest in all the personal relations of the Father, that in the same relations he stands to Christ, in the same he stands to us also; he is his Fa∣ther and our Father, his God and our God; he is our Father, our King, our Friend, our Husbandman, and the Fountain of our life, for he hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son: Now we come to apply all this to our selves, and it shall be 1. for Infor∣mation, that so in so great a truth as this, we may not be mistaken. And here we are to consider, (1) that a man hath interest in all the persons at once, they all be given to∣gether; a man hath not first an interest in the Father, and then in the Son, and then in the Spirit, but having an interest in one, he hath an interest in them all, he that hath the Son hath the Father also, he hath the Father and the Son.* 1.518 And by this we may see what a glorious change there is in a man when he is converted and made one with Christ, he hath an interest in all the Attributes of God. It's true, that they do all act for him after∣wards successively, and according to a mans necessity at several times they work for his

good; sometimes an act of mercy is put forth for him, sometimes an act of power, sometimes wisdom, sometimes patience; but yet the soul comes to have an interest in them all at once, and at the same time, and when he is intitled to the one, he is intitled to the other, even to them all: and so it is with the Persons also, the title Believers have to them begins at once. As a man hath interest in Christ the Mediator; it's true, that Christ doth exercise all his Offices for his spiritual good successively, and he is now to him a Priest to offer his Sacrifice, and to bear his iniquity, now he is a Prophet to teach him, now he is a King to govern him; and there are distinct acts of all these offices; but yet the soul hath an interest in them all at once: As it is in all grace; it's true, that the graces of Gods Spirit do all of them act in their places;* 1.519 for we are to add to our faith vertue, and to our vertue knowledge, &c. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, it is taken ab iis qui choros ducunt, from such as lead the dance, in which every one keeps his own place, and acts his own part; for grace brings the most glorious order into the soul that can be; but yet all grace is wrought together, even the whole new man is begotten at once: And so for all the creatures of God; it is true, that they do all in their places act for the Saints, the Stars in their courses do fight against Sisera, but yet a man comes to have jus haereditarium, an hereditary right to them all at once: And this is the glory of the change at a mans first conversion, which a man may admire, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a man that had before no in∣terest in any Attribute of God, in any person in the Godhead, or any of the Offices of Christ, or any grace of the Spirit, or any promise of the Gospel, or in any creature of God, yet at once in the very same instant, he comes to have a title unto all these; that though all the promises be fulfilled by degrees, and in their time, yet the soul hath a title unto them all, and that as true and as great as he shall have when he comes to Heaven;* 1.520 for it is by the same title that he shall injoy Heaven; for this is but our non∣age and childhood, yet a child hath the same title to the land his father left him, as when he comes to be a man, only he hath not the possession of it: and so the title by which you shall injoy God for ever, is begun in this life; only there are two great chan∣ges you must pass through, the first is conversion, the second is death; by the one the soul is intitled to his heavenly inheritance, and by the other he is fully put into posses∣sion.

2. Though the interest of Gods people begin at once in all the persons, yet the Lord would have us take notice, that there is a distinct interest in them all to be attained unto; for the more distinct our apprehensions are, the more glory we give unto God, and the greater will our own comfort be: God delights not in generalities, neither in general confes∣sions, nor in general apprehensions or thanksgivings. As it is in the Attributes of the Nature of God, though a soul that hath an interest in God in Covenant, hath a title to them all at once, yet they are all of them as so many distinct objects for faith to work and rest upon; as mercy, and justice, and holiness, and wisdom, and faithfulness; and the soul should not only be content with a general apprehension that he hath an interest in them all, but should be distinctly drawn forth, and exercise distinct acts of faith upon them all: And as it is in Christ, there are distinct excellencies in him, there is the Holiness of his Nature, the Holiness of his Life, and the fulness of his Satisfaction, the glory of his Me∣rit; and a soul that hath an interest in Christ, and is made one with him, hath immedi∣ately an interest in all these; but yet the Lord requires that the faith of his Saints should be exercised about them all, and have their apprehension raised by the glory of them all: As a man that believes any one part of the Word of God, doth believe the whole Word of God at the same time; for faith that doth close with any Divine Truth aright, doth it upon this ground, to rest upon God, tam in revelatis, quàm revelandis, as well in what is re∣vealed, as what is to be revealed: as it was with Adam and the Angels, unto whom there are made daily new discoveries of the will and counsel of God, that they never knew before; but yet there is not a precept,* 1.521 promise, or threatning in the whole Word of God, but it is a distinct object of faith, and the Lord would have the apprehensions of his people particu∣larly set upon them, that they may be particularly affected with them, and see and ad∣mire the grace of God in giving them an interest in this promise, and in that threatning: So it is true, that a man that hath an interest in the Son of God, hath an interest also in God the Father, and so a man may consider it discursivè, discursively; but the Lord would have the soul stay upon the particular interest he hath in the Father and the glory thereof, and upon the particular interest he hath in the Son and the glory thereof also. As it is in point of assurance, though he that hath the witness of the Father and the Son, hath the witness of the Spirit also; and he that is assured of the love of one, may be assu∣red of the love of them all; yet there is a distinct bringing home of the love of each per∣son to the soul; so that a man doth not by way of discourse only reason himself into the

Father, Son, and Spirit, who having one nature have also one love, and if I have a testi∣mony of the love of the Son in me, I have also a witness thereby of the love of the Fa∣ther also; but when the soul is particularly drawn out and distinctly affected with the love of each of the persons, his apprehensions are raised by reason of this interest: and so it is in the work of faith also, and the ground of it is this, (1) because all the glory that God hath by us here, is when he is exalted in our hearts; for Gods glory is in the hearts of his Saints, as all their melody is in their hearts, Ephes. 5.19. when all things in the inward man are in tune, and set right, Exod. 15.2. He is my God and I will exalt him. Now as our apprehensions do rise in the consideration of the glory of any thing that is in God, God hath the more distinct glory thereby; for as he hath given us variety of ordinances, and he will be honoured by us in them all; so he hath propounded to our faith distinct ob∣jects, and he will be honoured by our faith in them all; for as you heard, the glory that God hath in this world chiefly is in the hearts of the Saints, they only do glorifie him actively, all things else do it but occasionally, that is, by giving them an occasion to glorifie him. (2) Because there is a distinct sweetness and vertue that comes from every one of these, when the soul is distinctly drawn out to them, and they are distinctly exercised: as Phil. 3.10. says the Apostle, That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his sufferings, &c. When a man looks upon the death of Christ, there is a vertue will come out of it; and if upon the sufferings of Christ, there is a vertue will come out of them all, and they have all of them their peculiar and proper vertue upon the soul. The Apostle speaks of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.522 a savor of knowledge: now it is here as it is in a Posie, there are many flowers put together, and they do yield a very fragrant smell, that is very refreshing and delightsom; but he that will be affected with each flower must take them all apart, and he will find that each of them hath its distinct and proper savor, which unless the man had taken apart he would never have known: and so it is also in all the glorious excellencies that are in God and in Christ.

[Ʋse 2] §. 2. The second Use is of Exhortation, and that 1. To stir you up to consider the glory of this interest in the Persons; this was that did most affect Christ, Psal. 16.5. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance: it is his interest in the Father that mainly his heart doth glory in. He had several other interests that he might have boasted of; for he was Heir of all things;* 1.523 but in a more special manner he hath a glorious inheritance in the Saints, Eph. 1.18. which may be interpr•••••• either that his inheritance is in them, for they are his both dono and merito, by a gift and by a purchase also, or else 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 for inter, as it is rendred, Acts 26.18. To give them an inheritance amongst them that are sanctified, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and so the Saints have a great inheritance to glory in, they are heirs of promises, yea they inherit all things; but the main of Christs glory is his inheritance in the person of the Father, and that should be also the glory of the Saints; and here consider, (1) that the high advancement of the creature lyes in union with the persons, as the highest advancement of the humane nature of Christ lyes in the personal Union; the grace of Union is far greater than the grace of Unction, that he was made one with the second Person in the Trinity; and the advance∣ment of our nature is more by our mystical Union with the Person of Christ, than in all the benefits we receive from him; but there is a higher union that this tends to, and that is an union with all the persons in the Trinity thereby, for communio fundatur in unione. Now having communion with all the persons, it argues that we have an union with them all; and as we have a higher union with the person of the Son than the Angels have, so we have a nearer union with the Father, and with the Spirit also; and herein lyes the greatest exaltation. (2) There is more in union with the persons, than there is in all other benefits whatsoever, and all other interests: as there is more in the person of Christ than there is in all the benefits of Christ; so there is more in giving of the person of Christ, than in giving of all the benefits that he bestows. Thus there is more in our title to the persons, than in all other interests whatsoever, whether we have an interest in promises, in creatures, in ordinances, nay it is more in some respect than an interest in Attributes; for under the first Covenant the Attributes were after a sort made over to Adam, that they should all work for him, they were his portion; but under the second Covenant it is that the interest in the persons comes in; for if Adam had stood, he had had an interest in God in common, whatever was in the Nature of God, all the Attributes of his Nature should have been his; but it is the second Covenant that brings in union with the Son of God, that gives us a distinct union with the Father and with the Spirit; and therefore it is a personal interest that is the great mercy and glory of the new Covenant. (3) It is our title unto the person that gives us a title unto all the benefits: as it is in our union with Christ, 1 Joh. 5.12. He that has the Son has life, it's our union with the Son that gives us

a title unto life for him; for the Covenant is matrimonial, and it is the union with the person only that intitles the woman to her husbands honour and estate: so it's in this al∣so, having an interest in all the persons gives a man a title unto all the promises and un∣to all the priviledges of the Saints; and therefore the jus haereditarium of the Saints unto all other good things from God lyes in this, that they have an union with all the persons; for they that are not intitled unto the persons, do in vain hope to intitle themselves to the benefits. (4) This gives a man a threefold title and interest, [1] in all the Attributes, [2] in the Divine Nature, [3] in their actings: for as they are all made over unto the Saints, so they know that all these attributes are to be found in all the persons. There is in the Father infinite wisdom, and infinite power, and infinite mercy, and infinite grace, &c. so there is in the Son also, for the attributes of the nature are in common to them all, they having all of them but one and the same simple and undivided Essence; and it is glorious to a Saint to see all the attributes in them all, and thereby he is assured, that in all the act∣ings of the Father he will improve all the attributes, and so it is in all the actings of the Son and the Spirit also, and so they become ours in the actings of them by reason of our interest in all the three persons. (5) This is the proper ground of our communion with God: wherein lyes the sweetness of a Christians life here, but mainly in that fellowship that he hath with God, that he walks with God, and that he is not alone, but the Father is with him, &c? Now all communion is personal, and is a mutual intercourse between per∣sons:* 1.524 Our fellowship is with the Father, and with the Son Jesus Christ. And there is a fellow∣ship of the Spirit, 2 Cor. 13.14. It's true, we have an inheritance in attributes and in promises, but we cannot properly be said to have fellowship with him but in regard of the persons: Adam had in his creation an inheritance in all the creatures, but yet he could not have communion with them, there was none meet for fellowship with him but Eve: so it's here, there is nothing but a person that a man can have communion with. It's true, our communion is in things; as we have communion with Christ in his righteousness and in his priviledges, in his graces, in his victories, that is, we have a share together with him in them all, and they are as truly ours as they are his, according unto our necessity; but yet remember, our communion is with the person of Christ, not with the benefits: so it is in this also, we have a communion with Father, Son, and Spirit in the attributes of the Nature, so that they are as truly ours according to the tenour, and for the ends of the new Covenant, as they are his; but still our union and communion is with the persons in them, therein doth properly the foundation lye: as if a husband marry a wife, she shall have a communion with him, that is, a common share in his honour and in his estate, in whatever is his; but yet the communion that she hath is with the person of her hus∣band.* 1.525 Now man being a sociable creature, we know what sweetness there is in fellowship with the persons of men, to have the communion of those he takes most delight in: as na∣ture doth inable a man to taste the sweetness of that fellowship; so doth grace, being a Divine nature, and fitting the soul for communion, it doth inable a man to taste the sweet∣ness that is in fellowship with the Divine nature, with all the persons in whom only there is all fulness and joy unspeakable, and full of glory.

2. If there be such an interest in the persons to be had, then let every man examine himself, whether he have such a title unto the persons or no. In all other titles we do use to try, because we would not be deceived, and upon the tryal of a title a man doth conclude it is good; illud certum quod ex dubio certum, that is certain, which out of doubtful is made certain. Let us therefore examine our title, which we have so much the greater cause to do, because there is this vanity in the heart of a man, that it's very apt to suppose a title here without trying; and this is the overthrow of many a soul: the foolish Virgins did suppose that they had been espoused unto Christ, and should have gone unto the marriage with him, as well as the wise, &c. as men do in the benefits of Christ, they are willing to suppose that their sins are pardoned, and their persons are accepted, and so they deceive their own souls: there is a fallacy when a man disputes ex falsis suppositis, from false supposi∣tions, and then all the conclusions that he doth build upon them are unsound; and that's the very condition of most Christians, they argue ex falsis suppositis, from false suppositions all their life time,* 1.526 and that's the fallacy spoken of, Jam. 1.22. But be you doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own souls, &c. which is to dispute and gather conclusions from false and corrupt premises; because they were hearers of the word, though they were not doers, yet from this false principle they did reason and argue all their life time that their state was good: and so did the foolish builders, Mat. 7.22. Lord, we have prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, we have eat and drank in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets; therefore there is no doubt but we shall attain an entrance at his coming; and so the soul is under a fallacy all his days, and this is the great deceit

of the old Serpent, to deceive a man in reference to his eternal state; for as Satan by his instruments doth endeavour to beguile you in the matters of truth, Col. 2.4. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, he deceives a man by false reasonings; so also he endeavours to deceive a man in matter of his state, that he might deceive himself by false reasonings also: and up∣on this ground it mainly is, that there is that extraordinary aversness in the hearts of men unto the duty of self-examination, and a far greater aversness to the examination of a mans state, than of his actions; for there are many men that will make conscience to review their actions and consider their ways, and yet these very men are willing to go upon a supposi∣tion in the matter of their spiritual states, and to be content to take that for granted, though it be the ground of all. And here we are to consider also, that many that are true Believers may not know that there is a distinct interest in the persons to be had; they in general do believe in God, and close with Christ, who is offered them in the promise, but as for such a distinct title unto all the persons, it is a thing that they are not acquainted with; it seems it was this that Christ reproved in his Disciples, Joh. 14.1. Ye believe in God, believe also in me: their faith in the acting of it was not so distinct and particular as it ought to have been. As it is in witnessing, there is many a man that never knew that there was a distinct witness of all the persons in the hearts of the Saints, and therefore they did never look out for any such thing; so it is in the point of faith also: but now this is a truth discovered to you, and the Lord will expect the fruit of Gospel-discoveries, he will come and demand fruit of his Vineyard, and he doth expect it; he it is with whom,* 1.527 in the word read or preached, that you have to do; he looks what power it hath upon your hearts after it is dispensed.

(1) We are to consider, that the way by which we can come to have an interest in all the persons, is by closing with the Son; for it is our union with the Son, that as it gives us a title unto all good things, so it gives us in the first place an union with all the per∣sons, and it intitles us unto them all; it is he that hath the Son hath the Father also,* 1.528 and he that hath not the Son, hath not the Father: for it is only the blessing of the second Covenant, and it comes upon none but those that are in Covenant, as the promises come upon none but those that are heirs of promise; therefore we should first inquire, whether we be one with the Son or no. Now there is no union with him but by believing in him; for it is the eating the flesh of Christ, and drinking his blood that gives us life by him.* 1.529 Now though be∣lieving be an act of the whole soul, for the subject of faith is the whole soul, with the heart man believes, yet it is specially seated in the will; as unbelief also is specially seated there. There is a double infidelity: (1) Purae negationis, of pure negation, which some have said is no sin; but yet if there is a command to believe, then bare not-believing is a sin, be∣cause it is the transgression of the Law. (2) Pravae dispositionis, of depraved disposition; and that lyes mainly in the will. Now when the will opens aright, it is unto two things: [1] It does consent to receive and accept of Christ upon his own terms, not only Christ with his righteousness, but Christ with his graces, not only Christ with his priviledges, but Christ with his inconveniencies, Christ to all the ends for which the Father hath or∣dained him, he would have him glorified in them all in his heart. [2] With the same hand of faith that he doth receive whole Christ, he doth give up whole self unto Christ again, so that he is his own no more, but put out of his own power for ever; and he re∣joyceth in this, that I am my beloveds as well as my beloved is mine; he would have his hap∣piness in him, and he would enjoy nothing apart from him for ever, he would live in him, and bear fruit in him, and work for him, and be into him, and that to eternity; for he saith to him, as Ruth to her mother-in-law, Where thou goest I will go, where thou lodgest I will lodge, thy people shall be my people, thy God my God, and where thou dyest I will dye, &c. Where there hath been such an acceptation and such a resignation, there the work of faith is wrought with power, and he that is thus one with the Son, is thereby madelone with the Father also; for our union is by him, as our access and communion also is all by him with the Father.

(2) If a man be intitled unto the persons, there will be drawings out of his heart to∣wards each person: for there is an impression of the love of them all left upon the soul; We love him, because he loved us first; and this love will warm our hearts with love again; there will be the workings of it in the soul, though there be not the witnessing;* 1.530 for Phil. 1.6. there is a good work begun, and it's begun by all the persons, and it is to glorifie the persons mainly in the hearts of Believers, and therefore such workings the Lord will draw forth in them: O that ever God the Father should give his Son to me! Joh. 3. God so loved the world! and that I should be called the Son of God, that the Son should lay down his life for me, should bear my sins and my sorrows, that his Spirit should abide in me, inlightning mine eyes, renewing me in the spirit of my mind; there will be

such a spiritual warmth wrought in the soul towards all these persons, because there is a principle of the love of them all kindled in the soul. But yet,

(3) There will never be the fulness of assurance, till the persons that have given you an interest in themselves, do also themselves witness their interest, 1 Joh. 5.7. and they will surely do so to all those that wait for them; the Father will say, I am thy Father, and the Son say, I am thy Saviour, and the Spirit, I am thine: therefore exercise faith upon your interest in all the persons, and in particular upon your interest in God the Father, and be much in communion with the Father; seeing communion is personal, and there is a distinct interest in all the persons, therefore a distinct communion; that which was the happiness of these persons communion, and the infinite satisfaction that they took one in another, that shall be thy happiness and thy portion for ever.

§. 3. We are to exercise faith upon all the persons in this manner made over under the second Covenant, and to live upon this principle in all our ways. (1) That they are all of them objects of faith is clear: for the ultimate object of faith is God, 1 Pet. 1.21. Now as we are to take in the whole Scripture, as objectum immediatum, the immediate object, and every part of the Scripture is to be believed as an object of faith; so the whole God∣head, all the attributes of God, and all the persons in the Godhead are by faith to be rested upon; for there are, 1 Thess. 3.10. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, defects of faith, so long as faith takes not in its whole object, it hath not its perfect work, Jam. 1.3. (2) We are to worship them all, though not as apart one from another, yet as in our apprehension distinguished; and we are to give unto them distinct worship, as Christ says, Joh. 4.23. The time cometh, that you shall neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem worship the Father; he that will worship God, must worship him in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeks such to worship him, &c. Now worship is twofold, either cultus naturalis, qui ex ipsa Dei natura pendet, natural worship, &c. There is no man that did ever worship a God, but he did acknowledge, that this God he was to believe in, and hope in, love, and pray to, and to hear and obey him in all things: and there is a cultus institutus; qui ex liberrima Dei voluntate pendet, &c. instituted worship, which depends on the will of God. Now the highest act of worship is in believing, and it's unto this that all the Institutions, which are but media cultûs, means of worship are properly subordinate; for cultus institutus medii locum tantùm supplet ad cultum primarium: being to worship the persons we must give to each of them that which is the main of worship, and that is to believe in them. (3) It is from the objects of faith that the life of the soul comes in, Esa. 38.16. By these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: for the Prophet Esaias had said, Take a lump of figs, and lay it upon the boil, and he shall recover, by this promise I shall live, and many others that come after shall live upon the promises by this experiment that I have had, and found of them; for faith is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the mouth and eye of the soul. Now the delight of the eye in seeing comes from the object, and the nourishment of the body comes in by the mouth; and therefore it's said,* 1.531 That all the labour of the man is for his mouth: it's from the meat that a man eats, that the strength of his body is derived; and therefore Christ, as the object of faith, saith, That his flesh is meat indeed, and his blood drink indeed, it notes strength and nourish∣ment comes from the object of faith, and the way of conveyance is by union; it is by sucking the sap and the sweet of it, crede & manducâsti, and if any object of faith do not contribute its part, and the soul lives not upon it, it will in its strength decay; and there∣fore we live by the faith of the Son of God, Gal. 2.20. because it is from the direct acts of faith that life comes in: and here are two things to be spoken to: (1) What the objects of faith are that the soul is to take in, in the making over of each person under the second Covenant? (2) What acts of faith the soul is to put forth upon them?

1. The objects of faith that the soul is to take in in each of the persons are these: (1) The persons themselves, we are to believe the record of them all, 1 Joh. 5.10. Joh. 5.45. we are to hear and learn of the Father, and we are to believe in the Son: To him give all the Prophets witness,* 1.532 Act. 10.43. that whosoever believes in him shall have remission of sins, Joh. 3.16. and we are to believe in the Spirit, it is the Spirit that bears witness, because the Spirit is truth; and so we are to come unto them in duties, in prayer, and hearing, and in all acts of worship; and the ground of it is, because we are to believe in him; for they can∣not pray to him in whom they have not believed,* 1.533 Rom. 10.14. Now though the benefit that we have by all these persons is exceeding great, the Father adopts and justifies us by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, and the remission of sins, and the Son is Jehovah our righteousness, and he gives us power to become the sons of God, and the Spirit is the bond of our union, the principle of our sanctification, and the guide of our way; yet the ground of all this interest in their benefits is our interest in their persons: so that as our interest in the Mediator, and union with his person is far greater than all the benefits

that we receive by him, because it is the fountain from which they do all flow, and the root upon which they do all grow, 1 Joh. 5.12. so it's here also, interest in the persons is the foundation of all our interest in their benefits; for if we had no title unto the persons, we could have no benefit by them, or any part thereof: and therefore as they are perso∣nal promises that are the great promises of the Gospel; so they are personal interests that are the great priviledges of the Gospel, and that in which the main of the life of a Saint lyes: so that as when Christ is set forth by God the Father as a propitiation lifted up in the Gospel, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Rom. 3.25. the soul by the recumbency of faith casts it self upon him, leaves it self with him;* 1.534 so the Father and Spirit are set forth in the Gospel as the God of consolation, and the soul is to rely, roll, and cast it self upon them; and as we are not barely to look upon the benefits that come by Christ, so neither are we to the benefits that come by them, but it is their persons, ens incomplexum, not things that the soul is to rest upon.

(2) The soul is to rest upon all the promises that in Scripture are made concerning these persons: there are promises that have a peculiar respect unto them all. [1] There are promises that specially concern the Father, which though they be formally made unto the Son, yet it is with special respect unto the Saints: as the promise of giving Christ unto their souls, and nourishment and life by him; for he says,* 1.535 Moses gave you not the bread that came down from heaven, my Father gives you the true bread: promises of justification by him, Esa. 53.11. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many, that is as much as to say, as many as believe in him shall receive remission of sins, and a promise of guidance, Exod. 23.20. Behold I send my Angel before you. They were in a strait; for they were in the wilderness where there was no way; now the Father doth promise the Son should under∣take their guidance, and it is not a promise that is peculiar unto those times only, though there was something peculiar in it. And there is a promise of gifts,* 1.536 Wait for the promise of the Father. The extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost that were to be poured out to fit men for office in those times, it's called the promise of the Father: and the promise also of preservation and perseverance, My Father that gave them me is greater than all,* 1.537 and no man can pluck them out of my Fathers hand. [2] There are some promises that do more especially belong unto the Son, as that of grace, and a continual supply; he shall go in and out and find pasture; and says Christ, I am come that they may have life, and have it more abun∣dantly; and a promise of a constant presence, I will dwell in them, and walk amongst them;* 1.538 what concord hath Christ with Belial? I am with you to the end of the world; that he will beau∣tifie his Church and sanctifie it, and cleanse it, that he may present it unto himself a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, Eph. 6.26, 27. and that he will subdue our enemies, Esay 63.3, 4. I will take them in my arms, and keep them from their enemies fury; their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment; for the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come: he shall be cloathed with a garment d pt in blood, and his name shall be called the word of God, Rev. 19.13. [3] There are some promi∣ses that in a more special manner respect the holy Spirit: he has promised them a spirit of sanctification, and he will purge the filth of the daughter of Sion by a spirit of burning, Esa. 4.4. promises of direction, The Spirit shall lead you into all truth, Joh. 16.13. he shall undertake to be the guide of your way, and you shall hear a voice crying behind you, This is the way, walk in it: a spirit of liberty also you shall have;* 1.539 for where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty; and a spirit of victory, Esa. 59.19. when the enemy doth break in as a floud, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him, so that they shall conquer, not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, Zac. 4 6. Now all these lead a man unto the per∣son of the Spirit, and his interest in him, as so many lines into a centre; for as all the pro∣mises do lead a man to union with Christ, by which means he becomes an heir of promise, so do all the promises lead a man to an interest in his person, without which he can lay no claim unto the promise that is made by any of the persons, for they are not universal, and made unto all; but as the promises of Christ belong unto those that are one with him, so all the promises of the persons belong only unto those that have an interest in them; and therefore we are to cast our selves upon the persons for the accomplishment of the promises.

(3) Faith is to rest upon the love of them all; for though they are essentially one, and therefore have but one will, yet as they are personally distinguished, so they are three, and have distinct wills and distinct loves; and therefore Christ distinguishes between his will and the Fathers will: I am come not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me; not my will, but thy will be done; essentially his will and the Fathers are one, but they are per∣sonally distinguished: so they have essentially one love; but if we look upon them as per∣sons, so they have each of them his own proper and peculiar love: He that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him: if any man love me, my Father will love him,* 1.540 &c. so

that faith is not only to close with the love of God in general, as it is an Attribute of the Divine Nature, as his Wisdom and Holiness, Mercy and Power are; but faith is also to close with the love of each of the persons, as they are relatively distinguished one from another, the love of the Father, and the love of the Son and Spirit: and as it is the love of God essentially, that is the ground of all that God has wrought for us, it was his 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Tit. 3.4. and though Esau was Jacobs brother, yet I loved Jacob, Mal. 1.2. so it is the personal love of all the persons that is the ground of all those workings of the per∣sons for us; and therefore you are to take in that love also as an object of your faith.

(4) Faith should rest upon the appropriated acts of each of these persons, and rely upon them for the performance of them. We have formerly heard, that each person hath un∣dertaken some special and peculiar acts for mens salvation, as [1] the work of Vocation, Adoption, Justification, Preservation, Glorification; for it is your Fathers pleasure to give you the Kingdom, they are all of them undertaken by God the Father. And [2] the work of Satisfaction, Presentation, Oblation, Intercession, Conquest, Judgment, all these the Son has undertaken. [3] The work of Sanctification, Direction, Consolation, Sup∣plication, they are all of them undertaken by the Spirit. Now we are not only to rely upon the essential faithfulness of God for the performance of it,* 1.541 but upon the personal faithfulness of each of these undertakers, for they are all of them ingaged in it: and here is a farther and higher consideration to be taken in the acts of the persons, and they are of two sorts. [1] Acts ad intrà, internal acts; and they are acts of nature, which are acts one towards another, as the generation of the Father in respect of the Son, and the pro∣cession of the Holy Ghost, as from them both. [2] There are acts ad extrà, which are terminated in the creatures, and are meerly acts of will: now faith is not only by this means to be exercised, and taste the sweetness of the acts of will ad extrà, but the acts of nature ad intrà: for I have an interest in that Father, as the Father that did from all Eter∣nity beget the Son, and I have an interest in that Son that was begotten by the Father; so that those acts of nature that were of God before the world was, they have all some respect unto me, and I can taste a sweetness in them all; that as I have not only an interest in the absolute perfections of God, which are his Attributes, but in the relative perfections of God also, which respect the persons; so I have not only an interest in, and benefit by all the actings of the Atrributes of God, but by the eternal actings of the persons also, that we may see how high it reaches, and that there is nothing in God but it is as truly for our good, as it is for his own glory, therefore we may rejoyce in them all.

(5) A mans faith should expect all the Attributes of God to be distinctly exercised for him by all the persons: a man has an interest in them all, in all the works that they do put forth; for as they are three in their subsistence, so they are but one in their Essence; and therefore all the Attributes of God come in unto them all: the Son thinks it no rob∣bery to be equal with the Father,* 1.542 for he is found in the form of God, that is, in the na∣ture of God, subsisting in the nature or essence of God; and therefore Divines do com∣monly, when they prove the Deity of the Son and Spirit, shew, that the Attributes of God are in Scripture given unto them, as Esa. 9.6. Wonderful Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlast∣ing Father, Prince of peace, that's given to the Son; and to the Spirit is given Omnipotency, Omnipresence, and Omniscience, &c. Now when the Father comes to work, he has the power of God, the wisdom of God, the holiness of God put forth for the accomplishment of his work: and so have the Son and Spirit also; and therefore we see that the Son could not miscarry in any thing that he did; and though he dyed, yet it was impossible that he should be held by death,* 1.543 because he had the power of the Godhead to carry him through; and so it is with the Persons in all their operations and undertakings for men in the work of our salvation; and therefore it is good for a man not only to exercise faith upon the Attri∣butes of the Divine Nature in common, as they are infinite and absolute perfections, but as those Attributes are to be found in each of the persons, and to be exercised for us in all their appropriated actions; and by this means the Attributes of the nature are made over not only by the Essence, but also that they shall be all of them exercised by each person, acting according to their own acts which they have undertaken, and so we have an assu∣rance of the acting of the Attributes for us in a threefold way, and a threefold cord is not broken.

(6) As it is the recumbency of faith, so it should be in the assurance of faith also, it should distinctly close with them all in their witnessing, as well as in their working, 1 Joh. 5.6, 7.* 1.544 There are three that bear record in heaven: it is not only a testimony to the truth of the Gospel, but it is a testimony also given unto the state of the Saints; for they have the witness in themselves, for it is, that they may know that they have eternal life, vers. 13. which could not be unless the testimony were given in the heart, and a mans state put out

of controversie. Now though they be one in Essence, and though their testimony do agree in one, yet they are three in their witness in the word and in the heart: now un∣der the Law, in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established: we receive the witness of man, but the witness of God is greater; the same God who hath but a few witnesses amongst men, but two witnesses,* 1.545 yet he will not let a mans assurance go without a full testimony, there shall be two classes of witnesses, some on Earth, and some in Hea∣ven, and they shall be three of each of them: therefore as in acts of recumbency we are to close with the love of all the persons, so in acts of assurance we are to close with the witness of all the persons; and thus we see that there are distinct objects of faith upon which it is to work in them all.

2. Now let us come to consider the acts of faith that are distinctly to be put forth up∣on them all: as 1. There is to be a fiducial knowledge hereof, that the persons are made over to us: for as faith without works is dead, so faith without knowledge is blind; therefore faith is commonly set forth by knowledge in the Scripture, Joh. 17. ult. and Phil. 3.8, 9. To know him, and be found in him, &c. But it is not every knowledge, but that which is described, Col. 2.2. and Tit. 1.1. A knowledge of the mystery of God, and the Fa∣ther, and of Christ, a knowledge that draws an acknowledgment with it, that carries the consent of the soul with it, and he sits down under it, and lies under the power thereof, a sapida scientia, a knowledge of a truth that lets in the savour of the goodness of it with the truth.

2. The soul is distinctly to cast it self by distinct thoughts upon each of these persons: as when a soul comes to Christ, he sees his need of him, that he is undone without him, he sees the excellency that is in him, and thereupon he doth leave himself with Christ, and will look out for salvation in no other, there is an exclusive resolution against all other ways, and a full determination to go this way only, and if I perish, here I will perish; so when a soul sees all this, and sees his need of the persons, and the glory that is not only in Christ, but in the Father and the Spirit, and sees that without an interest in them he is undone; for else there are no benefits by them; thereupon he doth distinctly resign himself unto each of them: for as all the promises of the Gospel being distinct objects of faith have not their due honour, unless we exercise distinct acts of faith upon them; so it is true also of all the persons much more; because Christ is set forth as an object of faith, therefore we rely upon him; so we should upon the Father and Spirit also; and there∣fore Christ looks upon it as a dishonour, that being set forth to them, they did not di∣stinctly believe in him.

3. Faith draws virtue from all the objects of it: Esa. 66.11. It will suck, and be satis∣fied with the breasts of consolation. It's true, that we are now in a state of childhood,* 1.546 our manhood is to come, but yet there are breasts of consolation agreeable unto our condi∣tion; as Christ cannot be touched by faith but virtue comes out of him,* 1.547 there is a power and efficacy that goes out of him, there is life to be drawn from the living Father, and from the Son, and from the Spirit; a man can exercise no act of faith upon any of the ob∣jects of faith, but he can find there is an influence that it hath upon the man that believes; as it is in all the acts of Christ, Phil. 3.9, 10. so it is in this much more; how should a man rejoyce to see the influence of each person upon his soul?

4. There is also an act of resignation; for faith hath two hands, one to receive, and the other to return: I am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine, says the believing soul:* 1.548 a man doth as well give up himself to God, as he doth receive an interest in God. David says as well, Lord I am thy servant, as O Lord thou art my God; and therefore a man should give up himself to the praise and glory of Father, Son, and Spirit; for to be baptized in the name of them all, is for a man to give up himself unto the obedience of them all: there is a judging and reasoning also in faith; says the Apostle, Because we thus judge,* 1.549 if one dyed for all, then were all dead: if the Father, Son, and Spirit give up themselves to work for our good, and we have an interest in them all, how much more should we give up our selves to be to the praise and glory of them all, and still keep up the eye of our faith open to see the Lord making himself over to us, and the ear of faith open to hear and receive the testimony that is given, and be not indulgent to the unbelief, doubtings, and the misgiving of your own spirits, receive the witness of God within you, and having received a testimony of thy interest, then triumph in God, for there is a triumph of faith, Eph. 1.3. blessed be God the Father by Christ, who was rich in love, loved me, and gave himself for me, glory be to the Father, Son, and Spirit.

§. ••. Be much in exercising distinct acts of communion with all the persons: seeing there is a distinct interest in them all, we should labour for a distinct fellowship with them all. The ground of all unions and relations amongst all rational creatures is, that they might

have a fellowship one with another by their interest one in another, for their interest must be improved and exercised modo rationali, in a rational way. It is true, that there are rela∣tiones aequiparantiae, as well as disquiparantiae, between inferiour and superiour, and between equals; but yet the end is communion in them both: therefore the man and wife are made one flesh, and therefore friends do become one heart and soul; therefore in the Church the members do become one body, 1 Cor. 12.12, 13. as the body hath many members, even so is Christs body: We are baptized into one body; and all is, that they might by mutual consent enjoy a communion of Saints amongst themselves; and for this cause we become one body with the Angels, Eph. 1.10. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that he might ga∣ther them all together under one head: so that the Saints and the Angels do make but one glorious Church; and therefore it is Bernards apprehension, That God did elect as many men as should supply the places of the Angels that fell, and they should be in Christ taken up into the same body with them in glory; and therefore we are said to come to the innumera∣ble company of Angels, Heb. 12.23. and all that we might enjoy a communion with them; and so much the words ascending and descending imply, Joh. 1. ult. and this is the end of our interest in Christ the Mediator, and we are married to him, that we might have fel∣lowship with him, and by this means we rise to an higher interest, and that is in the Fa∣ther, Son, and Spirit; and this also is that we might have a distinct communion with them all.

§. 4. Here we will consider, (1) That there is a distinct Communion with them all, that a Believer may and ought to have with all the persons grounded upon his interest in them all. (2) Wherein this Communion doth consist, and what are the actings of it. (3) Give you some arguments that may perswade the people of God to be much in the improvement thereof; that as you have a fellowship with Christ and with the Saints, and you look upon that as sweet, so you would not neglect this, which is the highest fellowship that you do attain by faith, and is the end of all your union and communion whatsoever.

1. That there is a distinct fellowship and communion to be had with all the persons. That will clearly appear from 1 Joh. 1.3. Our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ: so that we have not only a communion with Christ the Mediator, but through him with the Father: and 2 Cor. 13.14. we do read of a fellowship with the Spirit also, which must be mutual; he hath a fellowship with us and we with him; we are said to have access unto the Father, which are terms of communion, and that distinct communion which we have with all the persons,* 1.550 as well as they one with the other; and therefore 'tis said, Heb. 12.22. Ye are come unto mount Sion, &c. Now to come unto the three persons, notes (1) faith in them, and so we come unto Christ, Come unto me all ye that labour, Mat. 11.29. that is, that believe in him. (2) It notes a communion with them; and so we have ac∣cess by him,* 1.551 and thus we are said to come unto God by him, Heb. 7. and no man comes unto the Father but by me, Joh. 14.6. for he is the Mediator of Communion, as well as of Recon∣ciliation: and we have as much need of him for the one, as for the other. If we look upon God and man as enemies, then there needs a Mediator, that may be as a days-man, to lay hold upon both; but being reconciled and made friends, he having made us near by the blood of his Cross, yet we cannot come unto God but by him, it is he that gives us 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Eph. 3.12. Here to come to them is to be taken into favour and fellowship with them all, as appears in these particulars. (1) We are come unto mount Sion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, that is the Church of Christ, under the New Te∣stament, called therefore Jerusalem that is above, Gal. 4.26. and in allusion to it we read of a new Jerusalem that comes down from God out of heaven, Rev. 21.1, 2. (2) To the Church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven, that is, we are taken into fellowship with all the Elect of God, we do make up one body with them. (3) Ʋnto God the Judge of all: we have not only communion therefore with Christ, as Mediator, and with the Angels and Saints, but we have a further communion, and that is with God himself, which is a term of his Essence when it is put without a term of restriction, and refers us to all the persons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

2. Wherein doth this Communion and fellowship consist? I shall describe it to you accord∣ing to the fellowship that is between men, from whence this Metaphor is borrowed. 1. The great communion that persons have is in the love one of another; that was the great thing in which David and Jonathan had communion, and not so much in their persons; for David lived a persecuted life,* 1.552 but he was sure of Jonathans love, Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women: therefore is no fellowship like that that is by inter∣changing of love; for love is the souls byas, it carries it with it wheresoever it goes, it is an interchanging of hearts, an interchanging of love: transit amans in amatum, the lover passeth into the beloved. Now though the Father be in Heaven, yet he loves not, though

we be strangers from the Lord, while we are in the body, yet the Father himself loves you, says Christ, Joh. 14.21, 23. I will love him, and my Father shall love him; and though we be upon earth, yet we can walk in his love: 1 Pet. 1.8. Whom having not seen you love, and though now you see him not, yet believing ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable, &c. and this is the communion that we have with the Angels, though they are Spirits, and we see them not, yet we know that they bear a tender love to the Saints; for they do as Nurses bear them in their arms: and in this was the fellowship of the persons one to another much seen, they delighted themselves in the love of each other, Joh. 14. ult. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; and that is the communion that the Saints have with Christ,* 1.553 he is my beloved, Esa. 5.1. I will sing to my beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard, &c. he it is whom my soul loveth, my beloved is mine and I am his: and this was the great thing that delighted the Lord from Eternity; his delights were with the sons of men,* 1.554 his thoughts of love were his delight towards them: and as the Lord had communion with our love in the thoughts of it, so may we have communion with his love also; and therefore we do read of walking in love, and dwelling in love,* 1.555 1 Joh. 4.16. that upon which the soul is constantly set, it is said to dwell upon it, Job 17.11. the thoughts are called the possessions of the heart, that which the thoughts do dwell upon, the heart is said to possess. Now as the Lord is said to inhabit the praises of Israel, because they praise him constantly; and therefore he is said to dwell in praises; so because his love doth daily refresh sinners, there∣fore they are said to dwell in love also: as a man hath communion with Satan by thoughts, the goings forth of his heart are after him and his ways; so a man hath communion with each person also by the goings forth of the soul to them: there is therefore a communion by interchanging of love, and they that so do interchange hearts.

2. There is a communion in their actings one for another; for there are mutual offices of love that this amor benevolentia doth bring forth, and the soul is never satisfied in either of them. God the Father acts in love in giving his Son, and making over himself to thy soul in justifying thy person, and adopting thee to be his own son, and estating upon thee a Kingdom; for it is the Fathers pleasure to give you a kingdom: and all these acts of love the soul opens, and considers them apart, and says, What shall I return unto the Lord for all these things? and then love doth unlock the heart, and it saith, the love of bounty from the father calls upon me for a love of duty; is any thing too much for him, that hath done so much for me? and then in all these he tastes the love of God,* 1.556 for it is shed abroad in his heart, and the soul in the gift tastes the love of the giver; and therefore the soul is willing to speak for him, and act for him, and live to him, and dye for him: What shall I return to the Lord for all his benefits? And then his own poverty comes in with bitterness to him, he is willing beyond his ability, he would be bountiful, but he hath it not; and therefore he doth as it's said of Aeschinus, that when he saw other hearers of Socrates give gifts to him, he saith, Nihil te dignum quod dare possum invenio, & hoc modo pauperem me esse sentio; itaq, dono tibi quod unum habeo, meipsum, &c. I have nothing worthy of thee to give, but I give my self: and the soul saith, as Cicero to Lentulus, Caeteris in officiis omnibus satis∣facere possum, nunquam mihiipsi, &c. And this also is the communion that Christ hath with the Father, the Father says, Sit thou at my right hand, and I will give thee the heathen for an inheritance, &c. and I will hold thee by the hand: and Christ saith, I must do my Fathers business, and it's my meat and drink.

3. They have a communion in visitations; for we say, that amongst men friendship is maintained by visits, and increased thereby; and so it is between God and the Saints also, there is indeed a visitation in wrath, as the Lord saith, Jer. 5.9. Shall I not visit for these things? and there is a visitation in mercy and compassion, Zac. 10.3. The Lord hath visi∣ted his flock, the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battel, &c. Luk. 1.68. He hath visited and redeemed his people. Now God is said to visit us, when he comes to manifest his love, and to bestow upon us sweet and spiritual blessings, Cant. 5.1. I am come into my garden, &c. and when the soul comes to God of purpose to enjoy communion with him; for we can never come to God but we have need of him, and when we are most sensible of our wants, and mans interest carries him to God; but surely to desire to see God for himself is an act of pure friendship, to see thy power, O God, and thy glory; for thy loving-kindness is better than life. When a soul is thus taken with a sight of God, that if a man had no dependence, and were put into a condition as perfect as the Angels, and had need of nothing, yet then to come into his presence, and to behold his face, because we delight in him, this is properly an act of friendship and of familiarity that should be between God and the Saints.

4. There is an imparting of counsels between the persons: Christ was given out of the bosom of the Father. There is not any discovery that is made to the Saints,* 1.557 but it comes

out of the same bosom; Shall I hide from Abraham the thing that I mean to do? Gen. 18. surely the Lord will do nothing, but he reveals his secrets to his Prophets, Amos 3.7. 1 Sam. 9.15. The Lord told Samuel in his ear; there is a Ʋrim and Thumim for the Saints still, and the Lord gives them a spiritual skill here to make use of it, so as to know the secrets of the Almighty; We took sweet counsel together, &c. and the Saints also do impart their counsels to God, 1 Sam. 1.15. I have poured out my soul before the Lord. There are indeed a generation of men that dig deep to hide counsel from the Lord.* 1.558 It is true, that there is no secret hid from him, but it is their endeavour so to carry it, as they might not only blind the eyes of man, but of God also; but a Saint opens his heart to him, there is no secret that he is willing to hide from God, but there are such sighs and groans that he doth open when he hath to do with him.

5. There are mutual delights in their interest one in another, and they do love to pro∣fess it, The Lords portion is his people, Israel is the lot of my inheritance, the Lord is my portion, says my soul: and says God, They are the first-fruits of the creatures unto me, and they are those that do consecrate all the rest to me, without which all the rest were profane, and have a curse upon them, &c. O Lord, thou art my Lord, says the soul, early will I praise thee; I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid, Esa. 4.4, 5. A man often glories in his in∣terest here in this world; but herein doth the Saint glory, that he can say, I am the Lords, and that he can call himself by the name of Jacob, and can subscribe with his hand to the Lord: and a great part of the fellowship of love is in a mutual profession of their interest each in other: And I will be yours for ever, there is nothing in me, or that I can do but is at your commandment.

6. They call upon one another for further fellowship and communion. There is a call of the Father's upon vocation,* 1.559 which is called drawing, vocatio alta & secreta, a secret and deep vocation, Austin. And there is a calling unto communion, as Rev. 22.17. The Spirit saith, Come, and the Bride, Come. Now as in witnessing, 1 Joh. 5.7, 8. For there are three that bear record in heaven, &c. they do all give a testimony, but it is done by the Spirit, in the Name of the Father,* 1.560 Son, and Spirit; for Christ says, He shall take of mine, and give it unto you; so he doth in calling also, he doth speak sometimes in the Fathers name, and sometimes in the Sons name; Open unto me, come away my beloved, &c. and the soul always saith, Come; and therefore draws near unto God continually, and all is but to see the face of God, and that he may have some fellowship with him, who is the God of his life: God is his centre, and there is a tendency of soul to God; for godliness is nothing else but tendentia animae in Deum, the tendency of the soul to God, there is something in the heart that doth echo unto God again; when he calls a soul to communion to seek his face, the soul answers, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. But it may be objected, How can it be, seeing God is in Heaven, that we should see him, and have such intimate fellowship here below? (1) God hath said, I will dwell with you, the heart is the habitation of the great King of Hea∣ven and Earth;* 1.561 he hath said he will come to you, and dwell with you, and sup with you. (2) There is a Spirit also that will carry your souls up to him again, as the Prophet Ezechiel was carried in the visions of God to Jerusalem,* 1.562 and John was in the Spirit on the Lords day, &c. though the body be upon Earth, the soul may be in Heaven with the Lord, and there all the Saints long to be, all their delight is in the mean while in the intercourse that passes between God and their souls by sweet fellowship and communion here.

3. The Arguments to stir you up thereunto are these. (1) Consider this is the great end of the Covenant of Grace: it is not only peace, but good will, it is a Covenant of Friend∣ship, and the end of friendship is fellowship; and our end should not fall below Gods end. (2) See the great preparation that the Lord hath made thereunto: all that Christ is said in Scripture to have done, is but to give us access unto God, and all that he hath suffered, it is all but to bring us to God, 1 Pet. 2.21. And we have access by him to the throne of grace, Eph. 3.12. and it is the great end of all the workings of the Spirit also to bring us to God, and strengthen us with might; for through him we have an access by one Spirit to the Father.* 1.563 (3) There is a sweetness in fellowship; as 'tis said of the wife, Let her be to thee as the young Hind and pleasant Roe, let her breasts satisfie thee at all times, and be thou ravished always with her love: and 2 Sam. 1.26. Thou wast very pleasant to me, thy love to me was wonderful, &c. and yet there are no men but have burdensom dispositions, which they discover sometimes more than at others; but who would not walk with the great God, who is Love, and Holiness, and Wisdom in perfection, whose paths are all pleasant∣ness, and whose ways are peace? There are pleasures at his right hand for evermore, Psal. 16. (4) All mercies are obtained by it: when the Lord doth meet his people, he doth bless them,* 1.564 there is no communion with him but there is blessing from him, and there is no blessing from him but by communion with him; but the special blessing of

all other is an Assimilation; a man is made like him; When he shall appear, we shall be like him,* 1.565 &c. 1 Joh. 3.3. We are chosen to shew forth the praises of God;* 1.566 therefore being so highly advanced as to be enjoyers of communion with God, be exalted [1] to grow in your conformity to Jesus Christ; for that is the ground of all communion; What fellow∣ship hath light with darkness? O 'tis a blessed thing to have this testimony from God him∣self, which David had, I have found David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart, which shall fulfil all my wills. [2] Accustom your selves to communion with him,* 1.567 acquaint now thy self with him, and be at peace, thereby good shall come to thee, receive the Law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart: we cannot have too much com∣munion with God, who is our life, our joy, our peace, who is our all, &c. and the more communion we have with God, the greater blessings we shall be to the Nation wherein we dwell, not only to procure blessings for them, but to divert Judgments.

CHAP. V. God in the Covenant of Grace makes over himself in his Alsufficience

SECT. I. The Alsufficience of God as made over to the Saints explicated and demonstrated.

§. 1. HAving spoken thus far of the great Promise of the new Covenant, which is cal∣led anima foederis, the soul of the Covenant, by Pareus; and Musc. calls it foederis caput, the head of the Covenant, unto which all the other promises are subordi∣nate, even the gift of Christ himself is but to bring us to God, and that our faith and hope might be in God; and though we have formerly seen, that in this promise all the Attri∣butes of the Divine Nature are made over unto the Saints, and what we have further to say might be included under that head: yet to be a God I find in Scripture doth in a special manner point us unto two things: (1) To be a God notes one that has an alsufficiency unto his own Being and blessedness, and an alsufficience to the Being and the blessedness of all the creatures. (2) It notes him to have a Soveraignty and Dominion over all the crea∣tures, which are but the works of his hands: the first they take from Gen. 17.1. I am God alsufficient, and I will make a covenant between thee and me, and the terms of that Covenant on Gods part are, I will be a God to thee, and thy seed after thee; that as I am a God alsuf∣ficient, so I will be thy God, thy God in my alsufficiency: and the other they do com∣monly take from that place Rom. 9.5. God over all blessed for evermore; so that he that is God is over all: as the first notes the Sufficiency, so the other notes the Soveraignty of God.

1. I am God alsufficient, Gen. 17.1. I will in my alsufficiency be thy God;* 1.568 the word is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Shaddai, which has a double notation or derivation amongst Interpreters; some de∣rive it from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which signifies vastavit, spoliavit, he hath destroyed, and so it signifies the omnipotent one, that is able to destroy all things; as he made all things of nothing, so he is able to reduce them unto their first nothing; and according to this derivation the LXX. render it sometimes 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Esa. 13.6. Joel 1.15. It shall come as destruction from the Almighty; and sometimes it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, he that made all things, Job 8.3. Doth the Almighty pervert judgment? And some of the Rabbins conceive that he adds this unto it, à vastatione mundi in diluvio, &c. from the destruction of the world by the floud: others derive it from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 sufficience; and they say it is, qui sibi & aliis sufficiens est, he that is suffi∣cient for himself and others: and so the LXX. render it by 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.569 and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, he that has a sufficiency in himself, and so they make it to answer unto the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, self-sufficient. These and some other are the derivations of the word: but I conceive they do all coincidere or fall in with these two. (1) Some make it a title only given unto Christ as Mediator;* 1.570 so doth Pet. Galatinus de arcanis: Nomen hoc divinum propriè soli Messiae sit congruum, which he proves from that place Job 3.4. anima Shadai vivificavit me: and he saith, the Father has not a soul; animam so∣lus

Dei Filius habet, the Son of God only hath a soul: So Glass. in 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. pag. 33. which he proves from Gen. 48.16. The Angel Goel that redeemed me from all evil, &c. which though it be a notion that I shall not insist on, yet it doth prove the Godhead of Christ, having the glorious names of God given to him, as he is called Jehovah our Righteousness, and he is called God, Heb. 1. Thy throne, O God, endures for ever, and Esa. 9.6. he is called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 also. But (2) we shall take it at this time as a term of alsufficiency, and so it takes in Gods Omniscience, and all his other Attributes, I am God alsufficient, and I that am so will be thy God in my alsufficiency.

[Doct.] The Lord who is a God in Covenant with the Saints doth make over himself unto them in his Alsufficiency.

In the opening whereof I must shew, (1) What the alsufficiency of God is, and why he is called Alsufficient, and in what respect. (2) That by the Covenant of Grace he makes over him∣self in his Alsufficience unto the Saints, with the grounds thereof. (3) That this Alsufficience belongs unto none but unto his Covenant-people. (4) We must descend to the Application.

1. What is meant by the Alsufficience of God, or why is God called Alsufficient? A perfect good is an alsufficient good.* 1.571 Now that is a perfect good which supplies all a mans wants, and does satisfie all his desires, both in this life, and in the life to come; which only can do it, if enjoyed alone, and without which nothing else can, if a man had all the enjoy∣ments of Heaven and of Earth. 1. There is in God enough to supply all a mans wants: a man cannot stand in need of that blessing that is not to be found in the blessed God, and that is not only efficiently, as all good things come from him, but formally, as all good things are in him; for he doth make use of the support of the creatures, as he doth of all their operations, not to supply any defect that is in himself, and therefore sometimes he will make use of their assistance, and sometimes he will do it without them, to shew that they are but instruments, and operantur ac si non operarentur, and this will appear, Psal. 84.11. The Lord God is a Sun, there is a double notion of a Sun in Scripture: (1) Ob splendorem, foelicitatem significat. (2) Ob aestum infoelicitatem, by reason of its splendour it notes felicity, and by reason of its scorching,* 1.572 infelicity: thy Sun shall no more go down, for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light: the city shall have no need of the light of the Sun, for the glory of God shall enlighten it. It is not spoken (as some would wrest it) of the Scripture and Ordinances, but it is of all temporal prosperity and felicity, they shall have such a supply from God immediately, that though they shall have abundance, such as never was in the world, yet they shall have no need of it, by reason of the immediate supply that they shall have from God himself:* 1.573 and so Jer. 15.9. Thy Sun shall set while it is yet day; I will cause thy Sun to set at noon day, that is, all thy comforts and thy prosperity shall suddenly and unexpect∣edly depart, when you looked for nothing less: so that by the Sun is meant all happiness, all comfort, all prosperity; and there needs but one Sun, and when this Sun doth shine, there will be no need of the light of the Moon, or the Stars, and he that having God, doth take in any other comfort, it's but Lucernam ad Solem accendere, setting up a candle when the Sun doth shine: there is enough in him, there needs no more. And this will appear first in this life, and that by these three demonstrations. (1) He that hath God, has all things else:* 1.574 He that overcomes shall inherit all things, I will be his God; and it was all the portion that Christ looked for and gloried in,* 1.575 The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup, the lines are fallen to me in a pleasant place, &c. Mar. 10.30. He shall have an hundred-fold more in this present time; it cannot be in kind, and therefore cannot be understood for∣mally, but eminently, that is, he shall have in God the comforts of all these, if they were an hundred times, nay if they were a thousand times multiplied. (2) It will further appear by this, if there were not an alsufficiency in God, he could never give a self-sufficiency un∣to the Saints; for they have no sufficiency in themselves, 2 Cor. 3.5. We are not sufficient of our selves, as of our selves; we have a sufficiency, but it's not in our selves, as of our selves, but it is that which we receive by grace, and is by God communicated unto us; but a godly man hath a self-sufficiency,* 1.576 Godliness is great gain, I know how to want, and how to abound, I am instructed in all things; yet this is not to be understood of self as divided from God, but of self as united to God, he hath his sufficiency in him alone: now he that can give a man a self-sufficience, must have in him an alsufficience. (3) It will appear, if we consider the particulars, whatever a man can in this life stand in need of, it is all to be had in God, in such a way as a man shall not need to go any whither else for a supply, but unto him alone.

* 1.577[1] For Provision, he needs none else, he is the fountain of living water; for by water all good things are expressed that are necessary for the support of a mans life, and when we depart from God, we go from the fountain unto the streams, for all is in him, and from him; the creatures are all but streams, and they are supplied from him, and therefore it

is far more glorious in him than it is in them, and far more sweet; and therefore it is well observed, that when Christ cursed the fig-tree, it withered by the roots, to shew, that the growth and greenness of it did not depend so much upon its own root, as it did upon the blessing of God thereupon; and therefore take Moses for an instance, and he lived forty days without food upon the mountain; and so did Eliah in the wilderness: and if the bread that comes down from Heaven, which is Christ, can nourish the heart of man, much more the bread that is in Heaven; it is this that is the Angels food, upon him they live, and on him they feed unto Eternity.

[2] For Protection, they need none else, but he is a Shield as well as a Sun, Zac. 9.12. Return to your strong hold, there is safety enough in one God, they need no other defence but himself: it's true, that the Lord doth nourish us here by creatures,* 1.578 and he doth protect us by Angels, they pitch their Tents about us, &c. but it is not to supply any defect in God, for there is all protection in him, and 'tis in him that the Saints rejoyce, and place their defence: God is the rock of my strength, and my refuge is in God:* 1.579 it's taken from the City of refuge when the avenger of blood did pursue. Now I have no City of refuge to fly to, when the danger is eminent, but God alone; and therefore it may be that is meant by the Chambers spoken of, Esa. 26.20. Come my people, enter into your chambers: it is God and the several hiding-places that be in him,* 1.580 it's the secret of his pavilion in which he will hide me: I will be unto Jerusalem a wall of fire: it's true, that they had no walls, for the City lay waste, and in its ruines, but there is no wall like to that of fire. There is a story of an Island in Lycia, Ephestion incolae vocant, quam sine ullo damno ignis innocuus circuit,* 1.581 regio laeta & herbida, which is encompassed about with fire, &c. This is a fit resemblance of the shelter of the Saints in the God of their Salvation, they shall have salvation for walls and bulwarks, when the rest of the world are exposed to the wrath and the judgments of God, which shall burn and consume them.

[3] For Pleasure and Delight, they need none but in him; God is the Well of life to his people, and shall make them to drink of the river of his pleasure;* 1.582 and therefore the Saints are said to delight themselves in the Lord; thou shalt delight in the Almighty; and to delight themselves with God is the highest satisfaction a creature can be capable of; and then God gives us the desire of our heart, and we are exhorted to rejoyce in the Lord always,* 1.583 and there are no delights amongst the best of the creatures that hold any proportion unto those that the soul takes in God; O they will sweeten all the bitterness of the creatures! In the multitude of my thoughts thy comforts delight my soul: it's true; may a poor soul say,* 1.584 that I have had great variety of troublesom thoughts, which have much perplexed me; for there is nothing disquiets a man so as the thoughts of his own heart do: Now there are comforts in God that do delight the soul, even then when there are multitude of thoughts that disquiet it. We are to consider the delight of the glorious persons one in another, Prov. 8.30. I was his delight daily; so it is with the Saints in God, he is their delight daily, for their portion and their happiness is laid up in him alone: all pleasure of the creature is but madness out of him; I have said of laughter, Thou art mad; there is more sweetness in the comforts that come into the soul by him, than there is in all the creatures in Heaven; and Psal. 4. Thou hast put more gladness into my heart, than when their corn, and wine, and oyl increased. For as there is no comparison between the strokes of the crea∣tures and of God, when he smites immediately, he will be a consuming fire to the crea∣ture; so there is no comparison between the comforts of the creatures, and those which God gives in immediately: and therefore the more it is mixed with any creature com∣fort, the less it influences the soul with consolation; it is like unto Physick given in the drug, it has the less vigour and strength: how much difference is there between the Spi∣rit's comforting, and the comforts that do come in by meat and drink, &c? what though they that love God have no pleasure in the world, yet they have joy in God, and it's such a joy as no man can take from them, it is such a joy as a stranger cannot meddle withal.

[4] For Glory and Honour. In this world they need none else, they say to God,* 1.585 Thou art my glory, and the lifter up of my head: can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? but my people have forgotten me days without number: the Lord was their ornament and their glory; not only their praise is of God, but their glory is in God; and therefore they are called The Glory; Ʋpon all the glory there shall be a covering; that as Mount Sion is the glory of the Earth, so are the children of Sion the glory of the sons of men, the only glorious ones, the only excellent ones; and because the Lord is their glory in the midst of them, the glory of the Lord is risen upon them,* 1.586 therefore they are the people that glory in God, and they are a people in whom the Lord doth glory.

[5] They need no Companions but God for matter of communion:* 1.587 their fellowship is

with the Father and with the Son Jesus Christ. They are many times despised in the world, as Christ was rejected of men, and cast out of their society as hateful, when they have cast out their names as evil; but yet if Abraham go out of his own country, he must leave all his own friends,* 1.588 and go alone, I will be thy God, I will be with thee, when thou goest through the fire I will be with thee; yet sometimes thou must go in untrodden paths and alone, but I will be with thee; so says Christ, Ye shall be scattered every one to his own, and leave me alone, yet I am not alone, but the Father that sent me is with me; so the Saints they may be scattered from their friends, and forsaken by them, but they are not alone, God is with them and his Son and Spirit to entertain them. The three Children in the fiery Furnace needed no other Comforter than the fourth man, who was like unto the Son of God. When they were in the Mount with Christ, they say, It is good to be here; when a man hath been with Moses in the Mount, and for some time conversed with God, he would never chuse to come down to converse with men any more, for he knows not how to converse with them again, their society is not set by, but the wisest company in the world is to him unsavory and unprofitable; a man that hath tasted old wine he desires not new, but says the old is better.

[6] He needs no other Pattern or Example: Eph. 5.1. Be you imitators of God, as dear chil∣dren; be you holy as he is holy, and merciful as he is merciful. It's true, there are other pat∣terns that he takes notice of, even the Saints of God, that make it their business to walk as God would have them walk; as the Apostle says, Be ye followers of us, and walk so as you have us for an example: We are to look upon Christ as the pattern of Holiness, as having left us a copy for us to write after; but all these are but to lead us to the Original of all Holiness, and that is in God; that in these glasses we beholding the glory of the Lord, may be thereby both in heart and ways transformed into the same image from glory to glory,* 1.589 as by the Spirit of the Lord; and the truth is, the more immediately a man reads in God the rules of duty, the more immediately he fetches from God his motives unto duty; and the more perfectly any lays up his comforts in God, the more self-sufficient that soul is, and the more he doth partake of the alsufficiency of God, and that man is the happy man that hath his Heaven so far begun in this life, that as far as may be all his comforts concenter in the Lord.

[7] He looks for the reward of all his labours from God, who hath promised him to be his excee∣ding great reward; and this is the great gift that God bestows upon his precious ones, his reward is himself, and the soul says it is in God alone that he reaps all his wages, and he desires none other, none other will satisfie him; he will not be put off with a Kingdom for a reward, let the Nebuchadnezzars of the world take that for their hire, he hath more high and noble aims than the enjoyment of this worlds goods, which is what Satan who is the god of this world often tempts them with, as he did their Lord and Master Jesus Christ, but he can despise it that hath taken imployment under God, who he knows hath laid up for him an immortal crown and an inheritance amongst them that are sanctified; though he may be poor in this world, and without many of the comforts of it, yet he hath Treasure in Heaven laid up for him.

[8] It is God alone that satisfies his desires; he shall never thirst: it's true, there will be always thirsting for more of the same kind, My soul thirsts after God, even for the living God; and so, Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for him; but for any thing of any other kind he desires not, there is that satisfaction in God, that there is no room left for desires: which is not so with any thing here, if a man have never so much of the creature, never so full satisfaction now, yet he will thirst again; yea there is that evil in the satisfaction of it, that it will increase the thirst, Deut. 29.19. It is adding drunkenness to thirst; but this doth allay a mans thirst for ever, for there is in the man a well of water springing up to everlasting life:* 1.590 Jer. 31.14. I will satiate the soul of the Priest, and my people shall be satisfied with goodness; there are two words used, one is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which signifies to be satisfied even to drunkenness, in excess, as she did, Prov. 7.18. Come let us take our fill of love; it is the word that is used of Noah,* 1.591 He was drunken and uncovered in the Tent; and the other word is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which signifies to be filled even to weariness and loathing, Esa. 1.11. I am full of the fat of well-fed beasts; it is such a fulness and abundance, that the soul cannot desire any more, there is such an abundance to be found in God, not only to supply our wants, but to satiate our desires, that if we could extend them to the utmost, and as it is said of fear, Psal. 90.11. Extend your fear to the utmost, so it's true of desire also, extend it to the utmost, there is something that will fill it still and exceed it; for God says, Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it, which none can do but God alone; there is such a satisfaction in God, that the soul can desire no more for ever, Psal. 73.25. Whom have I in heaven but thee, and I desire nothing on earth in comparison of thee: having the Lord, the soul saith there is no place for desires.

2. As it is true in this life, so it is much more true in the life to come, when God shall be all in all immediately, and a man shall look upon his parting with the choicest con∣tentments, as his happiness, they were, non in praemium, but in solatium, and now ha∣ving done their work, I gladly part with them as this worlds goods; and therefore it is,* 1.592 being uncloathed, the soul seems loth to put on any earthly covering again, and the enjoy∣ing all more immediately in God, he doth rejoyce in it, and is satisfied with thy likeness, O God, Psal. 17.15. he that did with joy sell all to buy the Pearl, surely will with greater joy leave all to possess the Pearl.

§. 2. This A sufficiency of God is by Covenant made over unto the Saints: he is their God as alsufficient, and this will appear both by promises and by instances.

1. By promises, Psal. 84.11. The Lord God is a Sun, and a shield, and no good thing will he withhold from them that love him. (1) By Sun is meant all good things, all manner of prosperity, Solis lux prosperitatis nota; sicut Solis occasus metaphoricè omnes calamitates signifi∣cat, The light of the Sun is a note of prosperity, as the setting thereof notes all adversity, &c. Gloss. Rhet. pag. 225. See it also in Esa. 60.20. Thy Sun shall go down no more: it notes a constant and a lasting prosperity, a continuing, glorious condition: Esa. 30.26. The light of the Moon shall be as the light of the Sun, and the light of the Sun sevenfold: it notes not on∣ly a great increase of spiritual light in the Church, but also great spiritual felicity;* 1.593 and on the contrary, when he speaks of the going away of all prosperity, he says, Amos 8.9. Their Sun shall go down at noon, as you have already heard. (2) What is meant by a Shield? by it is meant all manner of defence and safeguard, be the danger what it will be, Psal. 3.4. and 18.3. and it is not that he will provide all this, but he will be all things to his people, and there is no good thing that he will withhold or keep back from them that walk in their uprightness; it is being upright is the condition of the Covenant,* 1.594 and so it is as much as to say unto persons in Covenant, he will withhold no good, all good things shall have their free course and their full passage, there shall be no restraint upon any good thing unto such a one; to other men indeed mercies and good things have not their free passage, cessat gratiarum decursus, the Lord gives them some good things, the dew of Heaven and the fat∣ness of the Earth, and plenty of corn and wine, &c. but there are some good things that the Lord withholds, for so the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 signifies, and they do not run out unto men with a full stream; but this is the portion of those that are in Covenant, they that walk up∣rightly: Psal. 34.10. The young lions do want, and suffer hunger;* 1.595 the old Lion may perish for lack of prey, being not able any more to hunt for a prey, but the young Lion hath the greatest ability to make provision for himself; and therefore it's strange that they should want any thing either for their hunger or humour. Now what is meant by these young Lions? (1) Wicked Rulers, or men of the greatest strength and of the highest authority; as the Lion is the King of the Beasts. Take up a lamentation for Pharoz, and say,* 1.596 Thou art like a young Lion of the Nations: Prov. 28.15. As a roaring Lion so is a wicked Ruler over a poor people; and Paul, 2 Tim. 4.17. I was delivered out of the mouth of the Lion: it's spo∣ken of Nero. (2) All the great men of the Earth they are compared to Lions for their power; for what is stronger than a Lion? a Lion is the strongest amongst the Beasts;* 1.597 and therefore the Devil is compared to a roaring Lion partly for his power, and partly for his cruelty. (3) All the subtile Politicians of the Earth that use not only their pow∣er, but their parts and their policy to oppress others; for the Lion is a subtile creature, as well as powerful, Ezech. 38.13. The merchants of Tarshish, and all the young Lions there∣of, pro negotiatoribus argenteis minis, men that know how to take beasts for themselves,* 1.598 and to make the best of their market; He lies in wait secretly as a Lion; men that take the opportunity and the fit season to bring men to destruction, and yet men of the highest place, the greatest power, and the deepest policy they shall lack, they shall be brought to poverty and to want, they shall not have wherewith to supply themselves; but they that seek the Lord, and fear him, shall want no good thing, Who are they you'l say? it is a pro∣mise made only unto the people in Covenant with God, and so much doth the expression imply, as Psal. 24.6. This is the generation of them that seek thy face, O Jacob. There is a generation of seekers in the world, and in that respect the name is honourable, though to be Scepticks in Religion is very hateful; and they that do in this manner seek him are the true Jacob, true Israelites indeed; many others may and do pretend to the name, to be of the same family, and of the posterity of Jacob, but they only are so indeed, that are those that seek the face of God: Hos. 14.5, 6, 7. He shall grow as the lily,* 1.599 which is the most beautiful of all flowers, Mat. 6.24. Solomon in all his glory was not cloathed like one of these; and she shall cast forth her root as Lebanon, that is, as they should have the beauty of the Lily, so they should have the stability of the Cedar, which is the strong∣est of all Trees, and is less subject to putrefaction; or that Lebanon, that is, as the goodly

Mountain, that you may as soon remove a mountain as the Church of God; and her branches shall spread; there shall be a daily and a wonderful growth in the Church in all the gifts and graces of the Spirit of God, yea and the members thereof also, they shall thrive and grow from strength to strength; for as wicked men grow, so do the Saints also:* 1.600 Mundus totus est in maligno positus propter zizania, sed Christus est propitiatio propter tri∣ticum, and their beauty shall be as the Olive; there is indeed (as you have heard) a great beauty in the Lily, but it will wither at winter, and it is but a beauty to the eye, for it is but for shew, and no more, but it bears no fruit; but the beauty of the Olive is more, there is in it a greenness and a fruitfulness, it is green at winter, and it bears excellent fruit for light, and for food, and ornament; for it is oyl makes the face to shine, &c. they smell as Lebanon: it's spoken of the sweetness and the acceptation of their graces, services, and persons; we are in our selves, and all that comes from us gall and wormwood, Deut. 29.18. and the Lord will not smell in them;* 1.601 but the services of the Saints shall be a sweet savour unto God; and again, they that wait on him shall dwell under his shadow: there shall be safety and security in all dangers, for so much is intended by a shadow; so Num. 14.9. They are bread for us, for their defence is departed; the word is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 their shadow is departed from them: and they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine; though the corn fall into the ground and dye, though it lie under ground under the nipping frost and the winter snow, it will break through all, and revive again, and so shall the Church of God do in the worst affliction;* 1.602 as Tertullian saith, Omnia pereundo servantur, omnia de interitu reformantur, All by perishing are saved, &c. And the Vine doth not only, as other Trees, cast her leaves, but it is pruned and lopped, as if it should bear no more, but yet it doth spring forth and bear fruit more gloriously, and brings forth more abundantly; so the people of God, the more they are crusht and kept under, and lopped by persecution, the more they thrive, and the more fruitful they grow, &c.

Quest. But how comes all this to pass? Now he directs the soul unto his alsufficiency in two expressions.* 1.603 (1) Hos. 14.4. I will be as the dew, the dew is of a heavenly original, and it is the cause of all greenness, growth, savour, and fruitfulness that is in things be∣low; now saith the Lord, I will supply the place, and perform the work of this dew, and ye shall find all these effects in me. It's true, that you are as the dry and barren earth that has no beauty, no fruitfulness, there is no savour, no reviving in your performances; but unto all these effects I will be alsufficient, I will be as the dew unto thee; the dew doth produce all these things in the earth, I will be unto thee instead of the dew, and thou shalt find all in me. (2) I am a green Fir-tree, that is, as he is sufficient for their spiritual re∣freshment, so he will be the dew; and as he is sufficient also for their spiritual preservation, in opposition unto all other shelters and hiding-places whatsoever, so he will be the Fir-tree: the Fir-tree is arbor frigida, a cold tree, because of the thickness of its boughs, and therefore Drusius renders it frondosa, and the LXX. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, densam umbram praebens, affording a thick shade: and it's known by common experience, that it never casts its leaves, but yields a perpetual shade both winter and summer; and such a protection, saith the Lord, shall my people have in me, I am a green Fir-tree; from me is thy fruit, thou hast a beauty, a growth, a sweet smell, it is all from me as the dew, and thou dost bear fruit, it is from me also; for though it's true our works are ours, when they are done by us, yet it is he that works in us to will and to do; the duty is ours, but the efficacy is his; and thus is he al∣sufficient; but unto whom is all this? it is unto none but unto his Covenant people; for it is, I will be as the dew to Israel; therefore he has in the promise made over his alsuffi∣ciency unto his Covenant-people; and upon this ground it is, that being in Covenant with God, is more than all earthly blessings from God whatsoever, because it does intitle a man unto God in his alsufficiency,* 1.604 I have heard thee for Ismael, twelves Princes shall he be∣get, and I will make of him a great nation, but my covenant will I establish with Isaac: this is more than all the promises that were made unto the son of the bond-woman.

2. This will appear by instances also. There are mainly two: (1) Christ himself, he had nothing else to live upon but the alsufficiency of God; and when he was born he had not a house to put his head in, became poor for our sakes; so that it is said by some 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 & nihil erit illi, &c. Dan. 9. the Messiah shall have nothing, it was a wonder to see Verbum in fame, qui regit sidera sugit ubera, the Word in hunger, &c. but for him that was Heir of all things to have nothing, and for him that was Lord of the world, not so much as to have a foot in the world, nay not so much of his own as a burying place, which every one doth challenge in the Earth; but he lived upon the alsufficiency of God, Psal. 16.4, 5. The Lord is my portion, the lines are fallen to me in pleasant places, I desire no other portion but this, and 'tis as well as I could wish for my self, though I have nothing of the things below. (2) In the Saints; and because their condition in this life is commonly set forth

by the state of the people of Israel in Egypt, let that be the instance to express it unto us; when they were come out of Egypt, they were in a barren and howling wilderness, death did a thousand ways present it self to them, and under as many shapes; they had neither bread nor water, nor provision nor protection, but what they had from God immediate∣ly, and yet having God in Covenant they had enough, because they were interessed in the alsufficiency of God; and therefore if they want bread, he gives them Manna, and if wa∣ter, he doth cause the Rock to yield it, if protection, if direction, he is a pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night, in allusion to which the Prophet speaks, Esa. 4.4, 5. Now we shall see this set forth by Moses, who was an eye-witness of it, and a Leader of the people through the wilderness, Deut. 33.27. for their provision it's true, that he has a land of corn and wine, and the Heavens drop down dew, but it is from the fountain of Jacob; it's commonly expounded the posterity of Jacob, and so haply it may be understood;* 1.605 but there is yet a spiritual meaning in it, and so Cocceius observes: Fons Jacobi dicitur, quòd est fons salutis, Psal. 68.27. The fountain of Jacob is the fountain of salvation: So that all these mercies they had from him that was the Father and the Fountain of mercy, he was the Fountain of Israel; and for protection, the eternal God is thy refuge; in danger you need flye to no other Asylum but to him alone, Esa. 26.20. Come my people enter into your chambers, and shut the door about you, it is the Attributes of God and his alsufficiency that are the chambers into which the Saints are called to hide themselves; and therefore it is to pre∣serve them from dangers, that if they fall at any time, they may never fall to the ground; for under them are the everlasting arms, which notes two things: (1) Potentiae sustentatio∣nem, sustentation by his power. (2) Gratiae amplexum, the embracement of his grace: he doth carry them in his arms, and though they fall, yet still his arms are under them: and who is this that is in this manner all unto them? it is he that is alsufficient, he that is thy God in Covenant, the God of Jeshuron for a habitation, they and thy fathers wandred up and down, having no setled dwelling place, incertis sedibus, but thou, Lord,* 1.606 hast been our habitation in all generations; and when they wanted Ordinances in the Captivity, they had neither Tabernacle nor Temple, but he was a Sanctuary to them, Ezech. 11.16. he did supply the want of publick Ordinances in himself, and for their guidance; and Deut. 32.10, 12. The Lord alone led them, and there was no strange God with him, he did all by himself alone, he led them, and he fed them, and there was none other joyned with him in the work, he was alsufficient to them. But to come to the reasons and grounds of all this.

[Reas. 1] 1. The first and great ground of all this is his own love, it was only his love that brought him into Covenant with them; because the Lord loved thee, and made thee to be his people; it was looking upon them in the time of love, and this love is the womb in which the Covenant and all the mercies of the Covenant were bred: now the nature of love is bountiful, nescit nimium, it knows no excess. The Father loved the Son,* 1.607 and has given all things into his hand; the Father hath loved us, and given us everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace. The great thing that God aims at in the second Covenant is his own glory, manifestative glory: now he cannot receive manifestative glory, but according to the measure of love manifested unto the creature, and his love therefore being the highest, he must find out an expression that is suitable to the manifestation of such a love; the gift must be such as may express the height, and depth, and breadth of his love; and therefore it must be in giving the greatest blessing, or else it could not have been an expression of the greatest love; if there had been any thing greater or better to have been bestowed, that is in point of consolation, he would have given it, Heb. 6.13. If there had been a greater he would have sworn by it; so he doth in point of affection also, if there had been a greater he would have given that gift, but a greater than himself in his alsufficiency God had not to bestow.

2. It was necessary from the insufficiency of all things else to supply our wants; there is an insufficiency in all the creatures, and therefore a continual restlesness in the soul, while it is bottomed upon the creatures, they are but broken cisterns,* 1.608 that can hold no water; when once man departed from God, and forsook him the Fountain of living wa∣ter, he sought a sufficiency in the creatures alone, they immediately became vanity, they have not a vanity in themselves, but it is the sin of man that fills the creature with vanity; if the Lord should give a man as he has done the Devil, the dominion of the world (for he is not only the Prince of the air, but he is the god of this world) yet all this would but leave a man in the Devils condition, and his soul would never be satisfied with it, there is still something wanting that all the creatures cannot supply; so that the soul saith as Austin, Quicquid nobis adest praeter Deum nostrum, dulce non est; nolumus omnia quae dedit, si non dat seipsum, qui dedit omnia.

3. Because the Lord would have the happiness of the creatures to concenter in him alone, which could never be, if he were not an alsufficient God, Esa. 26.3. Trust in the Lord for ever,* 1.609 trust perfectly in the grace that is revealed unto us by Jesus Christ; if there were any thing wanting in him to be supplied and fetched in elsewhere, the soul could ne∣ver trust in him alone; but he will have them have no other god, therefore surely there is no need of any other; he hath all good things in him: the happiness of the soul lies in the rest of it;* 1.610 and therefore when a man comes to Heaven, he is said to enter into his rest. Now God is the resting place of the soul, return unto thy rest, O my soul; where∣fore if there were not an alsufficiency, but something wanting in God, the soul must needs be restless, till it know whither to go for a supply; but he being alsufficient, he that de∣sires nothing but God, need fear none but God, nimis avarus est, cui non sufficit Deus, he is too avaritious to whom God is not sufficient, who has a self-sufficiency in him for his own bles∣sedness; for it is ones being a perfect good, that he goes not out for a supply to any other; nothing can add unto God to make him blessed, and surely the same will make the Saints blessed also; Blessed is the people whose God is Jehovah, &c.

4. He will have the creature perfect with him, Gen. 17.2. Walk before me, and be thou perfect; he will have you perfect in his obedience to serve him alone, and be unto him alone, he'l have you forsake all for him; and this could not be required of the creature, if he were not alsufficient and a full reward; sin is nothing else but the aversion of the soul à bono incommu••••tabili ad communitabile bonum, from the incommutable to a commutable good, as the School-men say, when a man doth not believe the alsufficiency of God, and so would go out to the creature to fetch in some supply to make it up: as it is in the Righteousness of Christ, when men go to their own duties to piece it out; so it is here in matters of comfort and supply; and so long a man is a double-minded man: but when a mans heart is fastned to the alsufficiency of God, so that he saith, If I have him I need no other, I need no friend if he be a friend, nor no honour but that which comes from God only, if I lose any thing, he is able to make it up, he can give me much more, I desire no other God, even our own God shall bless us, he goes not out to the creatures to fetch in supplies, and it's the want of this that makes men to hasten after another God. The only proper ground of a mans perfection with God is laid up in this alsufficiency of God, that a man needs not go out unto any thing else, he needs do service to no other, and they that do so, do proclaim that they look not unto him as alsufficient; but when the soul is satisfied in this, that he has God, and can say, In that I have enough, then will he be perfect with him alone: so it was with Moses, the Lord would send him unto Pharaoh, but Moses tells him,* 1.611 I am a man slow of speech, I am not eloquent, and they that speak unto Kings must speak well, if they hope to be heard, must speak with silken words; if the subject is un∣pleasing, and the words also, if the message be disliked, and the delivery of it, what hope is there then to prevail? but the Lord made him this answer, Who made the mouth, did not I? I will be with thy mouth, in that thing rest upon me, and for words care not, I will be alsufficient unto thee, as if thou wert the most eloquent Orator in the world. And so it is for all things else, a man that looks upon God as sufficient for any work or any comfort, so as he will be with him, he will rest upon him, and look no further, this is to be perfect with him. You'l say, What is perfection with God? it's nothing else but when the soul looks upon God as an alsufficient God, has an eye upon him alone, expecting all his happiness from him, and putting all his trust and hope in him. The School-men say, that God is objectum beatitudinis dupliciter, the object of blessedness two ways, (1) quia in ipso sunt omnes perfectiones simpliciter, because in him are all perfections simply: and so to cleave unto God is actus charitatis principalissimus, the principal act of love. (2) Ʋt suam perfectionem per ipsum consequatur, As the creature obtains his perfection by him: and both these are to be conjoyned in our happiness, as God has all perfections in him, and so is alsufficient unto us, when God takes up the whole soul; and Psal. 18.2. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I will trust, my buckler, the horn of my salvation, and my high tower; he is the fear of Isaac, the hope of Israel, the love of Ignatius, &c. when he takes up and possesses the whole soul, and a man looks no further, does not hasten after any other God,* 1.612 as they all do that joyn any thing else with him, this mans heart is perfect with God, Hos. 3.3. Thou shalt be for me, says God to the soul, and thou shalt not be for ano∣ther,* 1.613 so will I be for thee; and that's meant by a single eye, Mat. 6.22, 23. it is in opposition unto a double eye, that is, a double intention of spirit; a single eye looks but upon one ob∣ject, but a double eye looks upon a double object, it is divided between God and the world, and knows not which to chuse, but he would follow them both, he has an eye to God, and an eye to his pleasure, and his credit, and his profit, &c. that mans heart (what∣ever his possession be) is not whole with God, he is not perfect with him; and the ground

of all is this, because there is in God an alsufficiency, that the soul may rest upon him a∣lone, and have no other God. The Heathen multiplied their gods, because one god served for one end, and was good to them in one way, and another in another; but if there be a God that is sufficient for all things, then there needs no other; and therefore the soul is confined to him alone, and in this is said to be perfect with him, and if men go out unto any thing else, they may truly be said to transgress without a cause, for there was no need of any other, but all good was to be found in him.

5. That by this means the Lord may make up the banks against that which is the great∣est temptation that doth ordinarily befal men: it's true, that there are some motions that come from Hell immediately, that are purely devilish, a messenger of Satan, that imme∣diately comes into the soul as Lightning, as thoughts of Atheism, and blasphemy, &c. but the ordinary temptations that prevail with men are by a bait,* 1.614 Satan taking the same course that his instruments and his messengers do, beguiling unstable souls,* 1.615 promising them liber∣ty; there is some bait that he useth; for all sorts of sinners are not fit for that immediate touch from Satan, it belongs unto them most properly that have been much exercised in all spiritual wickedness, their hearts and tongues are set on fire of Hell immediately; but the way by which Satan deceives men is, he doth bait his hook with the creature, and therein lies the temptation; he did first tempt our parents with the forbidden fruit, it was fair to the eye, good for food, and desirable to make one wise, &c. There is not a creature in the world but Satan can make a bait of it; when you look upon the Sun, Moon, and Stars, take heed that your hearts be not inticed; and therefore we read of an inticing by a woman, who is many times Satans bait to draw a man to wantonness; therefore Basil says, Plays are, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, hamus diaboli trahens ad ruinam, a hook of the Devil to draw men to ruine. Now to strengthen the soul against this, which is the great temptation of the god of this world, and in which respect really the creatures are made subject to vanity; for it is spoken of a vanity of service, Rom. 8.21. not only to serve the lusts of wicked men, but to serve the lusts of the Devil also; therefore the Lord has made over himself to a man in his alsufficiency, that he may have to answer these temptations: it is true, there is much good in the creatures, but yet it's no bait to me, because I have no need of it, I have all in God, my profit and my pleasure is in him, &c. and by this means is the world crucified unto the Saints; for when any sinful way is suggested, as baited with gain and worldly advantages, the soul can say, What need I gain or any thing who want nothing, who do possess all things? and by this means the greatest offers take not with him; though the Devil come with an all this will I give thee; and if sufferings be suggested, as attending the way that is called holy, as every where bonds and afflictions abide them that walk in them, he shall lose all his friends, his honour, his estate, and life, yet he says, My sufficiency is not in these, and I may well lose all for him, who has undertaken to be all in all to me; and whatever I lose will be made up in him in a far more glorious manner; and therefore, si mundus exarserit cogitat se nihil habere, &c. and upon this ground temptations that are baited with the creatures do vanish; for he that has the alsufficiency of God made over to him, he can serve him both with patience and abstinence: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Suffer and abstain, saith the Stoick: if evil things befal him, he can bear them with patience, and if good things be offered in a way of sin, he has in himself a resolved abstinence, he is content to be without them. Now there is an innate desire in all creatures, planted in them by the Law of their Crea∣tion, to seek their own perfection, and if it were not to be had in God, then an offer of a supply any where else must needs be acceptable; but seeing it is to be had in God, and the soul hath chosen him in his alsufficiency, now he saith as a woman that is married must say, he must be unto me the covering of my eyes, I must not lift up my eyes upon any thing else; but in every temptation a man must say, Shall I lift mine eyes unto the hills? shall I look for a supply from any of the creatures, which are but mountains of snow? from whence doth my help come? my help standeth in the name of the Lord, who made Hea∣ven and Earth; and by this means all such temptations are enervated, and they come not with strength and power upon the soul.

6. That upon this ground you may fear to lose God above all things, because your al∣sufficiency is in him, tolle Deum & nullus ero, take away my God and I am nothing, Austin. There are two things in sin, aversion and conversion, a turning from God unto something else that is not God; but the foundation of all sin lies in the turning away of the soul from God; and therefore the great aim of Satan is to draw away the heart, Jer. 1.14. It is forsaking God the fountain of living waters, and hewing cisterns that can hold no water: it is departing from the living God, Heb. 3.12. and therefore the main of temptation lies in this, in taking the soul off from God, and being once turned away from God, it will cen∣ter

upon any thing else; and therefore the special care that the Lord takes, is to keep the souls of his servants close unto himself, and that's the great promise, Jer. 32.40. I will never turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts, and they shall never depart from me: and one special argument to keep them and make them to cleave unto God for ever, is this, because their alsufficiency is in him. As Peter said un∣to Christ, when he asked, Joh. 6. Will you also go away? Whither shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life: so says the soul, when any thing would draw it from God, surely in his presence is life, and there is no departing from him, but a man departs from his own alsufficiency;* 1.616 and therefore adhaere fortiter, & inhaere suaviter, nescit ille deficere, si non in∣cipias fastidire, &c. adhere strongly, and in here sweetly in God, who cannot fail, unless thou be∣gin to loath; for a man with full purpose of heart to cleave unto God, and with full con∣tentment of heart to rest and abide in God, it's the great work of a Christian; and the soul doth never depart from God so long as there is a through apprehension of his alsuffi∣ciency, and that's the reason that in Heaven they are impeccable, because there is a conti∣nual presence of the alsufficiency of God upon the soul; but when that apprehension be∣gins to be clouded, then the soul begins to piece up a happiness with something else, and then unus & alter assumitur, one and another is added, &c. As when men depart from the rule of the word, they multiply inventions, and so make up a patched Religion: so when men depart from God, they do heap up creatures that make up a patched felicity: and it is this is the great and continual fear of the Saints; and therefore a great part of filial fear lies in this, and is a main difference between that and servile fear, which is well expressed by Austin, Haec ne veniat, illa ne discedat; haec ne puniat, illa ne deserat: and therefore he doth endeavour to keep up the thoughts of Gods alsufficiency as his portion from day to day.

7. That thereby creatures may be kept in their own place; for they were given but as servants to be subordinate, and no more, they are iniqui praemium, but justi solatium, the reward of the unjust, but comfort of the just, they are but a viaticum for the way; yet it is a hard matter for a man to keep them in this place in which God has set them, but they will be Lords, and men are brought under the power of them, they do over-power a man, that is, when a man looks upon them as if his sufficiency were in them, then immediately the creatures have left their place, and they have gotten the rule over the man; and this is an evil that many times befals the best men, they do not keep the world at a distance, and confine it to its own place, as they ought to do: but when a man saith, The creatures are my comfort, but my sufficiency is not in them, my portion is not in them, ubi omnia mea sunt tu scis, this will keep the creatures from incroaching upon a man, and usurping authority over a man,* 1.617 and bring them into subjection unto his servants, which is contrary to the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free: hence it comes to pass, that men set their hearts too much upon them, contrary to Psal. 69.10. If riches increase, set not your hearts upon them. The more any mans heart runs out upon the creature, and the more he doth place his happiness in any of them, the more his soul departs from the alsufficiency of God. And hence if you take away the creature from a man, he saith you have taken away my heart, and therefore he sorrows as a man without hope: when another man can see the creatures departing and melting as ice under his feet, and he can rejoyce in their de∣parture, and bid them farewel with joy, because he has had the Moon under his feet, and these being gone, he knows he shall be restored unto that wherein more immediately his alsufficiency doth consist. And the way to cast off this weight, is to keep up the alsufficiency of God in the soul; all my sufficiency lies in him alone, and because he has made over his alsufficiency to me, therefore I will not look upon any thing else as my sufficiency and hap∣piness: the man whose eyes are opened to see his alsufficiency to be in God in the middle of the creature-enjoyments, is in a blessed condition.

8. That the soul may upon this ground live in God immediately, as in whom his alsuf∣ficiency doth consist:* 1.618 there is a being in God, and a dwelling in God; he that dwells in love, dwells in God; and a working in God; he comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God: and therefore Nazianzen speaks of grace, that it doth after a sort deifie the man,* 1.619 not only begin a divine nature in him, but making him to live out of himself in the alsufficiency of the Divine nature; and the School-men speak of an illapsus Dei, a certain illapse or coming down of God into the soul: he is said to dwell in us, 2 Cor. 6.16. that is, cum infinita quadam opulentia, with a certain kind of infinite plenitude: and by this means spiritus nunc ab omni velle liber est, acsi in coelo aut terra, &c. as if there were nothing that he did stand in need of in Heaven and Earth; for when Gods love dwells in us, it is in the manifestation of God; and when God in his sufficiency dwells in us, it is in the manifestation of it,* 1.620 &c. and therefore the soul looks upon God, ut mare quoddam infinitae magnitudinis, Harp. pag. 666. our sufficiency comes from him, and returns unto him again,

but all is in him, and the soul looks upon all the creatures as things indifferent; but if he sin, he looks upon alsufficiency to pardon him; Who is a God like our God pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin? and he looks upon alsufficiency for healing; and if he has a work to do for God, he looks upon alsufficiency for strength; and if he has a cross to bear, he looks for the support of everlasting arms; and if there be creatures either to work with him or against him, he saith, that they can do neither good nor evil, they work but as instruments in the hand of God, and the wicked man is but thy sword, Nebuchadnezzar that great King, is but the staff of mine anger; and if there be no creatures,* 1.621 he saith there is no need of any, for he is as able to save with few as many, and his supplies tarry not for man, he waits not for the sons of men, nor for any humane concurrence in his work;* 1.622 and therefore his eyes are turned away from beholding vanity, and he lives upon God a∣lone; for he saith, What is Heaven, and what have the Angels of God and the souls of just men made perfect to feed upon? they neither eat, nor drink, they marry not, all earth∣ly comforts and relations cease, they are but for the time of this life, and no more, but then God is all in all: now if it shall be enough to live upon him in Heaven, and it shall be there my happiness and perfection, surely the more my heart is staid on him, and the more it is setled upon his alsufficiency, the nearer it comes to happiness, and the less shall my spirit be disquieted by the changes and uncertainties of things below; and unto this Christ did train up his Disciples, Do not say, What shall I eat, and what shall I drink? but say, There is an alsufficiency in God, which I have an interest in, and it shall be manifested for me, either for my provision or my protection; for he that hath made it over to me by Covenant, will lay it out for me, and therefore I leave my self with him, and cast my care upon him, for my sufficiency is in him alone.

§. 3. This Alsufficiency of God belongs unto none but unto his own Covenant-people: it's a joy that no stranger can intermeddle withal, it is the hidden Manna that they only do feed upon, who are fled for refuge to the hope set before them; Gen. 17.1, 2. I am God al∣sufficient, walk before me and be upright, and I will make a covenant with thee to be a God to thee: and he is a Sun and a Shield not unto every one, but unto them that walk uprightly:* 1.623 there is a secret river, the streams whereof do make glad the City of God, when the earth is moved, and the mountains cast into the middle of the Sea;* 1.624 there is an Olive-tree that doth drop oil into the golden Candlestick,* 1.625 Zac. 4.3. it is new Jerusalem that comes down from God out of Heaven, that has no need of the light of the Sun; but the glory of the Lord and of the Lamb are the light thereof: it is spoken of the light of creatures,* 1.626 and not of Scriptures, as some would interpret it, it's only upon the glory that there is a co∣vering. (1) It is only by Covenant that he is thus made over; and therefore it can be on∣ly unto his Covenant-people: all men in Adam have forfeited their interest in God, and they can lay no claim to him; though it's true, that men in their necessity will put them∣selves upon God, and will lay claim to him in a presumptuous way, and they will cry to him, My Father, thou art the guide of my youth,* 1.627 though they have spoken and done evil things against him as they could, but it is but a false pretence, and they lay claim to him upon a wrong title; only there are some that are in Covenant with him, and unto them he has made over himself, and it is the Covenant that gives them a title to him, and he will be called their God; and as for other men, he will reject their claim, and say unto them, Depart from me, I know you not: when men at the last day shall say, Lord, Lord,* 1.628 then will the false claims to him be discovered, and all pretended titles rejected, and it will be made manifest in the great day of trial, to whom he is a God alsufficient, it is called, Rom. 2.5. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a day of revelation: and the great thing that then will be manifested will be this, the false title upon which men have laid claim to God, and thereby have deceived their own souls. (2) To them only that are in Covenant with God, does his alsufficiency belong; for they only have chosen God for their portion, and placed their happiness in him; as Joshuah speaks,* 1.629 You have chosen the Lord for your God; as for other men, their portion is in this life, in the sufficiency of the creatures, and no men have an interest in this sufficiency of God, but they that have rejected all other sufficiency, that can say, I have none in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I can desire in comparison of thee; other men follow lying vanities, and forsake their own mer∣cies, the Saints only chuse him, and chuse the things that please him,* 1.630 and do trust per∣fectly in him; whereas other men stand partly upon the Sea, and partly upon the Earth; and therefore the Lord doth chuse their delusions, Esa. 1.29. You shall be ashamed of the gar∣dens that you have chosen. The folly of men is seen in nothing more than in their choice, and in that shall their greatest shame be. (3) The alsufficiency of God would not satis∣fie the desires of men that are out of Covenant, because they place their happiness in ways of sin, and in the pleasures of sin do the comforts of their lives come in, they eat the

bread of wickedness, and they drink the wine of violence: there are two sorts of desires, some are natural desires, and these may be supplied in God; but there are some unnatu∣ral desires, as those that are lustings after the sensual life; and therefore Heaven would not be a satisfaction to an ungracious heart, that hath not a spirit suited to the things that are spiritual and of a heavenly nature; it would be a wilderness to them, and a land of darkness to be taken up to the heavenly Canaan; and hence it comes to pass, that in the midst of their sufficiency they are in straits, and yet in the middle of straits the Saints have a sufficiency, they walk upon the high places of the Earth, that are fed with the inheri∣tance of Jacob his chosen, and they walk at liberty upon the high places of the Earth, be∣cause when they are weak, they are strong, and when they have nothing, they possess all things, because the alsufficiency of God is only theirs.

[Object.] But we see godly men that claim an interest in the Covenant to be in as great wants as other men, and are brought under as great straits and continual dangers, and if so, then how is God a Sun to them, and how is he a shield and all this that you now speak of? We find Job upon a dunghil, and poor even to a Proverb; and Paul (that great Convert and Apostle) is said to have nothing:* 1.631 Even to this present hour, says he, we are hungry and thirsty, and naked, and buffetted, and have no certain dwelling-place, &c. God hath set us forth last; and the last sufferings of the Church are always the worst and the sharpest: We are made a spectacle even to men and Angels, that is, we are brought upon the stage as offenders did use to be, men condemned to death, to fight with wild beasts to make the people sport, and therefore the Proverb was then,* 1.632 Christiani ad Leones, and he saith it was 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, not in one corner of the world, but their sufferings were spread and were famous even through the world, and all the wicked of the world did rejoyce at them: and not only wicked men, but Devils also; for Satan being the god of this world, and ruling in the Rulers thereof,* 1.633 therefore he is described having seven horns, as he ruled the Roman Em∣perour; and therefore Rev. 2.10. The devil will cast some of you into prison; therefore it's great joy unto the Devil to behold the blood of the Saints in this manner spilt; for it's true, that in the time of this dominion of Satan, as he is the Prince of this world, ludit in humanis, thereby to drown the noise of the chai••s of darkness in which he is held, and it's true also of the good Angels,* 1.634 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, it is such a combate as it draws the eyes and the observation even of the Angels themselves, who with joy behold our patience and the constancy of our spirits therein; and we are counted the scum of the world, as if all the filth of the world had been emptied into them; and if we could barely look at the hand and malice of men in it, we could expect no o∣ther; for in the world we shall have tribulation, but God hath set us forth so to be, and hath made such a demonstration of us unto the world, and men are but instruments in the hand of God in what they do, the wicked is but a sword in the Lords hand; yea we see it mainly in him that was the Prince of the Covenant, who yet was made a man of sorrows, whose life was a continual death, for he had nothing of this worlds goods: and I do the rather insist upon this, because the people of God in this day and time may consi∣der what their portion is like to be in this Nation, notwithstanding this fair Sun-shine of liberty and prosperity that we now enjoy, and how soon a cloud of suffering may come upon all our glory, and the children of God may be exposed to primitive sufferings by walking in the steps of the primitive Saints, and following their Lamb-like Prince, who was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and endured the contradiction of sinners, and was put to death by them. If this be so, that all that will follow the Lord fully meet with such hard usage from the world: How then is the alsufficiency of God made over to his people that are in Covenant with him? and if it be made over to them, as you have demonstrated, what use have they of it, when it doth neither bestow upon them good things, nor protect them from evil?

[Answ.] 1. The Lord doth it, that their sufficiency may be in him alone, and that they may trust perfectly in him:* 1.635 we read of men setled on their lees, therefore God empties his people from vessel to vessel, that so he may take them off from the lees of the creatures or sins, upon which they are apt to settle: men do think there is some sufficiency in God, or else they would not seek him at all. Now if they would look upon him as alsufficient, then they would be content with him alone, and could say to God, Take all things else from me, so thou give me thy self, and it's enough; here therefore is the trial, when the Lord shall deal with a man as he did with Abraham, he promised to give him the land of Canaan for a portion, but he gave him not a hand-breadth in it, but only a burying place; God will have him to trust him without a pawn: so he will have thee to live by pure faith, and that is, when a man hath nothing of sight, but his dependence is upon God alone, and he hath nothing of the creature to look upon. It's a disposition that is apt to creep upon the best men, to serve God in the abundance of all things, but not in want. It's an ordinary

accusation that the Accuser of the brethren hath,* 1.636 and he doth accuse them before God day and night, and (there is as much danger of Satan as to his accusations, as there is in his temptations) he doth commonly object, Doth he serve God for nought? Therefore to clear the sincerity of his servants, the Lord doth, as he did to Job; take all away from them, whatever riches they have here of this worlds goods, and give them himself, and they live upon him, and thereby he doth silence the wicked one; and by this means they have in their consciences a trial of their own sincerity with the Lord.

2. The Lord doth it, that they may be made partakers of the sufferings of Christ; the Lord did from Eternity ordain us to a conformity unto Christ, Rom. 8.29. that as he was, so should we be in this world. There is a double image we are to conform to: (1) Of God, and that is laid up in the Mediator. (2) Of Christ the Son of God: and our happi∣ness is in being conformed unto both these images;* 1.637 and by this means having communion with both, when we come to Heaven we shall have the fruition of both. Now in this he did leave us 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, an exemplar:* 1.638 there is a fellowship of his Suffering as well as of his Resurrection, and we must have a share in the one as well as in the other, in his suffe∣rings as well as in his graces and his victories, Phil. 3.10. Now we know Christ was a man of sorrows, and one that had trial of all sorts of afflictions; the Lord took all from him that are the comforts of mankind in this life; though he were Lord of all, yet he did lay down all;* 1.639 for he that laid down his glory that he had with the Father before the world was, it was not much unto him to lay down all things else, that though the Earth were the Lords to dispose of, yet his blessed Son had not so much of it as to set the soal of his foot upon in the earth: and by this was the Prince of your Salvation made perfect;* 1.640 for there is not only active but passive obedience required of us, and we must come to perfection the same way that Christ himself did: and if it lead us to perfection, it's no great matter though we be deprived here of what the world counts our perfection; and we may glory in the Cross, being it is the direct way to the Crown.

3. God is alsufficient to them in the loss of all things, and in the want of all things; and it is better for any soul that their sufficiency be in him than in themselves, and they would chuse it rather; and therefore 2 Cor. 6.10. it is said, As having nothing, and yet possessing all things. He was alsufficient to the three Children in the fiery Furnace, and to Daniel in the Den of Lions; therefore the people of God are compared unto fatherless children, With thee the fatherless find mercy.* 1.641 It hath been the manner of men to provide Hospitals for children that are cast forth and forsaken by their parents; and so it was with David, When my father and mother forsook me, then the Lord took me up. In what a sad condition is a child, an infant cast forth and forsaken by the parents, that hath ••••ne to take care of him, and to provide for him, &c. but the more perfectly they are father∣less, the greater assurance they have of provision from him, he is a most merciful Father, and therefore he must be compassionate to his children in misery, and the mercies we need are better in his hand than ours, he knows how to do it, when our wisdoms are non-plust, and we cry out, We know not what to do, but our eyes are unto thee; he knows how to deliver the just out of temptation, though they are often in such straits, that they know not how they should be delivered, but grope as blind men, they are utterly devoid of counsel to direct themselves: and he knows not only how, but when to do it; the season of mer∣cy is much to be considered, as well as the season of duty, the one makes it acceptable to God, and the other sweet to us; the Lord is a God of judgment,* 1.642 and therefore blessed are those that wait for him: as Gods way is best, so is Gods time best, Joel 2.23. He will give you the former and the latter rain, pluviam justitiae, the rain of righteousness, that is, lar∣gam & copiosam, a large and copiose rain; and so Drusius expounds it, as Christ is called the Sun of Righteousness; but others understand justitiam, justice to be as much as in a just pro∣portion, so much as shall be needful, and for your good, and no more: there shall not be excessive rain, and he will give you this 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in primo, that is, as some render it, in the first month; but the word signifies not only primus ordine, sed & dignitate, that which shall be the choicest and the fittest for them, pluviam tempestivam, a seasonable rain, in the fittest season; it's a great mercy to be in the hand of God for the timing of mercy; for our hearts are hasty, and we would have them too soon, and so they would be unseasonable, and prove a curse, and not a blessing.

4. Because it is very sweet to God, when we follow him through a wilderness, and see nothing but an alsufficiency in him, through a land not sown,* 1.643 then you shew your love to him, and he looks upon it as the day of your espousals; Hos. 9.10. I found Israel as grapes in the wilderness, it is a proverbial speech, when you have none to look to but God,* 1.644 when you are in a land of drought; it is never so pleasing unto God, as when we are brought into a wilderness, and yet there to follow him; and the Lord doth never speak so sweetly

to us, as when he doth deprive us of these outward things, that our hearts may stay up∣on him alone; and therefore, Hos. 2.14. he says, I will allure her into the wilderness: what was there in the wilderness that might allure her? The wilderness has a double considera∣tion. (1) It was a place of affliction, and so there was nothing to allure; for no affli∣ction for the present is joyous, but grievous. (2) The wilderness was a place of mani∣festation, where God did shew himself in his Ordinances and in his mighty works; and if the wilderness be so, there is an alluring in it; and then, saith God, will I speak to her heart. O when God brings into the wilderness, and gives discoveries of himself, there are the greatest comforts and the sweetest speakings unto the souls of his Saints: the Lord doth not fail them in their time of need.

5. Gods great glory is to manifest his Attributes in the sufferings of his people, and it is the great work that he doth in the world, and the greatest comfort that the Saints have is to see the Attributes of God drawn forth, and to work for them: Jer. 2.31. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? It's true, says the Lord, I brought them into a wilderness, and did allure them thither, but when they were there, I was not a wilderness unto them; they found all in me, though the earth afforded them nothing, yet there was nothing wanting from Heaven, it was not a wilderness when they were in the wilderness. See an instance of it Jer. 29.22. there were two false Prophets that did strive to make provision for themselves, and they pleased the people,* 1.645 and said, The King of Babylon should not carry them away captive, they spoke lies in the name of the Lord, and we see what became of them; but Jeremiah that made no provision for himself, did not, as Baruck, seek great things for himself, we see how he is provided for even in the enemies hand, Jer. 39.11, 12. Look well to him, do him no harm, but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee: how good is it to look up to God for all our supplies, and not to distrust his goodness and power in any danger or strait that we may be exposed to!

6. As our supplies do come from God, so also there is a special token of love and interest discovered in his sufficiency, and that is sweeter than the mercy it self: the Lord loves to give unto his people every mercy that they need, and as it is lined with love, so it shall be faced with love, that the mercy shall come in according unto the promise, and he can look upon it as the birth of the promises, as a pledge and a fruit of interest in the alsuffi∣ciency of God: it's a great thing, and is much more than the blessing it self, if it were a thousand times multiplied, that all the promises lead a man to Christ the foundation of them all, 2 Cor. 1.20. they do lead a man as beams to the Sun; so when the mercy leads a man to his interest in the alsufficiency of God, that's more than the mercy it self: when a m••n sees it's given in to the bargain, when he seeks first the Kingdom of Heaven, all things in this world shall be added to him,* 1.646 though they are in themselves but small, yet they are magni amoris indicium; there is a great deal of difference between a kiss and a re∣ward, though there may be a greater bounty in the one, but there is more love in the other: and so far as the people of God taste that the Lord is gracious, so far they taste his love is sweeter than all unto them; for if there were not love in the gift, there were no relish in it, we use to despise the gifts only of enemies; and indeed the hearts of all the Saints do so far undervalue them, as Luther, that they can tell God, Let thy gifts of this worlds goods only be to another, but let me have a smile from thy face, one kiss of thy mouth, and it shall chear me more than corn or wine and oil: as for all other things, they are but, as Luther said of the Turkish Empire, mica canibus projecta, a mite cast to the dogs, because there was no love in it; therefore a little that the righteous hath is better than the riches of many wicked, as a little that the righteous doth is better than the pompous services of many wic∣ked persons; because there is love in the one, and none in the other, and without this all is as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.

[Object. 2] You say that none have an interest in the alsufficiency of God but his Covenant-people. But we see that the men of the world have great sufficiency,* 1.647 they have more than heart can wish, they enjoy all manner of abundance, that one would think the alsufficiency of God were made over to them rather than to the Saints; one would have thought it to have been the portion of Dives rather than Lazarus: For the wicked fare deliciously every day, &c.

[Answ.] It's true indeed, that many wicked men, who are strangers to God and his Covenant, have great sufficiency in outward things; but yet, (1) though it be from the alsuffi∣ciency of God, for he it is that is the Fountain of common mercies, he doth cause the Sun to rise upon the unjust, &c. he opens his hand and fills every living thing; it is he therefore that is said to fill their bellies with his hid treasure;* 1.648 but yet it is not from their interest in his alsufficiency, they have all from God, but they have no interest in God; it's one thing to receive mercy from God ex largitate, from an overflowing of his goodness, and ano∣ther

thing to receive it ex proprietate, from an interest in his goodness. There are some benefits by Christ that wicked men have that have no interest in Christ; there are many works that the Sun doth effect in the earth, when it never shines; and so it's with Christ, he vouchsafeth good things to many a soul in whose Horizon he doth never rise: there is a great difference in the manner of conveyance. (2) A sufficiency they have many times,* 1.649 but it is their portion, it's all that ever they must look for of good from the hand of God; Luke 16. Son remember that in thy life time thou hadst thy good things; never look for good more from God; their hope is as the giving up of the ghost,* 1.650 they breathe out their last hope with their last breath. Now who would have these to have their portion in them? As there is a difference between the sufferings of the Saints, and the sufferings of others, so there is also in their enjoyments; in the Saints sufferings is justi exercitium, the exercise of grace, but in the wicked injusti supplicium, the punishment of the unjust: and so it is of their good things also, it is unto one in praemium, and to the other in solatium. (3) They are given as a snare to themselves and others: [1] To themselves, their table is made a snare, and they are taken in their own abundance, and are betrayed by it to the evil day, it doth but ripen their sins, and make them the greater enemies unto God, it is as a worm in the gourd, as Chrysostome observed. Riches are given for the hurt of the owner, to fat them to the day of evil; there is a fatning, and there is a killing time;* 1.651 and the man is but reserved all the while to the day of slaughter. [2] They are given as a snare to others; therefore many people fall to them, because waters of a full cup are wrung out to them; they that work wickedness are built up that is, they prosper, therefore they call the proud happy;* 1.652 the Lord doth lay snares for men in the world, that is, that which their corrupt hearts do make snares, and they are taken,* 1.653 even as many as are not written in the Lambs book of life. (4) In the middle of their sufficiency they are in straits, that is, when men are come to the height of the sufficiency in the creature, then they are at a loss, and find they are in straits; for it shall be said, Here is the man that made not God his help, but trusted in the multitude of his riches, and now shall the sufficiency of God be engaged against him, and he shall be in perplexity for ever, and his sufficiency in outward things shall be but an in∣ducement unto the enemy to straiten him the more.

SECT. II. The Application of Gods Alsufficience made over to the Saints.

[Ʋse 1] §. 1. FIrst, this doth justly reprove them who claim an interest by Covenant in the Lord, yet their hearts go out to expect a sufficiency in the creatures, who please them∣selves in a self-sufficiency, as if either they understood not the terms of the Covenant, or as if their sufficiency were not in God only, when in his alsufficiency he has made over himself.

1. For them that set their hearts upon the sufficiency of the creatures, and having the creatures in abundance, they think that there is a sufficiency in them, and when they want the creatures, they look upon themselves as being defective in point of sufficiency. I confess there is a curse come upon all the creatures, that they are become a snare to us; that which was made to be a servant, has with Reuben climbed up into his fathers bed, and ever since Satan has been the god of this world, which he never was until man sold him∣self unto Satan, and since man subjected himself to the evil one. God has subjected man in judgment unto Satan, and all the creatures unto the power of Satan, that were for mans use, which is the greatest part of the subjection unto vanity,* 1.654 that the creature groans un∣der; that now Satan makes it a bait, and the soul is ensnared with it, and men are ready to place a sufficiency in the creatures, yet we have heard, that in the fulness of sufficiency he is in straits, it's spoken according to the esteem and conceit of the man, he thinks that he shall have a fulness of sufficiency in it, but he shall find a defect in the creatures; there are some wants that all the creatures will not answer, but the soul will be still strait in the middle of his alsufficiency; Cocceius expounds it of men whose lusts go out beyond their estates, and therefore they are but poor in the middle of all their riches and abundance, and such an esteem it is that Solomon intends, when he says,* 1.655 Wilt thou set thy eyes upon that which is not? the word in the Hebrew signifies, wilt thou cause thine eyes to flye on that which is not? The Scripture doth express much of the affection by the eye, that being the win∣dow at which the soul looks out, and at which the affections of the soul are discovered; as the desire of the eyes, the delight of the eyes, and pity in the eye, thy eye shall not spare them;

and therefore we use to say, Ʋbi amor ibi oculus, the desires of the heart are much seen in the eyes; and to flye notes two things, hastiness and greediness, 1 Sam. 15.19. But didst flye upon the spoil: mens desires run out towards it with all hastiness and greediness, be∣cause they conceive, that there is a sufficiency to be had in the creatures: but it is not the thing that you took it to be, there is not that in it that you expected, it's an expression like that,* 1.656 Psal. 102.27. They all shall wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture thou shalt change them, &c. 1 Cor. 4.8. the Apostle speaks it of the Corinthians, Ye are full, ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us; he speaks it by way of exprobration, what they were in their own vain conceit and apprehension; they pleased themselves in their out∣ward prosperity, as if now the Kingdom were their own; and when the Apostle was suf∣fering, and they enjoyed their peace and their estates, they pleased themselves in it; and therefore he says, That they did reign as Kings, not in ways of duty, for then it had not been without us; but it was in ways of felicity, in which they did satisfie themselves, as if they were now no less than Kings in their own conceits: and hence it comes to pass, that in the enjoyment of them their hearts are lifted up; and if they be deprived of them, their hearts die within them, and they be like unto them that go down to the pit. How unsuitable is this to the alsufficiency of God, to place your sufficiency in any thing else? and whether is not this a staining of your glory? and will not this hinder the alsufficiency of God to be improved for you? for surely he will be alsufficient unto none, but he will be alsufficient to them alone.

1. Consider herein how exceedingly you dishonour God, and d•• hereby proclaim to all the world, that there is something wanting in him that must be supplied by the creature; and so as Salvian saith of the Name of Christ, Dicimur Christiani in opprobrium Christi, We are called Christians to the reproach of Christ; it is true that the name of God is called upon us, but it is unto Gods dishonour; the Lord takes it as a high dishonour done unto him, when his people dig to themselves broken cisterns, and forsake him that is the Fountain of living water; when they shall do suit and service to another god, and stretch out their hands unto a strange god, the Lord will search it out, it's a dishonour, and will be a great provocation to him; whereas they that have an eye to him alone, they do honour him: Daniel who said,* 1.657 The God whom I serve is able to deliver me from the den of lyons; and David who says, There is no god save the Lord, and there is no rock save our God; these honoured God in advancing him above all things: it's true, that men do fancy to themselves other Rocks to flye unto, but it is but in vain, for there is no other Rock, these are but the ima∣ginations of men, but in truth and reality there is no such thing there is no Rock but our God; and Paul having nothing, but yet possessing all things; and so did Habakkuk, 3.17. For it was a true way of reasoning that Elkanah used, when Hannah was sad and discontented for the want of a son, he took it to be as a disparagement to him, that she thought not her self so happy in him, and in his love, as sometimes she had professed, and he concei∣ved it was her duty to do, she should have counted him beyond ten sons; so doth the Lord reason with you, when your hearts go out to the creatures, and you are troubled in the getting of them, and disquieted in the losing of them, it is because you do not think him better than a world; for if you did, you would not go out so unto these things with such intenseness of spirit and affection. We read, Gen. 20.16. the husband is said to be unto the woman the covering of her eyes, not only that she lift them not up wantonly unto another man, but also that she should look upon no other for protection and for pro∣vision: if a woman should wait upon another, and apply her self wholly to another man, and neglect to please her husband, and to be a help unto him, might he not look upon it as a dishonour, and say to her, Is it not because there is something in me wanting to∣wards you, that I cannot protect you, and provide for you, and therefore you go out in your heart, affection, and observance to another man? he looks upon it as the greatest dishonour that his wife could do him:* 1.658 Mat. 22.32. Christ proves the living of the souls of the Saints in statu separato, after death, and a resurrection from that place, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac: it's a great question, wherein lies the fulness of the argu∣ment; I conceive it to amount unto thus much; If God be of infinite power and good∣ness, then they that have an interest in him, and stand in a peculiar relation to him, they must have from him whatever is necessary to their happiness; it were else every way un∣worthy of God, and that upon which ground no man would seek or prize an interest in him; but happiness without life there can be none; and therefore if he will be the God of his people, he must be happiness to them; and if so, he must give life to them also; for he cannot be the God of the dead, but of the living. To make a people to have a special interest in him, and to say that they are dead for all their interest in God, and that he is the God of the dead, is a thing every way unworthy of him and dishonourable to him.

2. As it dishonours God, so it doth dishonour us also; for all the creatures were given unto man in his creation as servants, and he had dominion over them, they were all put un∣der his feet: Gen. 1. therefore God brought them all unto man in their creation, as the lord of them, he gave them their names: now for a man to put his neck under the yoke of a servant, and to lay down his soul on the ground unto them that went over it, doth argue a great baseness in a man, and is a great dishonour to him: it's true, the creature will in∣vite a man as the bramble, Judg. 9.13. Come and put your trust under my shadow, place your confidence in me; now would it not be a dishonour for a man to go and put his trust in the shadow of the bramble? And so are all the creatures in reference unto shelter and de∣fence: if a Senator of Rome did marry a servant, and not a free woman, he did subire ma∣culam infamiae, incur infamy; so it is when the soul will be married unto the creature, which is but the servant, there is a blemish that lights upon that man. And much more when it is done from a low spirit, and the soul doth chuse it, that shews, that he is ad mancipium na∣tus; as when a servant amongst the Jews would not go free, his ear was bored,* 1.659 not only as a token of perpetual servitude, which, as Cajetan observes, was not only done in perpetuam servitudinem, sed in poenam & ignominiam, neglectâ libertate. When the Lord has set mens spirits at liberty from the creatures, and if they will not go free, but they will be in bon∣dage to their own servants still, it's a great reproach to them, and a sign of great baseness of mind; whereas the Spirit of Christ in his people is a princely Spirit, and that saith,* 1.660 I will not be brought under the power of any thing; and therein properly doth a mans liberty consist, when he looks upon God only as necessary, and all things in the world tanquam adiaphora, as things indifferent, that he can enjoy them, or go without them, for his happi∣ness is not in them.

3. Consider the creatures unto whom thou flyest for sufficiency, they can do neither good nor evil; it's spoken of Idols and all creatures in which we look for a sufficiency, they are but Idols; and we are exhorted, Jer. 10.5, 6, 7. Be not afraid of them, for they can do no evil, neither is it in them to do them good; for as much as there is none like unto thee, O Lord, for thou art great, and thy name is great in might, who will not fear thee? If the creatures could do us good, they might be sought unto, and they might be feared, if they could do us hurt; but it is not in the creature to do either; if they do us evil, it is because the Lord has bid them; as it's said of Shimei, The Lord has bid Shimei curse; and if Job lose all that he has, though by the hand of creatures, yet he saith, The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away; there is no evil in the city that the Lord has not done; and therefore Christ saith, Thou couldst have no power over me, unless it were given thee from above. Now as you look upon them as vain that worship an Idol, and stand in fear of it, though you know they do but bow down to the stock of a Tree, yet a deceived heart has turned him aside, &c. that he cannot discern the deceit, and say, Is there not a lye in my right hand? Esa. 44.20. so when men fear creatures, it is but as if a man feared an Idol that can do him no hurt; and they can do you no good: though every man seeks the face of the Ruler, and they think that he is able to shew them much favour in judgment, yet let him do what he can,* 1.661 and in∣tend never so much good to you, all that is good to you is from the Lord, in his judgment; He doth fashion the hearts of men, and he considers all their ways, &c. they have the same ap∣prehensions that he gives them, and the same affections and intentions; if they do thee any good, it is because the Lord has assisted and touched their hearts; for they have but such a fashion as he gives them, therefore he is said to ascend and descend,* 1.662 it's conceived by some to be an expression taken from Jacobs Ladder, in which there were Angels ascending and descending, as it is Joh. 1. ult. but yet in all the administrations of the best of creatures it is he that ascends and descends: for all the good of the creature is at his dispose, and he must give the creature a commission to do good as well as to do us evil: and will you flye unto that for sufficiency that can neither do good nor evil?

4. Will you place your sufficiency in the creature, when it cannot reach unto that which is best in the man? Every holy man doth take a measure of all things, as they relate unto his soul, and that which doth his soul most good, that he judges best for him, and that which doth the soul most hurt, that he judges worst for him; for Saints measure all prosperity by that of the soul; but all creature-comforts are but food that perishes; and therefore we are exhorted not to labour for them, for they will all die unto us;* 1.663 and there∣fore that men might not dote upon carrying them with them into another world, consi∣der we brought nothing into this world,* 1.664 neither shall we carry any thing out of this world; as soon as we have put off this Tabernacle, all the necessary supports thereof will be of use to us no more; for they are all in reference to the Tabernacle it self: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, He only can cure the heart that formed it: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Chrys. de poenit. hom. 4. when God establishes the heart in peace, no creature can move it.

5. The creatures have no good in them but what is borrowed. All the good that is in the creatures is either real or apparent. (1) If there be any real good in any creature, it is derived unto it from God: they are all cyphers, and they have no good in them of themselves, but what is put into them; if God will put much of his Spirit into a Magi∣strate, as he did into Moses, the abilities of many men shall be in that one man, he shall rule his people with great success; and if the Lord will afterward take it away, and divide it amongst men, it is as he will dispose of it, whether to fill the vessel, or empty it: and if the Lord will create the fruit of the lips peace, a Minister shall be able to speak peace, and administer a word that shall be in season unto him that is weary; but else though he speak with never so much eloquence, it will be to no purpose, there is no more in it than God puts into it. (2) There is appearing good, and that is put into the creatures by the subtilty of Satan and by the lusts of men. [1] By the subtilty of Satan; for he intending to make use of the creature to betray the soul of a man, doth put a fair gloss upon it and a varnish, as we see he did to Christ, when he represented to him the Kingdoms of the world and the glory of them in a moment of time; so doth Satan represent the creatures to us in his own glass, and deceives us with the apparent good that is in them. [2] There is also something that the lusts of men do add, and that is a conceit, that there is some such excellency in it;* 1.665 it is a strong hold and a high wall, it's desirable for food, and pleasant to the taste, but it is but in his own conceit, and all the pomp of the world is but fancy, and all the great things of the world are not great in reality, but only that great affection and the high apprehension that men have of them, makes them seem so to be,* 1.666 but with God only is the fountain of life: by life is meant all good, and it is in God ori∣ginally, as in a fountain; it is in the creatures but derivatively, as in a stream; and there∣fore it's the greatest folly for a man to leave the fountain to go to the streams, and to for∣sake the Sun to take our light from the Moon and the Stars, which shine only by a borrow∣ed light; and upon this ground the Saints are not much troubled at the miscarriages in creatures, when they promise fair, but by and by their hopes are nipt, and it brings not the work to perfection; therefore they regard it not, and say it is but a bucket broken, and a stream dried up, a pipe stopped, but there is as much water in the fountain still as ever, and unto that he has immediate recourse.

6. A man's retiring unto creatures in any of his straits is that which doth cause God to leave him; for no man is to have a double dependence, because that argues a double heart; God will be all in all for supports and supplies, as well as Christ will be all in all for righteousness and salvation;* 1.667 and therefore it is said, That Ʋzziah was helped till he was strong, he was marvellously helped, but then his heart withdrew from God unto his own supports, and then the Lord left him to them, which proved his overthrow; for with him only the fatherless find mercy, they that are truly so in their own esteem and account, and have none to look to, or make provision for them any more than fatherless children have, it is in him that they shall find mercy; but they that say unto the creatures, Thou art my father, and they have their help in them, there is no mercy for them in the Lord in an evil day, the creature then shall be so far from assisting, that it shall distress them; for the Lord rejects carnal confidence,* 1.668 and he says, Thou shalt be ashamed of Bethel thy con∣fidence, and ashamed of Egypt as thou wast of Assyria, &c. for it doth engage God not only against the evil doers themselves, but against their helpers; and therefore the way for a people to find mercy from God, is to put away all carnal confidences and dependences whatsoever, and say (as they did, Hos. 14.3.) Assur shall not save us, neither will we ride upon horses; this is the way to mercy: Jer. 17.5. Cursed be the man that makes flesh his arm, and his heart departs from the Lord, he shall be like the heath in the desart, and shall not see when good comes, he shall inhabit the parched places of the wilderness, &c. But blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, whose hope the Lord only is, he shall be as a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, nor be careful in the year of drought. There is no man in a worse condition in an evil time, than he that has had his heart resting upon creature-comforts, and his spirit has gone out to them, and not to the Lord, who then will send him to the gods whom he had chosen to himself; and there is not only the first and original curse upon the creature, as the fall of man left it, but also there is a more particular and immediate curse upon the creature by reason of the confidence of men, and that sets God against it, and blasts it before its time, which is like unto the curse of Christ upon the fig-tree; if it had stood, it would in time have decayed by reason of the first curse that came upon all the creatures, and so it would have withered away; but now Christ comes with a more particular curse immediately, and it is dried up by the roots: and so it is with all the creatures, that the vain confidence of man puts into the place of God,* 1.669 and expects a supply and assistance from: says the Prophet, Because you despise this word,

and trust in oppression and perversness, and stay thereon: therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant: and he shall break it as the breaking of a potters vessel that is broken; so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sheard to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.

[Ʋse 2] §. 2. As it is a just reproof unto all the Saints that place their sufficiency in the creature, so it is also unto them that do place any sufficiency in themselves; it is well observed by Aquinas, that there are two roots upon which all sin in a man grows, and from which they have their continual support and supply, ex parte aversionis à bono incommutabili superbia, ex parte conversionis ad bonum commutabile avaritia, the first thing in 〈◊〉〈◊〉 is aversion from God, and then the soul turns it self unto something else,* 1.670 and the thing that was next in order was self, and so men are turned unto themselves, and so self taking upon it self a Deity, it must have also a sufficiency. The first sin was pride: now pride is nothing else but an overweening apprehension of a mans own excellency, when a man doth think of himself a∣bove what he ought; and from thence there follows in the soul self-admiration, self-sufficien∣cy, self-dependence, and a contempt of others, undervaluing all in comparison of it self: one that has enough within himself, he needs not go out unto any other, and there is no∣thing more ordinary than for men to do it, for they are ready to place their sufficiency in any thing rather than in God. Now there is a twofold self-sufficience that the heart of man is apt to go out unto. (1) In respect of gifts and inward abilities either acquired or infused; and this the Apostle doth give a charge against, Rom. 12.3. That no man do think of himself above what he ought, but according as God hath given to every man the measure of faith: per fidem intelligit dona spiritualia.* 1.671 Now when men have received a spiritual gift immediately, they have a dependence thereupon, and place a sufficiency in themselves, and they are as if they had all knowledge in themselves, and think they need go out of themselves for nothing, and so the wise man glories in his wisdom, and the strong man in his strength, all such glorying is a fruit of pride and self-sufficiency: so we see how far Samson trusted in his strength, and Solomon in his wisdom, and their own sufficiency proved their snares. And that's the common use that the Devil makes of all abilities either infu∣sed or acquired, that they may, as we read in Ezech. 16. trust in their beauty, and boast themselves of what they have received, as if they had not received it. (2) There is also a sufficiency in respect of grace received, as we see in Peter, Though all men forsake thee, yet will not I, though I should die with thee, yet will not I deny thee; having received a principle of grace, he looked upon the acting of it in his own power, as if he had no more dependence upon Christ the Fountain of his grace, but could go out in his own strength against the temptation, and this makes men trust in themselves; for all self-confidence depends and is grounded upon a self-sufficiency, and this the Apostle denies to be in them∣selves, 2 Cor. 3.3. We are not sufficient of our selves, to think any thing as of our selves, all our sufficiency is of God: for pride being an inordinate and high apprehension of a mans own excellency; therefore the higher the excellency, the greater is the pride, and the more will Satan surely put a man upon a dependence thereupon, that he that is able to do all things through Christ that strengthens him, and by the power of God, shall look upon himself as the fountain of his own sufficiency; which was properly the Devils sin, and it is the like Godhead that he strives to affect men withal, that whereas the proper end of grace is to carry a man out of himself, and to make him happy in another, and so suffici∣ent in another, Satan perswades a man, that having received grace he should place this in himself, and in the grace that he has received, which is properly a Torch from Hell, 1 Joh. 5.19. which may and many times doth befal the heirs of Heaven, that they that place truly their happiness in God, yet may too far seek a sufficiency in themselves, and too much omit fastning upon the Lord Jesus, who is our Saviour to the uttermost, &c.

Now we come to shew the evil of a self-sufficiency in both these, more particularly.

1. In respect of gifts, for a man to look upon himself, and grow in love with his own sha∣dow, and to depend upon them and glory in them, consider the evil of it in these particulars.

(1) They are another mans goods, they are not thine own, men are ready to think so of riches and honours, that which is without a man; but as for the abilities of his own mind, they think those are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, their proper goods, if any thing be; but yet as it is said of riches, it's true also of gifts, and all those inward qualifications,* 1.672 they are another mans, and they are so in a double respect: (1) Because they are given thee from another, What hast thou that thou hast not received? he that doth boast of,* 1.673 or trust in any thing that he has received, he doth thereby say that it is his own, and that he has not received it; for if thou hast received it, then thy dependence is upon another, and not up∣on thy self: mendax de proprio loquitur; cùm autem in bonis laudabilis vita ducitur,* 1.674 Dei est quod geritur, Dei est quod amatur. (2) They are another mans, as riches are, for they are given

thee mainly for the good of another: grace is given a man for himself, and is properly his own;* 1.675 but gifts are given for the Church and for the edifying of others, the manife∣station of the Spirit is given unto every man to profit withal, and therefore thou art but as a steward of every gift, and thou must dispense them, and lay them out for the good of the family, to give them their meat in due season, and if not, this will be the benefit that thou wilt have by thy gifts, that thy account will be the greater, and there will come a time that the same Spirit that is now thy Teacher will surely be thy Accuser,* 1.676 for wast∣ing thy masters goods.* 1.677 There is a double difference between gifts and graces: [1] Grace is for a ma•••• own salvation, but gifts are for the Churches edification; and there∣fore they are but pr•• hoc statu, for this state, and there is an end; the gifts that the An∣gels have are but for the edification of the Church, Dan. 9.23. Rev. 19.10. & 1.4. He sent and signified it by the Angel unto his servant John; and when the Elect of God shall be gathered, and the Church of Christ perfected, and the Kingdom given up to the Father, then as the protection of Angels shall cease (for there shall be no more use of it) so these qualifications, this influence of the Spirit of Christ upon the Angelical nature, by way of gifts, shall cease also. [2] Some put this difference, that the Spirit to some gives gifts as a Spirit assisting only, but not dwelling there where he assists by gifts; but where grace is, there is a residence of the Spirit, and that not only according unto the gifts and effects, as in the other, but according to the essence; for we are said to be Temples of the Holy Ghost. Now to dedicate a Temple to another, is to give Divine honour, which is not to be done unto the gifts and graces of the Spirit; for they are but creatures; and therefore the Spi∣rit doth not dwell in them barely by his gifts, but according to his essence: Habitat verus Spiritus in credentibus, non tantùm per dona, sed quoad substantiam, ne{que} sic dat dona, ut ipse alibi sit, sed donis adest, creaturam suam conservando, gubernando, addendo, The Spirit dwells in Believers, not only by gifts, but according to his essence, neither doth he so give gifts as to be absent himself, but he is present, &c. Luther.

(2) He doth give them unto wicked men; and therefore there is no sufficiency to be placed in that in which God puts no difference;* 1.678 Christ received gifts for men, yea for the rebellious also; not only those that were rebellious, and are now converted, but those that live still in rebellion; Christ received many gifts to dispense unto these: Christ is in the Scripture set forth as a Head and as a Root; he gives graces as Head unto the Church, which is his body,* 1.679 the fulness of him that filleth all in all; but as he is a Root he spreads himself into a visible Church upon Earth, so he gives much sap and greenness unto those that bear leaves only; and therefore it was a good saying of Luther in one of his Epistles, Potentior est veritas quàm eloquentia, potior spiritus quàm ingenium, major fides quàm eruditio. A little grace is to be preferred before abundance of gifts, and a little of the Spirit of Sanctification above the fulness of the qualifications of the Spirit; for the Lord doth cause this Sun to shine upon the evil and unthankful, and doth continue it unto them for a while, as a Spi∣rit of Qualification, to whom nevertheless he will be for ever as a Spirit of Condemnation hereafter.

(3) When a man depends upon these, and places his sufficiency in them, he serves Sa∣tan in the highest way that can be, that is, with the gifts and the graces of the Spirit of God:* 1.680 we read Mat. 12.44, 45. there is a house swept and garnished, it's the house that Satan will chuse to himself to inhabit above all other places in the world; and therefore he places a strong garrison there of seven Spirits; for there is no soul whom he takes so much delight in, and in which he doth love so much to dwell, as he doth in such a man; and therefore it was a great speech of Austin of Licentius, a man of a great wit, but of an unsound mind, Abs te ornari diabolus quaerit; Accepisti à Deo ingenium spiritualiter aureum, & in illo Satanae propinas teipsum, The Devil seeks to be adorned by thee, &c. It was the abuse upon the vessels of the Temple that in Beltshazers time, they must be brought forth, and used in the worship of their gods, which was but the Devil instead of a God: the gifts that a man has are the utensils of the Temple of the Holy Ghost, and therefore above all others Satan loves to be served with those; and if the Devil do but puff a man up with either of these,* 1.681 that's the house he delights to dwell in: now for a man to serve Satan with his wealth or his honour is a great evil; but with the immediate works and gifts of the Spirit of God, is a far greater provocation.

(4) That which you place your sufficiency so much in, remember you cannot act with∣out Divine aid: a man that has received gifts cannot exercise and use those gifts that he has received. The Apostle doth distinguish between all these three, there are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Gifts, and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Offices, and there are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Effects or Operations of the same gra∣ces: now as the Spirit doth appoint every man his office, and gives unto every man his gift; so he doth give unto every man a success as it pleaseth him; and therefore though Paul may

plant, and Apollo water, yet it is God that gives the increase; and the success is not always answerable unto the labour that is bestowed, even in the best, we see it in Christ himself, he did spend his whole life, and his very radical moisture in labour, Esa. 49.4. as the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 doth signifie, and yet he doth himself complain, That he had laboured in vain, and spent his strength for nought, &c. So when the Prophets had received a Spirit of Prophecy, and the Apostles a gift of Miracles, yet notwithstanding they could not act it when they would, but when the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, as it was with Samson; and therefore it's a kind of a Proverb that Luther has in Gen. 4.4. Spiritus Sanctus non semper tangit cor Prophetarum, The Spirit doth not always touch the Prophets heart: so the Apostles had a gift of healing, but they could not heal when they would; and therefore when Epa∣phroditus had been sick, and was nigh death also, Paul who had the gift of healing (for when they brought from him but handkerchiefs and aprons, the diseases departed from them) yet he cannot now heal him who was so dear to him, and whose ministery was so useful: it's not in a mans power therefore to act his own gifts, he cannot use his own abi∣lities at his own pleasure: as there is an ability in a man to gather and know much of God by his works that are in the world, yet it is according as God did point and direct his un∣derstanding, or else he could never do it: Rom. 1.19. it is manifest in the creation of the world, for God has shewed it unto them; and to know what seed to sow, and with what instruments to thresh, and when the ground is fit for seed, and when it is sufficiently plow∣ed, &c. It is God that doth instruct him to discretion, Esa. 28.26. The men of might cannot find their hands; they were men of strength, and they were skilful in war, but they could not use it at such a time, they could not find their hands, it is unto them as if they had no strength, as if they had had no skill, for they have no use of them: therefore remember this when you place your sufficiency so much in these things.

(5) As they that have these gifts cannot act them of themselves without Gods assist∣ance, so neither can they give success to them, or make them in any measure effectual: the best men have but their measure, Rom. 12.4. God has not given all gifts to one man, and therefore the greatest and the best and most eminent member of the body shall have need of the gifts of the meanest; there is a supply of every joynt unto the edifying of the bo∣dy, there is something in the meanest Saint that thou maist despise as weak-gifted, yet it is wanting in thee, and thou canst not give success to thy greatest endeavours, but he that gives the gift must give the blessing: mundus non potest esse sine personarum discrimine,* 1.682 there must be Princes, and Rulers, and Governors, sed dona non sequuntur illas differentias, &c. and so it is here; the effect doth not always follow the abilities, but a man of lesser gifts shall bring forth more fruit to God, than he that thinks himself most sufficient; For the Lord resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble; he will give the success there where he may have the glory, and many times a man of great ability is laid aside, though he labours, yet he brings nothing to pass, and a man of lesser parts is blessed exceedingly; and the reason is, the one is too great in his own eyes, or in the eyes of others; and therefore the Lord cannot use him, non patitur in regno suo superbiam, God cannot bear pride in his King∣dom.

(6) When we place our sufficiency in them, that will provoke the Lord to take them away from us; there are two things that provoke God exceedingly, one is being weary of our work, as it was in Moses, and the other is when we do exalt our selves in our work, and put an excellency upon our selves for our own actings; therefore says the Lord, From him that hath not shall be taken away, he will put thee out of thy stewardship, if thou waste his goods to maintain thy own pride; and there is nothing in the world doth blast the parts of men more, and provoke God to take them away in judgment, and the man dies besot∣ted, he withers in all the greenness that did appear so fresh in him;* 1.683 he doth in this (saith Luther) as Vespasian, when he saw there was no way to take men off from seeking wealth,* 1.684 aequo animo patiebatur eos ditari, with a patient mind suffer men to be rich; but he said, Di∣vites spongiam esse, there would come a pressing time when men that gathered so much for themselves should go empty away; remember this ye that forget the Lord, and place a sufficiency in any gift that God has given you, the Lord will certainly deprive thee of it, and thy folly shall be made manifest.

2. When men do place not only sufficiency in their gifts, but in grace received, which a man also is very apt to do; and let me tell you, it is the highest spiritual pride in the world, and is an abuse of the highest gift and grace of God. (1) Consider it is quite contrary to the nature of grace, which is to live in another, and to fetch all from another, and therefore it is an unnatural sin. (2) No man can act his own grace, Deus agit imme∣diaté. (3) Grace is but a creature, and may decay in the degrees of it, and it doth often∣times, I and in the essence it would also, if it were not preserved by an almighty power;* 1.685

for it is not in its own nature immortal seed. (4) It doth make grace an Idol, and so it provokes the Spirit to withdraw from his own graces, so that he shall delight to see the ruine of his own workmanship.

[Object.] But you'l say, Do not we read in Prov. 14.14. That a good man is satisfied from himself, and that there is a sufficiency that the Saints should seek in themselves?

[Answ.] (1) Remember this is not in opposition to God, or apart from God, but in subordina∣tion to God. (2) There is a double sufficiency: [1] Not receiving an addition of good; so God only is sufficient. [2] As containing all things necessary; and so there is a suffi∣ciency in grace, for it brings all things into the soul, and fills it.

1. There is a great proneness in the best men unto this great evil, that having recei∣ved grace, they place their sufficiency in it, and that for matter of strength and matter of comfort. (1) As to matter of strength, a man that has received grace is apt to think, that he being made alive from the dead, is able now to perform those vital actions that flow from this life; surely now I can hear, I can pray, and can perform the duties of god∣liness as becomes a living man; or if by the power of sin and the strength of temptation the outward act be hindred and interrupted, yet they cannot hinder the inward workings of the Spirit; and as I am able to do that which is good, so I shall be able to resist that which is evil: so that as grace is in me a well of water springing up to everlasting life in the duties of holiness; so also it will of it self work out the mud of corruption that Satan and the old man doth cast into it from day to day: and we see this in Peter, he had re∣ceived a principle of grace, and his heart was warmed with a true fire, the principle of the love of Christ, whom he loved so greatly, that he thought it impossible that he should so far forget it as to deny him, and therefore he speaks for himself after the resolution or presumption of his heart; Whatsoever other men do, yet though I should stand by him alone, come what will come, I will confess him in the face of danger, I will never deny him; and so many a man doth by the strength of grace received promise himself security from some sins, and therefore they are secure in themselves, and exceeding censorious of others. It is true, men will say, I cannot resist rovings of heart, and vain desires, and sinful love, and carnal fear, and inordinate passions, &c. but for drunkenness and adultery, murder, persecution of the Saints, or Apostasie from Religion, and the Truths of God, I hope I am secure from these; and the man walks not in fear of them: and it's very common for young and weak Christians so to do, and they are exceeding bitter and censorious against other men, and they immediately question their estates, whom they see do fall into these sins, which they ignorantly conceive, that the very being of grace secures them from. And so it is in respect of duties, having received grace, he doth conceive, that he can pray, and hear, and perform the duties of Gods worship in another manner than a natural man can, for he has received a new principle, and therefore having done a duty at one time, having trusted God, or shewed forth an act of love to God, he thinks he can do the same at another time; and by this means a man is the less solicitous for an immediate supply for the discharge of such duties as he is to perform; he thinks that he has received a stock sufficient to defray the charge: It is true, says he, if I am put upon a greater tempta∣tion, or upon the performance of any higher duties, then I shall see reason to go unto Christ for a supply; but as for these ordinary things in both kinds, the grace that I have alrea∣dy received is sufficient for it, according unto that ordinary and natural way of concur∣rence of God with his own grace, which doubtless he will delight in, as he doth concur with the creatures in the common actions of their lives; and so a mans sufficiency in point of strength is much in reference unto the strength of grace that he has received, either to perform duties, or to resist sin. And (2) as it is for matter of strength, so it is for mat∣ter of comfort also, having received grace from God, men turn in upon themselves, and by a reflection upon their own graces they think to raise their spirits under any desertion or dejection whatsoever; and therefore when they walk in the dark at any time, they are immediately poring upon their own graces, to see what witness their own spirits will give unto them, and by the evidence of their own hearts they conceive, that they can comfort themselves at any time, when they are in a doubt in the matter of their estates towards God. Principale speculum ad videndum Deum est animus rationalis inveniens seipsum: hoc speculum verus poenitens non cessat quotidie inspicere, Bernard. de inter. Domo, The principal glass of seeing God is the rational soul, which a true Penitent inspects daily. Now a man looks into his own spirit, and sees his own face in this glass, and upon this glass he that should see God sees himself, and by this means thinks to raise and quicken and comfort him∣self from day to day, which is the true reason why most Christians spend much more time in looking upon the witness of water, than upon that of blood, or of the Spirit, on the wit∣nesses upon Earth much more than to the witnesses in Heaven.

2. There is a great policy of Satan therein: if it were in the power of the Devil man should never receive any good from God; for he that envied the good estate of man at first in which he was created, touched him with the same devillishness that was in himself, and thereby became a murderer from the beginning; for he left no good in the man, In me,* 1.686 that is, in my flesh there dwells no good thing; and he doth as truly desire and endeavour from the same principle of envy to keep out all good, as at first he did to cast it out; but if the Lord will sow wheat, and the envious man cannot prevent the seed-time, then he will take the opportunity to sow tares also with the wheat, that he shall dishonour God with the grace that he has received from him, and with it sacrifice unto himself, who is under Satan the great Idol, and by honouring himself he doth sacrifice unto Satan all the while; and so a man placing his sufficiency in grace received, even grace it self, if it were possible, should tend unto his destruction, that was a special grace, and with special and eternal love was given for his salvation; for Satan looks upon grace in the Saints as being the image of God, and as his greatest enemy, and that which he hates more than he does the souls of men, or any thing in the world; for his main malice is at godly men only, because they bear Gods image; for his hatred is directly against God, it is unto us but collaterally, and in the second place; as the Saints love God, and they love grace for Gods sake, so the Devil directly hates God, and he hates grace as being that by which God is most honoured; therefore his greatest designs are to pervert grace in the Saints, he will keep men as long as he can to stand out against grace, and resist it as long as he can, that the strong man armed may keep the house; but if he cannot keep grace out of the heart, then his next design is to advance grace above a creature, and set it in the place of God and Christ, and make grace it self to be an Idol, and the man to place his suffi∣ciency in it, and his dependence upon it; and he knows that God is engaged against the habits of grace in the man, though they be the works of his own Spirit, the Apostle saith that there is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, an occasion that sin will take from the Law of God written in the book;* 1.687 and so it will from the Law of God written in the heart also; and therein the devillish∣ness and the wisdom of the flesh in a great measure lies, that as the wise God doth make advantage by sin, and temper the greatest poyson into the most wholesom Cordial, as we see in Viper-wine, if it be not well mixt, it presently kills; so the richest Cordial, even the grace of God, Satan tempers with his ingredients into the strongest poyson, that it may be occultum & profundum malum quòd homo non malus bonis operibus sese vestiat & alat; sed & ipsius fidei titulo sese palpet & venditet, &c. Serpentis antiqui caput hoc est,* 1.688 Lu∣ther Tom. 2. Thus as the Lord works by contraries bringing light out of darkness, and the greatest good sometimes out of the greatest evil; so doth Satan also work by contraries, and delights to do it, to bring darkness out of light, and to bring the greatest evil out of that which is the greatest good, even grace it self, for quò quis sanctior, eò pe∣jor, the better the worse, if he place his sufficience and dependence upon the grace he has received; for that is Idolum speciosissimum, the most specious evil. Now that I may take the Saints off from a dependence upon their own graces, and that their sufficiency may be pla∣ced in God alone, consider these particulars. 1. Though grace be the best of all the creatures, and the image of God, and a new Creation wrought by the Spirit of Christ, which the Lord takes more delight in than he doth in all the creatures, and without which he can take no pleasure in any of them; yet grace is but a creature, and therefore the common nature of a creature doth belong to it, and that is to be defectible and sub∣ject in its own nature to decay. It's true,* 1.689 that it is the same image that is renewed in us, which we lost in Adam. Now as the image in Adam was subject to decay, so in its own nature this is also. As it is with the Angels, though they be confirmed in grace, and can never fall away (so it is with the souls of just men made perfect) yet being creatures, there is a defectibility in them, a possible folly, though not actual,* 1.690 he charges his Angels with folly, &c. and so there is in grace it self, it's true, grace cannot decay, but it is not pro∣perly from any thing that is in it self, but from a double ground: (1) Ex foedere gratiae, from the Covenant of Grace, in which the Lord has promised that he will keep them, it's an everlasting Covenant to put his fear in their hearts,* 1.691 that they shall never depart from him; For we are kept by the mighty power of God through faith unto salvation, 1 Pet. 1. and so we cannot fall away, not ex interna renatorum constitutione, not from the intern constitu∣tion of the renewed, but because the faithfulness, and thereby the power of God is enga∣ged for their preservation. (2) Ex fonte gratiae, from the Fountain of Grace; for the fountain of it is not in a mans self, it is of his fulness that we receive grace for grace;* 1.692 it is the image of the Son, and so it is not from God immediately, but as being laid up in him. So there is a great deal of difference between the image of God in Adam and in the Saints,* 1.693 as Austin has well observed, De Corruptione & Gratia, there is non solùm posse quod volu∣mus,

sed velle quod possumus: if the fountain of it were in our selves, it might decay; but it being laid up in Christ, and he being by virtue of the personal Union impeccable, so long as grace in Christ doth not decay, it cannot decay in the Saints; for he has said, Because I live,* 1.694 you shall live also, Joh. 14.19. Quàm hominibus impossibile est mixtum fermentum à pasta separare, tam impossibile est diabolo Christum ab Ecclesia separare, Luth. therefore place not your sufficiency in a creature, for grace received is no more.

2. It is contrary to the very nature of grace to be made the ground of a mans depen∣dence, for grace in its own nature is properly to be dependent upon another, and the fountain of its sufficiency is in another; therefore God is called the God of all grace, and the Sprit is the Spirit of grace, the Spirit of faith and love and joy; for all graces are fruits of the Spirit,* 1.695 and a man is said to be born of the Spirit upon this ground; Christ is the root, and we are the branches, he is the head, and we are the members; and therefore the fountain of the life of grace is in him, and not in us, the fountain of our life is Christ, and we live by union with him a life of holiness, as well as a life of righteousness; all is by union with him. And therefore some very learned men have maintained, That there are no habits of grace in us at all, but that we live by an immediate influence from the Spirit of Christ, which dwelling in us, doth act our spirits sometimes in a way of faith, sometimes in a way of love, sometimes in a way of godly sorrow, &c. which I cannot consent to, as being an ex∣treme on the other hand; we are said to be new creatures, and created in Christ, and we are said to have faith and hope as fruits of the Spirit dwelling in us; and therefore we are exhorted to stir them up, and to act them, and to grow in them; and they are said to decay in us, and to increase in us, which cannot be in respect of acts meerly by the Spirit of God working upon us, but we have truly a life within us, that is, an inward principle that puts forth vital actions,* 1.696 but yet it is a life that is maintained by union; and therefore though Paul saith, I live, yet he looks off from himself immediately upon the fountain of his life, and the manner of the conveyance of it, and that is by union conti∣nually;* 1.697 and therefore Phil. 1.19. we read of a supply of the Spirit, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, est dux chori, or as some say, quòd ornamenta suppeditat sacras choreas agentibus, and so is as much as 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.698 publicum subire munus, or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Gymnasiis praeesse; and therefore he says, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, pag. 147. and for the particle 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, some render it by subministrare, and so it notes a sweet, but yet hidden and secret supply; some insuper suppedito, to supply, aid, and all to add something to what a man had before, and some make use of that rule 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in compositione intendit significationem, and so they read it abundè suppeditare: from all which there are these particulars in the words. (1) That the Spirit is not communicated unto the Saints as a Spirit of Grace all at once, but by de∣grees, and this in a secret and an unobserved way. (2) That the Spirit hath undertaken this work as a publick office and administration in the Church of Christ. (3) That the supplies of the Spirit come in by the teaching of the Spirit. (4) That the Spirits supplies are rich and abundant supplies in all things necessary unto the salvation of the Saints. Now the more any sin is against nature, as we say murder is, and unthankfulness is, and disobe∣dience to parents is, the more hateful it is, and there is a principle in nature that is against all such sins in a special manner: and so is this also an unnatural sin, for grace to be set up in a man by God the Author of it, and yet for a man to deal so unnaturally with God, as to make the grace he hath received from him his own sufficiency, and neglect the God who alone is alsufficient.

3. No man is able to act the grace that he hath received. Christ tells his Disciples plainly,* 1.699 Without me you can do nothing; not only by virtue of our union with Christ is our grace acted, but there must be a daily and a continual influence from Christ also, 2 Cor. 3.5. and the Apostle says, We are not sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves, but our sufficiency is of God, &c. As there is an immediate dependence of all crea∣tures upon the first cause, so there is of grace also upon its first cause: now Deus agit im∣mediatè cum omni agente creato, God acts immediately in all; so it's here also, and if the Lord will suspend but his own actings, no creature can act or do any thing; as we see it in the fiery Furnace, in which the King of Babylon put the three Children, the fire remained true fire still, for it immediately consumed the men that were thrown in, but yet the Lord suspended the actum secundum, the second act of the creature, and it could not burn the three Children: as it is in the creature, so it is in grace much more; but the one is a na∣tural, and the other is a supernatural concurrence, and therefore hath a more special and supernatural dependence and influence: now the Spirit is a free Agent, he works where, and when, and in what manner he pleaseth, sometimes God doth as it were withdraw him∣self from us, and then all our grace is becalmed, for it is as wind to the sails, and there∣fore we read of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the plerophory of faith: it is taken from the wind fil∣ling

of the sails; for the Spirit of God is compared to wind; when he will fill the sail, a man is carried on with a full gale, or else he cannot move, he can but lye in the harbour, so that though the man hath grace, yet he can never be able to perform one good duty, either inward or outward, without further assistance. It is true, that the Lord doth com∣monly concur with grace, according to the measure given to the soul, as he doth with the rest of the creatures according to their kind; but yet the Lord will sometimes withdraw to let them see where their strength lyes, and where the fountain of all their grace is, he will use his Prerogative, and leave a soul to it self, and then resolve a Christian into his principles; and one would think, having such a good foundation laid, such a stock laid in a man, he can think well, or speak well, or do well when he pleases, and he may begin to rouze up himself as at other times, as Samson did, no, he hath not so much as a sufficiency to think a good thought, all the grace that he hath cannot procure it to him.

4. All the grace that a man hath cannot free him from temptations, nor secure him from falling into the greatest and the foulest evil that a godly man is capable of. (1) It preserves a man from no temptation; grace could not preserve Adam in Paradise, or Christ himself from being tempted, whose grace was perfect:* 1.700 Viatoris gratia neminem intentabi∣lem facit, The grace of a viator makes no man intentable; and therefore we see what dan∣gerous temptations the Saints have had; Satan stood against David, as he did against Joshua, Zac. 3. but it was against the one for temptation, and the other for accusation, and grace could preserve from neither. (2) It cannot preserve a man from the greatest and the foulest falls; as we see how David fell into adultery, and murder, and numbering the people; and Samson also to the same sin of uncleanness again and again; and Peter de∣nied his Master, and began to curse and to swear, that he never knew him, he wisht upon himself the most terrible and dreadful curses, if he knew the man. There are only two sins that a godly man is secure from by the state of grace, and that is, the sin against the Holy Ghost, and final impenitency; but it is not the grace that is in a man that doth secure him from falling into sin, but the state of grace by reason of his Head Christ Jesus, to whom he is united, and by reason of the Covenant under which he stands; therefore there is no sufficiency in that grace that will not preserve a man from the greatest sins and foulest falls; and indeed how is it possible that it should preserve us, that cannot pre∣serve it self? as Austin did deride and mock the gods of the Heathen, They that cannot keep themselves but are stoln away, much less could they keep others; so it is of grace also, &c.

5. This will certainly provoke God against thy grace; though it be his own work, yet he will let it decay, as he doth his own Ordinances of the Law, which are called beggerly rudiments, and Nehushtan, a little piece of brass: God will abase the excellency of all creatures that we make an Idol of, and the Lord will let you see, that your grace can∣not preserve you: and therefore there are two reasons why God hath let the Saints fall, and hath set before you their example. (1) Ostendit infirmitatem nostram, ut timeamus.* 1.701 (2) Judicium suum, quòd minus nihil ferre possit, quàm superbiam, He shews (1) our infir∣mity, that we may fear. (2) His judgment, how much he hates pride. For it is for this cause that he doth give up the Saints unto such gross and dangerous falls, either to prevent pride, or to cure it; and therefore Bernard demands, Why, when the people of God do pray for grace above all things, God many times denies them the degree of grace that they desire? Oportet ipsam gratiam temperari, ne in elationis vitium incidamus, pag. 521. interdum subtrahitur gratia, interdum retrahitur, To keep from pride, &c. all is grounded upon pride, vel super∣bia, quae jam est, vel quae futura est, &c. pag. 729. either the pride that already is in the heart, or that which may be.

6. The supplies of grace the more immediate they are, the sweeter they are; for they come with a greater favour from the fountain of grace, from which they flow;* 1.702 My grace is sufficient for thee: and a Saint hath more sweetness when grace comes in from God and Christ immediately, than if it were in his own power or hand, to lay it out upon himself at his own pleasure: and as in respect of creatures, a supply from God immediately is sweeter than all the second causes in the world, as the womans meal was better than if she had it still in her own hand; so much more is the supply of grace, dulcius ex ipso fonte, &c. for hereby Christ is immediately honoured, and there is a continued love testified: it was the first sin and the first temptation to be simile Deo, scilicet ut bonorum suorum ipse sibi sit fons, ipse sibi copia, to be like God, the fountain of good to himself,* 1.703 &c. a godly man hates it, and curseth it to Hell from whence it came: as God hath laid up all grace in Christ, as the Steward to dispense it, so a gracious soul desires and delights it should be in Christs hand, rather than in his own, and he would not take it out of Christs hand, or make himself the fountain of his own grace for a world; for he says, My life is in Christ, and because he lives, I shall live also.

[Ʋse 3] §. 3. It serves also for exhortation unto all you that have chosen the Lord for your God, that you be content with him alone, though you have nothing else; for there is an alsuffi∣ciency in him; he that was sufficient unto himself before there was any creature in Heaven and Earth, his self-sufficiency shall be thy alsufficiency: it is your Election that gives you an interest in God, Josh. 14.22. you have chosen the Lord unto your selves, the Lord will not put himself upon any man, but he doth inlighten their minds, and sets the will at li∣berty to chuse him for himself; for every mans portion is of his own choice, he is in this sense, though not in the Arminian notion, propriae fortunae faber, &c. so Dagon became the god of the Philistins, and Chemosh the god of the Amorites, it was by their own election: and having chosen the Lord God Jehovah to be your God, O study him, let your heart be rapt up in the contemplation of him; there is a kind of ecstasie in love, there is a ra∣pture, which is nothing else but supremus contemplationis gradus & mentis excessus, the su∣preme degree of contemplation and excess of mind, and be exhorted to use all the means to know God. There are three ways by which we may know God: (1) Viâ negationis, by way of negation, denying all the imperfections that are in the creatures to be in him. (2) Causali∣tatis, in a way of causality, all the good that is in the creatures comes from him, as its pro∣per cause. (3) Eminentiae, in a way of eminence, and therefore all is in him, and in him in a more glorious manner than is or can be in the creatures: a man should use to set God be∣fore him in his greatness and in his glory, see him as a Sea, as being without banks or bot∣tom; this is life eternal, to know God. O it is good for a man to drown his thoughts in this Sea; to cast himself into it by a holy meditation, and think till his thoughts be at a loss, till he can think no more. As a poor troubled soul, when he looks upon the wrath of God, his soul is swallowed up with it, and he can think himself into an endless maze, till he lose himself; so you should do in the alsufficiency of God, they are the narrow thoughts that we have of God, that are dishonourable to him, and are also uncomfortable to us, my thoughts are not as your thoughts; he is able to do above all that we can ask or think; according to thy fear such is thy wrath: and when you have viewed him in this manner, and found that there is a good in him beyond all things, more than thy thoughts and desires can reach, and what thou canst desire is not to be compared to him, (and yet the heart of man can frame to it self vast desires) now say, This God shall be my God for ever and ever, and in him alone will I place my happiness and hope, I will be content with him alone, though I have no∣thing else;* 1.704 and let this be the full resolution and bent of thy heart so to do, The Lord is my portion, saith my soul. It's true, that all men will acknowledge that God is the Foun∣tain of life and the chiefest good, but it is in ore tantùm, only in mouth; but the Church brings in her soul speaking it as verbum mentis, the word of her mind, it's that which my soul doth embrace and consent unto; and that will make a man to be contented with him alone,* 1.705 and he will go out to no other; and so it was with David, Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee, &c. Now wherein is this contentment of soul in God to be found and manifested?

1. The soul lays up all in God, in him alone, it hath nothing out of God, as it hath no∣thing apart from God; for a godly man enjoys all in God, and God in all things, so that there is nothing that is not to be found in him: Thou art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of my head; the Lord is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my strength, my buckler, the horn of my salvation, my high tower; the Lord is my light and my salvation; the Lord is the strength of my life: it's sweet to see all to be in God, it's glorious to see the fulness that is in Christ, the beauty of him who is our Husband; but it is much more to see it in God, he is objectum ultimatum fidei, the ultimate object of faith, in whom the soul doth ultimately rest; and the Lord is all these, (1) unitivè, unitedly, all of them are united in him, they do all meet in him as lines in a center, they are scattered in the creatures, but they are one in him; as the Attributes of God are diversified according to their objects, but they are one in God, so are all the excellencies of the creature, and therefore he is a Sun;* 1.706 all the light that was scattered abroad all over the earth, the Lord united in that body of the Sun, and made it a glorious body, because all light is in it; so all the excel∣lencies and sufficiency that are continued and scattered in broken rays in the creatures, are all united in him. (2) It is in God eminenter, eminently, so that he shall be unto us the end of all things in a far more glorious manner than any creature can be;* 1.707 their Rock is not like our Rock, there is no God like our God, there is no God that can save after this sort, he is deliverance,* 1.708 he is protection, provision, and consolation, and salvation in such a way as no creature can be fully: indeed the creatures are good in their kinds, and they do fetch in supplies to one another, but it's still but as a creature; but God doth it in the manner of a God, as having all eminently in him; there is something of infiniteness, something that manifests a God, wherein God appears. (3) Causativè, causally; the Lord

is all things as being the cause of them all. Who laid up all these things in the creatures? was it not the Lord? doth not all provision come out of his store-house? and doth not all protection from the creature come from himself?* 1.709 I will be a wall of fire round about Jerusa∣lem; they had no wall; but what is wanting, says God, I will supply it; and they were never so guarded, they never lay down in so much peace, though the enemies were enra∣ged against them round about; the Psalmist saith, The Lord takes my part,* 1.710 therefore I shall see my desire upon them that hate me: and the Lord is with them that uphold my soul. It's true, that there is something in creatures, but they are but instruments in his hand, and there is but so much good as he will put into them, and no more; so much wisdom, so much power, and so much provision as he will put into them, and no more; and the same crea∣tures that are now used for you, he can turn against you; Armies and Navies, and wise men, and great men shall all combine against you for evil, as they have appeared for your good, if you forsake God.

2. Having God, the soul doth not run out after other things in an anxious and a soli∣citous way; but having him he saith, I have enough, whether I have much or little.* 1.711 Esau seemed to have a kind of contentment in the creatures, but he says only, I have much, mul∣tum habeo; but there is another kind of speech of Jacob, Sunt mihi omnia, I have all: ha∣ving God, the soul hath room for no more, for you can have but all, and he that hath the Lord for his God hath all things else; and so Paul saith, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, I abound and am full, a little supply is fulness to him, because there is God in all he hath; and there∣fore he looks upon all things else as things indifferent, if he have them they are not his portion, and he doth not set his heart upon them; and therefore when other men are bu∣sied all their days in a traffick of creatures, yet there is to him but one Pearl of great price, Phil. 3.20. his 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, conversation or merchandise is in Heaven, all things here below are dross, My heart panteth, my strength faileth me, saith David; but the wicked his heart runs to and fro from one market of the creatures to another, and hunts what he can get of them; for his treasure is in the things below, he hath all his good things in this life, and his hope in this life, and then a man is miserable; but while other men are hunting for the creatures, as it's said of Nimrod, He was a mighty hunter before the Lord, it was for a King∣dom that he did hunt: there is a prey that all such men do pursue, as the Lord threatens, Jer. 16.16. I will bring many fishers and hunters upon you, that is, the Chaldeans, men skilful to take all prey, and they shall be hot and fierce in the pursuit of it; but the prey that the Saints hunt after is this, Ego Deum venor meum, &c. I hunt after my God, he that hath drunk of this water, his thirst is allayed in respect of all creature-comforts for ever; and therefore it is enough whether he hath little or much; and he can be content with the things that are present, as the exhortation is, Heb. 13.5. and who can be more happy than that man, cui omnia sunt ex voto? humiles sunt, hoc volunt, pauperes pauperie delectantur. Allow them but the Lord for their portion, and they can easily spare the things of this world unto the men of the world, and leave the pursuit of these things to them that have no higher good to follow.

3. He only fears the loss of God; if he can but keep God with him still, he fears nothing else, Psal. 27.1, 2. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? so long as God is with him, there is no fear enters into him. What misery or affliction is there in this world, that I cannot object God against it all? tell me of poverty, and can he be poor that has an interest in him that is Lord of all? tell me of disgrace, the Lord is my glory, and the lifter up of my head; tell me of danger, the Lord is my rock, and my shield, my high tower, if I can but keep him to me, it's enough for me: only the soul remembers that the rule is, The Lord is with you while you be with him. Now when his soul departs from God,* 1.712 then he remembers that it may befal the Saints sometimes that their shield is departed, and the Lord will give them up; their rock has sold them;* 1.713 and therefore his great solicitude is to keep God with him, his fear is ne discedat, lest he depart, and this is the ground of a double fear that is in the Saints, they fear the Lord, and they fear sin, which provokes God to depart from them; and therefore Chrysostome speaks it of Paul, and it was the same Spirit that is recorded to be in himself, and therefore he did intimate it de laudibus Pauli, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and therefore it was the same message that he sent to Eudoxa, when she breathed out threatnings against him, and sought his life, tell her that I fear nothing but sin; and therefore, Rom. 8. If God be with us, who can be against us? All the creatures are reconciled when God is reconciled, and they can do neither good nor evil, but as they are acted by him; and therefore the creatures are never against us, till God arm them against us, for they are all of them at his dispose, and it's no matter who is against us if God be with us; for they are but as the briars and thorns in battel against the fire walking in the middle of stubble; and truly this is the very condition of Saints in this

world, when God is with them, there is a fire that goes out of their mouths, and destroys their enemies, Rev. 11.6. and he that will hurt them must in this manner be killed: they are never in any danger while their portion is with them; but wo to them when the Lord departs from them; therefore all their care is to keep with God.

4. They are not much troubled with the loss of all other things. It's true, they know that they must part with them, and they can do it with comfort when it is to enjoy God. A man that has a yoke-fellow that is truly the wife of his bosom, whom he loves as his own soul, in whom he delights above all creatures, both in her person, and in her graces, yet he saith, Farewel, I can part with you with joy, as the Martyr said, My Christ is dearer to me than all; if I were to live here, I would chuse you above all the creatures; but now my portion is in him that is all in all, farewel. A man can with joyfulness bid an everlast∣ing farewel to many comforts here, having his heart born up with his interest in God and his alsufficiency; whereas other men, if you take away their estates and creature-comforts, you take away their hearts also:* 1.714 for as it was said of Jacob, That his life was bound up in the life of the lad; so it is with them, if a friend be taken away, they sorrow as men without hope, and will go down to the grave mourning: but it's not so with a Saint, when he lives upon his portion, he considers, when he loses a creature-comfort, there is a bucket bro∣ken indeed, but the fountain remains, the way of conveyance is changed, but the same God that was all to me in that comfort, will be the same to me in another; and therefore his soul is not troubled much at the loss of any of the creatures, for his portion lies not in them; he is as rich as he was before, for they are no part of his treasure, his treasure is in Heaven,* 1.715 Mat. 6.21. Moritur tibi pater, filius, uxor, amittis rem, gloriam, sed non Christum; & quid magni est quòd uxor, quòd liberi perierint, cùm non periit Deus? And therefore when a soul comes to dye, his eye runs unto the recompence of reward, the glory that is set before him, and that makes him forget that which is behind, and what he doth leave behind also; the sight thereof is so alluring and ravishing to his soul, that it's a small thing to part with any thing for it; he that can sell all for Christ with joy, when the glory of Christ is discovered in the Gospel, surely much more can he with joy part with all, when he has the glory of God set before him, and is now about to enter into his masters joy.

5. Do not envy at the prosperity of the men of the world; for he that doth envy ano∣ther mans condition, it argues he is not content with his own: it's true, there is a spirit in us that doth lust unto envy, Jam. 3. and it may prevail far upon a godly man, as we see it did upon the Psalmist, Psal. 73. Because waters of a full cup are wrung out to him; and therefore many godly mens hearts are bitter, because of the prosperity of the wicked. Now compare thy portion with theirs; as it's said, Two Ambassadours met, the French and Spanish, and one boasting of the greatness of his Masters Dominions, he was King of Spain and King of Arragon, Catalonia, Portugal; the other answered to them all, That his Master was King of France, implying, that there was more worth and wealth in his one Kingdom, than in all the Dominions of the other, set them all together: and so it is here, one man hath wealth, but I have God, saith the Saint; and he hath honour and esteem here in the world, but saith the Saint, I have God; there is no compare between the portion of the wicked and the portion of the godly; nay we should rather pity them in two things. (1) They have their portion here, they have received their consolation, it is all that ever they are like to have from the Lord: as when you see a young man have a portion of money left him, and he flaunts it out, and is in all his glory, you say it will be spent, and he hath no yearly income, this is all, it hath no root that it may grow again, as all the content∣ments of the Saints have. (2) To have a fulness of all things here, and to have their eyes closed up by the creatures, and their spirits drowned in them, to go out of a great estate to meet nothing, and leave all behind them, as Dives from all his riches to want a drop of water, to go from all his glory to shame and everlasting contempt, to say as Adrian the Emperour did, Animula vagula, &c. what a misery is it? and it is a token of a mans con∣tent, when he would not be in anothers condition, but thinks his own to be best, as Paul said to Agrippa, when he stood to be judged, he did not wish himself in the Kings condi∣tion, but the King in his, as the greatest Kings will do one day, O that I might dye the death of the righteous!

6. Rejoyce in God, Phil. 4.4. bless your souls in your choice: let thy soul go out to him with a holy kind of complacency from day to day. As a man that hath chosen a yoke-fellow, and is pleased in his choice, he can delight himself in her, she is to him as the young Hind, and the pleasant Roe, Prov. 5.19. so it is with God much more; a Saint takes more comfort in the thoughts of God, and meditation of him, than in all the comforts of the creatures in Heaven or Earth, and therefore thoughts of God do secretly steal away his heart with a sweet and unspeakable delight: as it is with a man in the pleasures of sin,

his soul is stoln away with the thoughts of them insensibly, much more is it so with the thoughts of God; as the Lord having chosen us, doth rejoyce over us as a Bridegroom over his Bride, Hephzibath, much more should we rejoyce in him as our portion. There are two things wherein joy is exercised: (1) Contemplation, when a man takes a view of the happi∣ness of his own condition by reason of his interest, as Nebuchadnezzar doth, Is not this great Babel that I have built? and Jezebel to Ahab, Dost not thou now govern Israel? So a Saint, Is not the Lord my portion in the land of the living? (2) There is a dilatation in joy, it doth enlarge the heart, and thereby prepares it for the entertainment of the ob∣ject; for it doth transport, or carry a man beyond himself; as we see in Davids dancing before the Ark; and the Saints should be much in rejoycing in God, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

7. Make your boast of God, glory and triumph in him,* 1.716 My soul shall make her boast of God: as it's said of wicked men that boast themselves in their vain gods, &c. so a Saint should make his boast in God, and say, I have made a sweet choice, I have a goodly heritage; and undervalue all other Beloveds in comparison of your own, There is no God like unto our God. Make your challenge to the men of the world, and bid them bring forth all the gods of the world, and let them be compared with Jehovah; there is none like the Lord; there∣fore in thy choice bless thy soul that there is no rock like our Rock; this God is our God, and there is none besides him; triumph over all thy enemies and their opposition, In thy strength we shall tread down our enemies, bear your selves high upon your God, despise them, say, The virgin daughter of Sion hath laughed thee to scorn; we care not though they be ga∣thered together against us, they shall fall, for God is with us,* 1.717 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh, neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth, &c. And this is to have a self-sufficiency, and to have a mans mind conformed to the greatness of his interest: these things can never be known but by experience and practice: nunquam futurum, ut quis spe∣culativè tantùm fiat Christianus, none ever became a Christian by speculation only.

[Ʋse 4] §. 4. See and observe from hence the happy condition of the Saints, that they have an interest in the alsufficiency of God, Psal. 144. ult. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord. It's a special duty that lies upon the people of God, to maintain in themselves high thoughts of their own interest, and the excellency of their condition; and a special step to bring men in to God, is to have their thoughts raised, and a high esteem of the blessed condition of them that have an interest in him: and here consider,

1. It's the highest way of honouring God that can be in this life. It's a great honour to God for a man to see so much excellency in him as to chuse him at the first sight; but many a man that doth so, may afterwards fall from his former apprehensions, and then his former affections do wax cold; as there is many a man makes choice of Christ, and calls him the chiefest often thousand, and yet afterwards it may be said to him, Where is the blessedness you spake of? Gal. 4.15. it is still the same it was in it self, but it was not so in their apprehensions; it's said, many of the followers of Christ went back from him, Joh. 6. and the Apostle speaks of men that do draw back, Heb. 10.39.* 1.718 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, subauditur 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, so Grot. We are not subductionis filii, in which is an Hebraism, and it signifies two things. [1] Men excellent or eminent in any thing, addicted or inclined unto it, are said to be the sons of it, as 2 Sam. 2.7. there is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the sons of valour, men eminent in it. [2] It signifies a man destinated and appointed unto it, as 1 Sam. 20.31. Saul saith of David he is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 a son of death, a man judged and appointed unto death. Now there are some men that are the sons of Apostasie, men that are of them∣selves addicted and inclined to it, and they are by God judged to it, of old ordained, Jude 4. and it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which is subductio, a secret withdrawment in an unobserved way, not an Apo∣stasie from the profession of the Truth, but a receding of the affections, and the inward dispositions of the soul they recoil; for as Job 31.27. he speaks of a mans heart being se∣cretly enticed, and so there is a secret withdrawment of the inward man, and blessed is that Christian who keeps up his esteem of spiritual things, and that his apprehensions of them rise rather than fall; for love is grounded upon esteem, and as a mans apprehensions do decay, so will his affections also. Now this is the highest love that can be, when a man upon second thoughts, reflex thoughts can approve and applaud his own choice, and can bless himself in his heart, and say, I would not have it otherwise: so doth Paul shew his love to Christ, I have and I do,* 1.719 yea doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, &c. and so do the men of the world shew their love unto the things of the word, Psal. 49.18. While he lived he blessed his soul; and they are looked upon as the blessed and happy men by all the world, &c. that if a man were to chuse his own lot, he would be in such a mans condition; but a godly man, if he had all the estates and conditions of the world before him, yet he would chuse and prefer this be∣fore

them all, to have an interest in God: As reflex acts do most fully shew the setling of the soul in a sinful way, that a man doth approve of it afterwards, as by continuing im∣penitent in it, it is manifest; as the Devil, non invenit locum poenitentiae, ergo nec veniae, Bernard. so there is nothing that doth shew the establishment of the soul so much upon God as this doth, that a man can reflect and take a review, and say, I would not have it otherwise for all the world; as these reflex thoughts of our interest in God are most comfortable unto us, so they are most honourable unto God also.

2. It's this that doth make a man to set light by the scorns and derisions that are put upon him by the world: it's true, that such are counted the only fools, men of low thoughts and weak spirits, that cannot please themselves with the face and glory of the times, as other men do; but the Saint saith, when he makes comparisons, (and that is one way of exercising of faith) There is no Rock but our God,* 1.720 their rock is not as our Rock, the enemies themselves being judges: the soul dares to compare with them all; Are there any amongst the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 they are called vanity, quia non subsistunt, non prosunt, because they neither subsist nor profit; so the soul says, Look upon all the gods of the world, Can they do this? as Saul said in a brag when he had almost ruined the Kingdom (for David saith it was weak, he bore up the pillars of it) will the son of Jesse give you fields and vineyards? &c. is there any comparison between the happiness that you enjoy under me, and what you are like to do under him? 1 Sam. 22.7, 17. And so the Saints of God say; and therefore they are content, as a worldly man is, populus mihi sibilat, at mihi plaudo, and that's enough, let the men of the world take their portion, but they are not like the portion of Jacob, Jer. 10.16. and therefore whatever they are in other mens esteem, so long as they are blessed in their own, they are happy, Nemo aliorum sensu miser est, sed suo, & ideò non possunt cujuscun{que} falso judicio esse miseri, qui sunt verè suâ conscientiâ beati, &c. Salv. pag. 8. Although wicked men upon earth can see no happiness in God, it doth no way abate the happiness of the Saints in glory who enjoy it; nay it doth the rather heighten it, when they consider that so many thousands have their portion in vanity, and yet Esa. 44.20. cannot deliver their own souls, and say, Is there not a lye in my right hand? then a man doth bless himself, and saith, Who made me to differ? As this will be a special part of the misery of the wicked at the last day, to see Abraham and Isaac and many come from the East and the West, and sit down with them in the Kingdom of Heaven, and they them∣selves thrust out; for the happiness of the Saints is a great means to aggravate the misery of the wicked: In die judicii gloriam beatorum videbunt, & poena eorum non minuitur, sed augebitur: (1) Propter invidiam de eorum foelicitate dolentes: (2) Propter privationem, quòd ipsi talem gloriam amiserunt, Aquin. sup. quaest. 98. art. 9. so it will be a special part of the happiness of the Saints, that they shall see the misery of the ungodly, poenas videbunt damnatorum; contraria juxta se; therefore they shall see the misery of the wicked, ut bea∣titudo illis magìs complaceat, &c. Aquin. sup. quaest. 93. art. 1. and the same happiness in a measure is in this life begun, that the people of God are so far from envying the happiness of the wicked, that they pity them, much more to consider how they are fed as a lamb in a large place unto the slaughter-time, and how their portion is in vain things, and they have made lyes their resting place.

3. This gives unto the soul in all its necessities and straits a city of refuge; a place of retreat, when it is put upon any distress, or when it is under any pursuit whatsoever; and the Saints are sometimes greatly distressed, as 1 Sam. 30.6. David was, and then they make their retreat unto the strong holds, Zac. 9.12. satis praesidii in uno Deo. When a man is pursued by the thoughts of his own heart, then that which is his portion, the man retires to, and in the bosom thereof he lyes down; as we see in Haman, his heart was unquiet, he needed a cordial, for lust is tender, and it can bear nothing, now he retires to something to refresh him, Hest. 5.11. he talks of the glory of his riches, the multi∣tude of his children, and all the things wherein the King had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the rest of the Princes, &c. and by this he doth make a recruit unto his unquiet spirit; for it is from a mans chief good that in any trouble a mans cor∣dial must be fetched; and so it is with a godly man also, Prov. 18.10, 11. The name of the Lord is a strong tower; and the rich mans wealth is his strong tower, they have each of them in all difficulties and dangers a retiring place, suitable unto what is their chief good; and here is the misery of an ungodly man, that when dangers come, his retiring place will not support him, but the storm doth sweep away his refuge of lyes, and the waters overflow his hiding place, Esa. 28.17. as a man that in a storm gets to a shelter, but there is an interpluvium, it doth drop upon a man, and haply wet him the more; in a storm he casts anchor, but the anchor comes home, and is not able to be a stay unto his tossed vessel; they do hang all their hopes upon a nail, and it's not fastned in a sure place, and so it doth

not uphold the burden, Esa. 22.23. but it's never so with the Saints, when they are pur∣sued with temptations, with guilt, with fears on the right hand and on the left,* 1.721 yet Prov. 18.10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe, the word is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 it doth signifie to be exalted, that is, to be set on high, out of reach, and so out of the fear of danger; it is not only a strong place munitus, fortified, sed sublimis, very high,* 1.722 Rev. 21.12, 16. it is a great and a high wall that had twelve foundations, and therefore must needs be strong and impregnable, and for the height it was 12000 furlongs; and this wall is no∣thing else but that in Zac. 2.5. The Lord will be a wall of defence unto them, that he that is within this wall, and hath gotten under this shelter, need not fear.

4. It's this that will keep and guard the heart from going out unto any thing else what∣soever it be, because a man hath high thoughts of his sufficiency in God alone; for the true reason why men do go out to any thing else, is because they believe not the alsuffi∣ciency of God; and the reason why the Saints that do believe in truth, have sallyings of heart out to the creatures, is because there is something wanting in their faith in this par∣ticular, Phil. 4.7.* 1.723 there is a peace of God which is a quieting of the soul in the wisdom and alsufficiency of God, when in his way we have committed all unto him,* 1.724 it doth guard the heart, and nothing else, it sets a strong guard upon the whole inward man, this wall is as well that none should break out, as that none should break in, it defends from all enemies, it's this that makes the souls of the glorified Saints impeccable, visio beatifica reddit impec∣cabiles. Now what is there in the beatifical vision so advantageous to a soul? (1) Cogni∣tion; a man doth perfectly know all the glory of God; and the Saints that know most of him here, he will hereafter come to be admired of them, 2 Thess. 1.10. and we know that admiration is the overplus of expectation, they will say when they come to Heaven, the one half was not told them, Oh how little a portion is known of him! (2) Application; there shall be a perfect application unto a mans soul, that he shall know his own interest in him, that all this is his right, that it is his fathers pleasure to make it to be his portion, which doth here much abate all the joy of the Saints in this life, that many times the soul is not able to apply the portion he hath in God to himself. (3) There is Fruition, which implies both actual possession and glorious satisfaction. And he that finds this in the Lord and his alsufficiency, he cannot go out unto any thing else; for his soul is filled with it, In thy presence is fulness of joy, Psal. 16. ult. and that which is full can receive no addition, as it needs none; and so far as the soul is made partaker of this vision in a fiducial way, so far it is impeccable also; and what was the true reason why the Devil did fall; what was his condemnation? 1 Tim. 3.6. it was this, that he did not look upon God as alsufficient, he would have taken in some created excellency, something of himself to have made up his sufficiency, and so he departed from the Lord; and as often as men do turn aside to any thing else, it's because the thoughts of the alsufficiency of God are not kept up in a man, and this is the way for a man to fall into the condemnation of the Devil. And this we ought so much the more to seek, because a great part of the happiness of the Lord doth consist in the contemplation of himself; and surely that which makes the Lord him∣self happy, will make us happy also; the satisfaction that God takes in his own excellency and sufficiency. And truly there are two things in which mainly our godliness should con∣sist, (1) in a constant contemplation of God, and (2) a perfect obedience unto him, walking before him, and walking with him, and seeing him that is invisible, this is the great work and guard of a Saint.

But wherein doth the happiness of a Saint, by reason of his interest in Gods alsufficiency, consist?

There are these particulars in which it makes a man very happy.

1. It supplies all a mans wants, the Lord is my shepherd, he hath undertaken both to feed and defend me, and he will surely do his office, and therefore I shall want nothing that is necessary either for my provision or my protection: The lyons do lack, but they that fear the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good; if they have it not formaliter, formally, in kind, they have it eminenter, eminently, as the Sun hath light in it in a far more glorious way than any other light; if they have it not in silver, yet they have it in gold; and there∣fore the Apostle, 2 Cor. 6.10. puts it in with a quasi, as if sorrowful, as if poor,* 1.725 as if having nothing: afflictio nostra habet quasi, sed gaudium nostrum non habet, our affliction has an AS IF, but our joy none, Austin. there is but an appearance and a resemblance of the one, but there is a truth and a reality in the other: we are as those that have nothing, and yet it is but in appearance so, for in truth he that hath his interest in the alsufficiency of God, he doth possess all things: The alsufficiency of God runs through all Gods Attributes, as the sincerity of a man doth through all his graces, and is to be observed in them all; the soul saith, I am in a great strait in my business, and I want direction, but in God there is alsufficient wisdom; I am a sinner, and a fresh sense of guilt is upon me, and I want re∣mission,

but there is in God alsufficient mercy; and I am under the power of a lust and of a temptation, and I want strength to overcome it, there is in God alsufficient grace, his grace is sufficient for thee; I am poor and want wealth, it's the Lord that makes rich; and I am despised, not honoured, it's the Lord that honours them that honour him; and I want friends, he doth many times give unto his own the hearts of men, and turns their hearts to love you or to hate you, he puts a mans acquaintance far from him, or brings them near to him upon all occasions; yea even the issues from death belong unto him; and it is very much sweeter to the Saints to see it, and to rely upon it, as it is in him, than if they had the mercy in their own hands; because as the promise leads a man unto Christ, and so though it be but small, yet it is a pledge of union with Christ, so though the supply be but small, yet it brings a man to the alsufficiency of God, and thereby discovers a mans propriety in God.

2. It enables a man for all the works he hath to do in the world: the Lord sent Moses in a great service to Pharaoh, and he tells him, I will be with thee; and when Moses did ob∣ject he had a stammering tongue, saith God, I will be with thy tongue; and the alsufficiency of God was his sufficiency for his work: so he sends Joshua, and tells him, He will never leave him nor forsake him, and nothing shall be able to stand before him all his days: and so the Apostles were sent forth as sheep, &c. but he bids them, Go, for behold I am with you unto the end of the world. A man needs nothing else to enable him for any service but this, God is alsufficient for me; and were it not for that, there are many of Gods people would sink under the apprehension of their own weaknesses, and the burdensom callings that lye upon them from day to day: Christus tunc regnat in nobis, quando nos ab operibus nostris feria∣tos inhabitat, cùm ipsè in nobis facit opera nostra, Luther. Christ then reigns in us, when he works in us, &c. and so a mans soul keeps a Sabbath unto Christ: as in point of Justification a man saith, My good works are the Righteousness of Christ; so in point of ability a man saith, My ability is his alsufficiency; for I am of my self able to do nothing; and therefore when a Saint looks upon himself and the greatness of the service that he is called to, he says, Who is sufficient? who can do any thing of this great work? but when he looks up∣on the alsufficiency of God for his supply, then he saith, Who is insufficient? I can do all things, and the greater the service is that any man is called unto, and the greater difficul∣ties he encounters with, the more he is to take hold of the alsufficiency of God.

3. It doth disburden the soul of all its troublesom afflictions, of all a mans cares, and fears, and sorrows: it's this that doth discharge the soul of them, Psal. 27.1, 2. The Lord is my light and my salvation,* 1.726 whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my glory. The Lord is on my side, I will not fear what man can do to me. It is an interrogation of knowledge and of contempt, &c. it doth silence all a mans doubts, answers all his objections: when the soul saith, I am a child, I cannot speak, God saith, I will give thee a mouth; the people are hard-hearted and insufficient, but I will give thee strength of spirit answerable to thy op∣position: We know not what to do, but our eyes are unto thee; I fear death, but God is in life and death alsufficient, he is the God of the dead, as well as of the living; the creatures are but vials in the hand of God: I will not pour out my wrath upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shi∣shak:* 1.727 he is but the vial; and they are no other, who are imployed by Christ as instruments of vengeance against Rome; the vials are put into their hands, it is but so much wrath in such a measure, and executed by one hand, and by another hand: so they are for good al∣so, it is but such a measure of good done by them and of service; but the alsufficiency is of God still, and this brings a sweet rest unto the soul, fies Sabbatum Christi, there is a gra∣cious and a holy rest of Christ in such a soul as this is.

4. It's this that doth fulfil all a mans desires; Open thy mouth wide, saith the Lord, and I will fill it:* 1.728 pateres in te angustias, thy straits are not in me, but in thy own heart, in thy own bowels, open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it, for I am the fountain of thy life; there is no man can open his mouth so wide, that the alsufficiency of God will not fill it: so that as the Lord is called the fear of Israel, that is, he was the sole object of his fear, the adequate object of it, he did fear him, and he did fear nothing else; so he is the desire of his people also: as Christ is called the desire of all nations, they desire him, and they desire nothing else, it is all terminated in him, so that a man hath not any thing else to desire: and the greater difference the Lord puts between men, the higher he doth advance them, the more he doth make over this as their portion, and they are satisfied with it. Levi was separated unto the Lord, of all the Tribes of Israel, but he must have no portion in the Land of Canaan, but the Lord is his portion; and who would not prefer the lot of Levi be∣fore that of all the Tribes, though he had no inheritance with them? And this makes the soul in all dangers bold as a Lyon, quiet in the greatest commotions: De me comburendo consultatur,* 1.729 at coelum non ruet; credo & certus sum, habeo, qui causam defendat, etiamsi totus

mundus in me solum insaniat, Luth. ad Stampic. If there want means, he can work with∣out them; if the means be weak, he can act above them, and so the soul is in his sufficien∣cy at rest.

Now study and try your interest in this alsufficience: if we delighted as much in spiri∣tual things, as we do in the things of the earth, it would be unto us the sweetest study; for what can be more delightful than for a man to read over his own evidences, that ha∣ving tasted the sweetness of all his comforts, he may also take a view of the tenure and title by which he holds them? 1 Pet. 1.7. the Apostle saith, that there is a 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.730 the tryal of a mans faith that is more precious, or more honourable, for 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 signifies both; the tryal of faith is better than the tryal of gold. (1) By tryal a man attains a certain∣ty, and that is precious; for according unto the excellency of the thing, so we do prize a certainty in it; gold being of all metals the most in price, therefore we are the most ex∣act in our tryals of it; we have the test, the touch-stones, and the scales, &c. and all be∣cause we would not be deceived: but faith is more precious; therefore a certainty there∣in is more precious, that a man may know that he doth not embrace a fancy, his faith is not adulterate, but is the faith of Gods Elect. (2) There is a purity that doth arise from the tryal, for by the tryal of gold its dross is purged, ab adulterino distinguitur, à scoriis pur∣gatur, &c. so it is with faith also, when it's tryed by affliction from God, or by examina∣tion from our selves, it appears the better; when the infirmities that cleave to faith are as dross to the gold, for there is something wanting in faith still. (3) The tryal of gold is but for this life, ad exiguum tempus est utilis, for it is gold that perisheth; but the tryal of faith refers to the life to come, for by faith a man lays hold of eternal life, and the purer the faith is, the surer the hold is. (4) The tryal of gold makes it the more precious unto men, we esteem tryed gold above other; and therefore the most precious gold is set forth by it, Rev. 3.18. so it is with tryed faith, it makes it the more precious unto God, and therefore he doth try it, ut coram ipso gratior fiat; tryed faith is more precious in Gods eyes, as tryed gold is to ours, as the word of the Lord is a tryed word; though the people of God do prize the whole word of God, that it is dearer to them than thousands of gold and silver, yet there is no part of the word that hath so high a price with them as a tryed word; as the word of faith, the more it's tryed, is the more precious with us, so the grace of faith, the more it's tryed, it is the more precious with God; and if the tryal of faith be so precious, what is the tryal of a mans interest, which is that unto which the tryal of all graces tends? for the witness of water, as well as of blood, is, that we may know whether we have eternal life abiding in us, &c.

But now consider for thy better tryal: 1. He that hath an interest in the alsufficiency of God, hath an interest in Christ; for though the Attributes of God are his Essence, God himself; yet there is a threefold respect unto Christ that we are to have in them. (1) It is by him that we are intitled to them; for he is first in the Covenant, and we in him, and therefore in all the promises he hath a preheminence; therefore the Lord is first, his God,* 1.731 and then our God, Joh. 20.17. it's by our interest in Christ that we have an interest in God. (2) In him all the Attributes of God are discovered and revealed, and that in such a man∣ner as we never could have seen them, 2 Cor. 4.6. We behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ: for he is the image of the invisible God, Col. 1.15. which I cannot look upon as spoken of Christ as God, for so he is the invisible God, and equally invisible with the Father; but as Mediator, and so the glorious Attributes of God do shine and shew forth themselves in him. (3) As all the Attributes of God are exercised and actuated by him, so all the mercy of God, and the wisdom of God, and the judgments and severity of God, it's all in the hand of Christ to be executed by him, for the Father hath committed all judg∣ment to the Son, Joh. 5.22. He raiseth the dead, and he quickneth whom he will, he bears up all things by the word of his power, he hath the keys of Hell and of death, he kills and he makes alive, &c. he hath committed all his works unto Christ, and all his Attributes are acted by him, for the ruling and ordering of these works; and he hath committed unto Christ all the promises; and all the Attributes of God are in his hand for the accomplishment of these promises, &c. it's the foundation of all a Christians comfort, when he doth see the pro∣mises of God in the hands of Christ to dispense, and the providences of God in the hand of Christ to dispense, and the Attributes of God in the hand of Christ to exercise and to actuate for both these. There is a fourfold sight of faith in this life that is exceeding glorious, to see God in Christ, Christ in God, to see Christ in us, and we in him, Joh. 14.20. 2 Cor. 5.19. he therefore that hath an interest in Christ, hath an interest in the alsufficiency of God, and none else, and we are to try our interest in Christ by the Spirit of Christ dwel∣ling in us; for if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, the same is none of his, Rom. 8.9, 10. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, and the Spirit is life because of righ∣teousness.

2. He that hath an interest in the alsufficiency of God, doth chuse this for his portion to place his happiness in,* 1.732 Josh. 24.22. You have chosen the Lord to be your God: no man hath an interest in God but by choice. A man doth not only chuse his way, some the broad, and some the narrow way, but men do also chuse their portion; and the wisdom and folly of a man is much seen in his choice and in his esteem; and as the first going forth of the love of God to us is in his election of us, so the first going forth of our love to him is in our electi∣on of him also: and he that doth chuse God aright doth chuse all that is in God, as the mercy of God to pardon him, and the grace of God to heal him, and the power of God to defend him, and the holiness of God to sanctifie him, the wisdom of God to guide him, and the alsufficiency of God to make provision for him; and faith is seen in the electing as well as in the consenting act of the soul:* 1.733 now as, Josh. 24.23. having chosen the Lord, they must put away the strange gods that were amongst them, and incline their hearts to the Lord God of Israel, so you must cast away all sufficiency in any thing else, all creature-sufficiency, all self-sufficiency, and look upon all as vanity and emptiness, and as that which hath no sufficiency in it, and as that wherein your sufficiency doth not consist. And the word in the Hebrew doth signifie three things in the Scripture: (1) Inclinavit, for the bent of a mans heart to go out that way, as Judg. 9.3. where there were two that contended for the supre∣macy, it's said, That their hearts inclined after Abimeleck, 1 King. 2.28. Joab inclined after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absolom: a mans heart must go out in the bent of it this way. (2) Reclinavit, for a man to rest upon a thing, Amos 2.8. You lye down upon cloaths laid to pledge, &c. and therefore the word signifies lectum, a bed upon which men lye down, or rest themselves: and so it should be here, the soul should rest and lean upon this alsufficiency of God as that which he hath chosen, and in which he rests; and therefore the word signifies baculum, a staff to lean upon. (3) Extendit, expandit, as Esa. 4.22. He stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, &c. so should a man do, he should open his heart, ex∣tend it, and stretch it out, enlarge it in all the desires and affections of it towards the al∣sufficiency of God; and this will be the necessary and proper fruit of such a choice of God in his alsufficiency: he therefore that hath an interest in the alsufficiency of God, hath cho∣sen him in his alsufficiency for his God, and he that hath so done, doth put away all other gods, casts off all other sufficiencies, and doth in the bent of his soul incline to God alone, unto him he doth stretch out his soul in the latitude and utmost extent thereof, and in and upon this he doth rest, and sweetly repose himself in the middle of all difficulties and dan∣gers whatsoever.

3. He that hath an interest in the alsufficiency of God, doth honour and exalt that At∣tribute in his heart; for whatever we have the comfort of, God must have the glory of; as there is not a promise, but if the soul sucks sweetness from it, it is exalted in that soul, and a man having tasted of it, doth set a high price upon it, and his soul goes out to it to live upon it all his life time;* 1.734 and there is not a truth of God, but by these things men live, Esa. 38.10. wherefore the price and the glory of them doth arise in the soul, and he thinks he did never know how to value them before, he knew not what they were worth; but now he sees there is a value in them, as Luther did in Rom. 1.17. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Chrys. As a man that hath found a medicine to relieve him when he was in great extremity, he lays up that as a choice receipt all his life time, and when he sees other men cast the materials of it away as a thing of no value, he saith, O! there is an excellency in it, did men know it, they would set a high price upon it, I was in such an extremity, and it relieved me; so it is with all the Attributes of God, they are exalted in the soul suitable to the use and experience that a man hath had of them: as he that doth undervalue du∣ties, doth it because he hath not found the spiritual good that is in them; so he that doth undervalue the Attributes of God, doth it from want of experience which makes spiri∣tual things great in our eyes; and therefore Paul having an interest in the mercy of God, we see how it was exalted in him, 1 Tim. 1.14. the grace of God was exceeding abun∣dant, God who was rich in mercy out of his abundant love and pardoning mercy, &c. Mic. 7.18. Who is a God like to our God, that pardons iniquity, transgression, and sin? And the Saints that have perfection of holiness from him, they give him the glory of his holiness from day to day, saying, Holy, holy, holy, for the highest glory that we can give unto God here is, that we honour those Attributes in our hearts, which he doth honour in his dispensation towards us, whether it be wisdom, or holiness, or faithfulness, or patience, &c. as he doth honour the word that he doth accomplish, so we are to honour the Attributes that he doth put forth; Jah is the same name with Jehovah, and is a name of Being, denoting that God is he that hath his Being of himself, and gives being unto all things else, he that is the Fountain of Being; whence a soul having had experience of him to be such a one, lets his glory in that re∣spect arise and be exalted in his soul: if you would have any Attribute work for you,

then exalt that Attribute by trusting in it; and when it hath wrought for you, then ex∣alt it also by glorifying of it: and as you have exalted God by his name Jah, so by his name Elshaddi, a God alsufficient also; for there is no name of God but it will be exalted in the soul, suitable to the interest that we have in it, and the taste that the soul hath of it. For there is a double putting forth of every Attribute of God savingly upon his Elect; not only a putting of it forth in his works and administrations towards them, but there is also a putting of it forth by exalting it in a man; and therein the main sweetness of the dis∣covering of it doth lye. He therefore that hath not had the price of this Attribute raised in his soul, nor tasted the sweetness of it, nor rejoyced in it, nor adored and admired it, and God as such a one, under the apprehension of such an attribute, truly that man hath no interest in it. If a Saint cannot say that attribute is mine, and this attribute I have an in∣terest in, yet he can admire the attribute, and give God the glory of it as an excellency in himself; and he doth not only praise God for his goodness towards him, but as it is in him∣self, for the glorious excellencies that are in the Divine nature; as we may see it in Han∣nah, 1 Sam. 2.1, 2. My heart rejoyceth in the Lord, and my horn is exalted in the Lord; my mouth is enlarged over my enemies, I will rejoyce in thy salvation; there is none holy as the Lord, &c. And as it is exceeding sweet unto the people of God, and a Paradise to walk from one Tree to another in the Paradise of God, and to say such a truth the Lord fulfilled unto me, in such a case, and in such an extremity, and such a promise, at such a time; so much more for a man to be able to look over all the attributes of God, and to say such a time the Lord did glorifie such an attribute towards me, and such a time such a one; and to see all the attributes of God, as well as all the works of God to work together for a mans good, eve∣ry one in their proper places; as the stars in their courses fought against Sisera, and the threatnings of God fight against wicked men, so to have the word of God, the works of God, and the attributes of God work for a man, is their happiness and their joy.

4. He that hath an interest in the alsufficiency of God, will be raised up in his soul to an holy self-sufficiency; as there is no grace that is in Christ, but it will have a resem∣blance in us, so there is no attribute of God, but it hath its resemblance; therefore 1 Pet. 2.9. we are said to shew forth 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the vertues of him that hath called us; and in this doth properly our conformity unto God in this world lye, there is something in us that doth hold a resemblance with the attributes of God, that are manifested and put forth for us. And in this is the greatest exercise of the attributes of God for our good, when the patience of God works patience in us, and we be merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful, and holy as he is holy, when the wisdom of God works wisdom in us, and there is a resemblance of the power of God in us, that we are able to do all things through Christ that strengthens us, when the greatness of God works in us a holy greatness of mind, and when the alsufficiency of God works in us a gracious self-sufficiency; for there is a self-sufficiency that is a duty, as there is a self-sufficiency that is a sin, 1 Tim. 6.6. Godliness is great gain, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, 2 Cor. 9.8. Every where, and in all things 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. and it is that which the Apostle had learned, Phil. 4.11. so Prov. 14.14. A good man is satisfied from himself. There is self as divided from God, which is a sin, but self as united unto God, is a great duty. Self-sufficiency in opposition to the creatures is a duty, for a man can be happy without them: but self-sufficiency in opposition to God is a sin; for if a man be one with God, then a mans self-sufficiency is Gods alsufficiency; for having God and that sufficiency that is in him he hath all, though amongst the creatures he hath no portion, no inheritance; when a man hath the Moon under his feet, and he can say when he sees all the world destroyed, Se nihil habere bonum tantâ mole perdendum, &c. and can look upon the general conflagration of the world, as Lot did upon Sodom in the burning, without a relenting thought, because his portion is not in them, this man hath a self-suffici∣ency grounded upon his interest in the alsufficiency of God; for as the Apostle saith of the Fathers, Heb. 11.13. That chusing to be pilgrims they did declare plainly, that they did seek a country; so when we see the Saints of God to seek after no creature-sufficiency, and not to place their happiness and the stay of their lives upon them, it is a plain argument, that they have their sufficiency in something else, there is something else that doth bear up and elevate their spirits, which can be nothing else but the acting of their souls upon the alsufficiency of God.

[Ʋse 5] §. 5. All you that have an interest in the alsufficiency of God, walk before him and be up∣right, Gen. 17.1, 2. for what need a man to turn aside to any other, what need had he to hasten after another god? Psal. 16.4. If the alsufficiency of God be yours, he that is self-sufficient for his own happiness, surely he will be alsufficient for yours; and therefore there is no need to wander after the pleasures of sin, or the comforts of the creatures; if there be no defect to be supplied, what need had we to call in any other? 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, perfect good seems to be alsufficient, Aristot. If there be a per∣fect good, it must needs be sufficient, for that is perfect unto which nothing can be added; if the creatures be added unto the Lord, he is never the more perfect; therefore if the creatures are wanting there is no defect, no deficiency in him; and if we need no other, why should we trouble our selves to make out to another, to do any thing in vain? we count it folly to take in many things for that which may be supplied in one, frustra fit per plura, &c. therefore keep God to thee, and thou shalt want nothing. Here is a double duty required from the alsufficiency of God to all his Covenant-people.

1. To walk with God: Walk before me, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 before my face, in conspectu meo, as in my sight, as being under mine eye, in whatever thou dost put thy hand unto. There are three expressions take in a mans whole duty towards God in the way and in the course of his conversation: (1) Walking with God, Gen. 5.24. Enoch walked with God. [1] It is a term of reconciliation, that the enmity between God and the man is taken away, for they are friends that walk together, Amos 3.3, 2. Two cannot walk together unless they be agreed; so that a man must be in a state of reconciliation. [2] It's a term of communion, that in a mans way he should have fellowship with God in his whole course, and in all the actions of his life; for that is a mans walk: and therefore 2 Cor. 6.16. when the Lord hath com∣munion with his people, he is said to walk with us, and when we have communion with God we are said to walk with him,* 1.735 extra causam justificationis nemo potest bona opera satis mag∣nificè commendare, Luth. and a man is to walk with God not only in religious duties, but also in all the common and ordinary actions of his life; a man should not only do what the Lord doth command, but he should do it unto the same end for which it was commanded, and that is, that he might enjoy communion with God therein. (2) There is a following of God, or a walking after him, Num. 14.24. it's called following of the Lamb, that im∣plies three things: [1] A walking by rule; for a man must go no where but where he sees the footsteps of God before him. [2] It is coming up unto the exactness of the rule, that he doth follow the Lord exactly, he doth not miss one step where he sees God to have gone before him,* 1.736 and this, Eph. 5.15. is walking circumspectly. [3] It is walking with God unto the end, and so it implies a perseverance, it is not a going a part of the way after God, and then to turn back from following him, but it is to follow after him, and to continue unto the end; and so it is said, That the Lord called Abraham to his foot, Esa. 41.1. and this is to follow the Lord fully, or as it is in the Original, implevit post me, he did fulfil after me, &c. (3) There is a walking before God, that is, with a constant re∣spect unto his all-seeing eye, he sees the eye of God always upon him, and he sees that to be a holy eye, that no sin can scape it, nothing can blind it, all things are naked and open before it, and he that doth observe it, it is unto this end, that he may judge it, that he may give unto every man according as his works shall be, and that's the meaning, Luke 15.21. I have sinned against heaven and before thee: by Heaven the Learned do understand the presence of God, who doth dwell in Heaven; and therefore Psal. 73.9. They do set their mouth against heaven,* 1.737 that is, contra Deum audacter sese efferunt: Mat. 21.25. The Ba∣ptism of John was it from Heaven or from men? that is, from God; and that was the great thing, that without regard unto the greatness of God and his glory, without respect unto his presence, and his holiness, and his all-seeing eye, he sinned against him, and that did affect him; and that also did cut the heart of David, I have done this evil in thy sight, and yet I had no fear of thy glorious presence and thy all-seeing eye: so that there are these six things necessary to a mans walking as becomes a Saint in reference unto God, [1] he must be in a state of reconciliation, [2] he must walk by rule, [3] he must go to the exactness of the rule, [4] he must persevere and continue unto the end, and not turn away and draw back; [5] he must have an eye upon the presence of God and his eye in all he doth: [6] he must do all this, that he may enjoy fellowship and communion with the Lord in his whole course.

2. That we be upright or perfect with him: there is a perfection of the Saints in this life, even while their souls are imperfect, Heb. 12.23. and it consists in two things: (1) When the soul in its choice and bent cleaves unto God alone, and goes out after no other, Psal. 18.29. God will be yours, if you will be his, you must be unto him, and to no other, Hos. 3.3. God can admit of no Corrivals with him. (2) When there is a perfection in the inward man, all grace is there in truth, the whole new man, the whole Law of God is written in the heart, he respects the whole Law of God, leaves none of his Command∣ments out in his practice; it's not enough to know the will of God, but there must be a doing of his will, his practice must answer his knowledge, and when all these are in you, and abound, then you are said to be perfect; and this is the ambition and the endeavour of every child of God, that the law within may fully answer the law without, that the man

of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished to every good work, as well as every good word, and may be ready in season and out of season, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that his labour shall not be in vain in the Lord; this is our perfection, to glorifie God always in our hearts and in our lives, &c.

CHAP. VI. The Soveraignty of God made over to the Saints in the new Covenant.

SECT. I. How and why Gods Soveraignty is made over to the Saints.

[Doctr.] §. 1. I Now come unto the second particular implied in the fourth Head, and that is the Soveraignty of God, which is made over in this promise, I will be thy God, for God doth imply a Supremacy, Rom. 9.5. He is God over all: Eph. 4.6. There is one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all, &c. And hence the Observation is, That God hath in the new Covenant made over his Soveraignty and Supremacy over all things to the Saints, so that it shall be truly exercised as for his own glory, so for their good also. And for the handling of this point I must shew, (1) What the Soveraignty of God is: (2) That it is by the Father committed into the hands of Christ: (3) That it was by the Father committed and is by Christ exercised in the behalf of the Saints, in all the administrations of it. (4) The grounds or the reasons of it, why it was necessary, that to whom he should be a God, they should have an interest in him as he is Lord of all. (5) The Application of all.

1. What is the Soveraignty of God? It is that absolute and universal Authority which he hath over all things, as being the works of his own hands; and so much Christ teaches his Disciples to acknowledge, Mat. 6.13. Thine is the kingdom; Psal. 10.2, 19. The Lord hath prepared his throne in heaven, and his kingdom ruleth over all; and therefore he is called a great King, Mal. 1.14. King of kings, and Lord of lords; and therefore all things are said to be in the hand of the Lord, Deut. 33.3. all the Saints are in his hand, Esa. 50.2. Is my hand shortned?* 1.738 Now there is a hand-ruling, a hand-providing, a hand-protecting, a hand-assisting, a hand-inflict∣ing, and a hand-dispensing; for all these are to be understood by the hand of the Lord in the Scripture. And this Kingdom and Dominion of God (1) is universal; there is no restraint or limitation of his Kingdom, it doth reach unto all things in Heaven and in Earth; his Kingdom ruleth over all, he doth whatever he will in Heaven and in Earth, and in the Sea, and in all deep places; and therefore he is commonly in Scripture called The Lord of Hosts: The Lord of Hosts is with us, and the God of Jacob is our refuge,* 1.739 &c. Jam. 5.4. The crys of them enter into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath or Hosts: all the creatures are under his power, as their absolute Commander in chief, all is but his Army, and he is the General of them, he doth order and marshal them all at his pleasure. There are four respects why he is called the Lord of Hosts, [1] propter numerum & multitudinem, they are many, not a few, but the whole army of them, from the Angels in Heaven unto the meanest creatures, the whole host of them is in his hand, under his power, and at his dis∣pose. [2] Propter ordinem & dispositionem, they are not barely a number, but they are ordered and placed in their several conditions and ranks, Joel 2.7.* 1.740 it is expounded of the Locusts and Caterpillars that the Lord did threaten, and he saith, They shall every one keep their ranks; even in the most disorderly condition of things there is an order that the Lord doth set, the stars in their courses shall fight,* 1.741 &c. the word is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ab exaltationibus suis, from their Towers: it's a Metaphor taken from fighting, from Castles, or some high pla∣ces of strength, from their Towers, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as the Septuagint renders it, and so we also render it, in their order, and in their courses, as God hath set them. [3] Propter praeparationem, they are an army, and therefore prepared for the battel, ready to go upon all services, any design that the Lord would appoint them, for they have their weapons in their hands, Ezech. 9.1. Every man with his slaughter-weapon in his hand, the very Flies and the Lice, the Caterpillar and the Canker-worm, they are all of them armed, and all of

them ready for service when he doth command them. [4] Propter subordinationem & obe∣dientiam, they all of them go at his commandment; they continue to this day according to his ordinance, for all are his servants, they do dispatch his commands; for he saith to one, Go, and he goeth, &c. as it is said of the Angels, Ezech. 1.14. Their going and re∣turning is as a flash of lightning, with the greatest readiness and dexterity that can be, every one of them moves in their own due order with all possible speed that can be.

(2) It is supreme; his government is independent upon any other; all other Authori∣ties are from God, and therefore they all hold of him, Dan. 4.17. The most High rules in the kingdoms of mortal men, &c. deponit reges, & disponit regna; à Deo sunt omnes potestates, quamvis non omnium voluntate; magnus est Caesar, sed Deo minor: he deposeth Kings, and disposeth Kingdoms, &c. and therefore saith the Lord, Ezech. 21.26. I will overturn, overturn, remove the diadem, and take away the crown. Yea the Lord Jesus Christ, though he be King of Kings, and the great and the only Potentate, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, yet he received the Kingdom from another, Esa. 9.6. Dan. 7.14. he gives a Kingdom and Power and great Domi∣nion, he doth commit all judgment to the Son; he hath a government, but it is given him, and though he be our Lord, yet he is therein but the Fathers servant, &c. and there∣fore he doth rule so as none other doth: [1] He gives all what being he will, according to his Soveraignty; and therefore there are several degrees of beings, they were all in his hand, and there is an election unto being, and unto the order of being. [2] He doth appoint them to their end; as he made all for his own glory, and they shall be unto his glory; so in what way he will glorifie himself by them, some in mercy, and some in judg∣ment, some vessels unto honour, and some unto dishonour. [3] He doth give them what law he will, some have a law written in their nature, there are ordinances of the heavens; and some have a law given them upon their understandings from without. [4] He doth order all their actions, that there is not any thing they do but it is according to the rule and dominion that he hath over them; not a sparrow falls to the ground without my Father; The lot is cast into the lap, but the determination is from God: not the smallest or the meanest, ordinary, and casual things but they are at his dispose, all come under his go∣vernment, and are subjected unto his dominion. [1] From him all is received. [2] Unto him all shall give an account; Kings and Rulers, he is the Judge of all the Earth, and they that now judge shall then be judged; and Christ himself shall give up his ac∣count unto the Father; as he is Gods King, he rules from him, and for him. [3] Unto him at last all shall be reduced: it's true, by way of oeconomy and dispensation, for a while, there is a Kingdom in the hand of the Angels, and the Magistrates, and in the hand of Christ; but Christ shall put down all rule and authority, and he shall give up his own into the hand of the Father, that God may be all in all; so that all Nations shall be returned unto him; as of him are all things, so to him shall be all things.

(3) It is an absolute Dominion; for it's wholly according to his will. [1] He hath none to give laws unto him, or set him down the rules of his government; all other go∣vernours in the world have their rules set them, by which they are to rule and to dispense all things, but he doth whatever he will in heaven and in earth; he doth pluck up, and he doth build up; he doth kill, and he doth make alive; and all is at his will, and he doth whatever he will in heaven and in earth, and in the sea, Dan. 4.32. according to his will he works in the armies of the heavens, and in the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What dost thou? none can restrain him, none can call him to an account for it, and say, Why hast thou done this? Shall the clay say to the Potter, Why hast thou made me thus? he gives not account of any of his mat∣ters, he only rules by will without giving a reason. Therefore amongst the creatures there is no such thing as an absolute Monarchy, in which men should rule by will; for men are to rule as men, that is, by reason and by love; an absolute Monarchy is but absolute Tyranny; there must be known rules, by which they must govern: but so doth not the Lord, there is none to prescribe to him, for his will is the rule of goodness, non ideò voli∣tum, quia bonum, sed ideò bonum, quia volitum, a thing is not therefore willed by God, because good, but it's therefore good, because willed; for there is nothing that is good antecedent to the will of God. [2] It is absolute in respect of the greatest things; all being under his dispose, not only mens temporal, but their eternal estates; he can shew mercy unto one because he will, and he can harden another, and it is because he will; one shall be for the glory of his grace, and another for the glory of his justice, and he doth it freely, and hath no reason but his own will; one shall be high, and another low; one in honour, and another in dishonour; one shall be imployed, and another laid aside; one shall be raised from the dunghil and set amongst Princes, and made to inherit the Throne of Glory; for the pillars of the earth are the Lords, and he hath set the world upon them,

1 Sam. 28. he will sometimes work by means, and according to their nature, and some∣times he will lay the means aside, and he will work without them, and sometimes contrary unto them, that the battel shall not be unto the strong, nor the race to the swift, nor fa∣vour to men of understanding; but there is a disposing, a time and a chance, which shall befal them all, Eccles. 9.11. by which he doth mean the disposing of the highest power; but it is called chance, quia illa ordinatio ab homine non cognoscitur, that ordination is not known to man: and all is, that man may find nothing after him, he will not go by any ru∣led cases, that so all the world may see, that he hath an absolute Soveraignty, and hath no other rule for his government but his will only.

§. 2. This Soveraignty of God is during the stage of this world committed into the hand of Christ as Mediator: for he it is doth act and exercise all the attributes of God; as all threat∣nings are executed by him, and by him all promises are performed, so all the attributes of God are exerted by him; and therefore Col. 1.15. He is the image of the invisible God, there we may see all the glory of the Lord in the face of Jesus Christ, Joh. 5.22. He hath committed all judgment to the Son; judicium dominium significat, he it is upon whose shoulders the government is, he bears up all things, and he rules all things by the word of his power in heaven and in earth; and therefore he is called, 1 Tim. 6.15. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, The only Potentate, not that God the Father is put out of authority, but he rules in and by his Son, as he will at the last day execute judgment by him, and he hath given him power to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man, and this Kingdom that he hath received, he shall surely give up unto the Father again.* 1.742 And the Kingdom of God which is committed unto Christ is twofold, spiritual and providential.

1. It is spiritual, by which he doth rule in the souls of the Saints in heaven and in earth, in the one it is a Kingdom of Glory, and in the other of Grace, which is called the King∣dom of God, Rom. 14.17. The kingdom of God consists not in meat and drink, but in righte∣ousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. The kingdom of God comes not with observation,* 1.743 the kingdom of God is within you; and in this Kingdom, (1) he sets up a Throne in the souls of men, and appears unto them in his glory, as a great King, and they see him and know him so to be, Rev. 4.3. there is a glorious high Throne, and the Lord sits thereon, and they do worship before him, they look upon him as a King upon his Throne, though it be called a Throne of Grace. (2) As a King he gives Laws unto the soul, and binds the inward man, that what they do is for conscience sake, Rom. 13.5. Act. 23.1. I have lived in all good conscience: for Conscience is regulated by a Law, that's a good conscience, and none can prescribe laws to conscience but God alone; for it is in vain for man to give a Law unto that which he cannot judge for the breach of it, but this is the habitation of the great King. (3) In this Kingdom he hath enemies to subdue;* 1.744 and therefore he did come to destroy the works of the Devil, first to cast out Satan, and call men to translate them out of his Kingdom, Col. 1.13. and then to destroy the works that he had wrought in their souls;* 1.745 the word is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to loose the works of the devil; sin and corrupt principles in the heart are the Devils works, and the great thing that he doth labour in from day to day: now first the word doth signifie to destroy or demolish, Joh. 2.19. Destroy this temple, and 2 Pet. 3.11. it is the desolation of all things here below; so that though the Devil hath erected the building, the Lord will surely pull it down, he shall not have that habitation for himself to dwell in, where Gods Kingdom is to be set up. 2. It notes also solvere, to loose it, so that a man is bound by it, and it is unto him as a snare, the works of the Devil in a man are an enthralling thing; but thus to fight the battels of the Saints doth belong to the spiritual Kingdom of Christ. (4) He doth bestow and confer graces and gifts; these are the proper gifts that belong unto this Kingdom, he is Melchisedeck King of Righteousness, and he is also King of Peace; he doth give gifts unto men, and before the Throne are the seven Spirits of God, Rev. 4.5. all the graces of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit are at his dispose, and he gives them out as he sees it good. (5) He rules in their hearts and in their ways, for the Spirit of Christ is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the guide of the way of his Saints, he doth lead them; Joh. 16.14. My sheep hear my voice; they are his sheep, he goes before them, and they follow him: They follow the Lamb wheresoever he goes; all that Dominion of God subjecting of their wills unto the will of God, and their consciences to the rule of God alone, is the spiritual Dominion of Christ within them. (6) He hath the keys of hell and of heaven, he doth open heaven, and translate his people unto glory, and they that are in enmity, he doth open hell for them; for it is he that hath his reward with him, Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me; there is none can open and shut hea∣ven but Christ, and this he doth as he is the spiritual King of his Church, this Kingdom he hath entred upon, but it is but begun, it is not come unto its perfect glory; but there will come a time, Rev. 11.16, 17. That the kingdoms of the earth shall be the Lord's and his

Christ's: and the mountain of the Lords house shall be exalted upon the tops of the mountains, when the light of the Moon shall be as the light of the Sun, and abundance of grace shall be poured out, that the weak shall be as David; there shall much more of the glory of the spiritual Kingdom appear than now there doth; for now the Devil seems to rule in the hearts of all the men of the world,* 1.746 but then shall Satan be bound for a thousand years, in fine seculi mil∣lesimi anni malitia omnis aboleatur è terra, & justitia regnet, &c. Lactant.

2. The providential Kingdom which is the government of all things in the world: (1) All the works of God are committed into the hand of the Mediator, Ezech. 1. there is the subordination, and so Psal. 8. All sheep and oxen are all under his feet, which cannot be spo∣ken of Christ as God, it's spoken of Christ as he died and rose again, Eph. 1.21. he is made the head of all things unto the Church; therefore it must be understood of him as Mediator, he hath committed all judgment unto the Son, and it is, that all men might honour the Son as they honour the Father,* 1.747 that every knee might bow to him, and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father; for this is the honour that the Father did promise Christ, to give him a kingdom and glory, that the government of all things should be in his hands: for it is by me kings reign, Prov. 8.15. it's spoken of him whom the Lord posses∣sed in the beginning of his way, before his works of old, I was set up 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 I was anointed, which is the same word used Psal. 2.6. and therefore it's not spoken of him as God (so he was not anointed) but it's spoken of him that was God-man, Mediator.

(2) All the great things in Scripture are attributed unto him; he it was that brought the floud upon the old world, for it was his Spirit did strive with the old world, 1 Pet. 3.19, 20. and he it was that destroyed Sodom, he it was that brought Israel out of Egypt, and that led the people in the wilderness, he it was that gave them a Law, and he it was that did shake heaven and earth,* 1.748 all the shakings that have been were from him, and he it is that must fulfil all the prophecies and all the promises in the word; and then his name shall be called the Word of God, Rev. 19.13. and he it is that fights all the battels of his people; and he is cloathed with a garment dipt in blood, and the armies of heaven do but follow him, and he hath a name upon his garments, which is the highest name, King of kings, and Lord of lords, &c. he doth destroy Antichrist with the breath of his mouth, and the brightness of his coming, and he it is that doth prepare new Jerusalem as a Bride for the Bridegroom.

(3) He it is that shall judge the world, and he could not judge the world, if he did not rule the world, he must imploy them, and he must reward them; for God will give unto every man as his works shall be; he doth rule as the Fathers servant, and he shall judge as the Fathers servant; Judgment being the last act of his Kingly Office, having ordered all things for the great accomplishment of all the Fathers ends; for he doth all for him ac∣cording unto the counsels that are in his bosom, which he hath revealed to him, &c. Judg∣ment is committed unto the Son of man, both for government here, and the sentence here∣after;* 1.749 and therefore it is said, All judgment is committed to him.

(4) He shall give up the Kingdom unto the Father, 1 Cor. 15.24. that is, that which he hath received; but it is the government of all things that he shall give up, that of the Angels as well as any other; he shall lay it down, having attained all the ends thereof; so that then God shall be all in all in the Saints and in the world, &c.

(5) Christ himself tells us, That he hath received such a commission from the Father, not on∣ly to govern the Church, but to rule and to order all things in the world for their sake, Joh. 3.35. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand, that is, in his power, under his government, and at his dispose, as Gen. 24.10. all the goods of his Master were in his hand, under his power and authority, and at his dispose: and so Job 1.12. the Lord saith unto Satan concerning Job, Behold all that he hath is in thy hand; he did not give this to Satan as by commission, but by permission, he left all the goods of Job in the Devils power,* 1.750 to do with them what he would: and Joh. 5.22. The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son; there is indeed a Kingdom which belongs unto Christ, as he is the second person in the Trinity, a Kingdom which is regnum naturale, a natural Kingdom, wherein Christ is equal with the Father, and a Kingdom that he doth not receive from the Father, neither is he subordinate unto the Father in it; he is not the Fathers servant, as he is in the mediatory Kingdom; for this is the same to all the per∣sons, Father, Son, and Spirit, and the Son hath the same dominion, and is equal with them all; but this cannot be the Kingdom that is here spoken of, for it cannot be delegated by God, because it is natural, and he cannot put the Kingdom out of himself; neither can it as a gift be received by the Son, because it is natural unto the Son as it is unto the Father, it's his own proper right; but the Kingdom that is here spoken of is a power given unto the Son, in which he is the Fathers servant, and subordinate unto him; and there∣fore

it's not spoken of the nature of the essential Kingdom, the government which be∣longs unto Christ as God, but as Mediator only; and by Judgment Interpreters generally understand pro imperio & administratione rerum omnium in coelo & in terra, Chemnit. so that the government of all things is in the hand of the Mediator; for it is a power that is gi∣ven by the Father unto the Son, which could not be unto him simply as God, but as Me∣diator only.

(6) The Spirit of Christ doth rule, act, and order all things in the Providential, as well as in the Spiritual Kingdom; as we see it, Ezech. 1.12, 20.* 1.751 there is Christ set forth as ruling all things in heaven and earth, and it is not spoken of Christ as he is the second person, but as he is Mediator; for it's spoken of him as having a dominion given to him as he is the Son of man; the Angels move the wheels, and the Spirit acts the Angels. Now how doth Christ as Mediator govern? It is by the guidance of the Spirit, and this Spirit moves both the Angels and the wheels; it is not spoken of those spiritual acts of the Holy Ghost upon the hearts of the Saints, but of the ordinary dispensations of Providence or∣dering all things here below, so as the ends of Christ may be attained. It is the Mediator therefore that doth govern all things, and the motions and impressions that are made both upon the Angels and the wheels, they are from the Spirit of the Mediator, who makes the Spirit to be the Viceroy in the providential as well as in the spiritual Kingdom, as the Fa∣ther makes the Mediator to be in them both: and as the Father doth not divest himself of power, but keeps the original of it in himself, that we may still say to him, Thine is the kingdom; only he doth it by the Son, who doth exercise it; so it is true of the Spirit also, the Son hath the power, he governs all, he doth it immediately by the Spirit, the imme∣diate execution and administration of it is in the hand of the Spirit in the one Kingdom as well as in the other.

(7) This will further appear by the session of Christ at the right hand of the Father; for it doth import potestatis & Majestatis plenitudinem, a plenitude of power and Majesty. [1] The highest Majesty and glory; for it is the highest degree of his exaltation, Heb. 8.1. therefore called the right hand of Majesty in the heavens. [2] It is the highest Authority and Soveraignty; for sitting at his right hand implies, that all things are put under his feet, as it is Psal. 110.1. 1 Pet. 3. ult. sitting down upon his Throne, Angels and Powers being made subject unto him, Eph. 1.20, 22. all things put under his feet, which is the highest Soveraignty and the greatest subjection that can be, for all to be his servants, his vassals; and therefore Rev. 1.18. when he is in heaven he is said to have the keys of hell and of death; keys are an ensign of authority, and so are used in the Scripture, the keys of the kingdom of heaven are his, and the keys of death and hell are his, all authority in this world and the world to come; and therefore Mat. 28.17. immediately before his ascen∣sion he saith, All power is given to me both in heaven and in earth: it's true, that he had it given him from the Fall; and he did exercise it by virtue of the Covenant that was passed between him and the Father; for his Kingly Office and his Priestly Office in the efficacy of them began together, but yet he did not actually reign as Mediator, that is, as God-man, till in our nature he ascended up on high, and sate down in heaven with the Father upon his Throne; and though quoad potestatem judiviariam, according to his judiciary power, all things are now put under his feet, for the administration of all things are in his hand, yet quoad executionem actualem, as to actual execution, so it is not; there are many things that seem to oppose him, and to be enemies unto his government; therefore he must reign till he hath put all his enemies actually under his feet, 1 Cor. 15.15. so then he that sits at the right hand of God rules the world; but Christ as God doth not sit at the right hand of God, and as he is the second person; therefore it is as he is Mediator that he sits at Gods right hand, and so all judgment and authority are executed by him.

(8) If this be made as the ground why all authority is in the hand of Christ, because he is the Son of man, then he hath this authority over all things, not as he is the second per∣son only, but as he is Mediator, as he is God-man; but this is the reason and the ground of it, Joh. 5.17. He hath given him power to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man;* 1.752 which hath several interpretations given of it, all will prove the thing. [1] Because he is the Son of man, that is, because he is the Son of man that was foretold, Dan. 7.13, 14.* 1.753 to whom the kingdom should be given by the Ancient of days, and therefore is given unto him all government, because he is the person that was foretold, to whom it should be com∣municated. [2] Because he is the Son of man, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 is rendred quatenus, and so it is by Beza, that is, he hath all power given unto him, and all judgment, not only as he is God, as he is the second person, but as he is the Son of man, quatenus homo, &c. non tantùm secundùm naturam divinam, sed etiam humanam; and so Chemnit. doth from hence infer, humana natura in Christo assumpta est in communicationem gubernationis rerum omnium, praecipuè verò regno

Deo in Ecclesia. [3] It is by many others interpreted by that place, Phil. 2.10. Because he humbled himself, and took upon him the form of a servant, therefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name, that to the name of Jesus every knee should bow, &c. that is, this is the reward that the Father hath given him for his obedience in his hu∣miliation, taking upon him our nature, the form of a servant; therefore he is exalted unto the highest pitch of Majesty and of Authority, to be next to God himself. Now which interpretation soever we take of these, it will appear, that this power is given unto him, not only as he is God, but as he is Mediator, and that the formalis ratio of giving it unto him is as he is the Son of man, and not as he is God; for as he is God, he had an equal hand in the Soveraignty of all things, and an equal right to it with the Father and the Spirit, and so it could not be said to be given to him; but it is given him as the Son of man, and as a reward of his obedience, because he became the Son of man.

But to answer an Objection or two about this. 1. It is objected, It appears plainly by Scripture, and is by you granted, That there is a double Kingdom of Christ, the one belonging to him by nature, and the other given to him by the Father; the one proper only unto Christ the Mediator, the other common to the Father and the Spirit, as well as to the Son; the one to be exercised for ever, and the other but for a time; wherefore there are two distinct Kingdoms of Christ; why therefore may we not say, that as he is the second Person he rules in the world, and as he is the Mediator he rules in the Church only?

Answ. I do confess there are two Kingdoms, and these are really distinguished one from another; that Christ as God hath an essential Kingdom equal with the Father, and a King∣dom which he doth receive by donation from the Father as he is God-man; but I say, That the exercise and administration of both Kingdoms are now in the hand of the Me∣diator, and shall be unto the time of the restitution of all things, for the Father judges no man, Joh. 5.22. that is, natura divina absolutè sine Mediatore; judicium, sive totam admini∣strationem dedit Filio Mediatori incarnato, &c. Chemnit. i. e. totius mundi imperium, &c. The Divine nature hath committed all judgment to Christ, &c. so that the spiritual Kingdom is ad∣ministred by the Spirit in the ordinances of the Gospel, and the providential Kingdom by the power of his Spirit working without ordinances, who orders and disposes of all the creatures unto their several ends; but yet all this is by the hand of the Mediator, and he doth not simply as he is God rule in the providential Kingdom only; for all judgment is com∣mitted to him, [that is, the government of all things] as he is the Son of man; as he is the Son of man so he rules the Angels, and they act the wheels, and as he is the Son of man, so he is appointed Heir of all things, and as he is the Son of man, so all things are put under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and the beasts of the field, &c. therefore it's but a conceit to say, That Christ doth rule the world indeed as he is God, but he doth rule the Church as he is Me∣diator; for it appears plainly, That both of them are acts of his Kingly Office as he is Mediator, as the judging of the world will be at the last day; and he tells us, that God gave him all this power for this end, That he might give eternal life unto as many as the Fa∣ther had given him, Joh. 17.20. he doth rule all things in the world, so as he makes them serviceable unto spiritual ends; but it's done by him not simply as God, but as Mediator: and so much Mr. Gilespy cannot but grant out of Calvin in Aarons Rod, pag. 203. that all things are put under the feet of Christ the Mediator, not only in respect of glory and dig∣nity, but in respect of his power and over-ruling providence, whereby he can dispose of all things, so as they make most for his glory, &c. which is all that I assert; and that the Mediator is not barely Gods servant in the spiritual Kingdom, but in the Kingdom of Providence also, is plain from Psal. 8.6. Eph. 1.22.

Object. 2. But Christ as Mediator is King, Priest, and Prophet, but he is not so any where but in his Church; therefore to say, that Christ as Mediator doth it, is as much as to say, he doth it as King, Priest, and Prophet; and so he shall be made a King, Priest, and Prophet unto the Pagans, and unto all other creatures, even to the Devils, &c.

Answ. It's not necessary that whatever he doth as Mediator must flow from all his Of∣fices; for he doth many things as he is King, that he doth not as he is a Priest, or a Pro∣phet: he is unto the Angels a King, and that as he is the Son of man; for he is the Head of all Principalities and Powers; and yet he is not unto the Angels a Priest; yet as Me∣diator he rules them, and they do belong unto his Kingdom as Mediator: and as he is King, so he shall judge the world also at the last day, so he shall judge the Heathen, he shall judge the Devils, and so he doth rule them now, and over-rule them for the good of the Church; and yet he is not unto the Heathen a Priest nor a Prophet, neither is he so unto the Devils: But his rule and dominion over the works of God is as truly part of his Kingdom, as his rule and dominion over the souls of the Saints; the Mediator is not a Priest and a Prophet to every thing to whom he is a King, and yet he is a King

as Mediator, and so far as any thing relates unto his Kingly Office, so far it may be said to belong unto him as Mediator, because as Mediator he is King as well as Priest; he is indeed a Priest and a Prophet only to his people, but as he is a King so he rules over his enemies, even those that will not acknowledge his kingdom over them. It's true, that none have an interest in any Office of Christ, but he that hath an interest in them all, and therefore he cannot be said to be our King so as to rule us for our spiritual and eternal good, unless he be also our Prophet and our Priest; and none are in this sense the Subjects of the Kingdom of Christ, but they that consent to and accept of his government, they that kiss the Son; but yet he is a King appointed by God, though he be not accepted by us, and therefore he is Gods King, that is, he rules by Gods commission, and as a servant unto his ends, even then when we acknowledge him not to be our King, and his government is not assented to by us; he will judge them as a King, though he doth not save them as a King.

§. 3. The government of all things in his Kingdom is exercised by him in the behalf of the Saints, and so they have a right to the Soveraignty of God, and it is made over to them, as will appear, 1. In this, that it was given to Christ for their sake; he hath a kingdom given him not for his own sake, but for our sakes, Joh. 17.2.* 1.754 He hath given him power over all flesh, that he might give eternal life unto as many as thou hast given him, imperium accepit Chri∣stus, non tam sibi, quàm nostrae salutis causâ, Calv. so that it was with special respect unto them, that he did undertake the government of the world; had it not been that he had a people in the world that were given him of the Father, and whose names were written in the Lambs book, and whom he did intend to save, he would not have undertaken the government of all things; for Eph. 1.22. he is made the head over all things, but it is to the Church, magna consolatio est, quòd tantum imperium habet is, qui id exercet Ecclesiae bono, &c. Grot. But wherein lies the force of this reason, that he must have power over all flesh, that he might give eternal life unto as many as God had given him? Why could not Christ have given them eternal life unless he had had power over all flesh, unless the government of the world had been put into his hands? I conceive the force of it to lye in this. 1. Had the government still been in the hand of God as God, so he must have pro∣ceeded according to the rules of the first Covenant, and according to the severity of a God; and therefore the Father judgeth no man. Now the Father as God, and the Son as God have but one judgment, and they do proceed by the same rule; and if the Father cannot judge them but he must destroy them, then neither can the Son as God; for they have one and the same will and judgment: but supposing a Mediator, one that will under∣take to give God satisfaction for sin, then the world may stand, and it is fit that he should rule it that hath bought it; he hath bought the persons of the Saints, and the services of all the creatures for their good; therefore it is by Christ that the world stands, the go∣vernment is put into his hand as Mediator; for had not there been a Mediator, the world must have perished under the weight of the first transgression; but that the world might stand, and men live in the world in their successive generations, and so by grace at∣tain holiness and glory, for this cause there was power given him over all flesh; and this is the reason given by Chemnitius, why the Father judges not immediately, Patris nostri sive Divinae naturae judicium cum peccatoribus agentis est juxta severitatem & rigorem legis divinae, &c.

2. He could not give them eternal life else, because he could not order all things for their spiritual good, even all the motions of the creatures, all the temptations of Satan, all the affections of men, either good or bad, sometimes in ways of love and courtesie, some∣times in ways of displeasure and persecution, and all providential occurrences; such op∣portunities of service, and such occasions of sinning, which he hath the ordering of for the good of his people: All things do work together for good to them that love God,* 1.755 because all of them are in the hand of a Mediator, for this very end and purpose, that he might order all things so as might conduct them safe to heaven: how comes it to pass, that all the crea∣tures do service to the Saints, and there is not one of them that can do them a disservice in reference to their spiritual estates? Cyrus in ways of kindness shall be drawn out to the service of God, My shepherd, saith God, he shall be; and wicked men shall wipe them as a man doth a dish, &c. the fire shall not burn them, the water shall not drown them, no weapon formed against thee shall prosper, &c. All this is because that the administration of all things are put into the hand of a Mediator for their eternal good, and he will order all things so as they shall conduce unto that great end for which he hath undertaken the go∣vernment in the Kingdom of Providence, it's all in order to the spiritual Kingdom, it was purely out of the love of the Father to the Saints, that he did give the Kingdom unto Christ, and it was purely out of love to the Saints that he did accept of it; and thus the

Lord laid help on one that's mighty: Christ the Mediator doth administer all things for their good, and that both in the spiritual and in the providential kingdom. In the spiritual kingdom all the Ordinances are for their good, it is for the edification of the Saints, and the building up of the body of Christ, Eph. 4.12. all the institutions of Christ are for their good, and all the motions of the Spirit, in what kind soever, and the desertions of the Spi∣rit,* 1.756 all of them are, that their spices may flow forth, whether it be North wind or South wind, and they have two quite different or contrary qualities and operations, yea the very operations of the Spirit, and the desertions of the Spirit also work for good: the Lord hides his face for a little moment, that he may have mercy upon them with ever∣lasting kindness, &c. So it is in the providential kingdom also, all is for the good of the Saints,* 1.757 and they shall be gainers by it in the end; so much affliction they have, as they need; and so much prosperity, as will do them good; for the Lord delights in the prosperity of his servants, he feeds them with food convenient for them. We see in the story of the four Monarchies, how they all wrought for their own ruine, and the Churches advance∣ment in the end, and that they did all but lift at the Church as at a burdensom stone, and they themselves were broken thereby, all tended to the Churches glory and greatness: And the mountain of the Lords house shall be exalted upon the top of the mountains, and new Je∣rusalem shall come down from God out of heaven, and all Nations shall come unto the Church, and bring their glory unto it, and lick the dust under the soals of their feet; the Lord will make it manifest to the world, that they are a people that he hath loved; and therefore 1 Cor. 3.21, 22. All things are yours, things present and things to come, all are yours; the vials that are now poured out, Christ hath the ordering of them, and they shall all of them make for the good of the Church in the end.

3. Christ is at the right hand of the Father, and we sit there together with him: Eph. 2.6. He is exalted unto the right hand of Majesty, and hath all authority put into his hands, and that not for himself, but as a publick person, as a representative head; and therefore we have an interest in all his authority which he is invested with; he doth ad∣minister all things for us as our head, and as one that hath undertaken it in our be∣half.

4. God hath subjected all his Soveraignty unto the prayers of his people by virtue of the Covenant, it being made over to them, Esa. 45.11. Concerning my sons and the works of my hands command ye me; and the people of God therefore in their prayers have desired God to rent the heavens, to shake the earth, to remove mountains: Awake for thy people unto the judgment that thou hast commanded, the hand of the Lord is not shortned, what Soveraignty and Power soever God hath over the creatures, they can desire God to put it forth according to his wisdom, as their necessity shall require, and they do expect that it shall be done; they dye in the faith of it, that Rome shall be ruined, and Antichrist destroy∣ed, verbo victus est mundus, verbo Ecclesia est servata, & Antichristus, ut sine manu coepit, ità sine manu per verbum conteretur, Luth. and they have cursed men in the name of the Lord, upon this ground, that the Soveraignty of God shall be put forth for their destruction; the Saints of God have done so of old, and so do the people of God now, blast men by their prayers, the fire that goes out of their mouths, Rev. 11.5. devoureth their enemies, &c. and so doth Luther curse Antichrist, Pereat igitur in aeternum, & maledicant omnes An∣geli & Sancti huic portento, &c. and he dyed in the faith of it, that the Lord by his Sove∣raignty, even the zeal of the Lord of Hosts, should perform this.

SECT. II. How the spiritual Kingdom of Christ is made over to the Saints.

[Doctr.] §. 1. HAving thus in general manifested the truth of the point, that there is a twofold Kingdom of God, spiritual and providential, and that both these are committed into the hands of the Mediator, and both are committed unto him for the Churches sake; we must now come unto the particulars, that we may see how all the Soveraigny of God is made over and laid out for the good of his people. I shall begin first with the spiritual Kingdom, how that is ours, and what interest we have in the Soveraignty of God in refe∣rence thereunto, and so the Observation is, That the Supremacy or Soveraignty of God in reference to the spiritual Kingdom is made over to the Saints. The spiritual Kingdom is either in Grace or Glory, Christ rules in them both. Now in the handling of this I shall propose to you, (1) The Subjects in this Kingdom, who they are; and having shewed that Christ

is the King, and unto what this kingdom doth extend (for the matter about which both the kingdoms are conversant is to be preserved as distinct.) (2) The Agents or Officers that Christ doth imploy in the government of the spiritual kingdom under him. (3) The Laws of this kingdom by which he doth govern them. (4) The end or the intent of Christ in this government; for what it is that he doth in this manner rule them. (5) The Enemies of this kingdom (for all kingdoms have their enemies) and how they are in this kingdom ordered and subdued. (6) The punishments in this spiritual kingdom, and they are also spiritual, according to the double Covenant by which Christ doth dispense himself, an inward and an outward Covenant, some being in Covenant in truth and reali∣ty, and some by profession only. (7) The Rebels against this kingdom, who are within it, and profess to subject themselves unto the Laws of it, and yet do rebel against this kingdom. (8) The consummation or the perfection of this kingdom, when grace shall be swallowed up in glory, and when the kingdom of grace shall bring in the kingdom of glory, unto which men are in this kingdom but in a way of preparation to be made meet, Col. 1.12. and if it do appear that the Soveraignty of Christ in all these particu∣lars is made over unto the Saints, and exercised for their good, then it will be clear, that they have an interest in the spiritual kingdom, and that his Soveraignty over it is theirs, and by Covenant belongs unto them.

1. Concerning the Subjects of this spiritual Kingdom; for if the two Kingdoms and the Lords government in them be distinct, then we must keep the Subjects of these Kingdoms distinct through the whole discourse. The spiritual Kingdom I conceive to have for its Subjects only those that live in the Church, and that belong to it; for out of the Church of Christ he hath no spiritual Kingdom; for this is a Kingdom administred by Ordinances and the workings of the Spirit in them, and by them. Not that even in the Church there is not concurrent a providential Kingdom, for that is universal, and it's that of which it's said, Thy kingdom rules over all; he hath not a limited Kingdom as other Princes have,* 1.758 that hath its bounds, for God hath set men the bounds of their Dominion, as well as of their habitation: 'tis said, The head of Syria is Damascus,* 1.759 and the head of Ephraim is Sama∣ria, caput in the Hebrew is summitas & cacumen, the top and the height of any thing is said to be the head thereof, and it is as much as to say, Ego met as constitui, quas non egredientur, I have set bounds which they shall not pass, Calvin: they are at the highest that ever they shall be, Syria shall never be higher than it is, its head is Damascus, nor shall Ephraim be higher than it is, its head is Samaria: but as for the Kingdom of Christ, it takes in all the Kingdoms and Dominions of the world, for he is King of kings, and Lord of lords; which is a name that will one day be more gloriously written upon his vesture and upon his thigh, Rev. 19.16. and whereas the spiritual Kingdom extends only unto reasonable creatures, the providential Kingdom takes in also all unreasonable creatures; for Heb. 2.7, 8. Thou hast set him over the works of thy hands, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which cannot be spoken of Christ as he is God, for it is a setting by way of office, and so the word signifies, Acts 6.3. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and therefore it belongs to him as he is man also, and it is said, Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands, which is, Psal. 8.4. said to be all sheep and oxen, &c. Now as there are two parts of the second Covenant, external and internal, so is there a double administration of the spiritual Kingdom; for according as men come under the Covenant, so are they said to belong unto this Kingdom; for Christ receives all by Cove∣nant, and rules all by Covenant, and all our interest is by a Covenant, and grounded there∣upon. Now that there is a twofold being in Covenant is clear, in that all Israel were called the Lords Covenant people and the children of the Covenant, Acts 3.25. that is, they came into the Covenant, as it were by right of inheritance, by descent, by a paternal right, and yet with many of them God was not well pleased; and as they were called the children of the Covenant, in the same sense they are called the children of the Kingdom, Mat. 8.12. and so Grotius observes, Filii regni ex foederis privilegio dicuntur, &c. yet they were cast into utter darkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. You have al∣ready heard there is a twofold being in Christ, Joh. 15.2, 3. Every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away, &c. and there are some that belong to the Kingdom of Grace in respect of the externals of it only, who have a right unto the outward priviledges there∣of; and there are some that belong to it in respect of the graces of it, and the eternal be∣nefits thereof, in whose soul Christ rules and dwells. Now the Kingdom of Grace or the spiritual Kingdom doth extend not only unto those in the Church, in whose souls Christ dwells, being born again, but over whom he rules by his Ordinances, in respect of an out∣ward profession and a visible conformity, and have thereby an outward right according unto the external rules and dominion that Christ hath over them, and the outward sub∣jection which they yield unto him; and therefore have a title unto the external privi∣ledges

of the Subjects of the spiritual Kingdom, and therefore even the branches that are afterwards broken off are said to partake of the sap and fatness of the good Olive-tree, Rom. 11.17. Now the Dominion that Christ hath in the Kingdom of Grace, whether it be in the hearts of the Saints, over whom he rules by a spirit of regeneration, or whether in the hearts of Formalists, who are brought into subjection by a profession only, yet it will appear, that in this Soveraignty over both the Saints have an interest, and the Lord Jesus doth rule over both for the Saints sake and for their good.

1. The spiritual Kingdom as it is in the souls of the Saints; those that are new-born unto God, and have a mighty work of regeneration passed upon them, by which they have gi∣ven up themselves unto Christ, having by a perfect self-resignation put the rule and the government wholly out of their own hands into the hands of Christ, and have done it with chearfulness, and by way of election have given the hand unto the Lord, 2 Chron. 30.8. have given themselves unto the Lord,* 1.760 2 Cor. 8.5. and that as a willing people: Thy people shall be willing, Psal. 110.3. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the word doth signifie two things: (1) Either voluntas or spon∣taneitas in the abstract, and so it is common with the Hebrews to put the abstract for the concrete, when they would express any thing in a superlative way, Jer. 50.31. I am against thee, O thou pride: and when the Lord would express the high degree of willingness of his people, he doth it as if they were made up of nothing else. (2) It signifies oblationes vo∣luntariae, gifts and free-will offerings, Deut. 23.23. and so the meaning is, that the people should come to Christ, and give themselves to him of their own accord, without any in∣forcing or any compelling, it should be freely their own act. In the handling of this I will shew you: (1) That Christ hath such a Kingdom. (2) Wherein it consists. (3) That it's a Kingdom only over Saints. (4) The happiness of the Saints, that they are under such a government and dominion.

1. That Christ hath such a Kingdom in the hearts of men, will appear by two Scriptures, Luke 17.20,* 1.761 21. The kingdom of God comes not with observation, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the word doth signifie three things. (1) A curious observation, and so Luke 14.1. the Pharisees watch∣ed him, to see if he would heal upon the Sabbath day, and so the Kingdom of God comes not with observation. Let men never so carefully observe, yet the Lord doth secretly insi∣nuate himself into the heart no man knows how, it is as the blowing of the wind, a secret that comes not under the most curious observation of man. (2) It signifies an idolatrous or superstitious observation, and so it's used, Gal. 4.10. Ye observe days, and months, and years, I am afraid of you, &c. when men do talk greatly of Ceremonies, and external outward Forms, and bodily exercise, and performances, &c. the Kingdom of Christ doth not consist in these, it doth not come with these, it consists not in these. (3) It signifies also a pompous observa∣tion,* 1.762 in a glorious way, that is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, cum regio splendore ac apparatu externo, as the Jews expected a glorious Kingdom and a pompous Kingdom; most men do love a sumptuous Religion; but that is not the Kingdom of Christ; but where shall we then find the Kingdom of Christ? it is within you, it's a Kingdom that is set up in your hearts, and by that means doth subject the whole man unto it self: it is, Eph. 3.17. the dwelling of Christ in the heart by faith; but it is such a dwelling as hath a ruling attending it, for he dwells there as a Lord and as a Master in his own house, he dwells there as in a Temple, 2 Cor. 6.16. Ye are the temples of the living God. Now though the Lord be in a sort pre∣sent every where, for he doth fill heaven and earth, yet he is in a special manner present in his Temple; and though he rules every where, yet in his Temple he rules in a more special manner; and he saith, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Therefore in the souls and in the hearts of Saints Christ hath a rule,* 1.763 Rom. 14.17. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righ∣teousness and peace, &c. It is spoken here both of the kingdom of grace and of glory, both which are commonly in Scripture called the Kingdom of God: and the meaning is, that the kingdom of grace doth not consist in these, neither do these lead to the kingdom of glory; or prepare the soul for it, regnum gratiae in his non consistit, & per haec regnum gloriae non acquiritur, but it is in righteousness, and peace, and joy, and these are acts wrought upon the soul and the inward man; and therefore the Kingdom of Christ, the spiritual King∣dom is over the souls of the Saints, and it's a Throne erected in their hearts.

2. Wherein doth this spiritual Kingdom consist, which he doth exercise over the Saints? It's a Throne that Christ sets up in the Conscience, which doth order and command the whole man, and that in the name and by the authority of God. There is a twofold Throne of Christ in the spiritual Kingdom. (1) There is a Throne that he erects in his Ordinances, Rev. 4.4. when all his people are gathered together about him, all the Saints sit down at his feet,* 1.764 that they may receive a Law from his mouth as their King. (2) There is also ano∣ther Throne of Christ in the spiritual Kingdom, and that is in the Conscience, which is properly the Throne of God; and therefore the great work of Christs rule is in the con∣science

of the Saints, Acts 23.1. I have lived in all good conscience, and my care is to keep a good conscience void of offence, Acts 29.16. Heb. 13.18. We have a good conscience, desiring in all things to live honestly. It's true, that the Lord doth rule in the whole soul, and there is no faculty that is not brought into subjection, the understanding and the will, there is not a thought or a reasoning, any thing that is the issue of the soul, 2 Cor. 10.5.* 1.765 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, leading captive every thought: and we know captives were not only subdued by conquest, but they were led in Triumph, and they were afterwards made use of for service; and so it is in the Kingdom of Christ in the inward man; but yet the Throne is the Conscience: it is true, that the power of a King reaches throughout the whole Kingdom, and they are all governed by him; but yet the place of his residence, and the Royal Seat is in some eminent place of the Nation; and though Jesus Christ rules in the whole soul, and dwells in the heart by faith, yet the Throne is mainly in the con∣science; and therefore the assenting act of faith, the accusing act of faith, and the com∣manding act of faith is mainly in the conscience, 1 Pet. 3.21. it is the answer of a good consci∣ence by the Resurrection of Christ, &c. Now conscience what is it? Est judicium intel∣lectûs practici prout subjicitur judicio Dei, It is the judgment of the practic intellect as subject∣ed to the judgment of God. It is this that hath the great command of the man, that what∣ever he doth he is to do for conscience sake, Rom. 13.5. and whatever he doth scruple or doubt of, it should be for conscience sake, 1 Cor. 10.25. for it speaks in the person of God unto the man, and therefore even to go against an erring conscience is a sin, because the authority of Christ is rejected in whole name conscience speaks: it's true, that conscience is not the highest rule, it is but regula regulata, a rule ruled by the Divine love; yet it is the highest rule in the man, and it hath the power of subordination, which Kings would fain take to themselves, who pretend that they are subject to none but God, and to give an account unto none else, Magnus est Caesar, sed solo Deo minor, Tertul. This is true of conscience, all the rest of the faculties are to give up their account unto the conscience, it can call them all to an account, but is subject unto no other thing in the man, it is to give an account unto none but God; and the Lord working upon men modo connaturali, in a connatural way, conscience being the leading pow∣er that God hath placed in man, the Lord comes mainly into that, and by it he doth rule and guide all the rest of the faculties, and keep them in subjection: and this will ap∣pear in two things. (1) It's conscience that doth receive the discharge for the man, Heb. 9.9. therefore a man is said to be made perfect according unto the conscience, so that when a mans conscience is acquitted from guilt, and purged from pollution, it's then said to be made perfect, and the man is perfected thereby; and for this cause conscience hath an account to give of the man, in reference unto all that office and authority in the man that Christ hath set him over, Rom. 2.15. Their consciences accusing them, it hath the power over the man in all persons: it was in the Creation set over man by God, but be∣ing renewed, it is now set over the man by Christ, and when he comes to give an account (for we must all give an account of our selves to God, Rom. 14.12.) what is it in the man that shall give an account for him? it is conscience that must make up our account at the last and great day, and in the Saints then will the Lord pass a sentence in conscience, and he will acquit it from its viatory office, that hath a charge of the whole man. It's a great honour and a great trust, and it is a great burden to take the charge of the man, and make an account for all ordinances, all mercies, all motions of the Spirit of God, all op∣portunities of service that the man has had in this life. (2) Because the main guilt of the man is charged upon the conscience, as that by which all sin came in, it's neglecting its duty, and holding a league and a confederacy with sin, Tit. 1.15. Their consciences are defiled, and it is by this that sin comes in, and for this cause the wrath that is poured upon the man will come in by his conscience, it will be as it were the funnel by which God will pour wrath into the whole soul, because thereby Satan poured sin into the whole soul; and for that cause the torment for ever lies mainly in the conscience, and it shall be the faculty that shall torment the whole man, it's the worm that never dyes, it is only the acts of conscience, the soul turning in upon it self, and its former ways, and past hopes for ever: now that which was the great Officer here, that shall give its account, and be chiefly acquitted hereafter; glory in heaven comes in by the conscience, and torment in hell will come in by the conscience; for there is the Throne of Christ mainly erected, the mystery of faith and of holiness, all is kept in a pure conscience, 1 Tim. 3.9.

3. This Rule and Dominion Christ only hath in the hearts of the Saints; he has such a rule over them as he has over none else in the world. 1. The relations in which he stands to them do bind him to it, for he is their head, and they are his body: now Christ as their head is not only a head of eminence, which he is to other creatures also, but of guidance,

that is, he doth give them his Spirit to be 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the guide of their way, and he is their husband, and therefore not only a covering to their eyes, but also the guide of their youth, and he is their shepherd, and therefore he has undertaken to rule them as well as to feed them, Joh. 10.2, 3. He goes before them, and they do know his voice, and they follow him: he has no such Kingdom and Government any where else as he has in the souls of his own people; he does govern as a Lord in the world, but it is but as one without, there is no inward principle that he can close with, he rules over them, but does not delight himself in them, there is no fellowship between light and darkness; the Saints are his peculiar people, and therefore they have an interest in his peculiar providences, and therefore he comes in with a specially to them,* 1.766 1 Tim. 4.10. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. It's true, that all mankind in the Fall did put themselves out of the protection of God and his guidance, and therefore the Lord did justly suffer them to walk in their own ways, and he might have suffered the brute crea∣tures to prey upon them, or men to devour one another as the fishes of the Sea that have no King, Hab. 1.13. but because the Lord will have the stage of this world stand for the Elects sake; therefore he has committed the providential Kingdom unto the Son also, who takes all men into protection for the preservation of the world; but he takes none into his special protection for their preservation and his peculiar guidance, but those that are his people by a peculiar Covenant.

2. There are none other that give up themselves unto his guidance; he will not force himself upon any people to be their King, though he has a right, for the kingdom is gi∣ven him by God the Father, yet if he come to his own they receive him not, Joh. 1.11. he will not force himself upon them to be their King;* 1.767 they that say, We will not have this man to rule over us,* 1.768 he will destroy them; but there are a people upon whom a day of almighty power doth pass that subdues their wills, and commands their consciences, and they do submit unto his guidance, they would have no other Lord, and it is their misery that it should be so that sin should at any time reign in them, and they complain of it; other Lords besides thee have had dominion over us, but we will acknowledge and owne no other, sin shall not have dominion over us; they will give that honour unto none but unto their King, and they do rejoyce in their King that they have such a Ruler, and they do willingly and chearfully follow him.

3. Consider the happiness and blessed condition of the Saints under this Government of Christ, which will appear in these particulars. (1) He doth rule them with justice, it's a kingdom of righteousness that he sets up in their souls, for he is Melchisedeck, the King of Righteousness, and we have a kingdom of sin in us, and therefore is sin said to reign in our mortal bodies, and therefore he must have a kingdom of righteousness: grace is said to reign by Christ, Rom. 5.21. he rules his people with righteousness, and sets up a righteous Throne in the consciences of men. (2) He rules them with wisdom, Mat. 12.20. He will bring forth judgment unto victory; there is a wisdom in the government of Christ that shall be victorious. Men are foolish in their government, we read in Eccles. 4.13. of an old King that was foolish, delirant reges, they do many times take courses that are not the wisest for the peoples good; but Christ takes the wisest courses for the good of his people, and none can prevail against his wisdom. (3) He rules them with meekness, I am meek and lowly in heart: as it's an argument to subject to his teaching, so unto his rule, for he is not harsh in his government, Esa. 40. He doth bear his lambs in his bosom, he doth gently lead them that are with young; whereas men are cruel, their possessors slay them, and hold them∣selves not guilty, their own shepherds pity them not; therefore the Lord will give every man into the hand of his brother, and into the hand of his King; but Christ rules his peo∣ple with tenderness, he will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoaking flax, &c. (4) He will give them strength to obey, Phil. 4.13. I can do all things through Christ strengthen∣ing me, he commands and enables us to obey, jubet & juvat, he puts under his hand, so that we offer to him of his own in what we give him, and it is with his own strength that we do serve him, he works all our works in us and for us; there is a creating power in the commandment; for as in the promise he creates peace, so in the commandment he gives power; it is stand up and walk, it puts a power into him, for it is a creating word, the very word of his power puts a power in us for the work. (5) He rules them in peace, and there is a safety under his government,* 1.769 a hiding place from the wind, a covering from the tempest; there shall be all in this government that we can stand in need of, he is the King of Salem, and the Prince of peace, all his ways are ways of pleasantness, and all his paths are peace, and men never depart from peace till they do forsake his government, and subject themselves unto another Lord. (6) His government leads unto life; for there is a life to be had in obedience to him, he is called the Prince of life, that is, he hath a power given him to dispense life as the Prince of it, and he doth give it to whomsoever he has undertaken to

rule, if he be a King of Righteousness to them, he is also a Prince of life, he doth all for the good of his people, it's for their sakes that all the government is managed that he has undertaken in the world. Now if we consider how many sons of Belial there are that live without a yoke, and consider that they have no Law but the wills of the flesh and of the mind, the Law of sin and death, we shall all say, O blessed is the man whom the Lord rules and reigns over, the Lord rules and reigns, let the Saints rejoyce, &c. (7) In his go∣vernment they do behold him in his glory; for he that doth rule in them, doth also dwell in them as in a Temple; and he walks amongst them continually, Esa 33.17. Thine eyes shall see the King in his glory. Now there are many men that are ruled by Kings that never see them; but this is a Court where they may see their King, and it is the Palace of the great King, where he is always to be seen by his Subjects, the meanest as well as the greatest, non factio, sed curia dicenda est, Cyprian. It's not a government at a distance in remote parts, but so as he takes up his dwelling place there, and they are joyful in their King; let the children of Zion be joyful in their King always, but never so much as when they see him in glory. (8) They have a communion with his person all the while: there are many that have a benefit by his government that have no fellowship with his person; but the Queen, the Bride, the Lambs wife, she has the fruit of his government and communion with his person, and delights in his love and in his glory also, and the King sits at his round table, and we eat with him, we sup with him, and our souls rejoyce in his salvation, his left hand is under our head, and his right hand embraceth us, he brings us into his banquet∣ting-house, and the banner of love is over us, as a Bridegroom over his Bride; while he rules us as a King, he doth delight in us, and we have communion with him, as a husband con∣tinually.

§. 2. There is an external part of the Covenant, and so there is of the Kingdom, which is the rule and the government that Christ hath over the spirits of those that are under the spiritual kingdom by profession only, unregenerate men that joyn to the Church, and are with them under the dew and influence of the Ordinances, and of the common works of the Spirit of God in them; for Rev. 4.5.* 1.770 There are burning before the throne seven lamps of fire, which are the seven Spirits of God; the Throne is an expression of Majesty and govern∣ment, for unto the King belongs the Throne, the Scepter, and the Crown, they are pro∣perly insignia regia, &c. and by the seven Spirits is meant the Holy Ghost; that's clear from Chap. 1.4. where he wisheth grace and peace from the seven Spirits of God, by which surely is meant the Holy Ghost; for we are to make our prayers unto God only, but yet it is seven Spirits, because of the variety of graces and gifts, which he doth pour out upon the Church of Christ in his administration and government; and here we may observe two things. (1) That the spiritual kingdom of God doth not only extend to his rule over the Saints which are his subjects by election and regeneration, but also that there is a great deal of dominion which he has even over them that are the subjects of this kingdom only by profession. (2) That the rule and dominion that Christ doth exercise over these, is for the sake and for the good of the Saints, and that they themselves have no benefit by it in the end; but all doth turn unto the advantage and the spiritual im∣provement of them that are heirs of salvation; so that the administration unto unrege∣rate men, as members of the Church visible, is for the good of those that are members of the Church invisible.

1. The spiritual kingdom of Christ doth extend even unto unregenerate men, who are the subjects of it by profession only; where we are to take notice, That there are many give their names unto Christ, who never give their hearts, who have the name of Christ written in their foreheads, which have not his image instamped upon their souls;* 1.771 there is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a profession which is not always accompanied with a real and spiritual subjection unto the Gospel. 2. These are all the while subjects to ano∣ther kingdom; for till vocatio alta & secreta, there be a deep and secret vocation, a man is never translated, Col. 1.13. the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 is è natali solo, &c. a man is actually un∣der the kingdom of Satan still; for while a man is of the world, though he be in the Church, he is of the worlds kingdom; for they are not all of us that are amongst us, not all Israel that are of Israel; there are some do say that they are Jews, and are not, but do lye, but are of the Synagogue of Satan, Rev. 2.9. for the world lies in wickedness, in aliquo positum esse, est in ejus esse potestate, as Cameron hath observed: there are many enemies that live in a kingdom, against which they conspire and endeavour to destroy it. Jesus Christ after this life shall rule over his enemies, but in this life he rules in the middle of them.* 1.772 3. Yet while they do live, and in outward shew continue the subjects of this kingdom, so long they are to be looked upon in outward shew as subjects, and the priviledges of sub∣jects belong unto them, they are servants, Joh. 8.35. But the servant abides not in the house

always; there will come a time when the Lord will say, Cast out the bond-woman and her son, Gal. 4. but yet while they are in the house they do enjoy many priviledges and benefits by being in the family, they partake of the sap and the fatness of the good olive, Rom. 11.17. and yet be afterwards broken off. 4. But they shall not continue subjects of this kingdom always; though for a season the tares and the wheat, the sheep and the goats may stand together till the day of separation, good and bad be in the net together, till the one be gathered into the vessel, and the bad be cast away; for though the spiritual king∣dom in respect of Christ shall have no end, but Christ shall be so a King in glory, that he shall never cease to be a head of eminence, or of influence, or of guidance (for the mystical Union shall never be broken) no more than the hypostatical, yet his kingdom in respect of those that profess it, is but for the time of this life; natural worship shall be in glory, and they are only Saints that worship Christ therewith; but there is instituted worship that is only for the time of this life, and it is in this that they worship him, and become subjects to him,* 1.773 but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out at the last, Joh. 15.2. there are bran∣ches that bear no fruit in this Vine, and they are cast out as a branch and wither; but du∣ring the time of their continuance in this kingdom till he has cast them out for their re∣bellion, there is a government that the Lord Jesus by his Spirit doth exercise towards them and over them for the good of his Saints. And this will appear by the expressions that we meet with in Scripture. (1) They are his servants, Joh. 8.35. the Church is compared to a house, a family, as it's called the family of God, and the house of God; and of this family Christ is the Master: now there is a special imployment that he has for every one of his servants, and they are under his special command and dominion; it is true, this family is made up of servants and of sons, and the servants may have a greater rule in the house than the sons, but yet both under the authority of the housholder, only he rules over the one as a Master, and over the other as a Father, but both are in subjection. Cant. 6.8. there are in the Church sixty Queens, and fourscore Concubines, and Virgins without num∣ber, some are truly married unto Christ, and have a true right and authority in the family by their marriage-union with the King, for the woman shines by the beams of her husband; but there are Concubines that came in only for lusts sake, and that did bear fruit, but it was never from a marriage state; and there were Virgins that were companions only, that were not married, neither did they in a manner bear fruit, but were for attendants only, and the King has a special rule and dominion over all these, &c. (2) The Church visible is compared to a great House, 2. Tim. 2.20. some expound it de mundo, but con∣textus nos ducit, ut de Ecclesia intelligamus; non de extraneis disputat Apostolus, sed de ipsa fa∣milia Dei, Calv. there is not a vessel but it has its use, though all have not the same use, nor of the like honour, yet all are for use, and all are for the Masters use; so that there is a special dominion that is exercised over them all, as well the vessels of wood and stone, as those that are of gold, to imploy them where he will, and as he will, in what service he pleases; for it is his will that makes their use to differ; it is for the Saints sake that he makes use of them; so that all Gods dispensations towards unregenerate men in the Church is for their sakes, all the husbandry that is exercised about the unfruitful branches is for the sake of those that have a blessing in them; for the wicked shall have no benefit by it in the great day of the Lord; the greater rule the Lord has exercised towards men, the greater will their abhorring be, the nearer they have been to him, the further off shall they be from him, the higher they have been exalted to heaven, the deeper shall they be cast down to hell, Mat. 11.23. there is utter darkness for the children of the kingdom, Mat. 8.12. And this we may reduce unto four Heads, (1) their graces, (2) their gifts, (3) their services, (4) their sins, and in all these the dominion of Christ over them is for the good of the Saints.

1. Their graces are ruled by Christ for the Saints: there are common graces which the Lord doth give unto unregenerate men in the Church, common illuminations, by which they see much glory and beauty in spiritual things, and yet had never their eyes anoin∣ted with eye-salve; and there are many common works upon the wills of men letting in a taste of the goodness of spiritual things, so that the heart is much taken with them, and makes out after them; and there are many tendencies to the new birth, Hos. 13.13. we see them set forth to us, Heb. 6.3, 4. which is meant of the common graces of the Spi∣rit of Christ under the Gospel, which he works upon the souls and consciences of unrege∣nerate men, which are only from the Spirit assisting, and not from the Spirit informing, which flow not from union, but from conviction; and therefore from which in time they will surely fall away: there is a great beauty that the Spirit of God in such common works doth put forth upon the souls of unregenerate men, though it be but as the Sun shining upon a mud-wall, or as a curious robe put upon a dead carkass, it cannot keep it

from stinking, because there is not a principle of life in it. (1) Hereby the Lord re∣strains their spirits. There is a restraint without by a power that is upon the Devil, by which he is restrained from doing the mischief he would else do; but there is a restraint within upon the lusts of men, and that is by some special works of the Spirit of God upon them, Exod. 34.24. No man shall desire thy land, &c. and the Spirit restraining is for the Saints sake as well as the Spirit renewing, Psal 76:10. The wrath of man shall praise thee,* 1.774 and the remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 accinges, thou shalt gird up; sometimes the Lord lets mens lusts loose, and sometimes he does gird them up as he doth the Sea in a girdle of sand, or else the Saints of God, who are always as sheep amongst wolves, would surely be devoured by them, for their soul is amongst lyons. Now they are common works that do exceedingly restrain the sins and the rage of unregenerate men, and bind up their spirits both in reference unto persecution and the wrongs done by them, as also in reference to corruption and the evil example given by them also.

(2) Hereby the Lord doth fit them for service; for even the vessels of dishonour are for service in the house also, though they be but of wood and stone, &c. Now though gifts do immediately qualifie them, yet they are common works that do make them to exercise those gifts, and are unto them as oyl to the wheels in the use of them; as a tem∣porary Believer he may be an eminent Professor, and the house that such a one builds is far more glorious in outward shew than that of a Saint, for they are both called builders, Mat. 7.7. and many men do service for God, but they are cold in it, because they are acted on∣ly from without, Rom. 16.18. whose God is their belly, Non ità glacies & frigus sicut Elcius & alii, sed ego rem seriam agebam, ut quòd diem extremum horribiliter timui, &c. Luth. and this will make a man seem to act from an inward principle, as if he had received life from the Spirit, and were made alive from the dead; and thereby even ungodly men do many times give a great testimony unto the principles and the practices of the Saints, that they acknowledge them and seal unto them, and yet nevertheless there is in them a principle to hate them, and that will vent it self in time, when the thorns shall spring up to choak the word, notwithstanding all the restraints that are upon their lusts for a season.

(3) Thereby they do good many times, and give great encouragements to the Saints by their example; for their lamps do shine as lights in the world, and there are many that do shew others the way, in which they themselves walk not, but they have their di∣verticula, their crooked ways, they go forth with the people of God,* 1.775 and yet they do after∣wards repent themselves, and turn back again from the way that's called holy, 2 Pet. 2.21. Godly men do not only follow the example of the Saints, that is, those that are real∣ly and truly so, but they have many times very great encouragement from the example and the countenance of them that are not so, as we see it in the instance of Joash, how he did encourage the builders of the Temple; especially when they are men in authority and power, they do encourage and go before the Saints of God, unto the end whereof they ne∣ver come; and so we have much experienced in our days.

2. By their gifts also; no man hath his gifts for himself, they are this worlds goods, they are not thy own, but another mans, as thy riches are: and they are the Churches Trea∣sure, and they will fall from a man when he dyes, as Elijahs mantle; for they are of no use in the world to come, and therefore shall not continue, 1 Cor. 13.8, 9. they are (1) for the Churches collection, that so they may be instrumental in gathering in others. As for that dispute, Whether a man that is unregenerate is made use of by God to convert others? I shall not now insist on; but I conceive the power of conversion being not of man, but of God, the Lord calling such as belong to the Election, doth according to his good pleasure con∣cur with the one as with the other; the gifts of the Ministry are for the gathering of the Saints, Eph. 4. many of them are unregenerate men, and yet have received a gift, Mat. 7.21. and can say to Christ, We have prophesied in thy name; yet are cast-aways themselves; for Christ has received gifts for men, yea for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell amongst them, Psal. 68.18. that is, that the Lord might have a Church for a habitation amongst them, Habes ingenium verè aureum (saith Austin of Lycentius) & diabolo propinas teipsum. Deus populo suo tam per pios quàm per impios magna facere & donare potest, Luth. Golden wits may be the Devils vassals. (2) For the perfection of the Saints; for during the standing of this great house the vessels shall continue, and there will be a continual use of them, that though they serve their lusts, yet by the use of their gifts the Lords ends are accomplished, Phil. 1.18. Some preach Christ out of envy, but yet Christ is preached, and thereby the savour of the Gospel is spread abroad, and souls are converted and edified; for there is many a man that builds an Ark that saves others, that never saves himself, that preaches to others, and is himself a cast-away; there were many that converted others to the Faith in the times of Popery, that yet departed themselves from

that Faith when suffering came; And I fear it will also be said of some Ministers now a∣mongst us, that seem great Zealots for the cause and ways of God, that when the hour and power of darkness that is coming once again in this Nation shall over-spread it, they will draw back from the plough, to which they have before so many witnesses put their hand, &c. the love of many shall wax cold.

3. All their services also; for they have gifts for service, and it is for the service of the house, and they are therefore called servants; and truly it's an honour to be a ser∣vant to the Saints, seeing the Angels are so; and there is much benefit that the Saints have by it, as we see in Saul, the spirit of government was upon him, and that service he did in it was for the Saints; and Zac. 4.12. they are said to empty the golden oyl out of themselves, &c. but it is all for the good of the Candlestick, it is that the light thereof may be maintained. (1) Sometimes they protect as Badgers skins the Ark from storms that the Church is exposed to; unregenerate men may be very serviceable to the Church of God, as we see in Cyrus, &c. (2) Sometimes they may assist them in any work that they set upon, they may stand by them, and strengthen their hands, as we see Joash the King did about the building and repairing the House of the Lord. (3) Sometimes they may supply them; there is many a man that supplies the necessities of the Saints, that doth it to be seen of men, and have their reward; for they are labourers in the Lords Vineyard, and it is for the benefit of it that they are imployed, and they have their penny, and they may also bear much of the burden and heat of the day, as it seems they that murmured did, and they do commonly set a high price upon their own services: and hereby the Saints do glorifie Christ, who has given such gifts to men; and when he hath given such to his enemies, O what are those gifts that he hath reserved for his sons! They see it is the great fruit of the Ascension of Christ, and as from the seven Spirits that are before the Throne; and they can bless God for his goodness to the children of men; and though they pity such a soul to see him destroyed by his own gifts, in his abusing of them, non est calamitosior homo in terris quàm doctor superbus, There is not a more piteous man in the world than a proud Doctor, Luth. yet they glorifie Christ therein, and see this as a fruit of his government, that there may be those that shall build the Taberna∣cle of God, as it is said of Bezaleel and Aholiab that they were gifted for the work, &c.

4. By their sins; for (1) the Lord doth let them live for the Saints sake, lets both good and bad grow together to the harvest, and he will weed them out for the Saints sake also; for he will gather out of his Kingdom all that offends, and whoever works iniquity; and he will not have the society of the Saints always polluted by the chaff of the world, for they are spots in their feasts, and therefore he doth take them away as unfruitful fig∣trees, he cuts them down and gives them to salt, to a perpetual barrenness; for the grace and ordinances of the Gospel will heal even the dead sea, Ezech. 47.11, 12. therefore he casts them out in order to their destruction. (2) The Lord will not have his people al∣ways deluded: the Saints many times are mistaken in their opinion of persons, they may as Eli did misreprove a Hannah in the Church of God, and as David believe a Zibi a∣gainst the son of his friend; for commonly the best deserving Christians are clouded by the glaring light of the lamps of Hypocrites, who make it their business to raise false re∣ports against such as outshine them in true grace and holiness; but at last God will disco∣ver them and cast them out of the Churches prayers and affection, they shall not always abide with them,* 1.776 that they may be made manifest not to be of them: and they that are approved shall be made manifest; and so shall they that are corrupted also, they shall be found lyars, and they shall be cast out, the Lord will cut them off, that they may de∣ceive the expectations of the Saints no more; the Lord doth delight to do it, and we should wait his leisure in it, who will certainly shew himself a God that judges in the earth. (3) That thereby the Saints may be awakened and admonished; when Hymeneus fell, then 2 Tim. 2.7. is that exhortation most seasonable, Let him that names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity, and let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall: when a man observes horrendas tempestates & flenda naufragia, horrid tempests, it is a hint to the Saints, look to your standing, see that you be built upon a Rock, that storms and tempests may not overthrow you.

5. In their judgments; for they are terrible judgments that the Lord doth execute upon unregenerate men in the Church, there are no mercies like those out of Sion, and there are no judgments like them; no men are so eminently under the curse as they are: Out of the Throne came thundering, and lightning, and voices, Rev. 4.5. for the Churches sake and by their prayers. And this is (1) that the Saints may be thankful; how great a mercy is it that I had not fallen away as well as he, Joh. 14.22. (2) That they may take heed of the same sins, lest they be overtaken by the same plagues; Remember Lots wife; the natu∣ral

branches are broken off, thou standest by faith, be not high-minded, but fear; they entred not through unbelief; let us fear, lest we also come short, &c.* 1.777

§. 3. There belongs also unto the spiritual Kingdom reductivè, all the works and the dispensations of God amongst the creatures; for though only men that live in the Church be the proper subjects of the spiritual Kingdom, and in respect of the spiritual part of it, only the Saints; yet as the Mediator undertook the government of all other things for the Churches sake, so in the government of all things he has a special respect unto their good;* 1.778 so that all the creatures and the government of them all comes under the spiritual Kingdom two ways: (1) As they tend to perfect the graces of the Saints. (2) As they belong unto the priviledges of the Saints; so reductivè they belong to the spiritual King∣dom▪ 1. Christ in the spiritual Kingdom doth so order and dispose of all the creatures, that they do all tend to perfect and increase the graces of the Saints, Rom. 8.28.* 1.779 All things shall work together for good to them that love God: the Apostle speaks it in reference unto affliction; but yet because there was a general doctrine in it, he would not restrain it, and therefore he saith 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that is, all creatures and all events, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, i. e. (1) they shall not work so of themselves, but by a blessed and gracious concurrence of God with them all, as it is said, That Ministers are workers togethers with God, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, 2 Cor. 6.1. Alas! it is not any thing we can do, or by any power that is in us, but only there is a concurrence of the principal with the instrumental cause; for instrumentum agit dispositivè in virtute prin∣cipalis agentis. (2) Some refer it unto the creatures themselves, that they do not do this apart, as if any one action or any one dispensation meerly did it, but they do it as it were in a conspiracy or concatenation, they all joyn together in the work, that if we take any one particular, we may seem to go backward, and it may tend to the disadvantage of the spiritual Kingdom, but we must take them all together; as we are not to judge of the works of God ante quintum actum, so neither are we to judge of the fruits of his works, but by laying of them all together, and see how they work in a due order and subordination one to ano∣ther, &c. and unto what is it? 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that is, ad aeternam piorum salutem; for sine summo bono nil bonum. As there is nothing good without the chiefest good, so there is nothing good that doth not lead a man unto the chief good; and therefore when it's said, That all things work together for good, the meaning is, they shall all make for the increase of their grace here, and their glory hereafter, all of them shall work for the eternal good of their souls: whereas unto all wicked men, all the creatures and all the dispensations of God in the ordering of the creatures cedunt in perniciem, tend to their perdition: they are unto the one in praemium, for a reward, unto the other in supplicium, for punishment, as Prosper has it; Or as Cyprian saith of the Sacrament, it was Petro in remedium, Judae in venenum, a remedy to Peter, but poyson to Judas; so it is here, all the creatures that the wicked do enjoy, they are indeed seemingly blessings, but really curses, outwardly bread, but in verity a stone, a fish in shew, but in truth a scorpion; for they do all of them tend to the ripening of their sins, and the hastning of their ruine: but to the Saints, 1 Cor. 3.21, 22. All things are yours; he was speaking of glorying in men, they should not boast of their Teachers; though it is true indeed, that the Primitive Church had their Crown of twelve Stars, yet they were all the servants of the Churches, & debent tam corpori quàm capiti servire, they ought to serve the body as well as the head; and therefore some will have it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 for 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 but the Apostle doth speak here, as in the fore-quoted places (as I conceive) where though speaking of one particular, yet there being a general truth in it, he doth propound it ge∣nerally; for it is not to be restrained to persons, as the after-enumeration shews, for he speaks of life and death, things present and things to come: now how doth he mean that all is ours? that is, aedificationi & saluti destinata, as ordained for our edification and salva∣tion; there is a special design of grace in ordering and disposing of them all, so as they shall be truly our servants, that is, they shall tend unto the advancement of our spiritual and eternal good, Rom. 8.38. what he had before spoken positively, that they shall all do us good, here he speaks negatively, that they shall never be able to do us hurt: I am per∣swaded that neither life nor death, via extrema, secunda, & adversa, the highest pitch of prosperity, and the lowest ebb of adversity or affliction, shall not be able to hurt us, nor Angels good or bad, nor principalities, and powers, that is, all the powers of Empires and Monarchs of the world, nor things present, nor things to come, not any intermediate events that now do, or hereafter may befal us, nor heights nor depths, nor any creature, i. e. if there be any creature that comes not under the former enumeration, whether it be in heaven above, or in the deeps beneath, it shall never be able to hurt us in respect of our eternal state, because it shall never be able to separate us from the love of God, which has so sure a ground; for it is love born to us in Christ, in whom he has elected us, &c. therefore you see there comes no disadvantage, but a continual advantage unto the spi∣ritual

Kingdom by all the creatures and by the dispensations of Christ in the ordering and the government of them all.

Let us see this by an enumeration of some particulars.

1. If the Lord give unto his people prosperity, it shall be to the advantage of the in∣ward man, and in their outward prosperity their souls shall prosper, 2 Chron. 17.6. Je∣hosaphat had silver and gold and riches in abundance, and his heart was lifted up and encoura∣ged in the ways of Gods commandments; and thereby the people of God make them friends of the unrighteous Mammon, and they lay up a good foundation, that they may lay hold of eternal life; Eccles. 7.11. Wisdom is good with an inheritance; it is good in it self without an inheritance, but there is a special advantage by wisdom with an inheritance, and so it's better to the man; or it is good to a mans self, but it is not so good unto another; and so Prov. 14.24. The crown of the wise is their riches; but there are to other men riches re∣served for the hurt of the owner, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them, Prov. 1.32. wisdom is the better with an inheritance, but folly is the worse with an inheritance; for the folly of fools is foolishness; he speaks it of rich fools, there are no men discover their folly more, and whose foolishness is more eminent and notorious than these mens; as riches draw forth the graces of the one, so do they also the sins of the other.

2. If the Lord give unto his people afflictions, it shall be to the advantage of their in∣ward man, Rom. 5.3. Tribulation works patience: surely patience is a fruit of the Spirit, as all other graces are, and cannot be wrought in any man by affliction, unless it be gi∣ven him by the Spirit. A man must have patience, (1) if ever he will bear affliction fruitfully; but (2) the word is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which doth signifie to work a thing out, and bringing of it to perfection, Phil. 2.12. It is this therefore, that when patience is wrought in the soul by the Spirit, it is improved and exceedingly drawn out by affliction, it doth improve the graces of the Saints; and upon this ground it is said, Count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations, Jam. 1.2. Esa. 27.8, 9. in measure God shoots forth the affli∣ction; and the mercy of God is greatly seen in the moderation of the affliction: By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is the fruit to take away the sin of his people, when he makes all the stones of their Altars to be as chalk stones; and therefore Esa. 24.15. Glorifie the Lord in the fires 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.780 he doth chastise them, that they may be made partakers of his holiness.

3. Temptations; for the Lord Jesus doth order all the temptations of Satan, and di∣rects them unto spiritual ends; for even the very enemies of the spiritual Kingdom he doth over-rule so, as he makes them servants to it, even the vessels of dishonour have their use in the great house, as the Apostle speaks, 2 Tim. 2.21. Satan is an enemy, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that enemy, in two things to the Saints: (1) In his accusations unto God; he is therefore called the Accuser of the Brethren, and so he did move God against Job to destroy him without a cause, Job 2.3. there was cause enough in Job, if the Lord had been ex∣treme to mark what he had done amiss; but there was not that cause that Satan did al∣ledge; and it is a mercy to the people of God, that though there be cause enough, yet he doth hide the true cause from their malicious accusers, that that which they fasten upon them is no cause to set God or man against them, but the more the Lord doth appear for his servants to justifie them; had not Satan accused Job so impetuously, God had never so eminently appeared for his justification. This should quiet and comfort the Saints in all the hard measure and reproaches that they meet withal in the world, that yet the Lord will arise for their justification and their enemies confusion; that though a child of God may lye under the blast of the wicked for a season, yet God will vindicate him at last, so that false friends, as well as true enemies, shall be made to say, Surely there is no inchant∣ment against any of the seed of Jacob;* 1.781 &c. Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his Saints to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him and his children, &c. (2) Satan is an enemy by his temptations unto the Saints, and so the strength of God is made perfect in their weakness, that is, manifestly declared so to be, 2 Cor. 12. for thereby their strength is tryed, there is nothing tries grace so much as tem∣ptation unto sin, because nothing is more opposite unto grace, and gratia vexata seipsam prodit, grace vexed discovers it self: thereby also their corruption is purged, for the Lord doth commonly temper that poyson into a medicine, and Satan that seeks to kill shall be instrumental to cure, he that doth intend to stab the man shall but give vent to his imposthume; and therefore Luther says of temptation, when the Papists did object unto Luther, that he himself granted Purgatory, I do indeed, saith he, but it is but that Purga∣tory of temptation, and he adds, Hoc Purgatorium non est fictum; and hereby the enemy is conquered; for we are more than conquerors, Rom. 8. It was said that the Carthaginians

did prevail against the Romans in praelio, in a battel sometimes, sed nunquam in bello, never in war; so does Satan against the Saints, but they surely have the victory in the end, and therefore faith has its triumphing as well as its relying act, &c.

4. Corruptions of men shall tend to the Saints spiritual advantage: though God is not the Author of sin, yet he is the Orderer of it. (1) He doth not let out the corruptions of other men any further than for the good of his Saints: The wrath of man shall praise thee; no man shall desire thy land; I suffered thee not to touch her; the Lord withholds men from hurting his people, and his restraining grace is not only upon their acts, but upon their corruptions also; so as they are not let out but unto the Saints spiritual advantage also. (2) Not only the corruptions of other men, but those of the Saints themselves; the falling out of any new and eminent fall the Lord will make as a new conversion, Luke 22.32. When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren; the foundation is laid anew, and there is also a renewing of justification, a more fast application of the Righteousness of Christ: I will take away thy filthy garments, and I will cloath thee with change of raiment;* 1.782 I have caused thy iniquity to pass from thee; and this makes way for a glorious assurance and for an eminent imployment; for God sets a Mitre or a Crown upon his head, and he was thereby fitted for the great work of the Temple, and taken into society with them that stand by.

5. All a mans imployment; it is a testimony that a man is a vessel of honour, when in every condition he is fitted for the masters use; and it's a token that a man is called unto any imployment in mercy, when he has the graces of that condition drawn forth; a man may be called to the Ministry or the Magistracy, but not in mercy, without this; there is an election to an imployment as well as to life, Paul was separated from his mothers womb unto the Gospel of Christ, &c. If David be a shepherd, he follows the Ews great with young, and he doth it with faithfulness, and if he be taken from the sheepfold to feed Jacob the Lords people, and Israel his inheritance, he doth it with the integrity of his heart, and the skilfulness of his hand, Acts 13.22. Vis me constituere pastorem ovium, aut regem populorum, ecce paratum est cor meum, &c. sometimes friends, sometimes enemies, some∣times the chief of the Princes were against David, but God was with him.

6. Even death it self and the agonies thereof: for even death it self is yours, it is a servant, and not an enemy, because it doth improve and further a mans spiritual interest. (1) As men dye in the Lord, Rev. 14.13. death is theirs by virtue of their union with Christ, that as they bear fruit in him, so they dye in him; death cannot dissolve the union between a soul and Christ. (2) As they die to him, so they live to him, that is▪* 1.783 they make him their end in living and dying, they would live no longer than he might be glo∣rified, as Paul says, and they would then die when he might be glorified, that Christ might be magnified in my body, Phil. 1. and they count not their lives dear. (3) It is a life of glory that death lets the Saints into, it opens the door unto a weight of eternal life, it doth per∣fect the purer part of man, delivers him from the body of sin; for he that is dead is freed from sin, and it doth let him into the beatifical vision, and thereby his sanctification also is perfected: as it is recorded of Bernard when he was sick unto death, there was a great while nothing heard of him but this, Tempus perdidi, quàm perditè vixi! but at last he adds, Hoc meum solatium, duplici in re Christus regnum possidet, quà filius, quà passus, hoc secundo nihil ei opus fuit, sed mihi dedit; and under this consolation he fell asleep.

2. All the creatures belong to the spiritual Kingdom reductivè, as they do belong to the priviledges of the Saints; for all things are yours, because you are Christs; there is a double right, jus politicum & evangelicum: now in this manner they belong to the spiri∣tual Kingdom, 1. In respect of their continuance; for it is for their sakes that the world stands. By virtue of the ancient curse, Cursed be the ground for thy sake, the earth would sink under us, but that the Lord Jesus did put under his hand and keep it from ruine by virtue of the new Covenant; therefore he is brought in as the upholder of all things, who also purged our sins, and is sate down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Heb. 1.3. for the Lord did not continue the creatures in their being to serve his enemies, but the subordi∣nation of creatures depends upon the second Covenant, as appears Hos. 2.21. and the Lord will surely manifest it in these two things. (1) In the latter days the Kingdom and Dominion of the whole Earth shall be taken out of the hands of the enemies, and shall be given into the hands of the Saints to the end of the world, Dan. 7.18. and then all the wicked of the earth shall lick the dust of their feet, and it is in order thereunto that it is continued to this day. (2) As soon as the Lord has gathered in the number of his Saints, and has perfected their graces, he will take down the stage of this world, and overturn it, that it shall be no more, at least such as now it is. Now they that are the heirs of this world, as Abrahams seed are called, they are translating, and Gods children

being called home, the Lord will not continue the world for servants, but he will break up house-keeping, and he will send every one of them unto their own place, &c. the tares and the wheat do grow till the harvest, but the Lord will not suffer the tares to grow again after the harvest; and therefore the very continuation of the creatures belongs un∣to the spiritual Kingdom as one part of the priviledges of the Saints.

2. The restitution of the creatures; for as they were made subject unto vanity by sin, (for they all came under mans Covenant, and therefore you have heard in mans fall the curse took hold upon them, they being made for the use of man, Rom. 8.20, 21.) they shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption; and therefore they wait for the manife∣station of the glory of the sons of God; not that all the creatures shall be continued in being, for many of them shall be consumed in that last conflagration, but yet the substance shall continue as standing monuments unto Gods glory, as matter of praise and of delight unto the Saints, which shall be begun in the last days of the world, Acts 3.21. there shall be a wonderful change in the creatures doubtless before the last day, when the Ass shall eat clean fodder,* 1.784 or provender, and when the stones shall be silver and gold, and out of the earth shall come brass, &c. and when the lyon shall lye down with the lamb, Esa. 11.6. which some, as Lactantius, do understand literally to be fulfilled, terra aperiet foecunditatem suam, rupes montium melle sudabunt, non bestiae sanguine alentur, non aves praedâ, Lactant. lib. 7. cap. 4. The earth shall discover its fecundity, the rocks sweat honey, &c. When Christ shall come to the wedding, his servants shall put on their gay apparel, and this is the new Heaven and the new Earth, which shall begin before, and shall in the glory for the substantials of it re∣main after the Lord by the last fire has purged the world, unto which the world is reser∣ved: now in this also all the creatures belong unto the spiritual Kingdom of Christ.

§. 4. We have seen that the spiritual Kingdom is in the hand of Christ for the good of the Saints, and that (1) in that inward dominion that he has over them in whose hearts he dwells by a spirit of regeneration: (2) over them that belong unto this Kingdom by profession only: (3) over all the creatures reductivè, how they all belong unto the spiri∣tual Kingdom, [1] as they tend to perfect their graces, [2] as they belong to the pri∣viledges of the Saints. There is yet one head remaining, and that is, how Christ the Me∣diator, who is King in this spiritual Kingdom, doth rule and order the Angels, that they have an influence and do conduce to the advancement of the spiritual Kingdom; and they are of two sorts, Angels on Earth, his Ministers, and the Angels in Heaven; for they are both Officers in the spiritual Kingdom under Christ the King, and their Kingdom be∣gun with that of the Mediator, and he that did set them up, will also put them down be∣fore he give up the Kingdom unto the Father; for they must give up their account unto Christ, and Christ must give up his unto the Father; for he saith, Heb. 2.13. Behold I and the children that thou hast given me:* 1.785 1 Cor. 15.24. He shall put down all rule and all autho∣rity and power; the word is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, some refer it unto all powers opposite unto the Kingdom of Christ, and they say, that all these he shall put down, non modò ut non prae∣valeát, sed ut planè non sit. Now he doth over-rule them so, that they do advance that Kingdom which they intend to oppose, for he rules in the middle of his enemies, but then they shall not be able to oppose; now he defeats all their plots, but then he shall destroy their persons also: but others do refer it unto the powers set up by Christ, which then he shall put an end unto, when the end of that institution is accomplished, and that not only unto the mediatory Kingdom which is to last but until the Saints are perfected, and till they all come unto the unity of the faith and to a perfect man, &c. but it is expound∣ed also de principatu Angelico, they shall have no further hand in the government of the spiritual nor of the providential Kingdom, but during this present state, both these pow∣ers are to continue till he that did set them up shall put them down, and in the continued ordering and rule of these, much of the spiritual Kingdom of Christ doth consist, and they do much conduce unto the perfection of the spiritual Kingdom, and therefore I shall instance in them both.

1. For the Angels upon Earth; for so the Ministers and Messengers of God are sti∣led,* 1.786 Judg. 2.1. An Angel of the Lord came from Gilgal to Bochim: it is most probable that it was a Prophet, one that spake to them in the name of the Lord, and some conceive it to be Phineas the Priest, because he is said to come from Gilgal; whereas Peter Martyr well observes, if it had been a heavenly Angel, it would have been rather said, Coelo descendisse, &c.* 1.787 That he descended from Heaven, and Eccles. 5.6. Say not before the Angel it is an oversight, that is, before the Priest before whom the errours of their rash vows were to be confessed,* 1.788 Levit. 5.4, 5. Rev. 2.1. To the Angel of the Church, &c. and it is both a term of office and a term of honour; for they as well as the heavenly Angels are sent forth for the good of the Elect; and they are but Messengers, they must do their office, and it

is also a term of honour, for the Lord takes them into the highest imployments and admi∣nistrations; and therefore it is unto an Officer that the promise is made, Zac. 3.7.* 1.789 If thou walk in my ways and keep my charge, thou shalt judge my house and keep my courts, and I will give thee galleries to walk in amongst them that stand by. Now Christ being the King of the spiritual Kingdom, we shall observe how he doth govern and rule and order things for the Saints sake: that he did set up a Ministry in his Church it's true, that he doth give them a Commission to preach the Gospel to all Nations, and the sound of it goes forth unto all the earth, it comes unto them that are hardned as well as to them that are con∣verted by it, but it was only for the sake of the Saints that he did it, or else he had never appointed such an office; therefore Eph. 4.12. the end of the Ministry is for the perfect∣ing of the Saints, and for the edifying of the body of Christ; there are indeed many inferiour and subordinate ends, there is finis minùs principalis, and many of these are attained also by one and the same action, and yet it is the principal end that was really the intention of the efficient, without which he would never have done it, though he also takes in many lesser and inferiour ends: it's true, that there are many ends that by the preaching of the Gospel the Lord doth accomplish upon the wicked of the world, but yet he had never sent the Gospel for these ends, nor set up a Ministry for the publishing thereof, but it was only for the Saints, for their gathering and their perfecting, &c.

2. It is for the good of the Saints that he doth furnish them with gifts and abilities for so great an imployment, it is onus humeris Angelicis formidandum, who is sufficient for these things? It requires the highest abilities attainable by the art of man and the grace of God, 1 Cor. 4.1. we are stewards of the mysteries of God,* 1.790 non ad politias regendas aut bella gerenda, &c. but that the mysteries of God, the truths of the Gospel are commit∣ted unto them, and the Lord doth lay them up in them as in a common Treasury, 2 Cor. 4.7. We have this treasure in earthen vessels, &c. It is not committed to them for their own sakes, or for their own use, but it is for the good of the family, and so Christ speaks unto his Disciples, Mat. 13.52. they should be as a Scribe instructed unto the kingdom of God; it was the office of the Scribes to teach the people the mysteries of the Word of God, and to give the sense, as Ezra the Scribe did; and therefore Christ makes use of the word, and applies it unto the Ministers of the Gospel, and he must be endued with all sorts of knowledge, he must have variety, he must have old things which he has treasu∣red up long, for he is to be a Treasury of it, the Priests lips are to preserve knowledge, and also he must not be content with old things, but he must seek after new discoveries, new degrees of light, he must grow in knowledge daily, and therefore he must have new affections also, and this he must not hide and reserve there, but he must bring it forth; it is what a godly man, that is called by God to teach others, should be affected with and afflicted for, if he come short in any grace or gifts that some of his flock are eminent for;* 1.791 and all those that the Lord does call to this work he doth in some measure qualifie, for God doth not send a Messenger and cut off his feet: now all this is for the Churches, for the Saints sake, and for their good; 1 Cor. 3.21, 22. Let no man glory in man, for all things are yours, all for your sakes; the highest offices, and the greatest gifts, and the greatest variety, Paul, Apollo, and Cephas, all is for your sake, for your edification and salvation: We preach not our selves, but Jesus the Lord, and our selves your servants for Jesus sake; we are not Lords of your faith, but helpers of your joy, &c. Eph 4.11, 12. he gave gifts unto men to qualifie them for their offices, and all is for the perfecting of the Saints.

3. He puts into them suitable affections and inward dispositions of heart towards them: Paul says, I was amongst you as a Nurse, with much pains and unweariedness,* 1.792 and with much patience and forbearance, bearing with your frowardness and the crookedness of your spirits and dispositions, Phil. 1.8. I long for you all in the bowels of Christ,* 1.793 bowels you know do signifie the tenderest affections, (1) such as are not natural, but wrought in me by Christ; for I had them not of my self, and so it notes causam efficientem. (2) With great affections, such as Christ their Saviour did bear to them, having their names written in his heart, even to lay down his life for them, with such bowels do I long for you, being willing to be sacrificed unto the service of your faith, and so it notes causam exemplarem, 2 Cor. 8.16. he put the same care into the heart of Titus. Phil. 2.20. it is said of Timothy,* 1.794 he doth naturally care for your things, ad animi sinceritatem refert, Theodor. it is not from any out∣ward respect or fleshly end, but from a natural principle wrought in him by the Lord, that he doth it naturally from an inward principle in nature; as the natural affection of the fa∣ther and mother is put into them for the good of the child, so there is a natural principle put into them for the good of the Saints, &c.

4. He doth set them in their places, stars they are, and he doth appoint them their orbs, where they shall shine, for the seven Stars are the Angels of the Churches, and are in

the right hand of Christ, are at his dispose, who sends them to a people where they shall be fishers: men do not know where the sholes of fish go, for we fish under water, but the Lord saith, Go and speak to them, for I have much people in this city; and when he has gathered in the number of his Elect in any place, then he takes away the Ministry from thence, and when there are any to be gathered in, then he doth bring them again. This is the reason why he doth cause it to rain upon one city, and not upon another also. As he sets them in their stations, so quoad protectionem, he it is that doth preserve them from the rage of men, which truly we know not how soon we may be exposed to, for I fear the time draws near; yet the witnesses shall not be killed till they have finished their te∣stimony, and it is not all the power of the enemy shall be able to remove them.

5. He doth over-rule and order them in their Ministry for the good of his people: sometimes the Spirit of the Lord comes upon them, and they speak beyond their intentions or meditations, Heb. 1.1. he speaks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, he orders their hearts, and he doth over-rule their tongues, he doth make discoveries unto them for the good of his people, as sometimes he doth pour a darkness upon them for the sins of his people: and sometimes God in judgment hides his truths from a Teacher, because the people are not fitted to re∣ceive them. It's true not only of the Magistrates, that the Lord gives them up to commit follies, as he did David, because he was provoked against Israel, therefore he tempted David to number the people; but also it is true of the Ministers, Mic. 3.6. Pro divinatione erit caligo, ye shall have darkness, and the Lord will give no Visions unto the Prophets; and though they seek it,* 1.795 yet they shall have no answer from God, he will pour out upon the Pro∣phets and the seers the spirit of a deep sleep. Now as the Lord doth sometimes hide his word from his Prophets and his Messengers of purpose in judgment unto the people, that they that say to their Ministers, Prophesie not, the Lord says, They shall not prophesie; so he doth also give light unto them; and answerable unto the good that he doth mean to do unto a people, such is his presence and assistance with the Prophets that he doth imploy, and all the discoveries of God in the Word shall be to them to whom he intends evil, as the words of a sealed book, that they shall say, I cannot read it, because it is sealed, as the Lord opens the book in mercy to his people and to his Prophets, so he doth seal it in judgment to other men, that seeing they shall see and not perceive, and hearing they shall hear, and not understand.* 1.796 Paul was pressed in spirit, and testified unto the Jews pro violento impulsu ad so∣litum instinctum plus accessit fervoris, Calv. There is sometimes a greater impulse upon the Ministers of the Gospel than there is at another time, and we should watch and wait to hear what God speaks to us in that manner, even while we are speaking to others; and truly the secret hints that God many times gives, that are immediately darted in from God, we have cause to consider of and look upon as the special mercies of our lives, be∣cause therein God has glory in a special manner according to the service that the Lord has to do for them and by them, and all is for the good of his people.

6. He doth give an efficacy and success unto their labours in three things. (1) He doth by them gather souls; for Paul saith, 1 Cor. 4.15. I have begotten you thorow the Gospel; and therefore as Christ is a Father, so are they also spiritual Fathers under him, as they are imployed by him to bring souls unto the Lord, and they travel in birth with you, there is a planting as well as a watering, and this should be the great aim of a Minister, without which he should think all the other ends as it were lost, as Christ doth, Esa. 49.4. I have laboured in vain, Israel is not gathered; not in vain as to his reward, but yet unto the great end of his calling in vain, which is to bring men to repentance, to turn them from dark∣ness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, Acts 26.18. (2) For the perfecting of their graces, Rom. 1.11, 12. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiri∣tual gift, to the end you may be established, &c. 1 Thess. 3.10. it is, that I might perfect that which is wanting in your faith; for there is to be a watering as well as a planting, there is a fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ, in which the Ministers should desire to come unto a people, Rom. 15.29. that it be not an empty Ministry, but come with a ful∣ness of blessing, oratione satagamus, ut ipse perficiat in auditore quod loquitur in doctore, Luth. (3) To preserve them from errour; they are the salt of the earth for this end, that men may not prove unsavory, Eph. 4.14, 15. that men be not carried about with every wind of doctrine called so,* 1.797 [1] for its mutability, it doth not abide long in one quarter, men are not long of the same mind, quò quis foret religiosior, eò promptiùs novellis aedinventionibus contrà iret. [2] For its prevalency, it is strong and powerful, and for the strength of it, it is compared unto a mighty wind; and so it is with this also unto light things, that which is chaff and has no root it carries away with ease, trees that have no root; but that which has a root is the more firmly rooted; and this is the honour of the Ministers, that the people be in this manner preserved and established, &c.

7. Their sufferings are for the Churches sake also, and the Churches good: Phil. 1.12, 13. The things that have happened to me in my bonds, they have been for the furtherance of the Gospel; I endure all for the Churches sake, that they may attain the salvation which is in Jesus Christ, I fill up that which is behind of the suffering of Christ for his bodies sake, which is the Church. It is true, that the sufferings of Christ are only for the Churches redemption,* 1.798 and that the suffering of the Ministers also is for the Churches edification, and they whom the Lord will have to profit his people no longer by their preaching, shall do it by their suffering, as one of the Martyrs said, I hope we shall kindle a fire this day in England that shall never be put out again; Christs sufferings only are meritoriously available for the salva∣tion of the Saints, but ours also ministerially for their edification; and therefore what do they intend that seek to destroy the Ministers of Christ, of which Christ makes so great a use, far from the apprehension of the people of Antioch, who when Chrysostome was banished professed, tolerabilius fuisset, si Sol radios suos retraxisset: and Luther, Si in manu mea res esset, non vellem Deum mihi loqui de coelo, sed huc tendunt quotidianae preces meae, ut digno ho∣nore habeam: his care was that he might esteem the Ministry as the Ordinance that God had appointed, &c.

2. And as Christ useth the Angels upon earth for the advancement of the spiritual Kingdom, so he doth the Angels in heaven also; (1) they pray for us, Dan. 4.17. Non ex officio, sed charitate, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Clem. Alex. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Origen.

2. They do joyn with us in our praises, and out of their love bless God wonderfully for mercies unto us; at the Birth of Christ the Angels sing, Good will towards men, Rev. 5.11. there is a principle of love that makes them to rejoyce in our good, that we are taken into their fellowship, members of the same body, and it may be as many men are saved as there were Angels that fell qui supplent locum illum, as Bern. and so the School-men generally, non in naturam Angelicam, sed statum, for they shall be 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

3. They do instruct us in the things of God: for as the Devil doth put evil motions into mankind, so do the Angels good motions also, Dan. 9.22. I am sent to inform thee; and the Angels themselves, as by the Church, so for the Churches sake they have many discoveries made to them; that they might also teach them to us; they receive a spirit of Prophecy from Christ for the Churches sake, Rev. 19.10. the god of this world blinds the eyes of men, and the Angels that are imployed by the Spirit of God do inlighten them.

4. They watch over them carefully to keep them from sin:* 1.799 Michael the Archangel when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a rail∣ing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee, &c. Why did God hide the body of Moses? Ne corpus ejus in superstionis occasionem adducerent. Now here Michael contends: if it be Christ that is here meant, the Angels are his armies, and they are behind him, Zac. 1. but some conceive it a created Angel, for it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, he durst not give him a railing accu∣sation, Satan would have brought it to light, but the Angels hindred it; and so Rev. 19. John would have worshipped the Angel, but the Angel saith, See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow-servant. Now see the difference between the good Angels and the bad, the De∣vil will be worshipped, he tempts all men, as he did the Lord Christ to fall down and worship him, he delights to make men sin in point of worship; but now the good Angel will restrain from sin, and will not suffer the servants of God to sin against God: See thou do it not, &c.

5. The Angels do sweetly comfort and chear the souls of the Saints in their dejecti∣ons; when Daniel was troubled, an Angel bids him not to fear, thou art a man of desires; they delight as well in your consolation as in your conversion, and so they did with Christ in his agony, the Angels comforted him; and so to Paul, Be of good chear, says the Angel:* 1.800 Discamus optimos & constantissimos amicos nostros esse Angelos, qui fide, benevolentiâ, & omnibus amicitiae officiis visibiles amicos longè superant, sicut diaboli omnes hostes visibiles, The Angels are our best and most constant friends, &c. Luth.

Lastly, At death they carry the souls of the people of God into Abrahams bosom, and they do rejoyce in such a conveyance, that they may be imployed to bring another into society and communion with themselves in that glory which they by Christ attain unto; for they delight in the filling up of the body of Christ; and when a soul is converted, there is much joy not only to the Angels, but even to God himself; how much more therefore when a soul is glorified, &c. as the Devil from a principle of enmity is ready as an Executioner to conduct souls to be tormented in hell, to carry them from the presence of the Lord; so are the blessed Angels from a principle of love, as Officers for our con∣duct to enter into our Masters joy; and sweet shall the converse of the soul and the An∣gels

be in that pleasant passage; but as terrible in the passage will the converse of the soul and the Devil be, there shall be nothing but weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, &c.

SECT. III. What Interest the Saints have in Christs Providential Kingdom as to the greatest and least things.

§. 1. WE have spoken of the Spiritual, and come now unto the Providential Kingdom, which is a further manifestation and exercise of the Soveraignty of God; and this also have the Saints an interest in, and it is in the second Covenant made over to them for their good, that it shall be wholly administred for them; and this will appear in these particulars.

1. There is a special Providence over them above all the rest of the Creation; it is true, that there is a general Providence of God that doth reach unto every thing, even the meanest and the vilest creatures, Mat. 10.29. a sparrow, a hair; He doth whatever it pleases him in heaven and earth, and in the sea, &c. there is a Divine manuduction, &c. and there is a concourse; God has not set up a world to act of it self, but there is and must be a concurrence, that is, (1) with all second causes, or else they cannot act; this appears in the Furnace of Babylon, if the Lord do but suspend his act, the creatures immediately work not; and therefore there is an immediate acting that is with all second causes, causa prima concurrit immediatè cum omni agente creato, &c. But (2) in a special manner over the Saints; for that's the scope of Christs reasoning, Mat. 10.29, &c. Ye are of more value than many sparrows; he that feeds the ravens and cloaths the lilies, will he not much more you, O ye of little faith? and not one of them is forgotten by your heavenly Father, vocula Pater tanta est in corde eloquentia quam Demosthenes & Cicero non possunt exprimere, &c. Luther, all the rest are but his servants, but he will much more take care for his sons; to the rest of the world he is but a Master, but he is unto you a Father, and his affection an∣swers his relation, &c. and therefore Deut. 33.3. All thy Saints are in thy hand, that is, un∣der thy power for their preservation, as Joh. 10.28, 29. None can pluck them out of my Fa∣thers hand; and they are also under his care for their direction, Num. 4.28. Ʋnder the hand of Ithamar, and by the hand of Moses and Aaron and of David, he rules them with the skilfulness of his hand, &c. they are as the apple of his eye, Zac. 2.8. tactum pro injuria ponit, so Jerome, and 'tis that which is the dearest to him; and therefore it's that which he has the more tender care of;* 1.801 they are his Jewels and his hidden ones, Psal. 83.4. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 those that are kept as in chambers that are never exposed unto open view, as it's spoken of the chambers of the South, of the stars that are under the Southern Pole, which are not seen in our Horizon, but are as it were locked up in their chambers; and so it is with these Saints, they are shut up in the secret of the Tabernacle, and as it were kept in the Holy of holies, where no man may come, &c.

Now wherein doth this special Providence over the Saints consist? It is (1) in ordering, ru∣ling, and over-ruling all things for their good, that nothing shall touch them or do them hurt, for he could not preserve them, if he did not rule and order all things for their good, he doth so order all things, that nothing shall do them hurt; let there be the most cross turnings among the creatures that can be, Psal. 46.1, 2. let the earth be moved, and let the mountains shake, let the Sea roar, yet they will not fear; how is it that they are so fearless? Truly it is when they are not faithless; and the ground of it is, because there is a Providence that watches over them, that none of these things shall do them any hurt, Luke 10.19. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, There is nothing shall by any means hurt them. It is true, that they have enemies, they have one great enemy who is called the Envious man, and all the means that he can use is to turn every thing to their hurt, but they shall tread down all the power of the enemy, that none shall be able to hurt them; as it is said of the Patri∣archs, He suffered no man to do them wrong, but he reproved Kings for their sakes; there were many that had a mind to do them wrong, but he suffered them not, and any that did at∣tempt it, the Lord turned it into their good, and they did it not impunè, it was unto their own destruction,* 1.802 There is no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and this is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, it is that which belongs to them only, and that which they have a glorious title to, it is jure haereditario theirs, it descends unto them by their interest in God as their Father, and they that have God for their Father, have the

secret Providence of God as their inheritance, so that there is nothing shall work against them, when God is for them. (2) Every thing shall work for their good and their pre∣servation: the stars shall fight for them, the Sea shall be a wall unto them, instead of drown∣ing of them, their very enemies shall favour them, Psal. 106.46. he gives them favour in the sight of their enemies, and even Nebuchadnezzar shall give charge concerning Jere∣miah, when there was none concerning Zedekiah the King; and he will turn the curse into a blessing, Deut. 23.5. The Lord turned it into a blessing. To a wicked man every thing is for his hurt, what should be for his welfare, that becomes his snare; but it is quite contrary unto a godly man, that which is intended for his hurt that is turned into good, and to a quite contrary end than that unto which it was by the enemy intended. Now when we see many causes with contrary purposes and intentions, all of them conspire unto an end which they understand not, but seek and desire the contrary, it must be said, that there is a providence and a wise hand that did over-rule all this, for this is an end that was far from the intention of second causes; for there is a peace with enemies, Prov. 16.7. there is a Covenant with beasts, as Hos. 2.18. and there is a league with stones, Job 5.23. Dominium habet, custodem habebit, & lapides, &c. and all this is nothing but an expression of that special and secret providence of God that doth watch over his own people; so that this is the comfort and the inheritance of the Saints, that every thing in the whole government of the world is so ordered, that it shall do them no hurt, but all shall make for their good, who love him and fear him.

Now to set forth this in the particulars of it; we shall see that all things about which the providence of God is exercised, are so ruled, as that the government of them makes for the good of the Saints; and here I shall propound these five distinctions.

1. The Providence of God is either circa maxima, vel minima. (1) The greatest things in the world are not above the providence of God, neither are the smallest things below it: He doth whatever he will in heaven and in earth, and in the sea. It is not what the creatures will,* 1.803 but it is what he will; all are his servants, the very Angels in Heaven do his pleasure, and they hearken unto his voice; and the greatest of men, Dan. 4.16, 17. the most high rules in the Kingdoms of mortal men, he puts down the mighty from their seat, he ex∣alts them of low degree, deponit reges, disponit regna, Ezech. 21.10. It is the rod of my son contemning every tree, &c. (2) There is not the smallest thing but it is ordered by him, there is not a worm that creeps upon the ground, Hos. 2.18. but he can make it hurtful to a man, he can command a serpent and he shall bite a man, &c. he can hiss for the flye, &c.

2. There is a double exercise of providence, or the providence of God has two parts. (1) He doth uphold them in their beings, and the same Spirit that did create them doth to this very day sit and brood upon them, as Gen. 1.2, 3. He doth bear up all things by the word of his power, Heb. 1.2. he doth hang the earth upon nothing but a word, and the same word that created all things doth still continue them in their being; if he should take away that word, they would run into their first nothing immediately, and therefore it is truly said of providence, that it is continuata creatio, a continued creation:* 1.804 He sends forth his word, and they are created, and he renews the face of the earth; it is spoken of the providence and the preservation of all things, which he doth call a Creation, for the same creating power is put forth continually, and daily exercised; for as ejusdem est potentiae annihilare & creare, so ejusdem est creare & conservare, to give a being and continue the creature in that being, Psal. 66.9. Who holdeth my soul in life, &c. even the continuance of a mans temporal or spiritual life is an act of a creating power. (2) He doth order their actions at his pleasure; all of them shall accomplish his ends; either he doth act them, or he doth suspend their actions at his pleasure; and if he will concur with them, or if he will withdraw his concurrence, it is all according to his pleasure; and therefore he is the Lord of Hosts, and all the motions of this great Army are at his command; as Pharaoh said to Joseph, Without thee shall no man lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. It is true, that the Lord governs all things, yea the very thoughts of the heart, there doth not a motion arise but he doth fashion the hearts of men, Psal. 33.15. Zac. 12.1. he formeth the spi∣rits of men within them, so that what fashion he doth put upon the apprehensions of men; or the affections of men, the same they have; for all is of his government;* 1.805 things shall come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought, &c. all his government of the creature is for the Saints, both when they act and when he doth suspend their act∣ings, when he doth concur with them and when he doth withdraw his concurrence, all is for their good.

3. The Providence of God is either, (1) what he doth by his own hand immediately by an extraordinary providence; as sometimes the Lord doth, so that it doth appear to be

the finger of God, and that there is nothing of second causes in it, Esa. 52.10. his arm was made bare, and Hab. 3.9. his bow was made naked, both of them do signifie patefacta est potentia, Drus. And so it appears when God goes out of the course of nature, as when causes have not their natural efficacies, the race is not to the swift, the battel is not to the strong, the men of might cannot find their hands, the horse and the rider is cast into a deep sleep, Psal. 76.6. and so it is in all the Lords miraculous workings, when he doth create a new thing in the earth, and a woman doth compass a man, Jer. 31.22. he doth make the Sea to go back, and the Sun to stand still, the Heavens to give bread, and the Rocks water, and all these extraordinary workings of God are for the good of his people; and that way he will work for them as their necessity shall require; for there is no such thing that the Lord has done for his people formerly, but they may still expect the same, if they be brought unto the same straits and necessities,* 1.806 Esa. 10.24. He shall lift up a staff against him after the manner of Egypt: it was a miraculous way that the Lord dealt with his people then, but it was not so that he would never do the like for them again, and that they were ne∣ver to expect the like again; yea after the same manner as he did deliver them, when they came out of Egypt in a miraculous way, by signs and wonders, so he will do again, and the grounds of it is the same, Hab. 3.9. Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the Tribes,* 1.807 even thy word, Selah, thou didst cleave the earth with rivers, &c. it is according unto the oaths that he swore unto the Tribes, even his word, the juramenta quae saepiùs repetita, &c. (2) When he doth work in an ordinary way according unto the course that he has set in nature, and according unto the dependence that things have one upon another; Hos. 2.22. the heavens shall hear the earth, and the earth the corn and the wine, and they shall hear Jezreel, &c. there are the ordinances of Heaven, of the Sun and the Moon and the Stars, Jer. 31.35. that constant and established course that God has set amongst the creatures, &c. Now whether the Lord work by means, or without means by his own immediate hand, all is and shall be ordered and disposed for the good of the Saints; all the governments that the Lord doth exercise in the world either of those ways.

4. The Providence of God is either seen (1) in things necessaria, which have a neces∣sary dependence upon their causes, and we may accordingly expect them; as the Sun and Moon to shine, or to be in their Eclipse, as we say, It will be foul weather to day, for the skie is red, and it will be fair to morrow, for the skie is red, which men do conclude of by their observation, because they have a necessary dependence upon their causes, Mat. 16.2, 3. And as it is in natural things, so it is in morals also, there are signs of the times, by which things may be as well known, and as certainly concluded by an observing man: a man may as well know the signs of the times, as the Stork and the Crane and the Swallow know their times, Jer. 8.7, 8. or else why should they be blamed for it, as being more un∣wise for themselves than the brute creatures are, &c. (2) There are some things that are accidentalia, that are casual or fall out so as we can give no reason for them; there is no expectation of it in man, as the disposing of the minds of men, the Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord, Prov. 21.1. as in King Ahasuerus in the business of Mordecai, there was a concurrence of many things that were casual; and so Prov. 16.33. The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing of it is from the Lord: so that there is not the most casual thing that can be, but it comes under a providence; and in all these also it is for the good of the Saints: as it's said, 2 Kings 3.22. a rumour Sennacheribs Army shall hear, they shall have such an apprehension, that because the Sun shines upon the water, therefore the Kings have slain one another, for this is blood, &c.

5. Providence is either circa bonum vel malum, either (1) in all good, so the Lord doth work and order the spirits of men; for as every good gift is from above, so every good work is from him that is the Father of lights, and the Fountain of all goodness. (2) Also of all the evil that is in man there is a providence; for God would never have suffered sin to have come into the world, if he had not known how to have wrought his own ends by it; even by the vessels of dishonour he is served in his house, 2 Tim. 2.21. he doth or∣der and over-rule even the sins of men unto his own high and most glorious ends; he doth uphold Pharaoh and let out his spirit, but it is that he might shew his power in him: Even the wrath of man shall praise him; and the remainder he will and doth restrain: and Gen. 20.3. I kept thee that thou shouldst not touch her. There is a letting out of sin, and there is a restraint upon sin, so far as it may serve to his ends. Now all the providence of God, whether it be for good or ill, either permitting or disposing, it is all of it for the good of the Saints.

1. The Providence of God is circa maxima, and that is for the good of the Saints, and this I will reduce unto two heads. (1) His government over the Angels. (2) Over men in all the great turnings and changes in the world, in the policies and in the govern∣ments

thereof, for it is the most High rules in the Kingdoms of mortal men, and all this is done for the Saints sake, and all is ordered so as it shall be for their good.

1. For the government of the Angels either good, or bad, it's all for the good of the Saints.

1. As for the good Angels, it's true they are part of the spiritual Kingdom, and shall make up part of that great Church and body of which Christ is the head; and therefore Heb. 12.22. we are said to be come unto them; and therefore it is ordinary with the Fathers and the School-men (as I told you) to intimate, that there are as many men elected as there were Angels that fell, and that they are taken in to fill up that number, qui locum illum supplerent, & ruinas Jerusalem restaurarent, Bern. But they are also used by the Lord in the providential Kingdom, and all is for the Saints good in their whole Ministry; it is for the sake of them that are heirs of salvation, Heb. 1.14. And Ezech. 1.5, &c.* 1.808 we have the manner how the Lord governs all things in a threefold subordination; there are the wheels and the living creatures that act them, and one as the Son of man, by whose command and by whose Spirit they do move in all their ways, and the wheels by them.

(1) They do by a secret virtue work upon and over-rule the hearts and the wills of men; and therefore the Trumpets and the Vials are given unto the hands of Angels, that is, they do fashion the hearts of men and stir up their spirits unto such a work, and streng∣then their hearts in it; for as the Devil doth fashion the minds and wills of men, and gives suggestions suitable to his designs, so do the good Angels also; and as Satan streng∣thens the resolution of wicked men, so do the good Angels also; for they have a power upon the soul also being Spirits, and a more immediate work upon the minds of men, as Ahabs false Prophets, thou shalt perswade them and prevail; there is an impression upon their hearts, they have their arguments and suggestions, and they follow them with rea∣sonings, till the men be overcome; so do the good Angels also:* 1.809 the devil shall cast some of you into prison; it's Satans working powerfully in his instruments and upon the hearts of men to bring such a design to pass, &c.

(2) They fight for them against their enemies, Dan. 10.20. I return and fight against the King of Persia, and when I am gone forth, &c. the Lord goes forth before a people, for they go forth under the conduct of the Angels, and they do oppose themselves in a secret way that we know not: now as it is sometimes a terror to the Saints to consider they fight not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness, so it is a mighty terror unto wicked men that they fight against principalities and powers, and spiritual holiness in heavenly places, those that will be sure to watch over you for evil; for the same in∣tention that the Angels had after the Fall with a flaming sword to keep man out of Para∣dise, the same intention they bear still to all that are not the members of Christ and of the same body with them, and fellow-servants with them.

(3) They do execute vengeance upon the enemies of the Saints: Zac. 6.6, 7. there are black Horses, instruments of vengeance, and they go forth into Persia, but it is to destroy them, and to execute upon them the vengeance of the Temple for all the wrong that they had done unto the Saints, all was by an invisible virtue that they saw not; there the Spirit of God was displeased, and would not be pacified till wrath was executed upon them; for the same Spirit orders the Kingdom of Providence that doth order the Kingdom of Grace, &c. and therefore they have their special charge, Ezech. 9.1. it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the vi∣sitors of the city that draw near, first the Angels came, and then the instruments of ven∣geance came, they do perform that great work upon them.

(4) The Angels over-rule the creatures for the good of the Saints, even beyond their nature, and they are very instrumental in their deliverance and preservation; as we see Dan. 3.28. the fire cannot burn, the Lord sent his Angel, Dan. 6.22. and stopped the Lions mouths; there is a secret work that Angels have in all these great things, for the Saints deliverance and preservation; and therefore it is the Angel that rowls away the stone from Christs grave, and it's an Angel opens the prison for Peter, Acts 12. The pray∣ers of the Saints do prevail with God, and he commands Angels to do their office; it was an Angel that said unto the Christians at Jerusalem, Ite ad Pellam, and by that means they were preserved in the destruction of the City; so that in the ordering of all things they are imployed by God for the good of the Saints.

(5) It is the Angels that guide them in their way, and succeed their business and all their undertakings, as we see Gen. 24.7. The Lord of Heaven which brought me out of my fathers house, he shall send his Angel before thee; and the business shall surely prosper that they do undertake; a godly man goes no where without such a guard for his protection, and without such an assistance; and therefore it was a certain argument, Dan. 10. ult. that the King of Grecia should prosper, because the Angel was gone out before him;

blessed is he that hath such a guide, he shall not dash his foot against any stone, &c.

Lastly, They do compass the earth, visit all the parts of it for the Saints sake, to see how it is with the Churches, Zac. 1. All the earth is quiet and still; as the Devils do, so do the Angels also compass the earth, and they do lie in ambush for the Saints, that when there is no eye to pity them, and there is no remedy or relief for them, then they do ap∣pear, Zac. 1.8. They are behind the myrtle-trees, in the bottom, and they do watch the fittest season for the deliverance of the Saints, which is when they are lowest, and when their enemies are highest, then they do appear for them: therefore the people of God that have such a guard still near at hand, that hath been so successful in all ages, need not fear what Satan and his Angels are continually plotting against them.

§. 2. We now proceed unto those arcana imperii in reference to the Providence of God in the government of the evil Angels, and this also is for the good of the Saints; the So∣veraignty of God over the Devils in his government of them is wholly for the sake and for the good of the Saints.

In the opening of this I will lay down these Conclusions.

1. That Satan hath a power over all mankind by nature to rule and order them according to the pleasure of his own will; for when man at first did freely subject himself unto the Devil, God did judicially give him up into the power of the Devil; and therefore 2 Tim. 2.26. they are said to be led captive by him at his will; 1 Joh. 5.19. they are said to lye 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in the wicked one, that is, to be under his power, and to be subjected unto his will, and it is just with God so to do, Illud appensum est aequitatis examine, ut nec ipsius diaboli potestati ne∣garetur homo, quem sibi malè suadendo subjecerat, Aust. For of whom a man is overcome, unto him he is brought into bondage; it's the manner of Conquerors to use men as slaves, whom they have subdued; and this was the Devils intent, not first to destroy men, but to take them alive, 2 Tim. 2.26. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that he might use them for service, and so rule over them; yet the meaning is not, as if he had received a commission from God; and the Lord had commanded Satan to rule over man; for he will surely judge the Devil for it at the last day, Non ità debet intelligi, tanquam hoc Deus fecerit, aut fieri jusserit, sed quòd tantùm permiserit, justè tamen, Aust. Tom 3. p. 295. The command unto Ahabs false Pro∣phets was not a commission from God, but a permission, Thou shalt perswade him and prevail, go forth and do so, and his going into the herd of swine was not a commission, but a per∣mission only, when he said unto them, Go, &c. like unto that of Balaam, Go with the men, and yet the Lord was angry because he went, so it is here also.

2. This power of Satan is very great; and therefore he is called Principalities and Powers, the Ruler of the darkness of this world, yea, he hath the power of a God, for he is said to be the God of this world, which doth set forth a high condition, not the highest power, credo posse occidere in una hora quemcun{que} in terra viventem, Luth. for the power that Satan hath is from God, and that in just judgment. Now if the Lord give so much power to a man, as he did to Nebuchadnezzar, that none could stand before him, but he was the hammer of the whole earth, and yet the Lord did it in judgment, as he was an instrument in his hand, he did gather the riches of the Nations as eggs, none opened their mouth, or peep∣ed against him; how much more unto him that God hath in judgment made the god of this world will the Lord permit such power? Omnis voluntas díaboli semper est injusta, sed tamen Deo permittente justa est potestas, Bern. The Devils will is of himself, but his power is of God, and therefore he is mighty.

3. The malice which doth set his power on work, though it be against all mankind, yet it is specially against the Saints. It is true indeed, that it is against all mankind, and therefore his great labour is to draw all men to be partakers with him in the same sin and the same torments, it is the fire that is prepared for the Devil and his Angels, that they may all of them be cast into the same Lake; and though he know it will but increase his own torment, yet there is this power of envy in him, that he will destroy them, though it tend so much the more unto his own hurt in the end: but his malice is in a special manner against the Saints, the spiritual combate is mainly between the seed of the woman and of the serpent, Gen. 3.15. it is against Michael and his Angels, Rev. 12.8, 9. But why is Satan so much against the Saints above all men in the world? (1) Because God hath set his love upon them, therefore Satan hath set his malice against them. (2) They are the members of Christ, whom above all he doth hate, as having a Kingdom set up of purpose to destroy his Kingdom. (3) As they bear the image of God, and carrying thereby the greatest treasury within them; for as Chrysostome hath well observed, Satan is as a thief, he will not come to rob where nothing is to be had, but where the treasure is, he will not rob stones and straws, but Jewes. (4) They conquer him; for it is out of them that he is cast out, which he looked upon as his house, as his own portion, Mat. 12.44. (5) They

shall surely judge him at the last day, Tunc maximè saevit, quum hominem ex laqueis liberatum videt, tunc plurimùm accenditur, cùm extinguitur, Tertul.

4. There is amongst the Devils a kind of policy and order in carrying on of this design; so that, though there be no love in them one to another, for that is not amongst the dam∣ned in Hell, all natural affection ceases there; yet there is a kind of faithfulness, they being by the same sinful principles carried on unto the same end; and therefore there is a Prince of Devils, there is a kind of government amongst themselves in tendency to the deep de∣signs which they are to prosecute; not but that they were all of the same nature, but the same God who in judgment subjected mankind to his power, he giving up himself, hath subjected the Devils also unto the power of him that was the chief of Devils, and was first in the transgression; that they have a kind of order amongst themselves to carry on their ends; there are the gates of Hell which some do interpret the Counsels of it, there are or∣ders and methods and devices amongst them, and therefore Luther hath observed it: Diaboli regnum & politiam inter se habent us{que} diem judicii, ubi Christus evacuàbit omnià.

5. The end of all this power and this policy is the highest that malice can invent, and that is the destruction of all the Saints: for the name of the Devil is Abaddon and Apollyon, the De∣stroyer, in two Languages, and Job 33. His life draws near to the grave, and his soul unto the destroyers: it is to destroy their souls that he doth aim with an eternal destruction; and Eph. 6.12. it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in supercoelestibus, in the things of eternal concernment, things of Heaven; he doth not contend with us about Estates, and Dignities, and Dominions here below, such contentions are too mean for him, but it is a contention that is for souls, Psal. 91.3. the promise is, He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, or the hunter, which some do apply unto the Devil, as he is one that hunts to lay snares for souls, nothing else will content him. Satans speech is the same with that of the King of Sodom, Take you the goods, give me the souls: if the world were his, as he makes it to be, when he says to Christ, All this will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me; he would give all for a soul; he tempts souls with money to be his, &c.

6. This Kingdom of Satan is so under the Soveraignty of Christ, that he doth order it wholly, and rule it, and over-rule it for the good of the Saints, 2 Tim. 2.20, 22. The Church of God is compared to a great house, and there are some vessels to honour, and some to dishonour, but they are all of them for the masters use, and for the use of the house; and therefore we see, when the sons of God come together, Satan himself also appears before God,* 1.810 Job 1.6. partly being over-ruled by the power of God as a creature, and partly being inclined by his own malice as an executioner, he is desirous to be imployed by God as a vessel of dishonour, as being one that hath mortis imperium, the power of death, &c. and therefore he cannot deceive Ahabs Prophets without leave, nor can he enter into the herd of swine without leave, neither can he possess the man that had the Legion when the Lord Jesus will cast him out; his authority is limited, and though he be never so high and exalted up to heaven, yet he doth fall from heaven as lightning, if the Lord command it; and so he cannot deal with Job till the Lord permit him, and he cannot move beyond the bounds of his permission, Diabolo potestas quaedam est, plerun{que} tamen noceret, & non potest, quoniam potestas injusta est sub potestate, August.

7. God may and many times doth give up his people into the hand of the Enemy; their Rock hath sold them; and not only into the hand of bodily enemies, but even into the hand of this spiritual enemy also, who is the great enemy, therefore called Satan, which signifies an Adversary; so he did Hezekiah, the Lord left him; and so he did David, the Lord moved him, the Lord did it by giving Satan leave, and by leaving David in his hand; and Job 2.6. Behold he is in thy hand, only spare his life. (1) Satan doth always desire it, and the Lord doth sometimes in judgment unto Satan grant his unjust desires, Luke 22.31. Satan hath desired to winnow thee; and so Job 2.3. Thou hast moved me against him, he did make a challenge, and desired God that he would stand by and leave him in his hand a while, see what he can do with him. (2) Sometimes in just judgment God doth it, when his people sin against him, and depart from him, the Lord doth leave them in the hand of the Devil as a prisoner, that he may correct them, and so recover them; as a father leaves his child in the hand of a servant to correct, so as he stands by and sets the measure to it, he shall but correct him in measure, Rev. 2.10. He will cast them into prison for ten days, as he did Paul, he was buffetted by Satan to prevent sin, he did leave him to correct his sin. (3) In an ordinance of Excommunication, 1 Cor. 5.5. being delivered to Satan he doth exercise tyranny over him to stir up the guilt of sin within him, and to torment his conscience, and God departs from him in point of comfort; for 2 Cor. 2.7. it was, that he might not be swallowed up with over-much sorrow, therefore it is sorrow that is the fruit of this Ordinance, &c.

2. Yet all this doth the Soveraignty of God order and over-rule for the good of the Saints. There are two things that the power of Satan is wholly exercised in, temptation and affliction. (1) He is a Tempter in us, and that both as he is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as Clem. Alexandr. speaks: [1] He doth effectually stir up sin within us, and he works effectually in the children of disobedience; and [2] In any sin that is stirred up in us, he is a worker toge∣ther with us, to bring it forth unto perfection; for it's not only to beget sin in us, but to perfect it that he doth aim at. (2) He is an Accuser of us unto God, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the ac∣cuser of the brethren,* 1.811 as Christ is called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Satan doth plead against them before God and before men, and in their own consciences also, stirring up of guilt in them also, and he hath his accesses unto Heaven, and he doth put up his desires unto God against us, and doth lay our sins unto our charge before the Throne of Justice, and demands justice against us;* 1.812 for Zac. 3.1, 2. Satan stands at his right hand, which was to accuse, for the Accuser stood at the right hand; and it was to resist him, the right hand being chiefly the instrument of action, therefore it was to hinder him in the great service that he was now about to do, and to object against him before the Lord his filthy garment with which he was cloathed at his appearance before the Lord. Now both these, the temptations and the accusations of Satan, the Soveraignty of God doth rule and over-rule for the spiritual good of the Saints, which I shall make appear in these particulars; and therefore Bernard calls him Malleus terrae, and he saith, Terit electos in utilitatem, & reprobos conterit in damnatio∣nem, pag. 300.

1. There is a restraint upon him, that he shall tempt them no more than is for their good: He will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able, 1 Cor. 10.13. It is true, that Satan is subtle in his temptations, and he doth take a measure of the spirits of men, that so he may proportion his temptations unto them; some spirits are too low for some temptations, as their understandings are for some opinions. Now Satan therefore doth not suggest such depths unto them, but deals with them in a lower way; but there are some temptations that would not take with some, because their spirits and their under∣standings are above them, and he deals with them in a higher and in a more ingenious way. Now as Satan doth take a measure of the spirits of men in every temptation, so doth God also take a measure of their grace, that it shall be so much, and no more; for there are some temptations that the grace that is in some men could not bear, and there∣fore the Lord doth proportion it in wisdom and in mercy: it is true, unto wicked men it is otherwise, there is a power that is beyond the strength of the common works that are upon them, an opportunity of temptation that turns them off as leaves that are shaken with the wind; but it is not so with the Saints: Ad mensuram permittitur tentare Diabolus; sed qui dat Tentatori potestatem, ipse tantato praebet misericordiam, August. tom. 8. p. 435.

2. Satan shall tempt no further than it shall be for the subduing of corruption: men are delivered unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh; but it is an over-ruling hand of the Soveraignty of God, who doth temper such poyson into a wholesom medicine, and what the enemy did intend should kill, that shall be a means to cure. And therefore Lu∣ther doth deride the Papists in this, who having spoken in his Covent unto one of the Society of a Purgatory, and they objected it against him, that he did grant in his writings a Purgatory also, he answers them, That he doth grant a Purgatory, but it is this of tempta∣tion only, by which the Lord is pleased to purge the souls of his people, and that makes them to come out the more refined, hoc Purgatorium fictum non est, &c. Great hath been the gain that the people of God have had by their temptations this way, yea even by those temptations in which they have been foiled: Nescit Diabolus quomodo illo insidiante & furente utatur ad salutem fidelium excellentissima Dei sapientia, &c. Aug. tom. 3. p. 218.

3. It doth mightily improve their graces; we see it in Job, we know what the end was that God made with him; as all afflictions improve graces, and make the land fruitful, as the rain doth, though it make the way foul, so there is not a greater affliction than tem∣ptation, for a man to be left to be as the sink into which the Devil shall empty all the filthiness that is in that unclean spirit; therefore this also shall turn into the increase of grace: wherefore Luther's saying, That there are three things make a Divine, Meditation, Oration, and Tentation, is most true, for grace opposed is much improved; a soul had never seen such high acts of grace, had it not met with such high opposition. It's true, in it self it doth not increase grace, for it is opposite unto it, but by an Antiperistasis it doth, debemus esse Dialectici, non pugnamus ut homines, sed ut Christiani, Luth. and therefore the Spirit of Christ will improve his own work in us by our temptations also.

4. We have by this, experience of the power of Christ in us. Experimental knowledge is a knowledge upon tryal, and such a knowledge a man can never have till he be brought unto a tryal; there is many a man that doth presumptuously think that he can do much,

and resist much, but when he comes to the tryal he is weak as water, and it's all but the vain presumption of his own spirit, 2 Cor. 12.9. My grace is sufficient for thee, my strength shall be perfected, that is, shall be declared to be perfect, in weakness; therefore I take plea∣sure in infirmities, for when I am weak, then am I strong: it is an easie thing for the potsherds to contend with the potsherds of the earth, but when we come to contend with Spirts, and they strengthned by the darkness that is within us, now the strength of grace is put to it indeed, now we see what power of Christ is in us; for there is no power but Christs power that can hold out against temptation.

5. That we may know the benefit of Christs Intercession, that having so great an Accu∣ser as Satan is, we may go to him, and strive to find the benefit of such an Advocate. O what an advantage was it to Peter to hear this sweet word of Christ to him! But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. Christ was tempted in all things like unto us, and he is sensible of our infirmities, and with the temptation we shall find a way to escape; for this very end Christ suffered himself to be tempted by Satan, that he might succour us in all our temptations, he is pleading for us against the accusations of our subtle adversaries, and if he had not undertaken to be our Advocate, we had been undone, but he still saith to Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, &c.

6. And truly hereby we have experience of the power of our own prayers; how many times have the prayers of a Saint stilled the enemy and the avenger that pursued them furi∣ously? how many times hath Satan fall••n before them like lightning, and all the devices of the enemy have come to nought? Rev 11.7. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceed∣eth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies, &c. and they shall not only kill men, but Satan shall also be trod under their fee••; and it's a great honour to the Saints, that in their conquests they can overcome Satan; for resist the Devil, and he will flye from you; that so proud a Spirit should be so subdued by mankind, in fide fortes Diabolum despiciunt quasi vermiculum, &c. Bern. pag. 1309. cùm viderint contemnunt.

7. It quickens the people of God to wisdom and watchfulness; to wisdom, that they may discern the devices of Satan; and to watchfulness, as the exhortation is, 1 Pet. 5.8. Watch therefore and put on the whole armour of God, because he is as a roaring lyon seeking whom he may devour. Austin observes, that there are two ways that Satan hath. (1) In times of persecution, cogit Christianos negare Christum, he compels Christians to deny Christ. (2) In times of peace and prosperity he raiseth up Hereticks, and so docet Christianos Christum ne∣gare, teaches Christians to deny Christ, Tom. 8. pag. 233. therefore we had need be wise and watchful.

8. There is a time coming when this over-ruling power of Christ will put an end unto this dominion of Satan; he shall not be the god of this world always, but when Christ puts down all rule and all authority and power, his Kingdom will for ever be broken, it must last no longer than the day of Judgment, for there will be no further use of him either in tempting, accusing, or tormenting; but as after the day of Judgment Christ in glory shall make up the head of that great body the Church which shall be gathered unto glory by him, as they were here on earth gathered into his Kingdom of Grace; so Satan in Hell also shall make up the head of that great body of the wicked that he hath been gathering into his Kingdom here upon earth, and he shall be tormented together with them: and it is no small comfort, that we can look beyond the power of the enemies; though they be so powerful for the present, it is but for a while; Nebuchadnezzar had power to do what he pleased in the world, but after a little while this great Monarch shall be destroyed, My anger, says the Lord, shall cease in his destruction, &c.

Lastly, The temptations and accusations of Satan shall tend to the greater increase of the glory of the Saints; for if these light afflictions that all Saints meet with in the world from lesser evils do work for us, much more will such great afflictions, Potest inimicus ex∣citare tentationis motum, sed quoties restiteris, toties coronaberis, Bern. p. 11, 15. They had their several Crowns in their Triumph answerable unto the several Victories that they won; therefore Christ hath upon his head many Crowns, because of his many Conquests: so it shall be unto the Saints matter of great triumph; Satan himself who did above all things desire to keep them from glory, his very temptations and his accusations shall be so far use∣ful, as that they shall add unto our glory, and they that have been most tempted and accu∣sed by him, and have by grace resisted him, shall be most glorified in the day of the Lord.

§. 3. The next thing propounded was Gods providential Kingdom, as it respects men, and these either good or bad, which belong both unto the providential Kingdom; and the Soveraignty of God over them is laid out wholly for the good of the Saints. And here first we are to consider Providence ordering all things either in reference unto the Saints own spiritual good, that the ordering of all things towards them shall tend unto it;

or else in reference unto the good of others; Providence shall so order things, that they shall become a common and a publick good unto others in the generations in which they live, yea and it shall extend also unto after-ages.

1. Providence shall so dispose of all things, as they shall tend unto their own spiritual good; and all by reason of their interest in the Soveraignty and the Supremacy of God, as, 1. If we look upon their conversion, Providence doth strangely order things so, that they shall be cast upon such societies and opportunities, which they never thought of nor lookt after; and in these they shall be converted and brought home unto God: there is an in∣stance in Onesimus,* 1.813 he ran away from his master, and by this means was brought to Rome unto the Apostle Pauls ministry, and there the Lord was pleased to convert him unto the faith; a thing that he little thought of or aimed at in going from his master; and yet now he that was before 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, unprofitable, Is profitable both to thee and me, says the Apostle Paul to Philemon, &c. And so it was with Junius, his father laying the Scripture before him,* 1.814 he fell occasionally and carelesly upon Joh. 1.1. In the beginning was the word, &c. he was so taken with the majesty of the stile, and with the excellency of the matter, that he did not know where he was, nor what he did, it did so far excel all humane writings. And truly there are few men converted but they will be able to tell you some special pro∣vidence of God, as well as the special grace of God therein, bringing them into such socie∣ties, and casting them upon such occasions, sometimes in their callings, and sometimes even in a way of sin; he being found of them that sought him not, and pleased to bring them out of darkness into his marvellous light: and when men shall come to Heaven, infinite will the praises be, not only of grace, but of his Soveraignty this way, to set forth what great variety the Lord hath used, and what marvellous wisdom he hath exercised towards his people in bringing them home unto him; for as there are insnaring providences, so there are also converting providences; the one befal wicked men, and are exercised towards them, and the other befal those that are the people of his good will. As we see Eccles. 7.26. there is a woman whose hands are snares and bands: all men do not light upon such providences, God doth not cast them upon them; there is no man that doth scape these snares by his own wisdom, but it is the man that is good before God, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, he that the Lord hath a delight in, that shall be delivered from such a one, but the sinner shall be taken with her, providence shall so order it, that he shall have such occasions, opportunities, and tem∣ptations, that he shall be insnared. And so it is in converting providences, he shall be cast up∣on such company, time, places, and opportunities that shall be effectual to his conversion; so many a man is able to say, God brought me in the University unto such a Tutor, into such company, and into such a family, and under such a ministry, and by this in an unex∣pected way was I wrought upon; and some have come to hear a Minister by chance, in a journey, and have been smitten, haerebat lateri, have carried home a wound in their con∣sciences; and when with Saul they did but go to seek Asses, they have found a Kingdom: some, as Austin did Ambrose, go to hear a man for his elegancy of stile; and as Galeacius Caracciola did Peter Martyr, and they, together with the excellency of his words, felt a warmth and power in their hearts, a fire was kindled that they never could put out again. Some have come to see the sufferings of the Christians, and thereat were converted, and at the sight of their patience cryed out, Verè magnus est Deus Christianorum, The God of the Christians is truly great; and some by the sight of an affliction, as Waldus by seeing a man to fall down dead before him; and some that have come to hear Ministers only to mock at them, and yet have before their departure been taken by them. Very strange are the over-rulings of Providence for the conversion of the Saints, when all their experi∣ments shall be laid together this way: but there are two famous instances of over-ruling Providence, one in Vergerius a Bishop of Justinople, of whom Sleidan reports, that being im∣ployed as a Legate by the Pope in Germany, was suspected to lean too much unto the Lu∣therans opinion, and therefore had not favour with the Pope as he expected; at his re∣turn he intended to clear himself, and to write a Book in the refutation of the Lutheran opinions; and by that means looking more narrowly into them, he was truly converted, and left his Bishoprick, &c. And the other is of famous Doctor Reynolds, who was formerly a Papist and his Brother a Protestant, and they wrote to convert one another, and it plea∣sed the Lord so to order it, that his Brother by him was converted to Popery, and died a Papist, to whom he wrote much afterwards to reclaim him; and he was converted from Popery, and died a Protestant, and proved a famous and an eminent instrument in the Church of God for the beating down of Popery all his days; and he had not any thing stuck more upon him, than that he was an instrument in the perverting of his Brother, by whom he himself had received so much good.

2. Not only for their Conversion, but for their Instruction: the people of God have

met with strange providences. We see it in Apollos, Act. 18. Claudius commands all Jews to depart from Rome, and thereupon Aquila and his wife depart and came to Corinth, and there Paul finds them, and being of the same trade they wrought together, and they travel with him to Ephesus, and there he leaves them, and there came Apollos a Jew unto Ephesus, a man that was mighty in the Scriptures, and they took him and instructed him in the way of God more perfectly; all this concurrence of providence there is for his instruction. So Luther, as soon as the Lord had revealed the Righteousness of Christ to him to be im∣puted for Justification, immediately he fell upon Austins Book, De Spiritu & Litera, and there he finds the word justitia commonly so used, non de justitia puniente, not of the punish∣ing Justice of God, but of his pardoning Righteousness, that is, the Righteousness of Jesus Christ for which God would pardon the sins of his people.

3. For deliverance out of danger; as we see in the instance of Moses, it was Gods pro∣vidence that brought out Pharaohs daughter to the place where he lay in an Ark of Bul∣rushes; and it must be by a dream that Joseph is to be delivered out of prison; and so David being besieged, and not knowing how to escape, when he thought that he was now in the mouth of the Lion, news was brought unto Saul that sought his life, that the Phi∣listins had invaded the land, and he returned from seeking after David; and so Hezekiah, it was told him by the Prophet, that Sennacherib should hear a rumour, &c. for it was told him that the King of Ethiopia had invaded the land, and so he raised the siege and departed from Jerusalem. The Lord knows how to deliver his children in the time of their greatest extremity, and the God that hath delivered, doth still deliver his people, and is a God near at hand and not afar off from them that wait for him.

4. For their preservation, when there hath been no visible support; when a famine is in the land, Elijah is fed by Ravens; and so the woman of Sarepta by the multiplying of the meal in the barrel, and the oil in the cruise; and so in the Massacre at Paris the Divine that was with the Earl Marshal when he was put to death by the Conspirators, was preser∣ved in a Hay-mow by a Hen daily laying an egg by him, &c. they are strange ways that in the want of all things the Lord hath for the support of his own.

5. For their consolation; when the day hath been dark over them, and their souls have drawn near to the grave, and their life to the destroyers, the Lord hath caused light to shine out of darkness, and hath made their light to break forth out of obscurity; and when they have walked in the shadow of death, a light hath risen upon them; as the Martyr that was in prison in his own spirit till he came into prison, and the prison was that which the Lord made use of for his enlargement, Schola crucis, lucis fenestra: and so we read of ano∣ther Martyr, who upon this ground did wonderfully bless God that he came into prison, that thereby he became acquainted with that Angel of God John Bradford. The providence of God is as wonderful in the consolations as in the conversion of his people; for it is a creating of the fruit of the lips peace, Esa. 57.19. and that is ex nihilo.

6. In temptations; when the lust hath been high, and the temptation impetuous, and the man about to yield, the Lord hath sometimes appeared and struck the lust as it were from Heaven immediately, and said, Stay thy hand, and the lust hath vanished (for the fashion of the world passeth away, and the lust thereof) that a mans heart hath been dead unto that which before it was with the greatest violence set upon; the Lord hath hedged up a mans way with thorns, so that he could not sin with security, as other men do,* 1.815 but still when he would have sinned there were stumbling-blocks in his way, and some providences that did concur to cross him in a way of sinning, and some to pull him out of the fire when he was falling in; as the instance of Ʋzthazares the Persian, and the story of Ambrose of a young man that met with his mistress, with whom he had formerly had dalliances, and when she met him again the Lord struck his lust, so that when she said, Ego sum, I am she, he answered, Ego non sum, I am not he.

2. There is a special Providence over godly men for the good of others that are good in their present and in after-generations.

1. There is a strange Providence in improving their parts; Moses being to be a man of great imployment for the good of the people of God, he must be learned in all the learn∣ing of the Egyptians; and so the parts of Austin and his learning, and so of Luther, how strangely did God make use of for the good of his people! and Luk. 11.22. 'tis said he takes from him all the armour wherein he trusted, &c. that learning and those abilities and improvements the Lord doth imploy for the good of his people, and he hath strange ways of improving of those that he doth intend to imploy, and men see not the reason of it till afterward.

2. In drawing out of their graces, as in Joseph by the temptation of his mistress, and the persecution that he met with, his bow abode in strength, and his arm was made strong;

and so it was with Job, that we might hear of his patience, and what end the Lord made with him; and we know how strangely the Lord did order things, that the height of Luthers spirit did rise by the opposition that was against him, that he that at first would have ac∣cepted of easie terms, afterwards resolved that nothing but the utter overthrow of Po∣pery should satisfie him: Efficiam ut Anathema sit esse papista••.

3. Thereby there is a Providence that doth turn them to the good of his people that are to succeed, partly for admonition, that they may be warnings unto them; Remember Lots wife, remember Peter, and David, and Solomon, that you may take heed to avoid the same snares in which they were taken; and partly for their consolation, that God might shew in them a pattern of all long-suffering unto them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting; as Beza said, when one derided him for his wanton Poems in his youth, Hic homo invidet mihi gratiam Christi, &c.

4. Their sufferings; so it was with Joseph, Gen. 50.20. Ye intended evil, but the Lord turned it unto good to save much people alive; it was your good that God intended in my affliction: and so Johns banishment into Patmos, it was that he might receive the Book of the Revelations, which hath been the great stay of the hearts and faith of the people of God ever since; and though it may be obscure, yet Conrad. Graserus speaks of it by his own experience: Me non ex ullius libri canonici lectione ad instructionem & consolationem plùs proficere, pag. 2. I have not profited more by any book, &c.

5. Their labours; As 'tis said, that Moses wrote the Book of Job for the consolation of the people of God, when they were in Egypt; and of what use hath that been in general to the Church of God ever since? so, many of the pains of the people of God in writing the lives of the godly, and the Sermons and sayings of the Ministers of God, and their own observations of the signs of the times, and whatever they have of that kind been put upon in particular cases, providence hath so over-ruled things, that they have been as a standing benefit unto the Church of God in after-ages; and they have lived when the men have died. There are many defences of the people of God and Apologies that they have been put upon in all ages, when men of corrupt minds have aspersed the writings and persons of those that have been eminent in their places for asserting the Truths of God, and witnessing against the corruptions of the times, &c.

6. Not only their labours have been very useful in all ages, but also their Examples of well-doing. Povidence doth put the Saints upon many things and conditions, that they may leave their example as monuments in the ages to come, as the Apostle saies, Phil. 1.14. By my bonds many of the brethren wax confident, are much more bold to speak the truth without fear; 1 Tim. 4.12. Be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, and in purity: they must be exemplary in every generation, that they may leave their footsteps behind them, that the people of God may walk after them, and go forth by the footsteps of the stock in after-ages; and that they may be so, the Lord doth in his providence so order things, that they shall have occasion to shew themselves examples in all things; so that there is an over-ruling providence by virtue of the interest of the Saints in the Soveraignty of God that orders all things towards good men for their own good, and all providences over them for the good of his people in the present and in after-ages, that so a good man may be every way a common good.

7. They have great advantages by the prayers of the Saints; for even the wicked of the age, yea and of after-ages do attain benefits by their prayers, much more do the Saints that are of the same body with themselves; for they do none of them live barely as private men; though they are not all publick persons in respect of office and function, yet they are in respect of their relation, and they have all of them reference unto the body, and they do pray as members of the body, and have in all things respect unto the good of the body; for as the Spirit that doth interpret the Scripture, is not a private Spirit, so the Spirit that doth act the Saints is not a private Spirit; therefore as in the good of every member the body is interessed, so also in the prayers of every one the body is interessed; therefore as we are to look upon all the prayers of Christ not as the prayers of a private man, but as put up by him who is the Churches Head, so we are also to look upon the prayers of all the Saints, not as of private men, but also as under the re∣lation of membership, under which they stand in the body of Christ; and as we are to look upon their sufferings as being of the body, so are we also to look upon their services as being done by the members of the same body, and all of them for the good and benefit of the body. Moses obtained great benefits to the people of Israel by his prayers, their blessings depended much upon his prayers: Pardon them as thou hast done it from Egypt till now; and the Lord answers, I have pardoned them according to thy word; and again Moses prays, Go before them, or carry us not from hence; the Lord answers, My presence shall go

with you, and I will give you rest. The blessings that godly men attain are not barely the fruit of their own prayers, and yet they that are godly do pray also, but they are a concurrence of prayers, and by them we do attain mercy; yea sometimes when we are little able to pray for our selves, when the spirit of prayer is low in its actings in us, yet then the souls of some of the Saints are upon the wing, and the Lord will have respect unto them, for they are of the body. As we rejoice not in the gifts of others, because we look upon them as given unto other men, and do not look upon them as a part of the body, and so see our interest in them, that they are given them for our good, and therefore they are to us ra∣ther matter of envy than of rejoicing; so we take no comfort in the prayers of the Saints upon this ground, because we look not upon them as praying upon the same common in∣terest with us, and as praying for us as fellow-members, who have with them an equal interest in the good of the body and its prosperity. And as they obtain mercy, so they keep off judgment; if Noah, Daniel, and Job stood before me; he speaks it as the most ef∣fectual way of prevailing with him, and as that which he would least of all deny, and yet the Decree being gone forth, his heart could not be towards them. The Saints have in their ages attained great mercy for the body, and therefore Elijah is called the chariot of Israel and the horse-men thereof, their main defence lay in him, under Heaven they had not so great a one: and therefore godly men in all ages have looked upon it as a great misery for the godly of the age to be removed, as having their party and their interest upon earth weakned; as if an eminent man of any party be taken away, it's looked upon as a great weakning to them, and he is thereupon gre••••y bewailed by them. Wherefore it is repro∣ved as their sin, Esa. 57.1. That the righteous perish, and no man layeth it to heart, &c. and Mic. 7.1. it is expressed by the Prophet as a duty; and so it was with Austins mother, he saies of her, Orationibus vivebat, and it was in answer to her prayers that he was new-born unto God, Parturivit me, & carne ut in hanc temporalem, & corde ut in aeternam lucem renascerer, Tom. 9. cap. 8. She travailed with me, as in her flesh to bring me forth to a temporal life, so in her heart to an eternal life: he was an eminent instrument in the Church in the age in which he lived, and mightily confuted the false Teachers of the time, and did glo∣riously defend the truth, and appeared for it, and all this he did attain by the benefit of his mothers prayers. And they do bring upon the Churches enemies very great and terri∣ble judgments by their prayers; there is a fire that comes out of their mouths and con∣sumes their enemies, and that not as they are theirs, but as they are the Churches ene∣mies. And not only the prayers of the present age shall have power against Antichrist, but the prayers of the former ages; as to instance in the prayers of David taking place a∣gainst Judas, Act. 1. so there have been prayers for many years that have been going for the Reformation of England from Popery, which have been answered eminently in our daies, and will be more and more answered in succeeding generations, the people of God pray continually for more degrees of grace and light. Now it's true, that when men strike an Oak with many blows, yet it doth not fall till the last blow, and yet we say, that it is not the last blow that fells the Oak, but all that went before; so 'tis here, as it was in the death of Christ, his last act was the full payment, but yet all his former obedience and sufferings did concur thereunto to all that full satisfaction that was given by him to the Father; and it's dreadful when the prayers of all the people of God do fall upon a man, surely vengeance will overtake him as an armed man. Look as all the prayers of the Saints do at the last day meet together in the Devils destruction; so it shall be in the de∣struction of any great and eminent instrument of his; as in attaining special deliveran∣ces, the Lord stands upon number, so it is in bringing in eminent judgments also; and therefore Hezekiah sends for Isaiah and tells him, That the children were come to the birth, the promises did travail with deliverance, but there was no strength to bring forth, unless he would add his prayers also; and so it is with the people of God, it is much more to lose one praying man than a plotting or a fighting man; and that is the meaning, that great Baby∣lon came into remembrance before God; how was it? it was from the Lords remembrancers, for the Vials did come out of the Temple, Rev. 16.1. all their prayers met together,* 1.816 and there is a full cry, that the Lord is put in remembrance, which by his long delay and forbearance he had seemed to neglect and forget.

8. By their Faith the people of God attain much mercy to others as well as by their prayers; for as by their prayers they do not only attain mercy for themselves, so they do not only by their faith attain mercy for themselves: it is said of the men that came to Christ Jesus, That when he saw their faith, he said to the sick of the palsie, Son thy sins are forgiven thee, &c. Mark 2.5. There is a question put by Interpreters, whether any man be saved by another mans faith, or what benefit a man may have by the faith of another? to which they commonly give this answer, That the faith of others may be very useful

unto men, though they be sinful, in reference unto temporal mercies and deliverance, as the Saints are said by faith to subdue kingdoms, attain promises, stop the mouths of lyons; out of weakness were made strong;* 1.817 waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens, &c. in which works there were many others had the benefit of them besides themselves, and yet all is attributed to their faith. And therefore if by the faith of one many, even ungodly men, may fare the better, how much more may all the Saints (who are one body, and live not only for their own good, but also for the good one of another) by their faith attain very many temporal blessings one from another, and by the faith one of another? Yea they go further, though it's true that no man can be saved but by his own faith, and it was by this mans faith also laying hold upon pardon, that his sins were forgiven him, yet ubi est mutuus fidei consensus ab aliis juvari aliorum salutem, Calv. The Lord, even in granting spiritual blessings to his people, hath as well respect unto the faith of others, as unto the prayers of others: as when we pray and others pray for us, the mercy is grant∣ed as a return unto both prayers; so when we believe, and others also do believe, the mercy is given with respect to the faith of both parties: and this is the blessed condi∣tion of Saints, that they do not only attain temporal mercies one for another, and are the better in temporal things, but even in spiritual and eternal things they do attain mercy, as by their prayers, so by the faith one of another; as they may pray one for another, so they may also believe one for another; and the mercies be granted to them, so there be a concurrence also of the faith of the person that receives the mercy. It was a great mer∣cy that the people of Israel should enter into ••anaan by the faith of Abraham, and Jacob, and Joseph, they only believing and embracing those promises, which they never lived to see fulfilled and accomplished: But if it be so great a mercy to enter into the earthly Canaan, and yet some entred not because of their unbelief (for a mans own proper unbelief may deprive him of those temporal blessings, which a man might else attain) how much more a mercy is it to enter into the spiritual Canaan, that of the Gospel, even the promised Land, the spiritual Priviledges of the Gospel, and those that are eternal; and that with the assistance of another mans faith? It is ordinary with us to desire the prayers one of another, and by the same reason that we have an interest in the prayers of the faithful we have an interest in the faith of the faithful also; and we may as well desire them to im∣prove and exercise their faith for us, as their prayers; and so did Monica for her son; and parents should do it for their children as well as for their own souls; and so for our friends also. Austin speaking of the former experiences that his mother had in the an∣swer and return of her prayers, saies of her, Semper orans tanquam chirographa tua in∣gerebat tibi, &c. And truly the returns of the faith of the faithful would be as great (though they be not so commonly known) as the return of their prayers, and yet their prayers will avail nothing, if they be not the prayers of faith.

§. 4. Thus we have spoken something of the providential Kingdom in over-ruling all things for the good of the Saints in reference unto Good men; now follows that we speak something also in reference unto Evil men; for there is a Government and Soveraignty that the Lord doth also exercise towards them, and all for the good of his own people. Now the Lord Jesus hath a rule and dominion not only over his own house, but also over the world; and he doth rule them with a rod of iron, Psal. 2.9. and it is in this only that the people of God, when they look upon wicked men in the world, can comfort themselves that the Lord reigns, and the power and the government of themselves is not in their own hand, even the vessels of dishonour in his great house (whether we understand it of the Church or of the world) are for the masters use, and at the masters command; even wicked men as well as Devils, are not at their own dispose, there is a government that he doth exercise over them, for he hath undertaken the government of all things for the good of his people, and for their sake, and if he do administer all for their good, he must rule their enemies in all things, as well as the Saints, that the people of God may say, That neither Angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor any creature shall be able to sepa∣rate them from the love of God in Christ, Rom. 8.38. he orders all the motions of enemies as well as the motions of his people, as the Captain of the Lords Host, and he orders all things so as it shall be for the destruction of the enemy at the last; for all things are put under his feet, the last enemy that is destroyed is death; therefore all is put under his government, and he doth rule them so, as that in their own actings they do find their own destruction; his government over them is that they might be destroyed, and in their own way find their destruction, but yet so as they shall be wholly ruled and ordered for the good of his people, and that will appear in these particulars.

1. That they have a being and standing in the world is for the good of the Saints, caeteri mortales qui ex isto numero non sunt, ad utilitatem nascuntur istorum, August. They

had never been born, if God had not had some use to make of them for the good of the Saints: non enim quenquam istorum Deus temerè aut fortuito creat, God creates none of them in vain, as if he knew not what use to make of them, it is for the Saints sake that they have their standing in the world; for it is for them that the world stands, it is but that the number of the Elect may be gathered and perfected; and when that is done, the stage of this world shall be taken down.

It is also for the Saints sakes, that Hypocrites have a standing in the Church,* 1.818 Mat. 13.29 Lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them: so that the tares are to stand for the wheats sake, but it is but till the harvest, till the wheat be ripe; and then the Lord will soon command that the tares be gathered also and burnt. That Para∣ble, because it is much urged now adays, as it hath been by some of the Anabaptists of old, against the power of the civil Magistrate in punishing gross offenders, that all are to be left unto their liberty, and unto the judgment of the Lord at his coming, and therefore none are to be punished nor restrained, which is the greatest cruelty that can be under the pretence of liberty to go on in sin without restraint; therefore it will be necessary that we inquire a little into it. (1) We will inquire of whom this is spoken: which I conceive to be of the Church, and not of all the world; for it is said to be the Lords Field, where the good are sown with the bad, which can be meant no where but in the Church, unless we will say, as many men do, that there is salvation amongst the Heathens, that know not Christ. And it's also the scope of the other Parable, of a people where the Gospel is prea∣ched, Mat. 13.24, 25.* 1.819 the Kingdom of Heaven is the Church of Christ in its outward con∣dition, neither do I conceive that it can be manifested, that any where the whole world is ever called the Kingdom of Heaven, and the servants speak of it with admiration, Thou didst sow good seed in thy field, from whence then hath it tares? Now never any man did won∣der that there should be tares in the world, which lies in wickedness: and for that Christ doth interpret the field to be the world, it is not to be understood (I conceive) of all the wide world, but by a figure for the Church that is gathered out of the world, as it is usual in the Scripture to be put; Joh. 3.16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only be∣gotten Son, &c. 1 Joh. 2.2. Not only for us, but also for the sins of the whole world. (2) The state of this Church, this field of the Lord is in this life said to be a mixed state, there are tares and wheat mixed in it, which is not to be understood of all sorts of sinners; it is true it's the seed of the wicked one, but it is the seed that is in the Lords field where gross offenders are not to be suffered or supposed to be; but it is spoken of Hypocrites, such as the servants did not discern at first, but they grew up with the seed, and had a great like∣ness with it, as Jerome observes, Zizania quamdiu herba est, grandis est similitudo; for in vers. 26. 'tis said, When the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares; therefore it seems by this plainly, that the tares are not the same with briars and thorns, for they would have been at first discerned, but they were like unto the wheat for a great while, so that they discovered them not: therefore the seed of the wicked one sown in the Lords field are Hypocrites and unsound-hearted men. And if this be meant of the whole world, as the opposite party would expound it, then it must be meant of all sorts of sinners in the world that appear; not only Hereticks and Idolaters, as they would have it, but of all the children of the wicked one, unless they will give unto these this special honour, which is indeed due unto them (as much as now they are pleaded for) that they are only or mainly called the children of the wicked one; and as they do deserve that name above all sorts of sinners. (3) This mixture cannot be avoided by all the care of the Lords servants; for they cannot foresee them, and it's long before they do discover them, and when they are discovered, it is dangerous to pluck them up. Calvin saith, that Christ doth not here dispute either the power of the Magistrate or of the Mini∣ster, or how they should exercise their power; but only to free the weak from scandal, when in the Church they shall see Hypocrites and unsound-hearted men to continue; for this is and will be the state of the Church of Christ in reference to its outward condition until the day of Judgment. But how comes it to pass, that the sinners must be restrained here only to Hereticks and Idolaters, when they are the children of the wicked one? and why not extended to murderers, and adulterers, and thieves? and why is not the one to be spared by this Parable as well as the other? and how comes it to pass, that by the ser∣vants here are only to be meant the Magistrates, and not the Ministers? and why are not Ministers as well bound to tolerate these in Churches, as Magistrates in Common-wealths? and yet that they are to be cast out of Churches, that is granted. Now why should not these mixtures be let alone in the one as well as in the other? and why is not the direction given to one sort of servants as well as the other? (4) It is for the Elects sake, for the good seed, that they are spared. [1] There is a great deal of moderation

to be used and care in reference unto the tares, that nothing be done unto them that may prejudice the good corn, that nothing be done in it to the offence or the scandal of them that be good, that they be offended with their rigour and bitter zeal. [2] Because they that are tares now may afterwards become good corn, and therefore a great deal of pati∣ence is to be exercised towards them, though they discover themselves to be tares. [3] That though there be still some that are unsound, yet a man should not be offended, and cast off all Church-communion and Ordinances, but be willing to let both grow together unto the harvest, and expect the Lords time for the rooting of them all out, till he shall send his reapers, because we cannot fully discern who are tares, or who may so continue: but this is no way to infringe either the Magistrates power in reference unto the sword, which is an Ordinance of God, and he is not to bear it in vain, nor Church-officers power of the Keys, who are not after all admonition and means used to reclaim them to bear them that be evil, but to put away wicked persons, and to deliver men to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the soul may be saved in the day of the Lord: neither is this Parable to be expounded so as to cross other plain and clear Scriptures; for the Scripture is to be taken together, and the hard places of it are to be interpreted by them that are more clear.

2. God stirs up the spirits of wicked Magistrates for the good of the Saints; as we see it in Cyrus, though he were a cruel and a bloody Prince, yet he takes care for the building of the Temple, and gives forth commands for that work; and therefore Esa. 44. ult. he doth say unto Cyrus, Thou art my shepherd; and so Alexander when he came to Jerusalem, and Jaddus the High Priest came forth to meet him, by the providence of God it was so ordered, that he did give the Jews great priviledges, greater than any of the neigh∣bour Nations, insomuch that the Samaritans did stile themselves Jews also, that they might partake in the same priviledges with them; Nebuchadnezzar gave commandment unto Nabuzaradin the Captain of his Guard concerning Jeremiah, God over-ruling his spirit therein, that the Prophet was cherished rather than evilly intreated by him, &c.

3 By stirring up the spirits of wicked men to stand for a good cause, and to assist the people of God therein; as we see when Lot was carried Captive by the Kings, that Abra∣ham did pursue them,* 1.820 and there did joyn with him Aner and Escol, &c. they that were but Heathens, yet were assistant unto Abraham in such a work as this, the Lord did stir up their spirits; and so he doth many times by an over-ruling power stir up the spirits of men, otherwise uningaged and uninteressed, to be instruments and means that the people of God may attain their rights, and all of it is only by this over-ruling hand of the Sove∣raignty of Christ even over ungodly men.

4. By their Persecutions, the Lord doth stir men up many times to persecute his people; Nebuchadnezzar is the rod of mine anger, and I send him against an hypocritical nation, though he know it not; but this is all the fruit, it is to take away their sin, for by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, Esa. 27.9. it is to make them to beat their Altars into chalk∣stones, &c. and let me tell you (because we may look for times of persecution) that great hath been the victory and the glory that the people of God have gotten even by the per∣secution of ungodly men, nunquam majore triumpho vicimus. Nay if it be but a mock, a scoff, a reproach, a false report from an evil spirit, the Lord makes his use of it; as we have an instance in Austins mother, she had by custom, rather than inclination, learned to drink up full cups inhianter, but after a while the maid of the house and she fell out, and in their difference the maid objecit hoc crimen amarissimâ insultatione, vocans meribibu∣lam, quo illa stimulo percussa respexit foeditatem, confestim{que} damnavit & exuit, Confess. lib. 9. cap. 8.

5. By their sins, the people of God are warned; the Lord doing as the Lacedemoni∣ans, setting them forth as patterns of evil, that his children might flee them; heresies arise in the Church, that so they that are approved may be made manifest; and Apo∣states, that Hymeneus and Philetus's Apostasie might make the rest of the people of God the more careful, that they that name the Name of the Lord Jesus may depart from iniquity, when they see such eminent and dangerous falls as these; and the Lord doth make use of their sins in a way of admonition, as of their judgments also.

6. Their desertions, and proving false to the people of God many times and forsa∣king them, as Egypt proved a broken reed, turn to the Saints good; that so they might cleave to the Lord alone, and that they may see that there is a deceit in all their former Lovers, there is no trust unto such men that speak lyes in hypocrisie, and follow Gods cause and people only for loaves, &c. and God permits them so to do, that the people of God may say their trust is in the Name of the Lord only, Assur shall not save us any more, nor King Jareb; they have all deceived us as a brook that passes by, &c. I might in∣stance in many more particulars, as

7. Their restraints for their good; God puts a hook and a bridle upon them, they shall not be able to hurt the Saints, they shall hear a rumour that shall divert them another way.

§. 5. As the providential Kingdom is circa maxima, so it is circa minima, and all these are ordered by the Soveraignty of God for the good of his people, they have an interest in the Soveraignty of God even in the ruling of them also: here are two things to be spo∣ken to. (1) That the smallest things come under the providential Kingdom of God, that is, un∣der the Soveraignty and Supremacy of God. (2) That in the government of them he doth order all for the good of the Saints, that the Soveraignty of God works for them in small things as well as in great things.

1. That the smallest things are subjected unto the Soveraignty of God, and that his Kingdom is seen in the government of these also. This I shall clear to you in a few particulars.

1. The Lord is called commonly in Scripture the Lord of Hosts, and that not only in re∣ference unto the Angels, and the Sun, Moon, and Stars, which are the Hosts of Heaven, but even as to the Hosts that are here below, Gen. 2.1. there is an Host of the Earth as well as of Heaven; and as there is not the smallest Star in the Heavens, but belongs unto the one, so is there not the meanest, the poorest creature upon earth but is part of the other; the Locust, the Canker-worm, the Caterpillar, and the Palmer-worm my great army, says the Lord, Joel 2.25. And they are the Lords Host in three respects. (1) Propter multitudinem,* 1.821 for multitude, there are many of them gathered together, for they are not a few that make an army. (2) Propter praeparationem, in regard of preparation, every one comes armed and prepared for the slaughter or any work that the Lord hath to do either for relief or for destruction. (3) Propter subordinationem, by reason of their subordination, they all act in their places, and do the service unto which they are particularly appointed, they do every one keep their ranks, fire and hail, snow and vapour, wind and storm fulfilling his word; they do not thrust one another out of their place, but there is a military order observed amongst them. (4) Propter obedientiam, in regard of their obedience, they do all of them obey the word of command, which they do receive from the great Commander, for they are all of them under command; as the Centurion said of his servants, I say to one, Go, and he goes, so doth the Lord also say unto the creatures; for it is said, that even before an army of Locusts, Caterpillars, and Palmer-worms, the Lord doth utter his voice, he doth command the winds and the sea, and they obey him.

2. Christ himself doth extend the care and the rule of God unto the meanest and smal∣lest things, Mat. 10.29. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?* 1.822 A sparrow is put for the vilest and the most contemptible of all birds, partly for their short life; for Pliny saith, that they do not live above one year, negat anno diutiùs vivere; and partly for their price, for 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, est moneta minutissima; and yet these things which are of so little worth and value amongst men, they are not forgotten by God, they are under the care of God; and they fall not upon the ground, that is, either in respect of their motion, they do not pitch upon the ground but it is by the direction of God, or else of their destruction; they are not taken and killed, neither do they die, but it is by the Soveraignty of God, and by his ap∣pointment; there is not one of them that is turned out of life, but it is by the command of him that gave it life, &c. yea, Mat. 10.30. The hairs of your head are numbred;* 1.823 so that the Providence of God extends not only to the souls of men, that he takes care for them, but even unto their bodies, and not only unto the chief and principal part of them, but even unto their very superfluities and parts that are excrementitious, the very hairs of their head; and therefore he saith, Luk. 21.18. That there shall not a hair of their head perish,* 1.824 that is, quidpiam vestrum quod non sit cum gloria Dei & vestrâ utilitate conjunctum. Itáne perit anima, cujus capillus non perit? August. Can the soul perish, if not one hair? He it is that feeds the Ravens, he gives them their meat in due season, they gather it, for he doth hear the young Ravens when they cry. Aristotle saith, l. 6. in Animal. c. 11. 5. that the Ravens, when they had many young ones more than they were able to feed, did commonly leave and desert some of them, but even those that were deserted by their dam, they are provided for by God, and he doth hear them when they cry, he it is that cloaths the lilies also, and the grass of the field, which doth flourish to day, and to morrow is cut down and cast into the oven: Providentia à summo ad ima pertingit, flosculorum at{que} foliorum pulchritudo comprobat.

3. They do work for ends which they themselves understand not, and yet they do accomplish them; as the Flyes, and the Frogs, and the Locusts against Pharaoh, which one wind brought, and another carried away; and so for the Quails, with which the Israelites were fed in the Wilderness, &c. and the she-Bears that came out of the Wood, and destroy'd the Children, and the Lyon that slew the Prophet that came from Judah, but did neither devour the Carkass, nor rent the Ass, but the Ass and the Lyon stand

by the Carkass, that the hand of God in a more than an ordinary manner might appear therein; and Amos 9.3. If they go down to the bottom of the Sea; I will command the Serpent, and he shall bite them; all that is done, is done at his Command. If we see many Arrowes shot, and all of them hit the mark, we know that the Arrowes could not direct them∣selves, there must be the hand of a skilfull Archer, that did direct them, though we see it not: and so it is here also, for all the Creatures are as so many Arrowes shot at a Mark, and they do all of them attain an end, which they understand not, and there∣fore they come under the Government of an higher hand. It is a vain conceit of proud men, ignorant of the Scripture, to say, It is a dishonour to God, to take care of these small things, Non vacat exiguis, &c. Si non est Dei probrum minutissimas fecisse, multò mi∣nùs factas regere. Nay, it is infinitely unto the glory of God, and his honour, that he has a Wisdom and a Power that can reach ad conservationem & gubernationem minutissimo∣rum: That he is so absolute a Lord, as that nothing subsists and hath a being without him, so every thing that has a being, is ordered by him, and he that hath created it to an end, doth also order and direct it to that end for which he did create it.

2. All these small things the Lord doth order and govern for the good of his People; they have a benefit by them all, which will appear in two things: (1) As he did create all things below for man, so he doth rule and govern them all for mans sake; and now man is fallen▪ he doth preserve the World for the Saints, and it is for their sake that he doth govern the World, 1 Cor. 9.9. Doth God take care for Oxen? or speaks he this for our sakes? Yea verily for our sakes; Non curat Deus de pecoribus propter ipsa, sed propter nos quorum causâ creavit. Ambros. A statu & consummatione Ecclesiae finis omnium pendet; tolle hanc, & frustra inferior ••••eatura revelationem filiorum Dei expectat, &c. Bern. in Cant. Serm. 58. Therefore he ruling all things for the sake of the Saints, they must be all order'd for the good of the Saints. (2) All these things come not only under a providence, but under a promise, and that surely doth belong to none but to them that are heirs of salva∣tion,* 1.825 heirs of promise, he will make a covenant for you with the beasts of the field, the fowls of hea∣ven, and the creeping things of the ground: no creature is properly capable of a Covenant but the reasonable creatures; but the meaning is, that the Lord will in his providence so or∣der all the motions of these things, that they shall all of them work for the good of the Church, as if they were bound in Covenant so to doe, for a firm Establishment in their creation is called a Covenant,* 1.826 Jer. 33.20. if you can break my Covenant of the day, and my Covenant of the night; that is, an establishment by a sure and setled decree, &c. they shall do you no hurt, they shall do you good; for the enmity and cross-working of the crea∣tures came in by sin, and that Covenant which takes away sin, shall take away all contrariety in the creatures also, in their working, so that they shall do you good and no hurt all your dayes, Job 5.23.* 1.827 Thou shalt be in league with the stones of the Field; it is a Covenant of Gods making, men cannot make a Covenant with them, they will not be bound by mans Co∣venant, it is not an actual, but a vertual Covenant, that they shall do a m••n good, and no hurt, it is a league offensive and defensive, &c. There is a threefold interpretation of it, and all of them fit to this purpose. [1] In thy walking, the Stones of the field shall not offend thee, the Lord shall so lead thee, that thou shalt not dash thy foot against a stone; tibi nocere non possunt, sed coguntur inservire. [2] Stones were for bounds and Land-marks, and they shall not be removed; but you shall continually enjoy the bounds of your own habitation, they shall not be removed, it shall be as sure as if you were in league with the Stones, that they shall not depart from your bounds. [3] Cocceius hath out of Ʋlpian a certain punishment, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 appellant, whence they did use to heap stones upon a ground, that it might never be plowed, to hinder its fruitfulness. Thus the sense is, The Stones shall be at league with thee, that none of them shall hinder the fruitfulness of thy land, and make it lye barren and untilled, as in judgment they might doe. Now if there be a Covenant by God made with all these for his people, then surely the Motions and the Actings of all these shall be for the good of his People.

But you will say, In what particular do all these little things work for the good of the Saints? It will clearly appear in these particulars. 1. In the smallest things the people see God, and their spirits are elevated and raised up to behold him in them▪ for not only the Heavens declare the Glory of God,* 1.828 but even the meanest Creatures in all their motions do it; Repraesentat quaelibet herba Deum. Now there is a threefold Vision of God in this World, in his Works, and in his Word, and in his Son; and it is of special use, that the works of God are unto the Saints in all their being and motions, that they can see some∣thing of God in them. Our Communion with God depends upon our Vision of God, and the more we see God in all things, the more we converse with him. Now there is not the least of all the Creation of God but it doth represent him to us, and we look upon it

as a footstep of God, it is that which doth raise up our hearts unto Heaven while we are upon Earth, and causeth us to look upon nothing small that hath so glorious a Crea∣tor, and so wise a Disposer; in minimis lauda magnum, says Austin when he speaks de culice; there is much of God to be seen, and the heart is much to be over-aw'd not only in the lesser things of the Word, but also of the Works of God.

2. It is unto the people of God matter of praise, even in the actings of the meanest of the creatures, to see how they work unto an end that they know not, but the wise disposer of them knows all their motions, and directs them unto his end; the out-goings of the morning and evening do praise thee, that is, objectivè and occasionaliter, as they give unto his people matter and occasion of praise. In the creation, the Morning Stars did sing, Job 38.7. and so they do in all the Executions of Providence also, fitting them for this end, and guiding them to this end, &c. Austin in Psal. 148. blames those that dislike and find fault with the works of God; In officina non audent vituperare fabrum, ta∣men audent reprehendere in mundo Deum. Perdidisti. Hallelujah. A man doth lose his praise, and the matter and occasion of it, which is unto a Saint a great loss; for praise is his de∣light, and he loves the occasion of it.

3. There is great matter of Meditation even in these ordinary things, such as do mightily affect the Souls of the Saints; it was so to David, Psal. 148.7, 8, 9, 10. Praise the Lord from the earth ye Dragons, and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and vapours, stormy wind, fulfilling his Word, mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars, Beasts and all cattel, creep∣ing things, and flying fowls; and how can this be? Nudae creaturae Deum celebrant,* 1.829 dum ad mirandam ejus sapientiam, & potentiam quotidie ostendunt. The dangers prevented, and the good things conferred, such as are secrets unto us, and we know not, we consider not of; as Luther saith of himself in the like case, Somnia nostra observat, quando nescimus nos vi∣vere, &c. equidem odi carnem meam quòd haec scio vera esse, & iis tamen non seriò afficior, &c. It gives the Soul high matter of Meditation, puts it into the Mount with God.

4. It is unto the People of God a great ground of exercising their Faith, and that in two things, (1) Upon the word of Promise, that all these creatures are his by Cove∣nant in all their motions, and therefore he has not a common interest in them, with the rest of the world, but they come unto him from another hand, and he receives them by another tenure. Now any mercy that has the respect of the Covenant put upon it, is in∣finitely heightned unto them; the smallest mercy enjoy'd by Covenant, is better than the greatest without the Covenant; it is better be as low as Hell with a promise, than in Paradise with∣out it: therefore it is true, that other men walk upon the Stones and they hurt them not, and the Beasts break not in upon them, the Sun shines, and the Rain falls upon them; yet here is the sweetness to a Believer, This I enjoy as a fruit of an everlasting Covenant, as an heir of Promise, and as a Pledge of an eternal Inheritance. (2) It will be a ground to exercise a mans Faith for a support; if the Lord cloath the grass of the field, how much more will he cloath you? and if he feeds the Ravens, he will surely not starve his Children; nay, if the supply of all the Creatures will be a Provision for you, you shall not want it, they shall all act for you, and if it were possible to put a Saint of God in this life in such a condition as he should want the supply of all the creatures at once, they should surely all work for his good; for the Lord provides them of purpose, and for that very end that they may work for you, and therefore are they continued in their being, and to that end are govern'd by him.

5. The Love of the People of God is drawn out by them exceedingly, even by small Mercies; for it is not the greatness of the Blessing, but the abundance of Love discovered to the soul in it, that takes a gracious heart: for we love him because he loved us first. And as his love is discovered, such are the outgoings of our love to him again. Now these small things may be magni amoris indicium; an ordinary turn of the creature may testifie a great deal of love from God to the Soul, as when Israel came out of Egypt,* 1.830 not a Dog did move his tongue, Exod. 11.7. if they had, the matter had not been great, for in the night they use to bark; but though there was a great cry amongst the Egyptians, yet amongst the Israelites, not a Dog did move his tongue. Signum est magni silentii dum canes silent. A great love may be seen in an ordinary Providence to a man, as Grapes to be had in a wilderness, as a Messenger sent one of a thousand, a word spoken in due season, a Scripture opened to me when I had need, it was directed to me in my necessity; such a comfort admini∣stred at such a time, when I was in extremity, and it came in the season of it, it is an ar∣gument of great love; as when David was besieged, and Saul thought that he had them sure, now a report must be brought that the Philistins had invaded the Land, and so change his Counsels, and divert the forces from pursuing David.

6. Small and ordinary things shall be for their preservation, Exod. 23.25. He shall bless

thy bread and thy water, and will take sickness away from the midst of thee: that whereas other mens food breeds and nourishes diseases, his food shall be blest unto him, that it shall be healthful, and not hurtful; and when Sennacherib is come to besiege Jerusalem, after all his ranting and threatning, he shall hear a rumour, a report shall be brought him, that the King of Ethiopia had invaded his Land, and so change his purpose, and it shall be for the preservation of the people of God.

7. Ordinary things shall tend unto the destruction of the enemies, and they shall fall by the turning of an ordinary providence, the smallest things shall even ruine persons and na∣tions; as Pharaoh and all Egypt were even destroyed by flies and lice, &c. the Sun shines upon the water, and they shall say that it is blood; The Kings have destroyed one another, 2 King. 3.22, 23. Sometimes by the turning of the wind, great things have been done for the people of God, great battels have been won both by Land and Sea; and sometimes by rain, strange things have been wrought for the defeating of the counsels of enemies; Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an East-wind, &c. And we know what small provi∣dences have cast the balance for the people of God against the enemies, and that in many doubtful cases, when they had nothing but providence to work for them.

8. Consider how by small and ordinary things the Lord doth preserve the lives, and support his people in the world, by causing the Sun to shine, and the rain to fall, the earth to bring forth, the fig-tree to blossom; and we see he gives them food out of the earth, and the beasts do them service, and they do it willingly and readily. Now what a mise∣rable life were the life even of a Saint here, if it were not for such common and ordinary refreshments; if the Lord should as a Lion watch over us, as he doth threaten them, he would be as a Lion and a Leopard in the way, to observe them? There is a providence that hath given these unto the sons of God as their inheritance, so that they do injoy the com∣fort of them, and eat the fruit of them day by day; the service of thy hand maid, and of thy beast, all act for thee, as being made by God to be thy servants. It is true, that the service of the Angels is comfortable, but it would not be sufficient without these which are ours in a way of ordinary providence;* 1.831 and such as we account less, though we taste the good of them from day to day. Surely therefore all things, even the smallest things, shall work to∣gether for good to them that love the Lord, for the good of their spiritual and temporal state also.

SECT. IV. The Saints Interest in Gods Providential Kingdom, both mediate and immediate, necessary and contingent.

§. 1. WE have gone thorow the first distinction of the providential Kingdom, we come now to the second, which is, that Providence is either immediate or me∣diate. The one is when the Lord works without means, putting forth his own power imme∣diately to the producing of any effect, without the concurrence of any means or help of second causes, and this is called making bare his arm, or making it naked, Esa. 52.10. So long as the Lord doth work by means, though there be his hand, yet his hand is hid, and covered under the appearance of creatures, so that our eyes are either wholly or mainly upon them; but when the Lord lays creatures aside, and his own arm doth appear to bring salvation, so that nothing else is seen but the hand of God in it, without the concur∣rence of creatures, the Lord is then said to make bare his own arm, that is, to shew forth his own power,* 1.832 purely and nakedly; so Hab. 3.9. His bow was quite made naked, &c. he speaks it of the discoveries of Gods power in an immediate way, and his bow is vis tua, ro∣bur tuum, Drus. he speaks it of the dividing of the red Sea, and the turning back of Jordan in its own chanel, the power of God did immediately appear without any concurrence of means, and any instrument or second causes, and therefore his bow was naked, &c. the Scripture doth speak of the Lords smiting with the rod and with his fist, &c.

And here there are three Propositions that I must lay down.

1. That whatever the Lord does by means, he can work immediately by his own hand, without all means: he that did give being unto the second causes, can without those causes produce their effects; he is independent in his working, as well as in his being, and doth not depend upon means and second causes in any thing that he doth; and therefore if he do deprive his people of the means, and will supply it in himself, it shall be infinitely better, they shall have a hundredfold more in this life eminenter; the Sun shall be no more thy light by day, but the

glory of the Lord shall be the light thereof: if he deprive them of the light of the Sun, yet he gives them his own glory to be instead thereof, and it shall abundantly answer it. He hath indeed bound us in duty to use the means, but he hath not bound himself, he is still at liber∣ty either to work by his own immediate hand, or in the way that he hath set in the order and subordination of causes, yea as much as if no such order had been made by him; and therefore the time will come when God shall be all in all; and this order of causes shall surely cease, and then all effects shall be produced by God immediately, and that in a far more glorious manner, than now they are by the influences of their causes amongst the creatures.

2. In the means which he doth use, there is an immediate concurrence of his own power to the producing of the effect: concurrit immediatè, &c. and without this the second cause could do nothing, men live not by bread only; and therefore if God do withdraw his acting or with∣hold it, the second cause is of no value; it is but as an axe in the hand of a man, or as a pen, it is but as it were a dead instrument, as the Apostle says of himself, 2 Cor. 3.2, 3. and therefore the people of God put no confidence in them: I will not trust in my bow, and it is not my sword that shall save me; it is thou, O Lord, that savest us from our enemies: this is the language of a true Saint; and therefore it is only the Lords withdrawing, and then all second causes work not: whence it is said, That they shall eat, and they shall not be nourish∣ed, and they shall put on cloaths, but not be warmed: there is a natural aptitude in these means to produce such effects; but yet if the Lord do but suspend his influx, they can do nothing. And therefore in the Babylonish Furnace, Divines do commonly say, that the Lord did not take away the nature of the fire, it remained to be fire still, only in reference unto such an object he did suspend his own concurrence; so that, though it remained in actu primo, yet it was not able to produce actum secundum, because the immediate concur∣rence of the first cause was denied: so it is in all means, and this is the reason of their want of efficacy; the same Ordinances would be as effectual at one time as at another, and unto one man as unto another, there is no difference in the means, only in the concurrence of the first cause with the means; and so it is with creatures also, the same land would be as fruit∣ful at one time as at another, and there is no difference, only when thou tillest thy land it shall not yield its strength, says the Lord, there is not the same concurrence of God with it, which is his blessing upon it, and that is the true reason of all the difference in the use and the success of means whatsoever.

3. Though the Lord doth in the administration of all things in the providential Kingdom use means, and therefore hath made all things in a due order and subordination, yet he doth delight sometimes to work without means, by his own immediate hand, not by power nor by might, but by my Spirit, Zac. 4.7. if there be none to help, yet his own arm shall bring salvation. And the Lord doth this, (1) that he may sometimes shew forth some special discoveries of his own power. The heart of man would be wholly terminated in the creature, as we are very apt to be, and we would look no further, therefore the Lord is pleased sometimes to shew forth something more than the power of the creature; and sometimes he will go in an ordinary way of nature, sometimes in a miraculous way to shew, that there is a higher hand that rules all things, that he may not be forgotten by us. (2) To shew that he doth not use the creature necessarily, but voluntarily; and therefore he can use it or lay it aside at his pleasure, work by it, or work without it, that the souls of his people may depend upon him alone, both in the want and in the injoyments of the creature; and the good effect is ne∣ver the further off when they want it, nor ever the nearer when they do injoy it, whether they have it or not, it is all one, they can rejoyce in the Lord, and glory in the God of their salvation, Hab. 3.17, 18. (3) That he may still keep up in the remembrance of his peo∣ple a creating power; when there was nothing but himself immediately, there was no means used. It hath been disputed by the School-men, Whether the ministry of Angels were not used in the creation of the world? and it is commonly answered, No it was not, it could not be, because in the exercise of almighty power there can be no concurrence of the crea∣ture, no creature can be raised by the power of God unto such an elevation, as to be made capable to put forth any act of omnipotence; and therefore that this power of the Crea∣tion of God may be kept up, he doth do the like often in the world; that as he hath ap∣pointed a day to remember the Creation, and would have us to remember our Creator, so he doth works, that he may keep it continually in our remembrance; providence is said to be nothing but a continued Creation, therefore the Lord will do something that shall be as a Creation still, that this great work may never be forgotten; he that doth create grace in the souls of men daily, doth put forth other acts answerable thereunto. (4) The Lord doth it, that he may train up his people by it unto a remembrance of Heaven, where all means shall cease; for God shall be all in all, that is, he shall be all unto his people im∣mediately.

It is true, that the Saints do injoy God here, and they injoy all in God, he is their portion and their hope, but all this is in the use of means; as they see him in a glass, so they shall injoy him also: but there is a time that will shortly come, when all means shall be done away, and he that now governs the world, and so dispenses himself by second cau∣ses, will do all by his own immediate hand; there shall be immediate, therefore pure mer∣cy, and pure wrath, and pure power, and pure acts of Omnipotence. In this life we are by the creatures refreshed, and when he comforts us by the creature, those comforts lose much by reason of the vessel; and so when he doth teach us by the creature, that treasure is in earthen vessels, it is much otherwise when he teaches himself immediately; and so when he doth punish by the creature, it is but as a mighty man correcting a man with a straw: it's true, that he is mighty, but it is but a small thing that is in his hand, which is nothing in comparison of that which shall be hereafter; it shall be all immediate, and that keeps up in his people an expectation of this, that they may have herein a kind of fore∣taste of Heaven, by beholding the immediate working of God without the help of crea∣tures, or their concurrence.

Now this immediate acting of Providence is wholly for the good of his people, and is so managed; sometimes he will use means for their good, and sometimes he will for their good work without means, but still so as his Soveraignty is made over unto them in these his actings: and herein we are to observe,

1. The Scripture speaking of a creating power, which the Lord doth often put forth for the good of his people,* 1.833 Esa. 4.5. there 'tis said, I create upon every dwelling place a cloud, &c. Upon every dwelling place there is a protection, that which is immediate and be∣yond the power of second causes, when there is no defence in them, yet their succour shall be from the immediate hand of God, and that by a creating work, that when the people shall look to the creatures and say, we see no means to defend us, yet they can look to an immediate acting of Omnipotency,* 1.834 and that by a creating work for his people: I create a heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness: it is spoken of the glorious reformation that shall be in the later days; it is there spoken not of renewing the substance, but of the qualities of Heaven and Earth, a glorious restitution of their primitive and original glory, a mighty work, that God shall not only pass upon Saints, but on the creatures, which shall be restored and delivered into the glorious liberty of the sons of God; and he that looks upon the corruptions of men, and the desolations of nations, and the confusions amongst the creatures that shall be immediately before those days, he will say, How can these things be? It is impossible that such a glorious reformation should be wrought. But to streng∣then their faith, and to raise them up to expect it, he puts them off from second causes, and tells them it shall be an act of almighty power, it is by a creating work; and surely the same hand, and the same power that did make them at first, can also renew them, and restore them unto their primitive and original glory; that as the said immediate power is put forth for the renewing of their souls, Eph. 2.10. We are created in Christ to good works, all is made new within him by an immediate power, so also all shall be made new without him by an immediate providence; that though there be no concurrence of means and se∣cond causes, yet if God can make a new world, then he can renew this, he can create a new Heaven and a new Earth, and he can create Jerusalem a rejoycing, and the people a joy, as the promise is unto them; so that the Lord will not always work for his people in a ruling, but sometimes in a creating way, in which there is an immediate putting forth of power, and there is not, there cannot be any concurrence of means or second causes with it.

2. God puts forth an immediate providence for the Churches preservation; he doth ma∣ny times work immediately, when there is no help in second causes, but all men are inga∣ged on the contrary part; and the Lord looks, and there is none to help, and the Lord wonders that there was no intercessor; no helping of them, none to intercede for them, there was none so much as by way of prayer that comes in for them; and yet now the Church must be pre∣served,* 1.835 Zac. 4.2, 3. the Candlestick is the Church, but by what means shall this be main∣tained? there can be no supply of oil expected from men, but the Lord will make Olive-trees to grow by it, that shall make oil of themselves, and shall drop into the bails there∣of, that though no men in the world stand by it, or prepare for it, yet the Lord will sup∣ply it in an immediate way, from himself, and by himself, and by this means the lamp in this Candlestick shall never go out, for by an immediate provision of God they shall be maintained,* 1.836 Mic. 5.7. The remnant of Jacob shall be as dew from the Lord, and as showers upon the grass; when they were Jezreel strengthned by the Lord, though amongst many people that should hate them and persecute them, yet should they be preserved; and therefore as Calvin observes, rorem pro prato rorido, like unto the herbs which are nourished

by the dew from Heaven, and by the showres from above, which stay not for man, it tar∣ries not for the sons of men: that as the grass is nourished immediately by the dew, and doth not depend upon the labours and the watering of man; so shall these from God im∣mediately, there shall come from him an immediate dew, an influence shall come, by which they shall be supported, that they shall not need to stay for any creatures assistance, or any concurrence of second causes whatsoever.

3. There is an immediate Providence that is seen in restraints upon the souls and spi∣rits of men, when there are no hindrances in second causes, and yet this shall work for the people of God: see it Gen. 20. Sarah was in the hand of Abimelech, and his lust was stir∣red up towards her, when he heard of her, and there was nothing to hinder him but he might have had his will of her, and yet for Abrahams sake she was returned unto him chast and undefiled; but it was by an immediate working of God upon his spirit, when there were no second causes in the way, the Lord saith, I did hold thee, that thou shouldst not touch her. And the same thing is true of the people of Israel, when they went up to worship at Jerusalem, and all the males left their habitation, the fittest advantage that could be for the neighbouring Nations, who hated them, and sought to invade them, and did it at other times, yet that now they should not have made inrodes upon their Land in the several bor∣ders thereof, when there was no restraint in second causes, no man can give a reason for it but the immediate working of providence, that the Lord doth put forth his power upon the spirits of men, that it shall be enough if he withhold them. There is a bridle without and there is a bridle within, by which the spirits of men are turned about, there is a hedge for mens ways, God doth many times hedge up mens ways with thorns; but there is a hedge for the spirits of men also, that when there is no hindrance in second causes, and none to lift up a hand against them, yet their spirits are restrained by an immediate hand. And indeed when the secrets of the counsels of Gods providence shall be made manifest at the last day, many and glorious will ••he records of such immediate puttings forth of provi∣dence be. We have an instance in Esau, his malice was stirred, and he had power in his hand, he had three hundred men by which he might have cut off his brother Jacob, but only there was an immediate appearance of God upon his spirit, and that put a restraint upon him, that he could not so much as speak an ill word unto his brother.

4. The Lord appears immediately for the destruction of the Churches enemies, when their means fail. When there was no help from second causes to destroy Egypt or deliver themselves, for the Israelites had no power, but they cryed unto the Lord, and in the night the Lord looked upon the Egyptians host and troubled them, and took off their chariot-wheels, and they drove heavily, and there was a terrour upon their hearts, that they said, Let us flye, for God fights for Israel. And so he will do in the destruction of Antichrist, the little horn, who doth arise with the ten horns, and he is strong not by his own power, for the ten Kings give their kingdoms to him, and he doth exercise the power of the former beast before him, and it is said Dan. 8.25. He shall be broken without hands, that is, by the breath of the Lord, and the brightness of his coming,* 1.837 by an immediate manifestation of God against him, not by any power of second causes; for the people of God may expect the same im∣mediate workings of providence for them that they have had in times past, Esa. 10.26. He will stir up a scourge for them according to the slaughter of Midian, and he shall lift it up after the manner of Egypt. Now as for that of Egypt it was by an immediate appearance of God, when there was no means used; and so for that of Midian, Judg. 7.19, 20. they blew the Trumpets, and they broke their pitchers, and that was all that was done, which was a means that of it self had no influence into the effect, but the Lord set every mans sword against his fellow; and such immediate discoveries and actings of providence the Lord doth promise unto his people, and they may expect them from him in all their straits, when the enemy comes in like a floud, &c.

5. They may expect immediate deliverances: Laban came out against Jacob with an evil intention, but he saith, Gen. 31.29. It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt, but the God of your fathers spoke to me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. And so Balaam had a will to curse the people of God, and he wanted no incouragement and solicitation from the King of Moab to do it, and yet remember what Balack consulted, and what Balaam answered. And the instance of Abraham, when his hand was up to flay his son, and the Lord called to him out of Heaven, Stay thy hand,* 1.838 and thereby it was a Proverb reserved in the Church of God ever since, Jehovah jireh, In the Mount will the Lord be seen, that is, when all means and hopes of preservation is past, that they look upon themselves as to be sacrificed, now they may expect an immediate ap∣pearance of God for them.

6. For their immediate Support; if the Lord call Moses to him into the Mount, he

shall there be mantain'd forty days and nights, and neither eat bread, nor drink water, but his support shall come from an immediate hand; and so it was with Christ also in his temptation by Satan, when he had fasted so long: when the Lord does deny his People the means, he doth give them a support in himself, that they shall have no want of the means; as it is in a spiritual way, so it is also very often in a providential way, that when the Lord denyes the means, he doth give unto his People a support in himself, that so they may learn to trust unto him, and to know that they have an interest not only in his mediate, but in his immediate Providence, and that the special Providence of God towards his people has both these parts in it, to shew that though they see not Providence in the use of all the ordinary means, yet that they tempt not God, nor look for all things in a common way in the use of means, that it may appear, that they trust in God alone, and can shut their eyes and say, I know not how it will come in, I see no means, but there is a Providence that is above means, with him the fatherl••ss find mercy. So it is in all inward affli∣ctions also, and distresses of Conscience, the Soul has many times nothing to look upon but an immediate and almighty hand, all means fail, they have gone from Ordinance to Ordi∣nance, and they have waited when a Messenger one of a thousand should be sent to them, but there is none that can speak peace to them, there is no fruit of the lips to refresh them; and when the mans soul draws near to the Grave, and his life to the destroyer, then he doth immediately lift up the light of his countenance, and thereby his soul is revived again, and delivered from going down into the pit; that as the Lord Jesus Christ when there was nothing of creature comforts to uphold him, (for they all forsook him and fled,) then the Promise of the Lord was made good,* 1.839 Isa. 42.6. I will hold thee by the hand, and I will keep thee; when all the creatures withdrew their succour, not one of them did hold forth their hand to him, now there was from the Father an immediate and a secret support; so it is with the Saints also, Psal. 37.24. Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast away, for the Lord upholds him with his hand▪ but there is sometimes an immediate income that is known unto the Soul, the Lord lifts up the light of his countenance in the darkest night, when he sees nothing but Hell and Destruction before his Eyes, which is called the hidden Manna,* 1.840 and the new Name and the white Stone, Rev. 2.17. They had no Manna till they were in the Wilderness, and all hope of support from creatures did fail, now the Manna comes; and such are the incomes of the Spirit into the Soul; and a new Name, and a white Stone; when he comes to judgment upon himself, and he is ready to pass an eter∣nal sentence upon himself, counts himself free amongst the dead, like them that lye in the Grave, whom thou remembrest no more, never to have a good look from God; now the Lord comes in with a sentence of absolution, and gives a man a name that none knows but he that has it, but then the Lord will make him to know it, it is speaking peace from the Lords immediate voice; as the Martyr, when he came to the Stake, and had no means of comfort in a Desertion before, now he cryes out, He is come, he is come. It is with many a Soul as with the woman that had the issue of blood twelve years, and had waited upon the Physicians, attended on the means which God had appointed, and spent all her time and pains upon them, and yet was not the better, but rather the worse, and she is reserved for an immediate cure by Christ, and an immediate rouch from him shall do the work; that, as Bernard observes concerning the time when Christ came in the flesh, which is in Scripture call'd the fulness of time, Non apparebat Angelus, non loquebatur Pro∣pheta, cessabant velut desperatione victi; tunc dixi, ecce venio, &c. so it is with the coming of the Spirit also, when all means have been used, and all fail, and the soul is ready to sink under the burden, now the Spirit saith, Lo I come; the soul did before find that there were everlasting arms under it, and that it did hang as the Earth upon nothing, did not know how it was upheld, but now the Spirit comes in, and makes bare his arm, dispells the darkness, and saith, Behold me, it is I, now I come; and so a mans comforts and sup∣ports come in from an immediate discovery of the Light of Gods countenance, as if it were a voice from Heaven, as it was to Christ, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

7. He doth sometimes give unto his People courage and assistance immediately beyond what is natural unto them,* 1.841 and above and beyond all the means, Zac. 4.7. Not by power nor by might, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord; it is spoken of the Spirit of God immedi∣ately strengthning and stirring up the spirits of instruments beyond their own natural strength, as Samson was, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and then he had the strength of many men in him;* 1.842 and Isa. 35.6. The lame shall leap as an Hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; it is spoken of immediate strength and healing by the grace of Christ, that as the Lord Jesus did heal men, and with a word only, and without means, their feet and ankle-bones received strength, and they did leap as a Hart, and praise God; so

here they have immediate assistance, as David had in the business of Goliah, the spirit of fortitude came upon him for that service, and the promise is Zac. 12.8. The weak shall be as David, as full of courage in any difficult services that they should be called unto, as David was, when the Lord shall say to him that is of a fearful heart, Be strong, and it shall be so, Esa. 35.4. and so Mat. 10.19. It shall be given you in that hour,* 1.843 I will give you a mouth and wisdom that all your enemies shall not be able to resist; for it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaks in you; that as Samson was not acted by his own strength, so neither did they speak by their own spirits, but by an immediate assi∣stance from the Spirit, both directing their minds, suggesting to them the matter, and also guiding their tongues, and directing them unto words what to say, and how they ought to speak; that as 'tis said of the Prophets, the Lord speaks in them, Heb. 1.1. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.844 for they are said to be 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as they were transported or carried by the Holy Ghost, 2 Pet. 1.20. they were not acted according to their own spirits,* 1.845 neither did they speak according to their own parts or light, but as they were directed by the immediate assi∣stance of the Spirit of God at the same time; so there is an immediate assistance that the Lord hath promised unto his people, when he doth call them forth unto any service where∣in the immediate presence of God and power of the Spirit is necessary and required, it is beyond the power or strength of a man; and it is that which the Lord many times doth, he will bring his people into such a condition, that there shall be no means for them to look unto, that they shall be wholly fatherless, and have neither Sun-light nor Star-light in the creature, receiving the sentence of death in themselves, that they may look for Gods im∣mediate appearing, 2 Cor. 1.9. But we had the sentence of death in our selves, that we should not trust in our selves, that we could see no means to escape, but now must have an eye to an almighty and immediate power of God, that we might trust, not in our selves, but in God that raiseth the dead, that our deliverance must be a kind of resurrection from the dead. And the people of God, if they have the means, yet they look upon them as nothing: We have no might against this great multitude, but our eyes are towards thee; and if they have no means, they can look upon him that hath a creating power, that can make waters to break out in the Wilderness, and streams in the Desart, and the parched ground shall become a Pool, and the thirsty ground Springs of water; in the habitation of Dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes; that which only was fit and delightsom unto the Devil, the Satyrs, that shall be good for the glory of God and the use of man, as it is Esa. 35.7, 8.

2. There is in the next place a mediate Providence, and that is in the manner of Gods ordering of all things in the use of means; and so all the means that the Lord does use are for the good of his people, Rom. 8.28. All things work together for their good, that though the Lord doth work by means, and doth make use of second causes to produce their ef∣fects, yet they do all concur in this, that they do conspire for the good of the Elect of God, Hos. 2.21, 22. I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth,* 1.846 and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oyl, and they shall hear Jezreel: the Lord doth work for the good of his people by second causes, he doth not rain corn from Heaven, as he did Manna in the Wilderness, but the Earth shall hear the corn, and he will give it them out of the earth, and in all the actings of second causes it is the Lord that hath the great hand, he doth make them to be a means of blessing, or else they could never prove so to be, it is the Lord that doth hear the Heavens; it's a mighty strain of speech, that the Heavens and the Earth that were before deaf and dumb to them, that took no compassion upon them in their necessity, and answered them not, now when they are reconciled, are brought as it were to be hum∣ble suitors and petitioners for them; the Heavens shall say, Lord, I would give my influ∣ence, rain to refresh thy people; and the Earth shall say, Lord, I would give my strength for the good of thy people also, &c. For as it is by virtue of the Covenant of the Saints that all the creatures stand, so it is by their Covenant also that they do act, it is by being betrothed unto God, that all the creatures are in Covenant with them, and it is for them that all means do act freely, and all creatures willingly do serve; for it's their redemption that they wait for and long for; but unto other men, they are made subject not willingly, but the Lord hath subjected them in hope, Rom. 8.20, 21. but their subjection is an act of Sove∣raignty, and not of choice, for they would not serve the lusts of ungodly men, though they are willing to serve the necessities of the Saints; therefore all the means that the Lord doth use are for the good of the Saints, and it is for them that they work in all that they do.

1. He it is that doth provide and appoint means, there is in Providence 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as well as 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, he doth order and appoint the cause to the effect, the means to the end, for the good of his people, which all the creatures could not do; he brings food out of

the earth, and he doth cause rain, and reserve the appointed weeks of the harvest, Jer. 5.24. it is he that orders every thing unto its end for the good of his people.

* 1.8472. He doth Bless the means; man lives not by Bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, &c. Ʋnless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: He gives all things richly to enjoy, 1 Tim. 6.17. It's the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and it's he that blesseth the labours of our hand, that we labour not in the fire, Hab. 2.13. and therefore the creatures are said to be sanctifi'd by the Word and Prayer, 1 Tim. 4.5. by a blessing attained thereupon,* 1.848 that they shall prosper for their ends.

3. He doth raise up means when we can see none, unexpectedly, Mic. 6.4. he sent be∣fore them Moses and Aaron; Zac. 9.13. When I have bent Judab for me, and filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons O Sion, against thy sons O Greece, &c. So for the delive∣rance of Mordecai; and he rais'd up the Spirit of Cyrus, and stirred it up, so that he made a Proclamation for the good of Jerusalem, Ezra 1.1. and Zac. 1.8. he stood among the Myrtle-trees that were in the bottom, &c. In the evening it shall be light, Zac. 14.7. an An∣gel stops the Lyons mouths, and opens the prison-doors; when all hope is gone, and they cannot see from what quarter supply shall come, then do means appear unexpectedly; and therefore the people of God do believe in hope, against hope, upon this ground, be∣cause the hand of the Lord is not shortned.

4. The most unlikely Means, Isa. 41.15. The Worm Jacob shall thresh the Mountains, &c. He doth open Rivers in high places, Isa. 41.18. waters shall break out in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the enemies shall turn their Swords against one another, that they shall destroy themselves, Judg. 9.7.22. And their own breath shall be as fire to de∣vour themselves, Isa. 33.11. And so the ten Kings shall destroy the Whore, who set her up; and God will act means contrary to their own nature, or above their nature, for his People; Ravens to feed Elijah, and the Heavens to give bread and flesh, and the Rocks water, out of the Eater shall come meat, and the waters shall be a wall unto them, and the Sun shall stand still; for the wheels of Providence are sometimes lifted up, he doth not always goe in an ordinary way, but useth means that they know not of, as in the work of Redemption, so in a work of Providence also, and beyond their intention, as the instances are many which might be given, Isa. 44.25. that frustrates the tokens of the lyers, and maketh Diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish: the fiery furnace shall not consume Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego, but their ene∣mies, &c.

§. 2. We come now unto the Third Distinction of Providence, it is either circa neces∣saria vel contingentia, about necessaries or contingents: That is said to be necessary which could not otherwise be, but the effect hath a necessary dependance upon its cause, that it doth from an inward principle, ex necessitate naturae, produce such an effect; and so the Sun doth naturally and therefore necessarily enlighten, and the Fire doth naturally and therefore necessarily warm; such causes as have a natural and therefore a necessary influence and causality. And things contingent are such as have no necessity in their causes, but in respect of us they might have been otherwise, such of which we are able to give no reason, but their causes are to us unknown, and so the event unexpected. That is said to be contingent, and to fall out beyond our expectation,* 1.849 cujus ratio & causa secreta est, the seed whereof we are not able to foresee in second Causes: Fatum nil aliud est quàm series implexa causarum. So that if we look upon all things in reference to the first cause, so all things are necessary, and there is nothing that is contingent or falls out by chance or accident, but all contin∣gency is in reference unto second causes; for they are known of God and appointed by him by a necessary and infallible Providence; as if a man hewing wood, the Axes head falls off, and smites his Neighbour that he dye; or if a man cast a stone unawares, and it light upon his Neighbour,* 1.850 Num. 35.23. that which is beyond the intention of the man, yet God is said to deliver him into his hand, Exod. 21.13. that is, God has jus vitae & necis, & ad altissimam ejus providentiam refertur. And so it was in the death of Ahab, there was a man that drew a bow at a venture, or in simplicity, not aiming at him, not intending his death more than any other mans, but it smote the King of Israel between the Harness; there was a Providence that infallibly guided it, though in reference to the second cause, it was meer∣ly contingent and accidental; and therefore the Lord foretells things that are meerly ca∣sual before they come to pass, as that to Saul, upon the plain of Tabor, There shall meet thee three men, one carrying three kids, and another three loaves of bread, and he shall salute thee, and give thee two loaves, and thou shalt receive them at his hand: Luk. 22.10. There shall meet you a man bearing a Pitcher of water, follow him, &c. for all things are unto him certain, and infallible, not only ex praevisione, but ex praeordinatione, he did order them that they should so come to pass.

1. Gods Providence regards all Necessaries; and such are all natural causes, they work necessarily, because ex necessitate naturae, from a necessity of nature, and so ad ultimum po∣tentiae, to the utmost of their power: Now there is even in the ordering of these a gracious hand of God for the good of his People, and that will appear in these six instances.

1. In the Sun, it riseth naturally, and therefore necessarily, and so it shines, yet it is God makes it shine; so Math. 5.45. He maketh the Sun to rise, &c. But it will be said, that this is an act of common grace, for it riseth upon the evil and the good, the just and the unjust, but it's ••ar, that the Lord makes it to rise and to shine; for Job 9.7. he com∣mands the Sun and it riseth not; he can cause it to put on sackcloth; (for he has a nega∣tive voice upon the motions of all the creatures) and although it riseth upon the evil as well as upon the good, yet it is upon the evil for the sake of the good: for all the creatures in their service are subjected under hope, to be delivered into the glorious liberty of the sons of God;* 1.851 therefore there is an earnest expectation and a groaning of them, and it is in reference here∣unto, that they may serve the Saints: for as the Angels being the servants of Christ, do serve the Elect as his members, so do all creatures, as being subjected unto Christ, and given into his hands, serve the saint•• as his members. And though the Sun be in respect of the light, a glorious Body, yet it may be much of that glory by Sin and the Curse is ob∣scured; for surely the curse hath reach'd unto all the creatures that were for mans use; and therefore it's possible that place may have in some respect a literal sence, Isa. 30.26. The light of the Moon shall be as the light of the Sun, and the light of the Sun sevenfold; for there is a time of the restitution of all things, which I cannot expound of the last day of Judgment,* 1.852 for then there shall not be a Restitution of all things, but an Annihilation of many things, a New Heaven there shall be, Isa. 65.17. which I cannot understand to be spoken after the day of Judgement; for vers. 21. he speaks of building houses and inhabiting them, and planting of Vineyards, and eating the fruit of them; therefore some renovation in quality, and resti∣tution of the ancient glory of Heaven and Earth is meant here: and if that place, Isa. 11.6. the lyon and the lamb, the leopard and the kid shall lye down together, be not onely to be under∣stood figuratively of men of such dispositions, but also literally of the creatures them∣selves, that the antipathy which came in by sin shall be destroyed, as Lactant. saith, Non bestiae sanguine alentur, nec aves praedâ, sed quieta & placida erunt omnia, we may expect also even for the Saints sake, the glory of the Sun may be restored also in reference to the Light thereof, as of the Earth in reference to the fruitfulness thereof. And the influences of the Sun are as natural and necessary as the light thereof; and yet there is a Providence that orders them for the good of the saints, Psal. 126.6. The Sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the Moon by night; there are noxious influences of these celestial bodies, which are to be looked upon as a grievous stroak, but the hurtfull influences of them the Lord will suspend and turn away; and thou shalt find (as Israel in the Wilderness) that though thou encamp in the Field, and hast only the Heavens for thy Canopy and covering, yet the influences of them shall be sweet to thee and benigne, vivificat & prolificat, such as shall be cheering and comforting: for as it is in the Commands of God and Prohibitions, when any sin is forbidden, the contrary duty is commanded; so when any evil is removed, the contrary good is promised; it shall not hurt thee, but it shall help thee, it shall not smite thee, but it shall comfort and quicken and revive thee.

2. The Stars they work as natural causes, and therefore necessarily, Amos 5.8.* 1.853 He ma∣keth the seven Stars and Orion, &c. the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 doth not signifie barely facere or create, but disponere, dirigere, not so much their creation as the providential disposition of them, he doth order and draw forth their influences, and trims up these Lamps of Heaven, and he doth draw them forth, or seal them up at his pleasure, as Job 9.9.* 1.854 it is not in the pow∣er of any creature to draw forth or to bind them up; if the Lord loose them, none can bind them: they work naturally, but so as they have their commission from the Lord for the good of his people; all the Stars that thou seest, if the Lord should take a man abroad, and shew him how all of them have a commission of influence for him, &c. what a com∣fort would it be? So Judges 5.20. they fight for the People of God;* 1.855 it was by their influen∣ces in raising winds, and thunders and lightning, thereby both discouraging, and also scat∣tering and destroying all the power of the enemy; now these were natural causes, and wrought necessarily, but yet there is a Providence that doth rule and order them for the good of the Saints.

3. The Rain, it doth proceed from a natural cause, and therefore comes necessarily upon the Earth, and yet Job 38.28. The rain hath a father, and he has begotten the drops of the dew, and Hos. 2.21, 22. The Heaven shall hear the Earth, &c. they are all brought in crying and praying for a Covenant people, and the Lord will hear their prayers; the Hea∣vens they cry unto God, that their influences are withheld; and the Earth cryes to the

Heavens, that it cannot for want thereof give forth its strength and fruitfulness; but the Lord doth give this unto his people, opens the windows of Heaven, he rains down a bles∣sing,* 1.856 for the clouds do drop fatness, so that there is a providence that orders these necessary things for the good of his people, and he stays the rain in answer to prayer; for they have power over rain;* 1.857 and also that it shall be a Teacher of Righteousness, Joel 2.23. by the withdrawing they shall learn righteousness, and by the giving of it also in the season thereof.

4. The Earth brings forth naturally and necessarily also, and this ••••••r Lord doth sus∣pend; not that there is not the same strength in the earth, only in judgment he turns it into barrenness, that is, it gives not forth its strength; but in the new Heaven it shall not be so,* 1.858 the earth shall hear Jezreel, They shall plant vineyards, and shall eat the fruit of them, they shall no more labour in vain, the earth shall open her bosom, and gloriously yield her in∣crease, when God, even our own God shall bless us, the treasures of Heaven shall not be with∣held, nor the treasures that are in the bowels of the Earth, but there shall be gold for sil∣ver and brass,* 1.859 and for iron silver, and for wood brass, and iron for stones, there shall be that plenty and abundance of those chosen treasures, which are yet hid in the earth but shall then be discovered.

5. The Seas, they have naturally an unquiet motion, but the Lord doth order their mo∣tions for the good of his people; they now are out of their proper place, and therefore they are in their motions restless, but the Lord rides upon the high places of the earth, and he treads upon the high places of the Sea, Job 9.8. though for the Sea to be a wall be far above the nature of it, yet it was agreeable to the nature of it to return again into its chanel upon the enemies of Israel; he doth therefore rule the raging of the S••••, when the waves arise,* 1.860 he saith unto them, Peace, be still; and by this wicked men are confuted that say, All things continue alike from the creation of the world; but that they do not, for first the earth was covered with water, now it is separated, and the dry land appears; it was after∣wards in judgment covered with waters in the Floud, and then the waters entred into their own chanel again.

6. The winds also, they have a natural and necessary cause: The Lord brings the winds out of his treasuries; there are treasures of winds, Job 38.22. and the stormy winds fulfil his word, Psal. 148.8. but there is not a wind that ariseth upon the Earth or Sea, but he doth in this dispose of it for the good of his people;* 1.861 the winds and the Sea obey him; and if there be a wind in the earth, an Earth-quake, as there was at the Resurrection of Christ, for the confirmation of their faith, all these obey him: Acts 16.26. Rev. 11.13. when Rome shall fall, seven hundred men shall be slain by an Earth-quake, and there shall be great discoveries of God in those things which he over-rules for the good of his people: which when they consider, should bear up their hearts in the greatest storms and tempests that any of the creatures can raise against them.

2. There are also some things which are contingent or fortuitous, that is, though all things be governed by a determinate counsel in God, and there be nothing casual unto him, but foreknown unto him were all his works from the foundation of the world, yet in respect of us there are some things which are contingent and meerly 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, without hu∣mane election, and wonderful, and those casual providences are for the good of the Saints in dreams, in lots, in ordering the wills and affections of men, in the slip of a horse, the fall of an house, the meeting of a friend, a man is casually cast upon such places, persons, occasions, as Saul when he went forth to seek Asses and found a Kingdom; we may in∣stance in a more special manner in the business of war, wherein though there be a Council, yet in the execution or the executive part every thing seems meerly contingent; and yet we see all to be for Alimoth, Psal. 46.1. for the hidden ones, he doth chuse the Officers, ap∣point the Souldiers, appoint the weapons, direct the execution, order the strategems, give the advantages, act or take away mens courage and their skill, the Captains shall be as Grashoppers, and he it is that either teaches their hands to war, so that a bow of steel is bro∣ken by their arms, or the heart of a Lyon doth melt, and the men of might cannot find their hands; and he casts it for the victory, it is he that doth put the Crown upon the head of the Conqueror, for the victory is of God.

SECT. V. The Saints Interest in Gods Providential Kingdom, as it regards goods and evils.

§. 1. NOw follows the fourth distinction, and that is, circa bona vel mala, about good and evil things: and in both these also Providence doth order all things for the spi∣ritual good of his people. 1. There is a Providence circa bona, for all the good things which do befal the Saints; for every good doth come down from him who is the Father of lights, Jam. 1.17. they are all from him who is the Fountain of living waters; they are streams from the upper Springs; as in Election there is a special love, so there doth flow from it a peculiar Providence: If God cloath the grass of the field, much more you, O ye of little faith! He is the Saviour of all men, but specially of them that believe; so that if we look upon all the good things which in this life befal them, they have it by a special providence over them for their good: for the present I shall instance in these particulars.

1. In appointing of their calling; for there is as truly an election unto calling, and a separation by God, as there is unto life and salvation, Rom. 1.1. Separated unto the Gospel, that is, set apart by God to preach the Gospel; and so Gal. 1.15. says the Apostle, But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mothers womb, and called me by his grace, &c. There is not a man that comes into the world, but the Lord doth appoint him in what condition of life he shall serve, and he doth set him apart unto an imployment; for he is the Lord of Host, and he doth set every man his station. As it is said of Peter, The Lord did appoint him by what death he should glorifie God; so it's true of all the people of God, he doth appoint them by what condition of ••ife they should glorifie him; and though Paul went on in another way a long time, and little intended any such thing, yet God ordered it so, that he would reveal his Son in him, both per modum objecti, ob••ectively, that others should see Christ in him, and subjecti, subjectively, that he himself should see the discoveries of Christ by a Spirit of Revelation, and he should be a glorious instrument in the hand of the Lord to reveal Christ unto others: and in this there is a wonderful and a gracious hand of Providence unto his people, that unto other men their callings are for their hurt, and their callings as well as their tables become their shares, that they are in∣tangled by them; yet they are for the good of his people. Thus Luther doth observe of himself, in Gen. 17. Deus voluit me esse concionatorem, & sustinere pr••pter verbum odium & invidiam mundi: Aliis imponit laborem manuum, & videntur mihi beati, &c. exerceor periculis & tentationibus, & tamen mechanicus ille aequè at{que} ego salvatur. But he saith this was the calling in which God had set him, and in this he must walk with him, and the works of this calling were unto him the works of God, &c. Of this we have a famous instance in Junius, his father was exceedingly against his being a Preacher of the Gospel, was desirous that he might have godliness in himself, but that he should never be a Teacher of it, vivus non fuisset passus, &c. but in sententia planè eram diversa à sententia patris, in Vita Junii. To ingage the spirits of men, and to order occasions and opportunities that men might glorifie God in such a way of service as he hath appointed for them, and that it should be suitable to their spirits, their parts, their graces, and they shall be par negotio, fitted for the work unto which the Lord hath called them, that they may honour God in it with plea∣sure, sweetness, and delight; there is a special hand of a merciful and a gra••••ous Provi∣dence therein.

2. In setting them their habitation; the earth is the Lords, and he hath given it unto the children of men, but he hath set every man in his place in the earth, the bounds of their habitation are set; so he doth tell Paul, I will send thee afar off to the Gentiles, that he should preach amongst the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. The Ministers of the Gospel are the Stars in the right hand of Christ, ••ev. 1. ult. and he doth set them in their orbs where they shall shine, as well as give them light by which they shall shine; there are some Stars primae magnitudinis, of the first magnitude, but they are not all so, one Star differs from ano∣ther in glory: Jonah must go to Nineveh, Amos must prophesie at Bethel, though it be the Kings Chappel, and the Kings Court; John Baptist must preach in the Wilderness of Judea, and he must not spare the sins of any of his Auditors, neither the Publicans nor the Souldiers, and if the Pharisees come, they shall meet also with their reproof: O generation of vipers, who hath forewarned you to flee from the wrath to come? We have an instance in Na∣zianzen, who was chosen by the people to be Minister at Nazianzum, which was the place of his birth, and from whence he hath his name; but at his hearing of it he did declare

the work was that which he thought himself no way fit for, and yet after some stay, and much ado, the Lord brought him thither: and so for Musculus, when he was turned out of the Covent, and deprived of all means of livelihood, he betook himself unto a Weavers house that was an Anabaptist, and there he wrought some two years, where confuting a Teacher which used to come unto his master, he was thereupon displaced; and now he knew not what to do, and then resolved for a livelihood to go work in the Town-ditch, for they were making of Fortifications, and walking there the night before he made these Verses, Est Deus in coelis, &c. and so next morning one sent unto him to be Minister of a Church, &c.

3. In giving them occasion and opportunity to exercise their graces; for opportunity is the spring time of grace and of sin, Phil. 4.10. Ye but wanted opportunity; and Judas sought an opportunity to betray Christ; there is much within, that if there were not op∣portunity would never be vented, it's this that gives the vent unto the inward man. Now opportunity and occasion of sinning is a judgment, and it is one way that the Lord hath a hand in the ordering of sinful actions, he doth give the occasion to them; he ordered it that Judas should have the bag, and Achan should see the wedge, and the young man have a harlot come out to meet him, &c. So the Lord doth give occasion and opportunity for the exercising of graces, and it is a special providence so to do; 1 Cor. 1.6, 9. A great door is open to me, that is, a great and a blessed opportunity of service; Rev. 3.8. I will set be∣fore thee an open door, that is, give a man a great opportunity; and to continue to a man such an occasion as this is, a door that shall not be shut; though not only service, but even opportunity of service, shall be sure to meet with many adversaries. This is a spe∣cial mercy unto the people of God, and a great gift, if the Lord doth in providence so or∣der things, that it shall be so unto them. So the obedience of Abraham in leaving of his country, and his offering of his son; the strength of Jacob in prayer, therefore Esau shall meet him; the chastity of Joseph, and the patience of Job, the zeal of Jehosaphat, and his readiness to work for God, he ••••d abundance, and his heart was lifted up in the ways of Gods commandments; and the courage and height of spirit in Luther, he shall meet with opposition that shall draw it forth, gratia vexata seipsam prodit, he had never appeared unto that h••ight, had it not been that the Lord by their opposition gave him occasion and opportu∣nity for such eminent service:* 1.862 and Prov. 17.16. Why is there a price in the hand of a fool? 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 hoc pretium, this great and this excellent price, some expound it of riches, which the Lord doth give men, that they might by them endeavour to get wisdom, and to exer∣cise it; but it is, I conceive, of a larger extent, and to be understood of any talent which the Lord doth put into a mans hand, it is all given by God, that it may be used and im∣proved unto a spiritual end, and the wisdom and the folly of a man is much discovered in the use of the price that is put into his hand, wise men have a heart to it, that is, they do understand it, what they are betrusted with, and they have a will and a desire, and they do their endeavour to imploy it, but fools understand not what it is, neither do they consider it, and therefore they have no desire to use it unto the end for which God gave it, they know not the season in which talents are continued, nor the end for which they were com∣mitted unto men, and therefore they use them for their hurt, and are but as a sword put into a mad mans hand to hurt all that comes near him, and they cast fire-brands, and say, I am in sport, &c. Now it 〈◊〉〈◊〉 true, opportunity is a great talent, it is a mans day of visi∣tation for service, as there is a day of visitation for grace, and if a man know it not, and take it not, but let it slip, it is his folly and his sin, and will prove a curse to him. There is many a ••••n that has as much sin as another, but yet it is not so improved, because he never had in providence the opportunity which makes others grow more exceedingly and out of measure sinful, and so it is also in this, there is many a man that has much more grace, because he had more opportunity of exercising it and drawing it forth, and so the habit is exceedingly improved, and there are glorious fruits of it, all which do abound unto the account of the Saints: thus providence orders opportunities of service.

4. There is a special Providence unto his people in ••ppointing of their societies; that as ungodly men are permitted to be cast upon some that will improve their sin, for a man is much built up by his society, either unto Heaven or Hell, Prov. 1.10. If sinners entice thee con∣sent thou not; sinners will entice, and a man shall be cast into such companies and such oc∣casions of converse he knows not how; so there is a providence also in casting of the peo∣ple of God upon their societies, Act. 18.24, 25. Apollos came to Ephesus, and at the same time Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome: now Aquila and Priscilla co∣ming from Italy meeting with him, and they instructing him in the way of the Lord more perfectly, this was happy for him to meet with such company, hoc providentiae meritò tribuen∣dum est: insomuch that the people of God bless God unto Eternity one for another; as

the Martyr acknowledged it as a wonderful glorious providence unto him, that he was cast into prison, for there he became acquainted with that Angel of God John Bradford; so Austin doth acknowledge much of the goodness of God to him in the society of Nebri∣dius. But there is an excellent story of Junius in this kind: he being in Leyden for his stu∣dies sake, there arose a great stir and tumult in the City, insomuch that many of the inha∣bitants fled away for safety, and he amongst the rest fled to save his life, and being in the country thereabouts, he came to a country-mans house to beg some victuals, the country-man received him, and very courteously entertained him, and he began to talk with him about matters of Religion, which the country-man performed with so much zeal and affe∣ction, ego malus Christianus siquidem Christianus, &c. una & eadem hora gratiam suam in utro∣que explicavit Deus: à me scientiam rusticus, ego ab eo zelum, &c. And he saith it did abide upon him mente fixâ, that he was not able to put the impression out of his mind, and the Lord made it useful to him all his life after, &c.

5. In their preservation in service, and their dismissions from service. (1) There is a preservation in service, that they shall be continued to do the work for which the Lord has appointed them, and they shall not be cut off till they have finished their work; so it was with the Lord Jesus Christ, Luke 13.32. Go tell that Fox. It's true,* 1.863 that he was a subtle enemy, and one that did want no skill to bring those bloody designs he had to pass, but yet there was a time set for Christs work, to day and to morrow and the third day; and du∣ring that time all his enemies were not able by power or policy to reach him; and then af∣terwards, I shall be perfected, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that is, I shall have perfected the work of my ministry, and the perfection of a mans work, is the perfection of the man, he is never perfected till then: and so it is with the two Witnesses, they shall not be killed till they have fulfilled their Prophecy; there is no putting any man out of imployment till the Lord discharge him, a man that has any work to do for God, no man can stop him in it before it is finished. (2) When their work is done, they shall have a very gracious dismission, and they shall lie down with honour; the best of the Saints have but their time of service, and they shall re∣ceive their discharge, but they shall come to their grave in a full age, as a shock of corn in the season thereof, Job 5.26. Some men have a longer, and some have a shorter time of ser∣vice, but all have but their time. As sinning is a warfare, and wicked men in that do re∣ceive their discharge, and it is in providence ordered so, that they dye when it is in judg∣ment to them, when they least expect it, and are least prepared for it; so godly men dye when their graces are perfected, and their work is finished, and never till then: and there∣fore when they sought Luthers life so much, yet he could write this upon the wall of his Study, I shall not dye but live, and declare the works of the Lord, &c. And there are some men upon this account can laugh at dangers in a way of service, and deride threatnings as the crackling of thorns under a pot, because they say, My time is not in your hands, neither the time of my life, nor of my service, and he that imploys me will uphold me, and will maintain me till the time of my dismission shall come, and then I shall go off the stage of this world in mercy, and lye down in peace, and rest upon my bed after the time of my labour is ended.

6. There is a special Providence in blessing and providing for their posterity; God has a special providence over those that come out of the loyns of his own; for indeed he has so ordered all his Decrees, as that the greatest part of the Elect comes out of the loyns of the Saints, Prov. 20.7. His children are blessed after him; there is grace in a special man∣ner that is promised unto them, but 'tis a blessedness that doth descend upon them by vir∣tue of their parents Covenant, Esa. 59.21. My words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever: and Esa. 44.3. I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy off∣spring, &c. as Austin was filius lacrymarum, the son of his mothers prayers and tears, and the Lord did give an answer by giving the soul of her son unto her, that he was graciously converted unto the Lord, and proved an eminent instrument for service in the Church of the Lord. The Saints can with Jacob pronounce upon them a blessing when they dye, and that out of faith in the promise, and the Lord willsurely make it good unto them; but we are begotten not of blood, Joh. 1.13. And therefore though many times ungodly men may and do come out of the loyns of the Saints, and the spiritual part of the Covenant is not made good unto many of the posterity of his own people, yet the outward part of the Co∣venant surely is; though the Covenant for matter of grace be unto Isaac, yet there is ano∣ther part of it that is made good to Ismael: Twelve Princes shall he beget, he hath the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth. God doth in outward things strangely supply them, and provide for them: when the children of the wicked are vagabonds and beg their bread, Psal. 37.25. Yet I never saw the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.* 1.864 Not that a

godly man may not be brought to beggery, or to live upon the charity of another, Jesus Christ himself was so, he was poor, and so poor, that the women, Luke 8.3. his followers did minister unto him of their substance to supply his necessity in this life; but there is a fourfold interpretation of that place of Scripture. (1) Begging of bread is taken for ex∣tremity of poverty, the seed of the righteous are never so poor, but the Lord doth find out a way of support and supply for them; he has said, That the just shall inherit the earth. (2) It is not meant that it was never so, that they were never poor, but in Davids experi∣ence, he had never found it so. (3) There is another interpretation of Muis, and that is, semen ejus quaerens panem non derelictum, not forsaken, though begging of their bread; the Jews in this misery that they are, yet grow rich where-ever they come, the temporal promise is fulfilled to them. (4) The term righteous may be restrained to such as are eminently righteous as to works of mercy. So it follows vers. 26. He is ever merciful, &c. So among the Hebrews, mercy towards the poor is termed 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Righteousness.

§. 2. There is also a Providence circa mala, about evils; for his Kingdom rules over all, and this malum, evil is either culpae, of sin, or poenae, of punishment, concerning both which the Soveraignty of God doth gloriously work, though it be in a far different way. First, the Soveraignty of God in his providential Kingdom is conversant about the evils of sin, they do all come under the government of God; and that it is so, will appear from Gen. 45.5, 6, 7.* 1.865 it was the observation that Joseph had about that unnatural act of his bre∣thren, he looked upon a double hand in it, one was theirs, which he from a principle of meekness and forgiveness was ready to pass by and over-look, and another was a special hand of providence in this sin of theirs, and that he speaks of three times, as being much affected with the Soveraignty of God ordering of that sin of theirs both in respect of him and themselves, Ye sold me, but God sent me, in that sin of theirs there was an over-ruling hand of Soveraignty, and that he tells them three times together, That it was God sent him, and that it was not they that sent him: Ye sent me out of malice, and God sent me out of mercy, you to destroy me, God to preserve both you and me; you sent me, that I should be a slave to man; God, that I might be a father to Pharaoh, and a Ruler of all the land of Egypt. We see what a glory here is over this sinful action in respect of Joseph, Pharaoh, Egypt, and the whole family of Jacob; and this was not a casual thing, something that came to pass by accident or by chance, but it was by counsel, a Soveraignty that did with wisdom lay this as a design and plot before-hand;* 1.866 so Gen. 50.20. You thought evil, but God meant it unto good: the word in both places is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which doth signifie a plotted thought done by counsel, Psal. 10.2. Let them be taken in their devices that they have imagined, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉: it is spoken there of plotted designed evil: and so it was here; the good was done by counsel, and it was a thing that comes not to pass without foresight, but God meant and plotted it for good; and therefore we read, Exod. 28.15. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 opus ingeniosè inventum, a work that is artificially done, upon which many thoughts went before, it was brought unto a ripeness and perfection; and such was this work here also, they plotted upon evil, and the Lord plotted and designed this their evil unto good:* 1.867 so Esa. 10.6, 7. the King of Babylon comes against Jerusalem, and the Lord sends him not by any command, for the work was displea∣sing unto him, as done by them, and for which he will visit them, vers. 12. but arcano im∣perio, by a secret act of the Soveraignty of God, so ordering things in providence, that this should come to pass; and therefore Ezech. 9.1. they are called the visiters of the city, men appointed by the dominion of God unto that office, but yet the man had a thought of nothing less than to do Gods work in it, or to submit unto his dominion, or execute his counsel, which unto them was secret, he meaneth not so, he thinks not so; there are two words used, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 tacite secum cogitare, he hath not such a thought that did ever enter into his heart, he never had so much as the least secret imagination of any such thing; and the other word is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which doth signifie a devised, designed, and plotted thing, it was a thing that he never consulted, never designed in all that he doth to execute my displeasure a∣gainst an hypocritical Nation; but yet he shall do my work, while he doth wholly intend his own, and design that only, and yet the work that shall be done upon Sion is the Lords work, vers. 12. and by these two Scriptures it will clearly appear that the Soveraignty of God is conversant about the sins of men, things in themselves evil and forbidden of God, and yet his Soveraignty reacheth unto them. And this I shall branch into two heads. (1) The Soveraignty of God over a mans own sins for the good of his people. (2) Over other mens sins; he doth so imploy his Soveraignty about the sins of men, that they shall be ordered for the good of the Saints.

1. The Soveraignty and Supremacy of God in reference unto the sins of his own people; the Lord doth so rule and order all things thereby, that their own sins shall in some kind work for their good, that which in its own nature is only evil, can by an almighty over-ruling

hand, turn into good; which no man in the world is able to do; they may make good use of things in themselves good, but they are never able to bring good out of that which is per se malum, of it self sinfull, as sin is; and this I shall demonstrate to you in four things, (1) In respect of the being of sin. (2) In respect of the rising of sin. (3) In respect of the actings of sin. (4) In respect of the raging of sin, in an open violent scandalous way.

1. It will appear in reference unto the being of sin in the Saints. The Lord, who has for∣bid all sin even in the Principles and being of it, and has sent his Son to take away sin, yet he has in his Soveraignty so ordered the condition of the Saints here, that sin shall have a being in them, and they shall never be perfectly freed from it; so that it will be true of the best while they are here, he that saith he has no sin deceiveth himself, there will be reli∣quiae vetustatis, as Austin calls it, a Law in the members, a body of death. To be without sin here is given to us as praeceptum, a precept in this life, or else Original sin were no sin, and the being of sin were against no Law of God; the Law requires a holy Nature, as well as holy Actions; but in the life to come it shall be given to us as praemium, a reward; here as a Law, and hereafter as a Reward. And why has the Sovereignty of God so ordered it that those that shall be freed from sin perfectly in the Life to come, and whom Christ shall present without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, why will he suffer them to have the Remainders of sin in them in this life, and they shall never be freed from it till their disso∣lution? We shall easily see that he, as the Lord of all, has ordered this by his Sovereign∣ty and Supremacy for the good of his people, and that it was for their sakes.

(1) That hereby he may exalt the Grace of Justification unto the Saints; for God to pardon sins past, it were rich mercy, infinite mercy; but for the Lord to leave sin remain∣ing in a man, and while he is conflicting with it, and fears he shall be overcome with it every moment, sees himself still to remain a sinner, and yet the grace of Justification still to hold out, that as there is in me a Fountain of sin, so God is the Father of mercies, and he doth not only pardon at first, but when I sin and endeavour to make a breach upon my Justification again, he shews mercy still, and doth multiply to pardon, Isa. 55.7. this exalts the Righteousness of Christ imputed in justification; for tolle morbos, tolle vulnera, & nulla erit medicinae causa. Dam. Therefore a man doth daily wash his feet, and sees the Sun of Righteousness to rise upon him daily, that he may be justifi'd not only from the Acts of sin, but also from the remainders and Reliques of sin that are in him, Joh. 13.10. And this also doth exalt the grace of God the Father justifying. When the Apostle had had more than ordinary experience of the remainders of corruption in him, and was much afflicted, looking upon himself as a miserable man by reason thereof, and judg∣ing himself worthy to be destroy'd for it, and might by reason thereof have expected the sentence of death every moment; now he looks upon the grace of the Gospel as justify∣ing, and he finds a new sweetness in it; there is now no condemnation unto them that are in Christ Jesus, Rom. 8.1. Not only the sins committed before Conversion, but the sins re∣maining after, do justly make the soul liable to condemnation: but such is the grace that justifies us, that there is no condemnation unto them that are in Christ Jesus.

(2) That there may be a continual Conflict kept up in us; our life is a Warfare; and therefore Job 14.14. it is said, all the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come, it is, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, all the days, militiae meae, of my warfare, this is not against enemies without, against spiritual wickednesses in high places only, but against enemies within, in a special manner, the Flesh lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the Flesh, and by this means the war is maintain'd. The Lord will have the time of this life to be tempus militiae, a time of warfare, and the other life laetitiae, of triumph, as Bernard speaks; this laboris, of labour, that mercedis, of reward; and there is no conflict in the world like unto this, to have two contraries in the same place, each of them striving to destroy one another; and yet neither of them compleatly and totally prevailing; for they are contrary, Gal. 5.17. and there is a greater opposition against sin than there is against the Devils themselves, or any enemies without: there are the sorest battels fought between flesh and spirit in the same soul, and with greater displeasure and indignation against them, than Saints against the Devil himself; for this is the greatest evil to them, because it is in them; and because the Lord will have a conflict, that so the graces of his People may be both exercised, and also tryed, and improved; the power of Grace and the truth of it, would never have been so gloriously seen, if there had not been such a principle of corruption drawing it forth daily.

(3) That he may keep his people humble: there is no one thing that the Lord takes more care of, than that the Saints should not be lifted up; it is the end of Affliction to hide pride from their hearts; and of temptations and desertions in the flesh, that they might not be lifted up in themselves, and exalted above measure. Now it's true, it's mat∣ter

enough to humble one, if duely considered, to call to mind what he has been, as it did Paul, I was a persecutor, and a blasphemer, and injurious, 1 Tim. 1.13. As some of the Hea∣thens, having risen to be Kings from small beginnings, would keep something still to put them in mind of their Original: as one being a Potters son would be served only in Ear∣then Vessels all his life-time. The remembrance of what is past might humble a man, to say, Such were some of you, such were ye; but it is much more effectual to humble a man, to consider, that very iniquity is not fully purged unto this day, but there are still some re∣mainders of it upon me, there is still a law in my members that rebells against the law of my mind, that when I would do good evil is present with me; and this makes me to look upon my self as a wretched and a miserable man, and makes me to loath and abhor my self, the same sore is running upon me still, I am sensible I have the leprosie, and therefore I can take no pleasure in my self, the Devil comes, and hath something in me; there is a Prin∣ciple that is prone to close with any temptation, there is a sea of corruption that doth but wait for a wind, nay if the Devil should never disquiet it, yet it is a Fountain that will cast mire out of it self, &c.

(4) That the Saints may be exercised in Prayer and Repentance daily. Now it is that which the Lord requires of them every day; Pray without ceasing, and a man is Nulli rei nisi poenitentiae natus, &c. Now that there may be something that we may ask of him daily to give us, that is, a further degree of Grace, a greater measure of purging, and that we may apply the Righteousness of Christ for to mortifie sin in us, as well as to satisfie God for sin, and that there may be always something that we may confess, and bewail before God, and repent of, and mourn for, this sin is still left in us: And look what benefits the people of God do receive from these constant and daily exercises, all these do flow from the Sovereignty of God towards them, in leaving of the remainders of sin in them; and by this means we come to have a part in that great honour which belongs to Christ, and that is, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, taking away of sin. It's true Christ only doth it by way of satisfaction, and he is the only original of our sanctification; but yet we do it as having our spirits also acted by the Spirit of Christ, and so our wills and desires joyning and concurring with him in that work; therefore we are said, to mortifie the deeds of the body, and to crucifie the flesh, with the affections and lusts, to purge our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, 2 Cor. 7.1. which we do by his Grace, yet there is a concurrence of ours therein.

(5) That the Patience and forbearance of God even towards the Vessels of mercy may be so much the more exalted; Num. 14.17. Moses says, Let the Power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, the Lord long-suffering and of great mercy; even his forbearance is an act of his power: it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, it is an impotency in a man, that he cannot forbear if he be injured; it is utterly a fault amongst you; but it is not so with God, it is his Power that he can forbear; 'tis the patience of his power, and therefore we are not consumed, when we daily provoke him, the imagination of a mans heart being continually evil, he is God and not man,* 1.868 Hos. 11.9. therefore, Gen. 6.5. and 8.21. they do seem to cross each other: in the first place 'tis said, the Lord will destroy man, because the imaginations of his heart were evil; and in the other, I will not again curse the ground for mans sake, for the ima∣ginations of his heart are evil from his youth, it seems to be given as a reason of two contra∣ries, he will and he will not; every imagination of the heart of man is evil, therefore I will no more curse the Earth for his sake; it seems strange reasoning: it is by the Jesuites and Arminians looked upon as an extenuation of Original sin, There is now that infirmity come upon him, which was in Adam indeed a sin, but now it is become a disease, an infir∣mity, a condition of Nature, and therefore humanae infirmitatis miserebor, I will pity humane infirmity, so A Lapide and others, who make the being of sin in us to be no sin; but there is quite another sence of the words, the particle 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 is taken either causativè or adversativè, and so it is rendred sometimes quia, because, and sometimes quamvis, although, Glass. Rhet. pag. 606. Our translators take the first, for the imaginations of the heart, or because the imaginations of the heart of man are only evil; and so Brentius, Pareus, &c. Si vellem semper genus humanum diluvio punire, &c. If I should always bring upon them a flood for their iniquity, I should not leave a man upon the earth, all man-kind would be destroy'd, for the imaginati∣ons of his heart are evil from his youth; and therefore now having smelt a savour of rest from a sacrifice, I will not for this cause destroy them any more by a flood: But many of the learned render it adversativè, and so it is although; so Exod. 13.17. The Lord led them not thorough the land of the Philistins, although that was near: it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Exod. 34.19. Let my Lord I pray thee goe amongst us, for it is a stiffe-necked people; that is, although it be a stiffe-necked people; and so it is an expression of the wonderfull patience of God, that though men pro∣voke him daily, and all the imaginations of their hearts are evil continually, yet, hoc non obstante, I will shew my patience towards them, and will no more curfe the ground for

mans sake, &c. and it is spoken of all men, not only wicked men, but godly men, for whose sake the Lord doth spare the creatures; for it is for the Saints sake that the world stands, and that the earth is not destroyed, and yet the imaginations of their hearts are evil from their youth; and by this the patience of God towards the vessels of mercy as well as towards the vessels of wrath is very highly exalted.

(6) That the Lord may hereby shew how great a grace that donum perseverantiae, gift of perseverance is, and what an almighty power doth concur thereunto: Adam had no sin, and yet he fell from his first state; how then shall we stand, that have in us nothing else but sin? something of the venom of the old Serpent that is ready to open unto him upon every sug∣gestion, and ready to take fire by every temptation, a sin that doth easily beset us or compass up about? Heb. 12.21. And the great aim of Satan without, and sin within is to extinguish grace, that this seed may dye in the man; but it is maintained, and there is an almighty power that does it; therefore 1 Pet. 1.15. We are kept by the mighty power of God through saith unto salvation; or else we should perish every day; and this exalts the grace of the second Covenant unto the souls of the Saints, because there is not only a grace of conversion, but of perseverance also, the Spirit of Christ having once taken possession of the soul, takes possession for ever, never to leave it again, if Christ hath cast out the strong man, he will never himself be cast out, till Satan be stronger than he, which is never possible.

(7) That the souls of the Saints may be kept here in a continual longing and a groaning condition for glory; there is nothing so great an evil as sin, and therefore nothing should make the soul weary of this life so much as sin, because it cannot end but with our life, and this is one blessed fruit of it, Rom. 8.13. We groan for the Adoption; but why do we groan? 2 Cor. 5.24. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, there are many burdens that the people of God are under in this life, but there is no burden like unto that of the body of death, that is, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 a weight indeed, Heb. 12.1. and they groan therefore to put off this tabernacle, because without it there is no putting off this body of sin, but by being freed from this prison; we are so apt to be in love with this present life, that we had need of something that might be bitterness to us, and imbitter it to us, so that we take not up our rest here, but that the soul may look for, and hasten to the coming of the day of God, and may rejoyce to put off this Tabernacle, be willing that the flesh should be destroyed, that thereby there may be the destruction of the body of sin in us also. And thus we see the Soveraignty of God working for the Saints in this great state of the being of sin in the Saints in this life, bringing much good unto them as well as much glory unto himself thereby.

§ 3. 2. As the being of sin comes under the Soveraignty of God, so doth the rising of it in the heart, which doth never break forth into act: it is true, that the heart of man is an evil treasury, and it is an evil fountain; but though it be always issuing, yet it doth not vent it self the same way, but sometimes in this kind, and sometimes in that,* 1.869 in omnibus om∣nia vitia sunt, licèt non se exerunt, &c. Mar. 7.21, 22, 23. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evil things come from within, and defile the man, &c. for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, Mat. 12.34. Now how comes it to pass, that now one sin riseth in the heart, and sometimes another sin, when there is an equal propension unto all sin? it riseth out of the heart, but there is a Sove∣raignty of God that doth order these motions and desires in the heart, permitting such motions and stirrings of heart now which he had not before, Jam. 1.15. Lust conceiveth and brings forth sin; there is original sin the root of corruption, which is called Lust,* 1.870 and that is the mother of all sin, and it is said to conceive, when it is formed into motions, rea∣sonings, consultations, and desires, and consents; but yet there is many a lust conceived that never is brought forth into act, and the permitting the rising as well as of the being of lust depends upon the Dominion and the Soveraignty of God. As there came into the heart of Esau such a resolution, when my father is dead I will slay my brother Jacob: so there came a motion into the heart of Judas to betray Christ, and thereupon he consulted how to do it with the greatest advantage, and how to take the fittest opportunity to bring it to pass; so a thought came into Davids heart to number the people, Satan stirred it up, but God in judgment giving him over, that it should be at this time when God was angry with Israel; and Ezech. 38.10. It shall come to pass at the same time, that things shall come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought; a thought that he did not think before, the time of his destruction was near then, such motions shall arise, as it did in Ahab, Is not Ramoth in Gilead ours, &c? which was the occasion of his destruction. There is a providence even in the rising of lusts in the hearts of his own people, that this lust at this special time, and another lust at another time, should rise in them: it is the same Sove∣raignty of God that doth draw forth gracious desires in the Saints, and doth permit cor∣rupt

desires in them also, God is not the Author, but the orderer of them, and yet even in this also the Soveraignty of God is exercised for the good of the Saints, and that many ways.

(1) In this, that all lusts break not forth in the soul continually: for lust that is the mo∣ther of all sin, original sin stands equally prepared unto all sin, at all times; and therefore that all lusts be not stirring in the heart together, is from a glorious act of the soveraign restraint of God, Hos. 4.2. By swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adul∣tery they break out, &c. erumpunt: it is taken from waters that have been hid, or from fire shut up in an oven or a furnace, Hos. 7.6. sometimes it breaks forth into thoughts in the soul, and sometimes into acts in the life. Now there is a double restraint that the Sove∣raignty of God has over mens acts and over their lusts, and it's a great mercy to have acts of sin restrained, as it was in Abimelech, Gen. 20.6. his lust was let out, but God restrained the act; and it is a greater mercy to have the lust restrained than the act, as the Lord said, They shall not desire thy land. Now the Lord doth restrain the Devils acts, but for his lusts he doth let them range; and so he doth very far also restrain the acts of wicked men, when he sets no bounds unto their lusts: next to being freed from the being of sin, it's a mercy to be delivered from the rising of sin, and in that there is a special manifestation of the Soveraignty of God: for if the rising of one sin be so troublesom unto a godly man, that he strives and prays and wrestles with it, and it is unto him as the thorn in his flesh, he can∣not be quiet in himself by reason of it; how miserable and continually unquiet would the heart of a godly man be, if he should have many such strangers and way-faring men come to him (as it was said of the lust that came into Davids heart?) how should a godly man be able even to stand under the burden of them? therefore even this restraint of the rising of some lusts is a special mercy; that Josephs lust should not rise and conceive in him at such a time, and when he had such an opportunity. And it is the greater because I conceive the Spirit of God, by a peculiar work and not a common, doth restrain the lusts of the Saints. It's true, that there is restraining grace both unto the godly and the wicked, but not both from the same principle; but the Spirit having once taken possession of a godly man for his own house and Temple, he doth never work common works in that man more, as a Spirit assisting barely, but as a Spirit inhabiting.

(2) There is a great deal of mercy in the Lords ordering of the rising of lust, when lust doth not rise when the object is present; there is the object and the opportunity, but the lust is past away, as Ruth lay at Boaz his feet all night, yet no lust ariseth towards her: and David had an opportunity of killing Saul; but yet when Saul was in his hand, and he was stirred up to it by his servants also, yet God restrained his lust, it did not rise in him; which we may see by the contrary in other men, as soon as the object is offered, the lust is up in the young man, Prov. 7. he met a harlot, and he went after her straight-ways; and there is a man that no sooner sees his neighbours wife, but he doth lust after her, his lust riseth as soon as the object is presented; and so it was with Achan, I saw, and I coveted, and I took; and so it is with many a man, let the least shew or provocation be given, and his spirit is on fire immediately; but it was not so with Abraham, though he was the bet∣ter man, and had a better right than Lot, yet in the contention, the lust of pride and pas∣sion did not arise in him: Let there be no strife between me and thee, for we are brethren. A man of understanding is of a cool spirit, he doth not take fire immediately; that lust should rise at one time and not at another, it can be attributed unto nothing but the Sove∣raignty of God ordering and over-ruling and restraining it, &c.

(3) The Lord doth let some lusts at this time arise, that it may shew a man that such a sin is in his nature, which formerly he haply never considered, never particularly repented of, and never saw the fruit of it breaking forth in his life. Now to lead a man to a more par∣ticular acquaintance with sin and self, therefore the Lord doth let such lusts rise up in a mans heart. A man that haply never thought that he could be tempted to be an Atheist, and deny that there was a God, the Lord will let forth such sinful risings and motions in his heart, that he shall be ready to call all into question, and see that it is possible for the cor∣ruption of his nature to make him like that fool, that saith in his heart there is no God; and a man that never questioned whether the Scripture was the Word of God or no, (for it is the faith that he hath been brought up in, which he received from his parents) yet the Lord will let that lust rise in thee, which may bring thee to question the authority of the Scri∣ptures, whether they be of God or no. There is in a man a principle that tends to a denial of the doctrine of godliness, and this principle lies deep, and works mightily in our lives; and therefore that they may see that this root of bitterness is in them, the Lord will suffer them to rise up unto actual thoughts, and then the man will say, I thought I should never have doubted whether there was a God or no, or a Heaven or Hell, or a Scripture, but now I see to what my natural corruption is ready to lead me, and by this means his soul is not only humbled

for those bosom-principles of Atheism, but these bosom-principles of Religion are laid anew and more firmly in the soul, which else would not have born the stress of a work of grace upon them.

(4) That a man may be drawn out to hate sin the more, therefore the Lord doth let it rise in a man and infest him. As a mans darling lust that has risen in him most, and most troubled him, that sin when he is converted he hates above all other, Hos. 14.8. and so Rom. 7. there is not only the being of sin, but the rising of it, Rebelling against the law of the mind, and leading me captive to the law of sin and death, when I would do good evil is present with me; that the soul may see its misery the more, and so hate its adversary the more; for to love God and hate sin is our great work, and the more the goodness of ••od is disco∣vered unto us, the more we should love him, and the further the evil of sin is discovered unto us, the more our hearts should be ingaged to hate this also. It is true, a man should hate sin in the root, hate it at all times, but specially when it rises within us, and presents it self to us with the greatest enticement; as Christ hated Satan always, but then special∣ly when he assaulted him with a temptation to worship him; so should we deal with sin, as Junius faith of himself, he being a modest man a wanton woman came to kiss him, and he gave her a box on the face; he hated impudence at all times, but specially when it was offer∣ed him; and so it is in this particular also, when lust doth rise in the soul presenting it self to be chosen, he hates it then most, as wicked men hate godliness always, but specially when it comes nearest unto them, and they are pressed to it, then their hearts rise against it.

(5) The Lord doth in his Soveraignty permit that lusts should arise in his people, but it is to awaken them; and the Lord makes this an excellent remedy against a secure con∣dition; for if his people will sleep, God has three ordinary ways to awaken them. [1] By letting out corruption. [2] By affliction. [3] By desertion: it is the first of them is the worst, because there is not a greater evil than sin, and there is not any thing that doth use to affect the hearts of godly men and awaken them more than to find former lusts reviv•• in their hearts, which they thought had been dead long ago. A man has for∣merly set himself to mortifie such a lust, and prayed against it, and used all means, and now he hath through mercy in a good measure attained it; but the man grows proud and secure, and carnally confident: then the Lord lets his lust revive again, and the man shall see that his enemy is not dead, but that the said root of bitterness still remains; only the Lord by his Soveraignty permitted it to spring forth for such an end.

(6) It is that which is matter of repentance to the people of God continually; they are not humbled barely for the sins of their lives that break forth in their conversation in the world, but also those sins that do arise in their hearts, and they do apply the Righ∣teousness of Christ for the one, as well as the other; and they are more humbled for lust rising in their heart (if they could be separated) than for lust breaking forth in the act, be∣cause this defiles the inward man, the soul; and so it's said of Hezekiah, That he humbled himself for the pride of his heart; so confidence in creatures is what we ought to be hum∣bled for, and weep in secret for our pride, and repent of all the inward risings of sin in our heart, though not any discovery of it be made in our lives and conversation.

§. 4. 3. The Soveraignty of God is seen in the actings of sin also, and therein it doth order all for the good of his people; sin shall not be always kept within bounds as fire in the bosom, but it shall appear in the life many times, and the members shall become weapons of unrighteousness; lust conceived shall bring forth sin; as there are many thousand lusts stirring in the heart, that do never come into act, they are conceived, but do never bring forth; there is much plotting in the world against godliness, but they do bring forth the wind; Esau says, I will slay my brother Jacob, but he never did it; and G••hazi had in his heart a han∣kering after Vineyards and Olive-yards, &c. and so they in Neh. 4.11. We will come upon them and destroy them, and they shall neither see nor know, &c. But the act doth not succeed accordingly, there are many devices in the hearts of the crafty when their hands cannot perform their enterprise, Job 5.12. and so the Lord doth with sin in the souls of his peo∣ple, but yet sometimes it shall break forth into act, it was as new wine in the soul, and the act shall give it vent, it was secret, but the Lord by an act will permit it to be visible and legible; when it was in the soul it is but thirst in the desire, but it is drunkenness in the act, when it is come to the full: and all this doth the Lord permit by a supreme providence for the good of his people.

(1) That they may see the power of sin and the tendency thereof; it is such a filthiness as would overspread the whole man, it is a leprosie in the whole man, therefore it is called the old man, and when we sin we are carnal and walk as men:* 1.871 now the whole man is not defiled with it in the rising of sin, it is kept within bounds till it overflow into the mem∣bers;

also the inward man is defiled, but sin will come upon the outward man also, and there is in the members in reference unto the act of sin, [1] A fitness to be imployed in it, Rom. 6.13. Weapons of unrighteousness; the members have distinct forms according to the imployment for which they were created, there is a fitness in the foot to walk, and in the hand to work; so there is a different fitness answerable unto the several acts of sin that the soul can put them upon or imploy them in, and they are weapons, there is a fitness in them to be used and imployed in the service of sin: it's said of David, Psal. 45.1. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer; it is fit to be imployed in the works of grace; so because Doegs tongue did cut like a sharp rasor, he is fit to accuse others, and to wound them in their good name. [2] There is also a readiness as well as a fitness; fitness may be passive, but a readiness is active: You have given your members weapons of unrighteousness, Rom. 6.13, 14.* 1.872 and therefore Acts 13.10. Full of all mischief, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, ad peccandum facilitas, & ad quodvis scelus propensio, so Beza, their feet are swift to shed blood, whereas there is a deadness and a backwardness unto every thing else that is good, there is a weariness, their feet are not ready to walk, nor their hands to work, &c. [3] There is also a greediness and an unweariedness; the one in the soul, and the other in the members, Deut. 29.19. it is a drunkenness, and they are for taking of their fill of drink, as if they could never have e∣nough; to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant; and so in a lust of the flesh how unsatiable is it? and in the lust of the eye, the eye is never satisfied with seeing, though presently weary unto any thing that is good; and there is no such greediness to∣wards it, but towards sin it is so; and in this doth sin in the body lye. Now that it may ap∣pear what an overspreading evil is in sin, and that the Saints may know in themselves the power of it in the breaking forth, therefore the Lord doth give them up to acts of sin.

(2) That a Saint may see that if he be deserted of God, he shall be drawn into sin in all the kinds and degrees of it; I cannot, saith he, resist the rising of it, and if the Lord leave me, I shall not be able in the least to resist the actings of it: according unto the measure of a mans desertion, such is the degree of his sin, that we may see how great an evil, and how dangerous a thing it is to be deserted by the Lord in any degree, in any measure of it. Da∣mascene in his Orthodox. Fidei cap. 29. mentions three sorts of desertions. [1] Tempo∣rary, for tryal, such was that of Job, which was a desertion only for a present dispensation, that thereby the Lord might shew forth and draw out the grace of Job, which else had not been so clearly seen. [2] 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, castigatory, which is for correction of some former neglect, and to teach the people of God to keep closer unto him, and to fear his departure more than formerly. [3] Vindictive, and that's a final desertion, and so he doth never forsake his own people; the Lord left Hezekiah, that he might see what was in his heart, and so he doth the Saints, that they may see if they are left to themselves what they are, and what a terrible thing it is to be deserted of God, and what a fearful creature the best men would quickly appear to be then. Elias Cretens. made four sorts. [1] Explorationis, to try their graces, as we see in Job. [2] Correctionis, as in David, and Solomon, and Sam∣son. [3] Rejectionis, and so the Lord deserted the Jews, and so he doth wicked men. [4] Satisfactionis, and so he did desert the Lord Jesus Christ; but there was a satisfaction of Justice in that desertion, for it was the payment of a debt.

(3) That they may see how weak all means are, if sin in the power of it be so set against them, that they cannot keep it in, but it will break out, and that unto the highest degree; men would think that reason, and fear, and shame would suppress it, and indeed by these the Lord doth many times restrain sin, as they did the Jews, they would have taken hold of John, but they feared the people; but now let but the Lord withdraw his hand, and all means and arguments and reasonings will not prevail at all with them, they are like unto the wild Ass in the wilderness, and as the swift Dromedary, there is no restraint, no∣thing will be withheld from them of any thing that they have a mind to do, they run into it as the horse into the battel, Jer. 8.6. so Christ says of Judas, it had been good for that man that he had not been born; but there is a prevailing injunction, he goes on to act, nothing can stay him.

(4) That the pople of God may fear to be delivered up unto the power of Satan. There is a kind of spiritual Excommunication which the Lord doth exercise towards men many times: What thou dost, do quickly, and Satan entred into Judas; there is a restraint upon the Devil, that he cannot always carry men to acts of sin, the Devil is bound; wicked men shall have the same persecuting hearts, but they shall not be able to draw forth those lusts into act, Rev. 20.8. but Satan shall be let loose, and will hurry men to acts of sin with vio∣lence, he tempted David to number the people, 1 Chron. 21.1. and God was angry with him, and Satan stirred him up, and it was in vain for Joab to speak to him, and shew him his folly, he was set upon it, and it must be done, the Kings word prevailed: and so it

is still with many of the children of God, Satan will carry men on unto horrid actions, and they shall act with violence.

(5) That godly men may exercise repentance of all kinds: the object of repentance is all sin, not only this or that sin, but all sin, original sin, actual sin, sins in the heart,* 1.873 and sins in the life, sins of commission, and sins of omission; as God will have our faith take in all the objects of faith, and be exercised about them all, so should our repent••••••e take in all the object of repentance; and the Lord makes us sensible of our proneness to all sorts and all ways of sin, that as patience, so repentance may have its perfect work; for as to humble the soul sin is left in it, so also the breaking forth of sin into act discovers our natural weakness, and is in wisdom permitted, because the Lord will have his people to perfect their repentance as well as their faith while they do live here.

(6) That the soul may be willing to put off the body, as it is an instrument and a ser∣vant to the soul in sinning; I am shortly, saith the soul, to put off this tabernacle, and I am the more willing to do it, because my members are weapons of unrighteousness, I shall then never sin more, no more be subject unto the bondage of corruption to serve the lusts of men; it shall be the glory of the body to serve the graces, but never the lusts of the soul any more, but perfect sanctification shall be in it.

4. The Soveraignty of God is seen in the breaking forth of scandalous sins: there are but two sorts of sins that godly men are freed from, the sin against the Holy Ghost, and final impenitency, because they are delivered from the wrath to come, and being in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation unto them, Rom. 8.1. but else there is no sin either in judgment or practice, from the danger of which they can assure their hearts, be it never so foul, never so hateful before God or man; and therefore when we look upon the nau∣fragia, shipwracks of the Saints, who can, if God should withdraw his suitable assistance, secure themselves, or promise unto themselves freedom? If we consider the idolatry of Solomon, and that as gross as any that we shall read of, 1 King. 11.4, 8. and the persecution of Asa, 2 Chron. 16.10. and the Apostasie in Peter, and that the grossest with a denial, nay an abjuration, Mar. 14.71. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which some do expound to abjure Christ,* 1.874 and to wish unto him a curse, but most do say it was wishing a curse and an Anathema upon himself. Grotius makes it the same with that, Act. 23.14. They bound themselves with a curse, diris se obligavit, &c. of whom Bernard saith, Peccavit grande peccatum, & fortassis quo grandius nul∣lum est, &c. Now seeing that there is in them a sea of corruption, a body of death, it is only an act of the Soveraignty of God that restrains the winds that they blow not upon this sea, Rev. 7.1. There are Angels that hold the winds of commotions that they break not forth, and Jer. 49.36. Dan. 7.2, 3. that they shall break forth in their season; so he doth also hold the winds of temptation, that they do not blow upon the sea of corruption; and by this means the mire and dirt is not discovered; but let but the wind blow upon it, and it is full of unquietness and rage immediately: 2 Sam. 12.4. there came a way-faring man unto the rich man, concupiscentiam viatorem vocat aut peregrinum, Pet. Martyr. [1] It is not a friend, or a servant, it is not one that is ordinarily accustomed to the house; there are some sins that are daily in a man, constant inmates, but there are great sins that da rise in a man but now and then. [2] Lusts are travellers 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the heart of man doth coast and wander all the world over to see what will become of it, and where it may be able to make advantage unto it self. [3] It comes upon a man suddenly and unexpected∣ly as a stranger, or as a traveller useth to do. [4] Yet when it comes it looks for enter∣tainment, and it doth so ordinarily find it, the man will make provision for it. Now this traveller goes not where or when he pleases, but according to the Soveraignty of God, in the ordering the going forth of the lusts of men, it is a messenger of Satan, there is a time appointed for the opening of Hell, for the sending forth the messenger of Satan upon the soul, the letting forth of the smoke, Rev. 9.1.

The Lord doth in his Providence turn this unto good, (1) Unto a new conversion, Luk.* 1.875 22.32. Christ said to Peter after his first conversion, when he foretels him of his scanda∣lous fall, When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren: there is a double conversion, 1. From a state of sin, Acts 3.19. 2. From some particular gross acts of sin, because that doth make a breach upon a mans justification: [1] A damp upon grace, which there is upon the committing of such sins: Create in me, says David, a clean heart, and renew a right spirit in me. [2] There is a suspension of all the comforts of grace; he is as the leper, and he doth, as Zanchy saith, quodammodo excidere à gratia, he hath no comforts in the promises and the priviledges of the Saints. [3] There is a change of all the dealings of God with him, Esa. 63.10. he became their enemy, and fought against them by spiritual judgments upon them, vers. 17. he shall have broken bones, and his moisture shall be dryed up, Gods wrath shall fall upon him; for there is a temporal wrath, there is filius sub ira, &c. Now

here seems to be a particular Conversion by laying of all anew in the Soul, as if nothing were true before, he must repent anew, and believe anew; that as Zach. 1.17. the Lord's returning unto a people after eminent displeasure, is called a new Election, so also this is a new Conversion.

(2) Hereby the Soul hath experience in himself of the strength of Sin, the power of Temptation, and of Christs Intercession: [1] He has experience of the Strength of sin; for sin is but too powerfull in the best: Gen. 49.6, 7. it is said of the Sons of Israel, Simeon and Levi, Cursed be their anger for it was fierce, and their wrath for it was cruel; and David put the Ammonites under Saws and Harrowes; and Jonah, 4.9. he justifies himself against the debates of God with him, and saith, that he doth well to be angry unto the death. [2] The Soul experiences the power of Temptation, what there is in the winnowings of Satan; if the Lord should leave a man to the power which he hath already received, he would soon work all good out of his soul; for Satan is the ruler of the Darkness of this world, Ephes. 6.12. and he hath not only a great power over wicked men as Darkness it self, for they are led captive at his will, and he doth work effectually in them, but even upon the darkness that is in the Saints also; he can stirr up that darkness in them, that it shall endanger to over-spread all, that there shall seem little difference between them and ungodly men, for the time that it doth prevail upon them. [3] The Soul experiences the power of the Prayer of Christ, Luk. 22.32. I have prayed for thee, that thy Faith fail not; how comes it to pass, that it doth not excutere? It is not so much from a Principle of Grace within, for that is in its own nature defective, but by vertue of the Covenant and the Prayer of Christ without; and it is this Prayer that doth uphold all the Grace that is in us, or else it would 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, deficere, &c. This Intercession doth not only present their Duties, but it preserves their Graces also, the one would be rejected and the other ex∣tinguished, were it not for this. The Saints have a double Advocate, as the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 signifies, the Spirit of Prayer as an Advocate within us, which as a witness doth many times fail us, and we by our own sins lose the benefit and the comfort of it; but then we are to have recourse unto the Advocate without us, as the Soul is sometimes to make use of the witness of Blood, when he cannot see the witness of Water.

(3) It brings a man unto the great duty of Confession, to become publick examples of Repentance, which hath been a great honour unto the Saints, who have risen out of their falls; and we cannot say that the records of their falls have been so dishonourable unto them, as their publick Repentance and abasement before God has been honourable; with this the Lord honour'd David, and his Repentance stands upon Record, Psal. 51. and with this also he honour'd Solomon, which is Recorded in the Book of Ecclesiastes, which is therefore entituled Coheleth, which Cocceius observes to note receptionem suam ad ecclesiam per poenitentiam, his reception into the Church by Repentance, and is as much as 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a man gathered unto the Congregation of the Lord; and so did Paul, Act. 22.4. I persecuted this way, and I was mad against them; and so doth Luther, he left it upon record, tantus eram sanctus, ut paratissimus fueram unumquemque occidere, &c. and this Tertull. de poeniten. chap. 9. observes to be in use in his time, .......... Presbyteris ad∣volvi, charis Dei adgeniculari, as the example of Eccetalicus, &c. Thus as they were eminent examples in sinning, so they were desirous to be of Repentance.

(4) Hereby they are no more confident of their own strength, and so exalt not them∣selves above their Brethren; so Christ ask'd Peter, Now lovest thou me more than these? Joh. 21.15. he was before for making comparisons with all other men, though all men should forsake thee, yet not I; but now here is no Comparison: and if there be any strength in that, Christ ask'd by 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and he answers 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which is a less degree of Love; it was good advice to him: But he said well, Hîc quaerendae non sunt subtilitates, the words are commonly in the Gospel promiscuously used; and it is a signal instance of Gods pow∣er to bring good out of evil, when a man by reflecting upon some great sin that he hath committed, can say, that his carnal confidence in himself and his own strength, is healed thereby.

(5) This makes a Saint to walk in fear ever after; and blessed is the man that fears always; a fearless spirit doth bring sin: [1] A godly man fears sin as the only Evil, fears an Oath, and he doth say with Chrysostome, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, this only is matter of fear; but specially when he has had experience of the breaking forth of it eminently, a man fears a disease that he hath felt; and so David will not trust his tongue without a bridle, and his Eyes without a Prayer; turn away my Eyes from beholding vanity; and thereby the bank is made up against that sin all their dayes; and it may be a sin that a man feared least, shall get the greatest hand upon him, if temptation get the wind and the hill of him. [2] He fears lest the Lord may therefore leave a note of disho∣nour

upon him; Revel. 7.6, 7. when the Tribes were sealed, Dan was left out,* 1.876 and so is Ephraim, tanquam 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 antesignani, Mic. 1.13. this Tribe was the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Sion; they of Dan did it; for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee; it was a scandalous sin: the Lord may leave a note of sin upon a man, and his posterity afterwards for it, and he may not be honoured as the rest of his Brethren, but may have a brand stick upon him for committing folly in Israel, &c.

(6) That a man may be fitted for service by it; Luk. 22.32. Christ says, when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren; a mans own comfort doth fit a man to comfort others, 2 Pet. 2.2. and so do a mans own falls also, 2 Cor. 1.4. who comforts us in all our tribula∣tion, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble: [1] By the Experience of the power of sin, he may be the better able to admonish others, 2 Pet. 2.2. they denyed the Lord that bought them; and he can best speak of the danger of such a way himself, that hath found it, and had experience of it in himself. Austin having been himself a Manichee, when he disputed with Felix the great Manichee, he could shew him the vanity of it by experience, and so frustrata vanitate & errore illius sectae ad nostram fidem conversus est, &c. Possidon. in vita August. [2] He will be able to comfort others against the guilt of that sin; having himself sound favour, he can shew others the way unto it; and so could Peter, having found mercy himself; and David, for this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee; and so Luther did publish unto all the way of Mercy that God had vouchsafed him, that all men might see that mercy is to be had for them; Peter velocissimè veniam consecutus, &c.* 1.877

(7) That it may be unto a man matter of Humiliation all his days; sins before Con∣version be grievous, as they were to Paul, I was a Persecutor, and a Blasphemer, 1 Tim. 1.13. and such were some of you, but now you are washed: A man should not so look upon what he is, but he should also look back what he was, Behold thou art made whole; remember that thou wast a sick man; and the keeping it in view, will be usefull unto a man all his dayes, to make him exalt mercy, and to cause him to abhor himself: So Austin, after he had made his Confession, he saith, Spes mihi valida est in illo qui sedet ad dextram tuam, & interpellat pro nobis, alioquin desperarem; magni enim & multi sunt languores animae meae, magni & multi, sed major est medicina tua & amplior. And so a man doth exalt Grace, and by this means abase himself all his days; Oh, I was a Blasphemer, I was an Adulterer, a Per∣secutor, and yet I have obtained mercy, God hath shewed in me a pattern of Patience! Oh that ever such a one should find mercy and favour with him, that he should take me into his bosome!

(8) It puts a man upon the greater Mortification of sin, he doth with the greater ha∣tred abhorr all evil; ye that fear the Lord, hate evil;* 1.878 now hatred will be contented with nothing but destruction, the more the Enemy doth arise, the more doth a mans hatred arise, Gratia vexata, seipsam prodit; a man shall say, What have I to doe any more with Idols? to the Moles and to the Batts; David hates that sin that had so defiled him, and this sets him against the whole body of sin; I was shapen in iniquity, and now he looks for the Root,* 1.879 and he doth hate sin in the Fountain of it. And as it is in a sin in Practice, so it is in an errour in Judgement, he will not only be watchfull against it, but he will also hate it the more. There was not such an enemy against the Manichees in the world as Austin was, because he had been himself deluded with it; as when he was to dispute with For∣tunatus, Secum in eodem errore constitutum congredi putabat: And so Luther that of Popery, Brevi efficiam, &c. and so he doth answer himself, Vincet mea audacia in Christo; and Paul with more Zeal did preach that Faith which before he destroyed; and thereby the Saints glorifi'd God for him, Gal. 1. ult. it makes a man zealous to honour God in that thing, wherein he had so highly dishonour'd him.

(9) It makes a man tender towards others, Gal. 6.1. he will put on a spirit of Meek∣ness to others, because he hath found the mercy of God to his own Soul, and therefore he despairs of nothing, that they may also through your mercy attain mercy, Rom. 11.31. there being the same mercy shewed unto them that was shewed unto us, and they are as capable of the same mercy as we were; Christ shewed tenderness unto Peter, and he ap∣peared unto him one of the first after his Resurrection, and he did comfort him even against his fall, shewed him great favour; and surely so will the soul be ready to comfort others also; he that hath received mercy, will put on bowels of mercy; who is offended, and I burn not? no man is put off, no man encouraged in his sin; the pride of a mans heart is as well broken with Mercies as it is with Crosses, and Afflictions; and the Lord doth hide pride from the heart in them both; that a man that doth put his mouth in the dust when God is pacify'd, will be as low as the dust towards another in the same Of∣fence with himself; this I have had experience of, and yet received unto mercy; and it becomes me to put on the same bowels to others.

(10) Providence orders it for the consolation of the people of God, and it is a mighty argument of faith: as if when God gives his Son, he will give all things; so if God do bring good out of sin, all shall work together for good. Sin is the greatest evil, greater than Hell, the one God is the Author of, but not of the other, the one is against an uncrea∣ted good, the glory of God, the other is but against the good of the creature; and yet even this shall be for good, and so a man may say with Gregory of Adams sin, foelix culpa, but not talem meruit Redemptorem.

§. 5. 2. Not only a mans own sins, but other mens sins are turned unto the good of the Saints also; the providence of God doth so order all things, that they have a benefit by them, and that both by wicked and godly mens sins; and in the sins of wicked men it is true what Austin saith, That God had never suffered sin to come into the world, if it had been such an evil as he could have brought no good out of it: Bonitas tua novit malis nostris bene uti, Anselm. Non solùm mala passiva quae nobis irrogantur in bonum cedunt, sed etiam activa quae nos ipsi fa∣cimus, Luther. Collaudandus est benignissimus & omnipotens Deus, qui malis nostris non solùm non vincitur, sed ex iis operatur nostrum bonum, Gerson. Omnipotens Deus cùm summè bonus sit, nullo modo sineret aliquid mali esse in operibus suis, nisi adeò esset omnipotens & bonus, ut bene∣faceret etiam de malo; illorum nequitia est malè uti bonis operibus ejus, sic illius sapientia est bene uti malis eorum operibus, August. And as all the sins of ungodly men shall turn to the glory of God, so they shall all of them be for the good of his people, they shall be gainers by all the wickedness that is done in the world, as the Lord will work his glory out of all. Though the Lord forbid sin, and hate it, and thereby appears not to be the Author of it; so the Saints do hate sin and mourn for it, that thereby it may appear, that they are not partakers in it; and yet for all this, God doth work his glory, and the good of the Saints out of all the wickedness and all the confusions that are in the world; and next to the pardon of sin, this is the great priviledge of the second Covenant, that their own and other mens sins do work together for their good, those things that they do mourn for and pray against, &c. And this I will manifest (1) in general, and then (2) in some of the particulars thereof, because it is maximum divinae providentiae argumentum, Clem. Alex.

1. In general, how doth God make the sins of wicked men to conduce unto the good of the Saints? This will appear in these particulars.

(1) Hereby they may always read what they were, as in the example of the Saints, they may always read what they ought to be; the one is set before them as a pattern as well as the other, Tit. 3.3. We our selves were sometime disobedient, foolish, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy; and it is good for the Saints to be mind∣ful thereof what they have been, sic fuimus olim; I was once, saith Luther, Monachus miser∣rimus: look to the rock whence thou wert hewn: Paul kept the condition of his unregeneracy always in his mind. It is true, God forgets our sins, but we should not; see the wicked∣ness that is in the lives of other men, and read thine own in it, as Austin did in a child, vidi puerulum, &c. and thence he doth conclude it was so with him, quando minimus fui.

(2) By this they see what they are delivered from; might not I have been such a one? 1 Cor. 6.11. Such were some of you, but now you are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified; and by this the grace of God is exalted in their hearts so much the more, which might have suffered them for ever to have walked in the errour of the wicked, and to have gone in the same way with them: Psal. 69.27. Add iniquity unto their iniquity; that is, as the Saints go from one degree of grace to another, they go from glory to glory, from strength to strength; so let these go from one sin to another, God lets them do it till they have filled up their measure, and then lets go judgment after it upon them, by giving them over unto it, that so they may fill up their measure; for there is a measure of sin as well as of grace, Joel 3.13. Put in thy sickle and reap, for the harvest is ripe, the press is full; there is a measure of iniquity, and then they do come up in remembrance before God; the iniquity of the A∣morites is not yet full. A dismal judgment it is, that a man should live for no other end, but to fill up iniquity.

(3) Hereby the Saints are daily admonished what they are in their own nature, if the Lord leave the best men to themselves, and kept it not under the restraint of grace, 2 Tim. 2.19. they seeing others Apostasie fear themselves; and Christ speaking of him that was to betray him, all the Disciples began to fear lest it should be themselves; this sin is in my nature, say they, and therefore it is meer mercy that I am not so wicked as Cain and Judas, I am as like to commit it as they, if the Lord should leave me to my self; that gratia sub∣sequens, the Rock that followed them preserves his people from the sin that is in their na∣tures, and they reflect upon that when they see others fall into sin, considering themselves, lest they also be tempted, Gal. 6.1.

(4) Hereby they are minded of the ends that sin brings men to, that they may fear

them. As the ends of godly men are to be observed, whose faith follow; knowing the end of their conversation; so we are called upon in Scripture to consider the ends of the wicked, Prov. 23.21. Drunkenness will cloath a man with rags, who hath redness of eyes and wounds without cause? Prov. 6.26. By the means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a morsel of bread, and a dart striking through his liver, and he gets a wound and dishonour that shall never be wiped off; Prov. 21.16. The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall re∣main in the congregation of the dead, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in coetu gigantum, in the congregation of the Giants: they being the first sort of sinners that ever went into Hell, and so did give the first denomination unto the place of the damned.

(5) By this the Saints are put upon many duties towards them which will abound unto their account; and [1] to pity their souls, and to wait for them with patience, Tit. 3.2, 3. Shewing all meekness towards all men, for we our selves were such; Rom. 11.31. says the Apo∣stle, That through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. [2] Despair not of them; because the Lord shewed mercy to you, therefore wait if at any time God will give them repen∣tance, 1 Tim. 1.16. He shewed in me a pattern to them that should hereafter believe in him, &c. we have in our selves an instance. [3] We are to undervalue the persons of thes•• men how great soever, Prov. 29.27. The wicked is an abomination to the just, Psal. 15.4. Dan.* 1.880 4.17. they are the basest of men, be they never so great. [4] As the people of God fear the ends of the wicked, so they hate their ways: He walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,* 1.881 he stands not in the way of sinners; when sinners entice him he consents not; Gen. 49.6. My soul come not thou into their secrets, unto their assembly, my honour, be not thou united:* 1.882 let me not eat of their dainties; and also Psal. 26.9. Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men: there is a bundle of the living, there is a being gathered unto ones fathers and people: wicked men are so, and godly men are so, they both have their people; let me not be gathe∣red with them that are ungodly, O Lord.

2. Now more particularly, the Saints are by Providence gainers by the plots of wicked men, and their counsels, by their attempts against them, and by their executions, and in all these the secret providence of God over them is manifested. First by their plots and counsels; a great part of the evil of wicked men lies in their plots, devices, and machina∣tions, Psal. 35.20. They devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land; they never know what they are doing or meditating on, their thoughts are a continual forge of evil, the Devils anvil, always at work against the people of God, Jer. 18.18.* 1.883 Let us devise devices against Jeremiah; it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which signifies a cunning plot, and a curious work, &c. and the Saints fear their plots commonly more than their power, as they fear the Devil more as a Serpent than as a Lyon, and yet by their plots they travail with mischief, devise evil continually, Prov. 6.14. and it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which signifies fodit, he hath a Mine within,* 1.884 and is always digging out mischief; as a godly man hath a fountain that is always issuing good: there is a good treasure and an evil treasure, and the Holy Ghost speaks much of the plot∣tings of wicked men against the Saints, which never come unto any thing, they weave a spiders web, which never becomes a garment; and by these plots the Saints are gainers. (1) They see the Lord restraining their very plots, that they do not always rise; none of them shall desire thy land; they shall not see their own advantages; and they shall grope at noon day, Job 5.14. it is spoken of their counsels, he disappoints the counsels of the crafty, and that is by snarling their thoughts, confounding their plots, that they do not see their own way; they want no will to effect their mischievous devices, but yet they cannot tell what way to take against the people of God; therein the Lord is seen. (2) He clogs them, their hands cannot perform their enterprise, they cannot bring their wicked devices to pass al∣ways, when they should come to execution; when the children are come unto the birth, there is no strength to bring them forth, for the Lord doth blow upon them, and they wither as the grass upon the house top, and they bear no fruit. (3) They end in their own destru∣ction, Esa. 59.5. They hatch cockatrice eggs, and weave the spiders web, &c. a serpent, a viper eats out the bowels of the mother, they themselves are stung with them unto death, they are taken in their own craft; the wicked is insnared in the work of his own hand, &c. (4) The Lord doth time the plot, that it shall be at such a time, when it is to accomplish his purpose, and that it shall be for the good of the Saints: My hour is not yet come, says Christ, Rev. 9.14. Loose the four Angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates, which were prepared for an hour, for a day, and a month, and a year, to slay the third part of men; they had designed it, but it rested a great while, and now it is revived again; and so they plotted against Daniel when God did intend to exalt him; and so that of Gog, Thou shalt think an evil thing, &c. (5) The Saints are the more driven unto God by prayer, Lord, turn the wisdom of Achitophel into folly; and they have the more need of the counsel of Je∣sus, to be wise as serpents, and they have the more experience of their interest in the wisdom

of God, which is made over unto them, who in the things wherein the wicked deal subtilly will out-wit them.

There are two ways by which the enemy hath always set himself against the people of God: (1) In a way of policy; For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. (2) In a way of power; they will be first as a Fox, and then as a Lyon, as the Pope said, If Peters Keys will not do it, give me Pauls Sword: the same spirit there is in all wicked men, their aim is to destroy the Saints, but they are not willing to appear in it, if it may be hid. Neh. 4.11. the adversaries said, They shall not know nor see, till we come upon them in the middle of them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease. They would fain accomplish their ends, and effect their cruelty by a plot, that they should never know who hurt them, that's their design. As the Devil, he will never appear as he is, if putting upon himself the form of an Angel of light will do it; so it is with the enemies unto the Church, Jeroboam robs the people of their Religion, but it was under a great shew of ease to them; and for their worship at Jerusalem it was but a form, they should have as good worship elsewhere, and as holy as there, and it was much more for their ease than to be in this manner scattered from their dwellings; and Julian raised against the Church the bit∣terest Persecution, but it was under the shew of a toleration, let every man injoy the li∣berty of his own conscience, he would have no man forced in his Religion, and he doth encourage the Jews to build their Temple again, and he doth himself favour the Gentiles in their worship, and yet he can bear with the Christians also; so the Donatists in Austins time, (1) They did deny any to be a true Church but themselves: (2) There should be no compelling of men to live holy, coacta & invita pietas: (3) That the Magistrate is not to punish or restrain Hereticks and false Teachers in matters of Religion, every man should be lest to his liberty. (4) They did rebaptize men into their Church: But this plot being laid, facti insolentes, vim orthodoxis inferebant: insomuch that the Emperour Honorius was forced to send Dulcitius the Tribune with an Army into Africa to restrain their rage a∣gainst the Orthodox Christians, whom they would suffer to live in peace no longer than till they had got power in their hands,* 1.885 and then they would not yield unto them that li∣berty which before they pleaded for themselves.

And here I would observe from the Scripture, (1) How wisdom and carnal policy is looked upon by God, and what respect he hath unto it: (2) Yet how all this wisdom, in the exercise and the putting forth of it in plots and devices, is by the providence of God turned unto the good of his people.

1. What respect God hath to the wisdom of the flesh, though never so deep, never so profound. 1. He saith, That the wisdom of the flesh is vanity and folly; the Lord knows the wisdom of the flesh to be but vain, for it is foolishness with him, 1 Cor. 3.19, 20. take it in those two things that Solomon mentions,* 1.886 Eccles. 1.15. (1) In the defect of wisdom: That which is wanting cannot be numbred; there are many thousand conclusions in nature that the most exquisite understanding is not able to pierce into, and there are many thousand turnings in providence that do amaze and non-plus the wisdom of the wisest men in the world; and therefore in this respect God doth even charge his Angels with folly, how much more men, that is, there is in them a negative ignorance, which is folly, if compared with the infinite wisdom of the great God. (2) They cannot make a crooked thing straight; that is, they do meet with men of cross and perverse spirits, which they cannot change, and men of crook∣ed dispositions, and they do meet in the way of their wisdom also with many cross pro∣vidences, that all things do not succeed according to their plots, and as they would have them, and then they are put upon new plots and devices to rectifie the other, and yet when they have done all, their wisdom could not prevent it, neither can their wisdom reform it, that which is crooked will be crooked still, and the men that oppose them will oppose them still, and the stumbling-blocks that are in the wise mans way will be there still, and all his wisdom cannot remove them.

2. God looks upon the wise men of the world and their wisdom as enemies unto him∣self, and the Lord hates as much to be opposed in a way of policy, as in a way of power, Rom. 8.6. their wisdom is enmity against the Law of God, it is not subject, neither can it be. Aquinas observes, That faith is more strange to a wise man and a learned man, than it is u••to another that is more ignorant, because he is able to raise more objections and doubts against it, and the grounds of it, than another man is; and therefore if any man in the world stumble at the Word of God, or the ways of God, it is a wise man according to the flesh, and he has much to say, and strong reasons to object against it. There are two things that must be exalted in the heart of the Saints in the Word of God: (1) The holiness of the Word; (2) The wisdom of the Word, a man must look upon it as that which will be his wisdom also. Now a man that is profane, he is an enemy unto the word, and is not subject to it because

of the Holiness of it, he must take more liberty than the Word will give him, it is too strait and narrow a way for him; and a wise man is offended at the Simplicity of the Word, it doth not agree with his Wisdom, he is ready to think he could give better Rules to guide a mans life, and bring him unto Happiness, of governing of Estates, and ordering the affairs of men, than the Word doth lay down, and so he cannot submit to it, because he doth look upon it as a foolish thing, and as that which hath no wisdom in it; but a man must submit in point of wisdom and holiness to it.

3. All fleshly Wisdom the Lord doth hate, and look upon as D••vilish, Jam. 3.15.* 1.887 that as spiritual wisdom is a Divine beam from the Father of Light, so is carnal Wisdom a spark that ariseth out of Hell beneath; it is a part of that wisdom that is in the Devil, and answers unto it in all the ends, intents, and actings thereof; that look what ends the Devil hath in his wicked plots, such have they; and look what means he useth, such do they use also; for it is that which their wisdom doth direct them unto; so that take a man that hath a subtle and malitious heart, and if you would see a picture of the Devil incarnate, that is the man; and as the wisdom which Satan hath as an Angel (that re∣maining Stock) doth make him the more perfectly a Devil, so it is with this man also, all that wisdom he has gotten by nature, and by study, and by experience and observation, he becomes the more like unto the Devil by it; and therefore this fleshly wisdom being so perfectly conformable unto the Devil, and being inspired from Hell, it is said to be de∣vilish; for there are the Devils lusts: The Devil hath his 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and his 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Now which way to vent or to propagate them in the world immediately, he knows not; and they are much more propagated when they are acted, than when they are suggested. Now the ordinary sorts of sinners are able to act the Devils lusts, but their plots are deep, they are such depths that they must be wise men indeed that are able to understand them; and for that cause, as by his temptation he doth stirr up the one, so he doth by his sugge∣stion inspire the other; and as there are Messengers of Satan, immediate Lusts from Hell, so there are immediate Plots from Hell, and Satan fills the hearts of men with them, as he did the heart of Judas in his betraying of Christ, &c. and upon this account ••or its ori∣ginal, and for its resemblance, it is called by God devilish wisdom.

4. God doth seldom or never give Grace unto that man, who is inspired with carnal Wisdom; he doth seldom graft it upon such a Stock as this is, 1 Cor. 1.26. Not many wise men, not many noble are called; and Math. 11.25. Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto Babes, &c. But might it not have been much for the honour of the Gospel, and the advancement of Religion, if the wise men of the world did come, as the wise men of the East did, and bow down unto Christ, and worship him? would not Religion have the greater name and glory amongst men? and would it not be freed from that scandal of Piscatoria simplicitas? No, they are only the poor of the world, and the foolish and simple ones that embrace it and believe it, God looks not as man looks, he doth choose the poor of this world, and the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, &c. and this is one of those depths of Gods Judgments which are unsearchable, and his wayes that are past finding out; for he will exalt free Grace alone. And the Lord hath no need nor the Gospel of any such Subsidiaries, he hath a wisdom that is able to carry on the Gospel of his Grace, and it shall prevail, though there be no wisdom in the Professors thereof, that it may appear to be his work, and that he doth alone promote it; if men stand not by the Gospel, yet God will, and the Simplicity thereof shall overcome; that as he will have the Power to be of God alone, so the Wisdom shall be also of God alone, that makes a man wise to salvation.

5. This is the Man that commonly the Devil doth make use of. There is nothing in an unregenerate man but what is or may be the Devils weapons, Luk. 11.22. his Soul is the Devils house, and the inward abilities of the man, that's the Armor of Satan; now the greater any natural mans abilities are, the stronger armour he has for Satan, and the more use he will make of him, and that because he is able to do him more service; and as God doth use men according to their Graces, (for he will act the Graces that he has given) so will Satan also use men according to their abilities, they shall not lye idle, he doth pro∣portion the service a man can do him, as God doth, that men may be pares negotio. They will also be an honour to their imployment, because they are look'd upon as wise men by the rest of the world, Cupit & Diabolus abs te ornari, as Austin saith of a young man of great gifts and abilities; and so there is this Curse upon humane wisdom, it is a servant unto Satan, and yet it is a snare unto the man, and a Curse upon his Soul. And indeed Sa∣tans cause hath need of such instruments, that shall lay deep plots, and not carry things in simplicity, because it is darkness, and if it be seen and discovered, it is for the most part clouded. But with the Lord it is not so, he doth all in the Light, and loves so to

do, therefore he has no need of any such secret plots, and hiding of Counsels, as the wise men of the world are accustomed unto: There is but one very worldly wise man, namely Solomon, that the Scripture doth speak of among all the godly men in it, and the Scripture has recorded more of his falling and of Gods departing from him, leaving him to himself, and more of the madness and folly that he ran upon by his exercise of, and his leaning upon his own wisdom, and the use that the Devil made of him, than of any other godly man that we read of in all the Scripture besides; therefore surely they are dangerous in∣struments in Satans hand.

6. Carnal wisdom is commonly used against the people of God, the edge of it is com∣monly turned that way, Psal. 83.3. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and con∣sulted against thy hidden ones: there are a people which the Lord hath undertaken to hide and to protect; for he is the Saviour of all men, but especially of them that believe; and there are a people that he doth lay up for himself as his peculiar treasure, for the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Exod. 19.5. signifies both these, and against these are the plots of the wise men of the earth; see it in Pharaoh, Achitophel, and Herod, they all prospered till they turned their wisdom this way; but when once they began to turn the head of their policy against the Saints, they did very speedily find their ruine; therein the Lord did go beyond them, and they were taken in their own craftiness. For when Satan has ingaged their spirits against the Saints, Satan never leaves, but he makes them restless, raiseth up in them both great plots and great hopes, and so they never cease till they meet with the Church as a burdensom stone, at which they will always be lifting, till they be broken therewith; for in their very policy they do perish, and in their own plots, as in the net which they had privily laid is their foot taken, Zac. 12.1, 2. Behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and Jerusalem.

2. How doth the Lord turn these plottings of wicked men, be they never so deep, unto the good of his people?

1. God doth set Divine wisdom on work for them; for they have an interest in all the Attributes of God, and they shall be put forth for them as their necessities do require, Psal. 119.120. It is time for thee, Lord, to work, for they have made void thy law. The Saints may desire God to put out an Attribute then, and they do flye unto their strong hold, unto their chambers, as Esa. 26. as when the power of man is exalted against them, now it is time for them to say, We have no might against this multitude, but our eyes are upon thee, it is all one to thee to save with few or with many; so when carnal wisdom is exalted, now is the time for God to put forth his wisdom for them that are his people; for they say, We have no wisdom against this wise and subtle generation, but our eyes are upon thee, and in thee is our wisdom laid up. Herod had a plot against Christ, and he will come and worship him, that is, he would come and destroy him, and the Wise-men also that came to seek him; now is the wisdom of God put forth for Christs preservation, one is sent into Egypt, and the other are admonished by God, and they return into their own country another way. And the people of God have more benefit by seeing the wisdom of God acting for them, than they can have disadvantage or discouragement, by seeing all the wise men of the world against them. O great is the sweetness that the people of God have by seeing any Attribute act for them, and for their good, that by this means they may come to understand their inheritance in Attributes, which is far beyond that of creatures or promises: as a father, his bowels are moved for a child, when he sees him in danger, and then his affections do discover them∣selves; so do the Saints expect that the Lord shall fulfil his relation in that respect, when dangers are pressing upon them, &c.

2. In the middle of all their plots they comfort themselves in this, that they shall take no effect against them, till they have done the service which the Lord hath, appointed them unto, Luke 13.32. they told Christ that Herod had a plot upon him to kill him, he saith, Go tell that Fox,* 1.888 behold I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. Franc. in his History Animalium, gives us three properties of a Fox, he is animal dolosum, crudele, gulosum, subtle and deceitful, all for death, cruel, and all for the prey: and there is a double property of him as deceitful. (1) Noctu prorepit, he only goes forth in the night, doth all things secretly; and so do Plotters, they must not be seen, and a great part of their wisdom is to be undiscovered. (2) Nunquam rectis incedit itineribus, sed ambagibus, He doth never go right on, but always he hath his windings and turnings; so Po∣liticians, they love to walk unseen, and they never love to go in plain paths, but in secret ways to ensnare men: But Christ, when they told him of the design of this Fox Herod, he comforts himself with this, there is a set time for my work, and then when that is done my service is perfect, then shall I dye, and I know all his policy shall be able to avail no∣thing against me, till I have finished the work that the Father has given me to do. And

so may all the Saints comfort themselves against all the plots of wicked men against them, they shall finish their work notwithstanding.

3. This shall sometimes make way for their service in a wonderful manner: the Jews had a plot against Paul, and they had taken an oath, That they would neither eat nor drink ••ill they had killed him; this occasioned his being sent unto Caesarea first, and afterwards to Rome, where the Lord told him he must bear witness of him also; and glorious was the service that he did there; and the souls that he converted were many, and in a special manner even in Caesars family there were souls brought home unto the Lord, Phil. 4.22. All the Saints salute you, chiefly those that are of Caesars houshold: it was Nero that opprobrium humani generis, and yet the Lord had some to pluck out there; and the Lord made the plot which they had against him the occasion of all this great work: what loser was Paul by it? nay how much honour did it bring unto t•••• Lord? and how great thanksgiving was given un∣to God by these p••or converted souls, who came unto the knowledge of the Gospel, and the way to life by this means?

4. What they do plot to hinder, shall by their very plots be advanced, Esa. 44.25. he turns wise men backward, that is, they shall see a quite contrary effect unto that which by their wisdom they intended to bring to pass against the Jews: and the raising persecution against the Christians since, was to hinder the Gospel, and to suppress it; but this did further the Gospel, for it did occasion their going forth unto the Gentiles, and by this means the sound went forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world; and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the casting off of the Jews became the inriching of the Gentiles by this means, which else had never been so gloriously and fully done: and I do not doubt, but the very opposition that is against the Ordinances of the Gospel shall establish them in the Lords time, and the opposition against any truth hath ever established that truth; for they are but as winds that root the trees, by shaking of them they fasten, Jer. 20.10. Report, say they, and we will report it; the wicked plot to take away the good names of the Saints by casting out slanders against them, as if they were the vilest wretches upon earth; but there is not such a way to bring an honour upon them, and to cause the Lord to make their light to break forth out of darkness unto after generations, as to reproach them.

5. Hereby they have experience of those glorious promises that God has made to his people, of frustrating the plots of their enemies, Esa. 8.10. Consult, but it shall come to nought, speak the word, but it shall not stand, for God is with us: Prov. 6.14. Frowardness is in his heart, he devis••th mischief continually, he sowed discord, therefore shall his calamity come sud∣denly, suddenly shall he be broken without remedy: and Psal. 19.21. Many devices are in the heart of a man, but the counsel of God, that shall stand. Psal. 64.6, 7. They search out iniquity, they accomplìsh a diligent search, the inward thoughts of every one of them, and the heart is deep, but God shall shoot at them with an arrow, and suddenly shall they be wounded. Hereby the Saints flye unto those promises, and they have experience of their interest and the prayers of the ancient Saints against all the enemies that ever plotted mischief against the Church; as the instance of Judas; they are answered in after-generations: and there is a Commu∣nion of Saints that the people of God have with Saints departed upon this ground also, they have a benefit by the prayers which they did put up upon earth, which are accom∣plished upon the enemies of the Church and people of God in after-ages.

Lastly, They have experience of strange, secret, and glorious deliverances by this means; and truly experience of God in any kind is no small advantage to the Saints, they make much of their own experiences, and live upon them afterwards. Possidon tells us in the Life of Austin, that as he was travelling there were certain of the Donatists, whom he calls Circumcelliones, that did lay wait for him armed to kill him, obvenit Dei providentia, sed ductoris errore, but he missed the way, & per hunc errorem manus impias evasit, and so escaped. This drew forth in him and in many others of the people of God many praises unto God for so great and unknown deliverance: and I did the rather insist upon this, because the enemies of the people of God are very busie in plotting against the Saints, and we have cause to fear the fraud of the enemy as well as their force; though if hand joyn with hand, yet the wicked shall not be unpunished; and the God that has delivered, will again deliver. These things may one day be worth thinking of; when we are cast upon such providences, that we know not what to do, then the Lord will arise for the help of those that wait on him.

FINIS.

Notes

• * 1.1

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Divina legisla∣tio promissio∣nibus sancita.
• * 1.2

  Exod. 34.10.
• * 1.3

  Esa. 59.21.
• * 1.4

  Exod. 34.28. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.5

  Deus promit∣tendo se debi∣torem fecit. Austin.
• * 1.6

  Ball of the Co∣venant 4. p. 27.
• * 1.7

  Act. 3.25.
• * 1.8

  Rom. 9.4.
• * 1.9

  Psal. 89.39. Zac. 11.10.
• * 1.10

  Heb. 6.12.
• * 1.11

  Eph. 3.9.
• * 1.12

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.13

  Heb. 11.7. Zac. 1.6. Zeph. 2.1, 2.
• * 1.14

  Dan. 9.12.
• * 1.15

  2 Sam. 7.19.
• * 1.16

  1 Cor. 10.
• * 1.17

  Mic. 7. v. ult.
• * 1.18

  Col. 2.
• * 1.19

  Esa. 49.8.
• * 1.20

  1 Cor. 2.5, 7.
• * 1.21

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.22

  Heb. 12.1.
• * 1.23

  Heb. 11.25.
• * 1.24

  Isa. 12.3.
• * 1.25

  Col. 1.12.
• * 1.26

  Neh. 1.8.
• * 1.27

  Dan. 4.16, 17. Zac. 1.
• * 1.28

  Rom. 9.18.
• * 1.29

  1 Joh. 5.7.
• * 1.30

  Psal. 144.
• * 1.31

  Ego quidem sine Verbo ne in Paradiso o∣ptarim vivere, at cum Verbo etiam in infer∣no vivere sa∣cile est. Luth.
• * 1.32

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Chryso∣stom.
• * 1.33

  2 Pet. 1.4.
• * 1.34

  1 Pet. 2.
• * 1.35

  2 Cor. 7.1. 2 Pet. 1.4.
• * 1.36

  Rev. 10.7.
• * 1.37

  Luk. 17.5.
• * 1.38

  Rom. 4.19, 20.
• * 1.39

  Ezech. 37.11.12.
• * 1.40

  Heb. 11.13.
• * 1.41

  Psal. 118.
• * 1.42

  Jer. 29.10, 12.
• * 1.43

  Dan. 9.1, 2.
• * 1.44

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.45

  Hos. 7.14.
• * 1.46

  Dan. 4.17.
• * 1.47

  Acts 7.1••.
• * 1.48

  Hos. 10.7.
• * 1.49

  Zeph. 2.1, 2.
• * 1.50

  Hebr. 10.36.
• * 1.51

  Aust.
• * 1.52

  2 Cor. 1.20.
• * 1.53

  Hebr. 6.17. Psal. 110.4.
• * 1.54

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.55

  Revel. 8.3, 4.
• * 1.56

  Revel. 13.8.
• * 1.57

  2. Tim. 4.17.
• * 1.58

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Heb. 10.37.
• * 1.59

  Dan. 9.1.
• * 1.60

  Bernard.
• * 1.61

  Jer. 31.33.
• * 1.62

  Luc. 3. ult.
• * 1.63

  Job 1.6.
• * 1.64

  1 Thess. 1.
• * 1.65

  1 Joh. 1.3.
• * 1.66

  Hebr. 8.
• * 1.67

  Joh. 4.10.
• * 1.68

  Psal. 144. ver. the last.
• * 1.69

  1 Cor. 3.22.
• * 1.70

  1 Joh. 5.12.
• * 1.71

  Ephes. 3.12.
• * 1.72

  Psal. 16.5.
• * 1.73

  Joh. 3.35.
• * 1.74

  Prov. 8.30.
• * 1.75

  Joh. 20.17.
• * 1.76

  Luk. 1.35.
• * 1.77

  Psal. 48.14.
• * 1.78

  1 Pet. 1.21.
• * 1.79

  Revel. 21.6.
• * 1.80

  Revel. 20.1.
• * 1.81

  Revel. 2.10.
• * 1.82

  Joel 1.
• * 1.83

  Revel. 12.17.
• * 1.84

  John 1.1.
• * 1.85

  1 Joh. 5.7.
• * 1.86

  Col. 2.8. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.87

  Daven.
• * 1.88

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.89

  Opera ad ex∣tra sunt indi∣visa.
• * 1.90

  Joh. 14.1. Joh. 5.23.
• * 1.91

  Forbes of Ju∣stification, p. 28.
• * 1.92

  1 Joh. 4.16.
• * 1.93

  Joh. 15.9.
• * 1.94

  Joh. 14.23. Joh. 16.27.
• * 1.95

  Rev. 1.4, 5.
• * 1.96

  Ezech. 21.10.
• * 1.97

  Joh. 14.23.
• * 1.98

  1 Joh. 5.7.
• * 1.99

  Vers. 10.
• * 1.100

  Hebr. 8.6.
• * 1.101

  Hebr. 1.3.
• * 1.102

  Joh. 5.7.
• * 1.103

  Dan. 4.17.
• * 1.104

  Rom. 9.5.
• * 1.105

  Eph. 1. v. ult.
• * 1.106

  Hos. 1.9.
• * 1.107

  Act. 7.43.
• * 1.108

  1 Cor. 10.20.
• * 1.109

  Rev. 9.20.
• * 1.110

  2 Cor. 4.4.
• * 1.111

  In aliquo posi∣tum esse, in e∣jus potestate esse. Camer.
• * 1.112

  Exod. 3.6.
• * 1.113

  Jer. 31.33. 2 Cor. 6.16. Rev. 21.7.
• * 1.114

  Psal. 67.6. Psal. 48. v. ult.
• * 1.115

  Joh. 20.17. Psal. 22.1.
• * 1.116

  2 Chron. 30.8.
• * 1.117

  Eph. 2.12.
• * 1.118

  2 Cor. 3.2, 3.
• * 1.119

  Jer. 2.11, 12.
• * 1.120

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 To worship the true God is a mans glory, and to have an in∣terest in him, he is said to be the glory of his peo∣ple Israel. Psal. 62.7.
• * 1.121

  Hos. 9.10.
• * 1.122

  Luk. 16.25.
• * 1.123

  Hab. 3.7.
• * 1.124

  Gen. 31.29.
• * 1.125

  Deut. 28.63. Jer. 44.27.
• * 1.126

  Heb. 10.
• * 1.127

  Psal. 90.11.
• * 1.128

  Exod. 19.5.
• * 1.129

  Gen. 17.2.
• * 1.130

  Esa. 25.
• * 1.131

  Jer. 31.14.
• * 1.132

  Psal. 126.
• * 1.133

  Psal. 107.8.
• * 1.134

  Psal. 124.1.
• * 1.135

  Zac. 12.3.
• * 1.136

  Calvin.
• * 1.137

  Bernard.
• * 1.138

  Psal. 23.4.
• * 1.139

  Ferer.
• * 1.140

  Esa. 4.4. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Isa. 26. v. ult. Cant. 1.4.
• * 1.141

  Hos. 9.10.
• * 1.142

  Luk. 10. Hos. 14.8.
• * 1.143

  Exod. 33.20, 21. 1 Joh. 1.2. 1 Cor. 13.12.
• * 1.144

  Job 11.7.
• * 1.145

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.146

  Psal. 17.14.
• * 1.147

  Gen. 15.1.
• * 1.148

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.149

  1 Cor. 3.21.
• * 1.150

  Revel. 21.7.
• * 1.151

  Mark 10.30.
• * 1.152

  Psal. 84.
• * 1.153

  Calvin.
• * 1.154

  2 Cor. 6.16. Isai. 54.5. James 2.23.
• * 1.155

  Psal. 84.5. Ephes. 6.10.
• * 1.156

  Hab. 3.18.
• * 1.157

  1 Pet. 3.18.
• * 1.158

  1. Pet. 1.21.
• * 1.159

  Joh. 1.12.
• * 1.160

  Ephes. 2.12.
• * 1.161

  Isai. 57.17, 18.
• * 1.162

  Ephes. 3.10.
• * 1.163

  Exod. 23.
• * 1.164

  Colos. 1.15.
• * 1.165

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.166

  Num. 14.17.
• * 1.167

  Psal. 48.14.
• * 1.168

  Col. 1.21.
• * 1.169

  Heb. 10.
• * 1.170

  Joh. 1.
• * 1.171

  Gal. 3.19. Job 9.33.
• * 1.172

  Joh. 20.17.
• * 1.173

  Psal. 22.1. & 89.26. Phil. 2.7.
• * 1.174

  Prov. 8.21. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Psal. 2.6.
• * 1.175

  Joh. 3.35. Joh. 5.20.
• * 1.176

  Esa. 53.8.
• * 1.177

  Esa. 49.7.
• * 1.178

  Heb. 1.3.
• * 1.179

  1 Cor. 3.21. Joh. 17.23.
• * 1.180

  Exod. 23.21.
• * 1.181

  Mat. 18.10.
• * 1.182

  Joh. 5.22.
• * 1.183

  2 Cor. 4.6.
• * 1.184

  1 Tim. 1.14.
• * 1.185

  Isa. 49.7.
• * 1.186

  1 Joh. 1.2.
• * 1.187

  Rom. 8.29.
• * 1.188

  Eph. 4.18, 19.
• * 1.189

  Exod. 33.19.
• * 1.190

  2 Cor. 4.6.
• * 1.191

  Psal. 63.2. Psal. 10.6, 8.
• * 1.192

  Psal. 13.5.
• * 1.193

  Psal. 52.8.
• * 1.194

  Dan. 3.
• * 1.195

  Esay 26.4. Esay 27.5.
• * 1.196

  1 Pet. 1.21.
• * 1.197

  Eph. 4.18.23.24.
• * 1.198

  Heb. 12.10. Jam. 1.5.
• * 1.199

  1 Pet. 1.15.
• * 1.200

  Daven.
• * 1.201

  1 Joh. 4.24.
• * 1.202

  Exod. 34.14.
• * 1.203

  Psal. 57.3.
• * 1.204

  Num. 14.17.
• * 1.205

  Nehem. 13.22. Psal. 115.1. 2 Chron. 14.11.
• * 1.206

  Mat. 11.24. Joh. 17. Num. 14.14.
• * 1.207

  Psal. 21.13.
• * 1.208

  Psal. 59.16, 17.
• * 1.209

  Rev. 4.8.
• * 1.210

  Prov. 18.10.
• * 1.211

  Aristotle.
• * 1.212

  Eph. 1.14.
• * 1.213

  Gal. 3.16. 2 Cor. 1.20.
• * 1.214

  Psal. 16.5.
• * 1.215

  Psal. 45.7.
• * 1.216

  Rom. 8.17.
• * 1.217

  1 Cor. 3.22.
• * 1.218

  Heb. 6.12.
• * 1.219

  1 Sam. 2.2.
• * 1.220

  Austin.
• * 1.221

  Psal. 144.
• * 1.222

  1 Joh. 2.1.
• * 1.223

  Prov. 18.10.
• * 1.224

  Esay 66.11.
• * 1.225

  Hab. 3.18, 19.
• * 1.226

  Rev. 10.7.
• * 1.227

  1 Cor. 15.28.
• * 1.228

  1 Pet. 1.9.
• * 1.229

  Heb. 12.23.
• * 1.230

  Prov. 11.29.
• * 1.231

  Hos. 2.21.
• * 1.232

  Jer. 12.5.
• * 1.233

  Zac. 1.6.
• * 1.234

  Zeph. 2.2.
• * 1.235

  Psal. 16.5.
• * 1.236

  Mark. 8.17, 18.
• * 1.237

  Luther.
• * 1.238

  Phil. 4.10.
• * 1.239

  Mark 11.13. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.240

  Luk. 20.10.
• * 1.241

  Psal. 46.1.
• * 1.242

  2 Cor. 6.10.
• * 1.243

  Zac. 1.8.
• * 1.244

  Psal. 6.2, 5.
• * 1.245

  1 Joh. 5.11.
• * 1.246

  Chrysanthes.
• * 1.247

  Gen. 17.1.
• * 1.248

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Phil. 4.12.
• * 1.249

  Prov. 14.14. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.250

  Esay 1.11. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.251

  Zac. 12.1, 2.
• * 1.252

  Exod. 15.3.
• * 1.253

  Isa. 41.
• * 1.254

  Nah. 1.10.
• * 1.255

  Mic. 4.11.
• * 1.256

  Psal. 21.13.
• * 1.257

  Eph. 4.24.
• * 1.258

  2 Cor. 3. ult.
• * 1.259

  Calvin.
• * 1.260

  Bernard.
• * 1.261

  1 Tim. 4.8.
• * 1.262

  Heb. 6.12.
• * 1.263

  Tit. 1.2.
• * 1.264

  1 Joh. 2.25.
• * 1.265

  2 Cor. 5.7.
• * 1.266

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.267

  Psal. 16.
• * 1.268

  Psal. 16. ult.
• * 1.269

  1 Pet. 1.21.
• * 1.270

  Heb. 12.24.
• * 1.271

  1 Cor. 15.
• * 1.272

  Rev. 12.1.
• * 1.273

  Phil. 1.23.
• * 1.274

  Zac. 3.7.
• * 1.275

  Joh. 17.
• * 1.276

  Job 19.
• * 1.277

  Psal. 16.
• * 1.278

  1 Cor. 13.12, 13.
• * 1.279

  Heb. 12.
• * 1.280

  2 Cor. 5.17.
• * 1.281

  1 Joh. 3.3.
• * 1.282

  2 Cor. 3. ult.
• * 1.283

  Job. 19.26.
• * 1.284

  Heb. 11.26. Psal. 36.9.
• * 1.285

  Joh. 3.12.
• * 1.286

  Dan. 7.9.
• * 1.287

  Col. 1.27.
• * 1.288

  2 Pet. 3.18.
• * 1.289

  1 Tim. 2.14.
• * 1.290

  Eph. 1.17, 18.
• * 1.291

  Joh. 17.3. Mat. 5.8.
• * 1.292

  Psal. 17.15.
• * 1.293

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.294

  Phil. 1.6.
• * 1.295

  Num. 12.8.
• * 1.296

  Heb. 2.3.
• * 1.297

  Psal. 16. ult.
• * 1.298

  Psal. 17. ult.
• * 1.299

  2 Cor. 3. ult. Rev. 22.4.
• * 1.300

  Joh. 1.20.
• * 1.301

  Mat. 18.10.
• * 1.302

  1 Cor. 13.12.
• * 1.303

  Omnino non me satiaret De∣us, nisi promit∣teret seipsum, ipsum vitae fon∣tem scio, sitio, esurio. August.
• * 1.304

  1 Pet. 1.5.
• * 1.305

  Luther.
• * 1.306

  1 Joh. 1.3.
• * 1.307

  Austin.
• * 1.308

  Psal. 17. ult.
• * 1.309

  Austin.
• * 1.310

  Psal. 14.1.
• * 1.311

  Jer. 2.13.
• * 1.312

  Heb. 2.1.
• * 1.313

  Luk. 14.33.
• * 1.314

  Jonah 2.8.
• * 1.315

  Isa. 44.20.
• * 1.316

  Quam Deus il∣lis largissimè offert. Drus.
• * 1.317

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.318

  Esay 2.18.
• * 1.319

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.320

  Zeph. 1.12.
• * 1.321

  Gen. 17.1. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Rev. 21.6.
• * 1.322

  Psal. 16. ult.
• * 1.323

  Hab. 1.13. To labour in the fire is cùm ope∣ris nullus sit fructus, &c. sed igne statim ut confectum est absumpto.
• * 1.324

  Psal. 81.
• * 1.325

  Esay 14.9, 10.
• * 1.326

  Psal. 2.
• * 1.327

  Heb. 12.23.
• * 1.328

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.329

  Heb. 4.3.
• * 1.330

  Inquietum est cor. donec re∣quiescat in te.
• * 1.331

  Psal. 14.
• * 1.332

  Lam. 3.24. Esay 57.6.
• * 1.333

  Phil. 3.19.
• * 1.334

  Hos. 9.10.
• * 1.335

  Heb. 11.26.
• * 1.336

  2 Cor. 4.18.
• * 1.337

  Psal. 19.11.
• * 1.338

  •• Thess. 1.10.
• * 1.339

  2 Pet. 3.
• * 1.340

  1 Cor. 15.28.
• * 1.341

  Isa. 50.11.
• * 1.342

  2 Thess. 1.9.
• * 1.343

  Heb 12. ult.
• * 1.344

  Psal. 16.
• * 1.345

  1 Pet. 2.21.
• * 1.346

  Joh. 3.3.
• * 1.347

  Rom. 12.1.
• * 1.348

  Psal. 144. ult.
• * 1.349

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.350

  Psal. 44.8.
• * 1.351

  Psal. 16.
• * 1.352

  Joh. 20. Esay 9.6.
• * 1.353

  Joh. 10.30.
• * 1.354

  Psal. 40. Joh. 10.18.
• * 1.355

  Joh. 14.26.
• * 1.356

  1 Cor. 6.17.
• * 1.357

  Pater & Filius sunt unum per naturam, nostra unio per gra∣tiam. Athan. De 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 spiritualis pio∣rum in Deo u∣nitatis in vitae hujus infirmi∣tate pluribus disserere non possumus, sed mysterium hoc reverenter a∣doramus, & u∣nitatis hujus participes fieri optamus.
• * 1.358

  1 Joh. 1.3.
• * 1.359

  Joh. 14.21.
• * 1.360

  Joh. 1.18. Joh. 6.46.
• * 1.361

  Eph. 3.9.
• * 1.362

  Joh. 5.20.
• * 1.363

  Rom. 8.26.
• * 1.364

  Eph. 1.13.
• * 1.365

  1 Cor. 15.24.
• * 1.366

  1 Cor. 5.17, 18.
• * 1.367

  Phil. 1.6.
• * 1.368

  Joh. 5.23.
• * 1.369

  1 King. 10.5.
• * 1.370

  Joh. 3.16.
• * 1.371

  1 Cor. 3.11. Rev. 4.
• * 1.372

  Rev. 4.
• * 1.373

  1 Joh. 5.6.
• * 1.374

  1 Joh. 1.3.
• * 1.375

  Mat. 28.20.
• * 1.376

  1 Cor. 1.13.
• * 1.377

  Joh. 20.
• * 1.378

  2 Cor. 1.3. Jam. 1.17.
• * 1.379

  Col. 1.12.
• * 1.380

  Joh. 1.12, 13.
• * 1.381

  Joh. 1.••8.
• * 1.382

  Eph. 3.12.
• * 1.383

  How and in what respect each of the Per∣sons have made over themselves to the Saints un∣der the second Covenant.
• * 1.384

  Joh. 1.4.
• * 1.385

  Mat. 1.20.
• * 1.386

  Joh. 14.1.
• * 1.387

  1 Pet. 1.21.
• * 1.388

  Joh. 5.23. Rev. 1.4.
• * 1.389

  Joh. 5.19.
• * 1.390

  Joh. 14.13.
• * 1.391

  2 Cor. 1.29.
• * 1.392

  Col. 2.10.
• * 1.393

  Joh. 5.23. Joh. 17.10.
• * 1.394

  Esay 42.1. Eph. 1.4.
• * 1.395

  Eph. 1.9, 10.
• * 1.396

  1 Cor. 2.7.
• * 1.397

  Esay 10. ult.
• * 1.398

  Heb. 10.6, 7.
• * 1.399

  Prov. 8.22, 23.
• * 1.400

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.401

  Esay 49. Gal. 3.6.
• * 1.402

  Heb. 7.27. Joh. 6.26.
• * 1.403

  1 Joh. 5.11.
• * 1.404

  Phil. 2.10.
• * 1.405

  Joh. 5.
• * 1.406

  Rev. 13.8.
• * 1.407

  Joh. 5. Eph. 4.12.
• * 1.408

  Heb. 10.7, 8.
• * 1.409

  Psal. 40.5.
• * 1.410

  Psal. 16.8, 9.
• * 1.411

  Luther.
• * 1.412

  Rev. 13.8.
• * 1.413

  Rev. 19.10. Jude 14.
• * 1.414

  Gen. 6.3.
• * 1.415

  Heb. 10.5.
• * 1.416

  Col. 2.9.
• * 1.417

  Col. 1.19.
• * 1.418

  Joh. 1.16.
• * 1.419

  Act. 2.23.
• * 1.420

  Joh. 10.18.
• * 1.421

  Psal. 16.10.
• * 1.422

  Eph. 1.21.
• * 1.423

  Acts 2.33.
• * 1.424

  Joh. 7.39.
• * 1.425

  1 Pet. 3. ult.
• * 1.426

  Joh. 6.44.
• * 1.427

  Rom. 8.29.
• * 1.428

  Isa. 9.6. Joh. 4.10.
• * 1.429

  Joh. 4.10.
• * 1.430

  2 Cor. 5.18.
• * 1.431

  Col. 1.19, 20.
• * 1.432

  Col. 1.21. Rom. 1.30.
• * 1.433

  Cupit amari. Austin.
• * 1.434

  Rom. 3.24.
• * 1.435

  Rom. 4.8.
• * 1.436

  Gen. 4.4.
• * 1.437

  Mal. 3.3.
• * 1.438

  Eph. 1.3. Joh. 14.21, 23.
• * 1.439

  Joh. 5.7.
• * 1.440

  Joh. 20.17. Mat. 5.16.
• * 1.441

  Joh. 1.14. Luk. 1.35.
• * 1.442

  Bernard.
• * 1.443

  Dan. 9.24.
• * 1.444

  Isa. 4.5.
• * 1.445

  Isa. 57.8.
• * 1.446

  Mat. 3.17.
• * 1.447

  Joh. 17.23.
• * 1.448

  Mat. 11.27.
• * 1.449

  Joh. 5.20.
• * 1.450

  Joh. 1.18.
• * 1.451

  Joh. 6.45.
• * 1.452

  Isa. 25.7.
• * 1.453

  Rev. 11.19.
• * 1.454

  Prov. 8.30.
• * 1.455

  Psal. 147.11. & 149.4.
• * 1.456

  Joh. 1.3.
• * 1.457

  Act. 20.28.
• * 1.458

  Joh. 16.27.
• * 1.459

  Heb. 12.23. 1 Cor. 3.22.
• * 1.460

  1 Pet. 1.5.
• * 1.461

  Eph. 1.18.
• * 1.462

  Joh. 20.17. Joh. 14.28. Luk. 23.46.
• * 1.463

  Joh. 14.2.
• * 1.464

  1 Joh. 2.2••. 2 Joh. 9.
• * 1.465

  1 Cor. 11.3.
• * 1.466

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.467

  Mat. 22.1.
• * 1.468

  Zeph. 2.4.
• * 1.469

  Rev. 19.14.
• * 1.470

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.471

  Mat. 25. Luk. 12.32.
• * 1.472

  Rev. 14.1.
• * 1.473

  1 Cor. 15.28.
• * 1.474

  Zac. 13.7. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.475

  Joh. 1.18.
• * 1.476

  Jam. 2.23.
• * 1.477

  Arist. Ethic. l. 9. c. 9. Deut. 13.6.
• * 1.478

  Isa. 56.
• * 1.479

  Lib. 1. de gu∣ber. Dei, p. 8.
• * 1.480

  1 Thess. 1.1.
• * 1.481

  Joh. 15.1.
• * 1.482

  Cant. ult. 11, 12.
• * 1.483

  Rom. 11.17.
• * 1.484

  Lev. 6.15, 16.
• * 1.485

  Hos. 14.5.
• * 1.486

  Psal. 128.3. Judg. 9.13.
• * 1.487

  Austin.
• * 1.488

  Joh. 6.
• * 1.489

  Est radix Da∣vidis, quia por∣tat & non por∣tatur. Bernard.
• * 1.490

  Rev. 5.11.
• * 1.491

  Psal. 68.10.
• * 1.492

  Jam. 4.8.
• * 1.493

  Col. 2.19.
• * 1.494

  1 Joh. 5.11.
• * 1.495

  Joh. 6.57.
• * 1.496

  Calv. Institut. l. 1. c. 13. §. 25.
• * 1.497

  Psal. 63.3.
• * 1.498

  1 Thess. 3.8.
• * 1.499

  Rom. 7.9.
• * 1.500

  Hab. 2.4.
• * 1.501

  Heb. 10.38.
• * 1.502

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.503

  Hostilem in∣cursum desig∣nat, &c.
• * 1.504

  Isa. 53.8.
• * 1.505

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.506

  Plenitudo gra∣tiae habitualis.
• * 1.507

  Joh. 3.34.
• * 1.508

  Dan. 9.24.
• * 1.509

  Mar. 14.33.
• * 1.510

  Psal. 16.11.
• * 1.511

  Rev. 3.21.
• * 1.512

  Joh. 5.26.
• * 1.513

  Jer. 23.6. 2 Cor. 5.21.
• * 1.514

  Isa. 57.15.
• * 1.515

  Hab. 3.2.
• * 1.516

  Rom. 5.10.
• * 1.517

  Joh. 5.11. Acts 3.25.
• * 1.518

  Joh. 2.23. Joh. 2.9.
• * 1.519

  2 Pet. 1.5.
• * 1.520

  1 Cor. 13.10, 11.
• * 1.521

  Eph. 3.10.
• * 1.522

  2 Cor. 2.14.
• * 1.523

  Heb. 1.3.
• * 1.524

  1 Joh. 1.5.
• * 1.525

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.526

  Jam. 1.22. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.527

  Heb. 4.13.
• * 1.528

  1 Joh. 2.23.
• * 1.529

  Joh. 6.54.
• * 1.530

  1 Joh. 4.19.
• * 1.531

  Eccles. 6.7.
• * 1.532

  1 Joh. 5.6.
• * 1.533

  Rom. 10.14.
• * 1.534

  Psal. 10.14.
• * 1.535

  Joh. 6.32.
• * 1.536

  Acts 1.4.
• * 1.537

  Joh. 10.29.
• * 1.538

  Joh. 10.9, 10.
• * 1.539

  2 Cor. 3.17.
• * 1.540

  Joh. 14.21.
• * 1.541

  Heb. 6.17.
• * 1.542

  Phil. 2.6.
• * 1.543

  Acts 2.
• * 1.544

  1 Joh. 5.6, 7.
• * 1.545

  Rev. 11.3.
• * 1.546

  1 Cor. 13.12.
• * 1.547

  Luke 8.46.
• * 1.548

  Cant. 6.3.
• * 1.549

  2 Cor. 5.13, 14.
• * 1.550

  Heb. 12.22.
• * 1.551

  Ad gratiam, ad gloriam Patris.
• * 1.552

  2 Sam. 1.26.
• * 1.553

  1 Joh. 3.1. Joh. 3.16.
• * 1.554

  Prov. 8.30.
• * 1.555

  1 Joh. 4.16.
• * 1.556

  Rom. 5.
• * 1.557

  Joh. 1.18.
• * 1.558

  Isa. 29.15.
• * 1.559

  Joh. 6.44.
• * 1.560

  Joh. 16.13.
• * 1.561

  Joh. 14.23.
• * 1.562

  Rev. 1.10.
• * 1.563

  Prov. 5.18.
• * 1.564

  Exod. 20.24.
• * 1.565

  2 Cor. 3.18.
• * 1.566

  1 Pet. 2.9.
• * 1.567

  Job. 22.21.
• * 1.568

  Gen. 17.1.
• * 1.569

  Job 31.2.
• * 1.570

  Lib. 3. c. 15.
• * 1.571

  Arist. Ethic. l. 1. c. 7.
• * 1.572

  Isa. 60.19, 20. Rev. 21.23.
• * 1.573

  Amos 8.9.
• * 1.574

  Rev. 21.7.
• * 1.575

  Psal. 16.5.
• * 1.576

  1 Tim. 6.6.
• * 1.577

  Jer. 2.13.
• * 1.578

  Psal. 84.11.
• * 1.579

  Psal. 62.7.
• * 1.580

  Zac. 2.5.
• * 1.581

  Sen. epist. 79.
• * 1.582

  Psal. 36.10.9. Job 22.26.
• * 1.583

  Psal. 37.4.
• * 1.584

  Psal. 94.19.
• * 1.585

  Psal. 3.3. Jer. 2.31.
• * 1.586

  Isa. 4.5.
• * 1.587

  Isa. 60.19. 1 Joh. 1.3.
• * 1.588

  Isa. 43.2, 3.
• * 1.589

  2 Cor. 3.18.
• * 1.590

  Jer. 31.14.
• * 1.591

  Gen. 9.
• * 1.592

  Cùm mundus undi{que} exarse∣rit, cogitat se nihil habere de tanta mole per∣dendum. Sen. quaest. nat. l. 2. q. 697.
• * 1.593

  Sed magnam foelicitatem spi∣ritualem meta∣phoricè signifi∣cat, &c.
• * 1.594

  Gen. 17.2.
• * 1.595

  Psal. 34.10. Job 4.11.
• * 1.596

  Ezech. 32.2.
• * 1.597

  Prov. 30.30.
• * 1.598

  Muis. Psal. 10.9.
• * 1.599

  Hos. 14.5, 6, 7.
• * 1.600

  Austin.
• * 1.601

  Amos 5.21.
• * 1.602

  Tertullian.
• * 1.603

  Hos. 14.4.
• * 1.604

  Gen. 17.21.
• * 1.605

  Qui à Jacobo instar fontis perennis ortum ducunt.
• * 1.606

  Psal. 90.1.
• * 1.607

  Joh. 3.3, 5. 2 Thess. 2.16.
• * 1.608

  Jer. 2.13.
• * 1.609

  1 Pet. 1.13.
• * 1.610

  Psal. 116.7.
• * 1.611

  Exod. 4.11.
• * 1.612

  Psal. 16.4.
• * 1.613

  Mat. 6.22, 23.
• * 1.614

  Jam. 1.14.
• * 1.615

  2 Pet. 2.14.
• * 1.616

  Harp. Theolog. myst. p. 37.
• * 1.617

  Tenet.
• * 1.618

  1 Thess. 1.1. Joh. 3.21.
• * 1.619

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.620

  Harp. p. 678.
• * 1.621

  Psal. 17.
• * 1.622

  Mic. 5.
• * 1.623

  Psal. 84.11.
• * 1.624

  Psal. 46.4.
• * 1.625

  Zac. 4.3.
• * 1.626

  Rev. 21.23.
• * 1.627

  Jer. 34.5.
• * 1.628

  Heb. 11.16.
• * 1.629

  Josh. 24.22.
• * 1.630

  Jonas 2.8.
• * 1.631

  1 Cor. 4.11.
• * 1.632

  Chrysostome.
• * 1.633

  Rev. 12.
• * 1.634

  Chrysostome.
• * 1.635

  Zeph. 1.12.
• * 1.636

  Rev. 12.
• * 1.637

  Rom. 8.29. 1 Joh. 1.3.
• * 1.638

  1 Pet. 2.21.
• * 1.639

  Joh. 17.5.
• * 1.640

  Heb. 2.10.
• * 1.641

  Hos. 14.3.
• * 1.642

  Isa. 30.18. Joel 2.23.
• * 1.643

  Jer. 2.2.
• * 1.644

  Drusius.
• * 1.645

  Jer. 2.29.
• * 1.646

  Psal. 6.33.
• * 1.647

  Psal. 73.7.
• * 1.648

  Psal. 17.14.
• * 1.649

  Psal. 17.14.
• * 1.650

  Job 11. ult.
• * 1.651

  2 Pet. 2.9.
• * 1.652

  Mal. 3.15.
• * 1.653

  Rev. 13.8.
• * 1.654

  Rom. 8.
• * 1.655

  Prov. 23.5.
• * 1.656

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 1 Cor. 4.8.
• * 1.657

  Psal. 18.31.
• * 1.658

  Mat. 22.32.
• * 1.659

  Exod. 21.6.
• * 1.660

  1 Cor. 6.
• * 1.661

  Prov. 29.26. Psal. 33.15.
• * 1.662

  Prov. 30.2, 3, 4.
• * 1.663

  Joh. 6.27.
• * 1.664

  1 Tim. 6.7.
• * 1.665

  Prov. 18.11.
• * 1.666

  Psal. 36.9.
• * 1.667

  2 Chron. 26.15.
• * 1.668

  2 Kings 16.5, 8. Jer. 48.13. Isa. 31.2, 3.
• * 1.669

  Isa. 30.12, 13.
• * 1.670

  Jam. 1.14.
• * 1.671

  Glass.
• * 1.672

  Luke 16.
• * 1.673

  1 Cor. 4.7.
• * 1.674

  Prosper ad De∣mest. p. 866.
• * 1.675

  1 Cor. 12.7.
• * 1.676

  Luke 16.1.
• * 1.677

  Accepta bona dissipamus quando iis nec ad ipsius ho∣norem, nec proximi aedifi∣cationem, nec ad propriam salutem utimur. Stella.
• * 1.678

  Psal. 68.18.
• * 1.679

  Joh. 15.1, 2.
• * 1.680

  Mat. 12.44, 45.
• * 1.681

  Luther Potentia, justi∣tia, sapientia.
• * 1.682

  Luther.
• * 1.683

  Joh. 15.6.
• * 1.684

  In Gen. 4.4.
• * 1.685

  Rev. 2.4.
• * 1.686

  Rom. 7.
• * 1.687

  Rom. 7.
• * 1.688

  Luther.
• * 1.689

  Eph. 4.24. Col. 3.10.
• * 1.690

  Job 4.18.
• * 1.691

  Jer. 32.40.
• * 1.692

  1 Joh. 5.1••.
• * 1.693

  Gen. 11.
• * 1.694

  Luther.
• * 1.695

  Gal. 5. Joh. 3.
• * 1.696

  Gal. 2.20.
• * 1.697

  Phil. 1.19.
• * 1.698

  Jul. Pol. pag. 145.
• * 1.699

  Joh. 15.5.
• * 1.700

  Prosper.
• * 1.701

  Luther.
• * 1.702

  2 Cor. 12.
• * 1.703

  Prosper.
• * 1.704

  Lam. 3.4.
• * 1.705

  Psal. 37.
• * 1.706

  Psal. 48.11.
• * 1.707

  Deut. 32.31.
• * 1.708

  Dan. 3.29.
• * 1.709

  Zac. 2.5.
• * 1.710

  Psal. 118.7.
• * 1.711

  Gen. 33.9, 11.
• * 1.712

  2 Chron. 15.2.
• * 1.713

  Deut. 32.30.
• * 1.714

  Gen. 44.30.
• * 1.715

  Luther.
• * 1.716

  Psal. 97.7.
• * 1.717

  Job 5.22.
• * 1.718

  Heb. 10.39.
• * 1.719

  Phil. 3.7.
• * 1.720

  Deut. 32. Jer. 14.22.
• * 1.721

  Prov. 18.10.
• * 1.722

  Rev. 21.12, 16.
• * 1.723

  Phil. 4.7.
• * 1.724

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.725

  2 Cor. 6.10.
• * 1.726

  Psal. 118.6.
• * 1.727

  2 Chron. 12.7.
• * 1.728

  Austin.
• * 1.729

  Luther.
• * 1.730

  1 Pet. 1.7.
• * 1.731

  Joh. 20.17.
• * 1.732

  Josh. 24.22.
• * 1.733

  Josh. 24.23.
• * 1.734

  Isa. 38.10.
• * 1.735

  Luther.
• * 1.736

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.737

  Mollet. Ad veram sa∣pientiam perti∣net, ut Deum praesentem, & cuncta inspici∣entem jugiter attendamus. Carth.
• * 1.738

  Isa. 50.2.
• * 1.739

  Jam. 5.4.
• * 1.740

  Joel. 2.7.
• * 1.741

  Judg. 5.20.
• * 1.742

  1 Cor. 15.24.
• * 1.743

  Luk. 10.21.
• * 1.744

  1 Joh. 3.8.
• * 1.745

  Col. 1.13.
• * 1.746

  Rev. 20.
• * 1.747

  Phil. 2.11.
• * 1.748

  Heb. 12.27, 28.
• * 1.749

  Joh. 5.22.
• * 1.750

  Joh. 5.22.
• * 1.751

  Ezech. 1.12, 20.
• * 1.752

  Joh. 5.27.
• * 1.753

  Dan. 7.13, 14.
• * 1.754

  Joh. 17.2.
• * 1.755

  Rom. 8.28.
• * 1.756

  Cant. 4. ult.
• * 1.757

  1 Pet. 1.6.
• * 1.758

  Psal. 103.19.
• * 1.759

  Esa. 7.8.
• * 1.760

  Psal. 110.3.
• * 1.761

  Luk. 17.20, 21.
• * 1.762

  Grotius.
• * 1.763

  Rom. 14.17.
• * 1.764

  Deut. 33.3.
• * 1.765

  2 Cor. 10.5.
• * 1.766

  Tit. 2.14.
• * 1.767

  Luk. 19.14.
• * 1.768

  Psal. 110.3.
• * 1.769

  Esa. 32.1, 2.
• * 1.770

  Rev. 4.5.
• * 1.771

  2 Cor. 9.13.
• * 1.772

  Psal. 110.2.
• * 1.773

  Mat. 8.12.
• * 1.774

  Psal. 76.10.
• * 1.775

  Psal. 125.5.
• * 1.776

  1 Joh. 2.18.
• * 1.777

  Heb. 4.1.
• * 1.778

  Eph. 1. ult. Joh. 17.2.
• * 1.779

  Rom. 8.28.
• * 1.780

  Heb. 12.10.
• * 1.781

  Jude 15.
• * 1.782

  Zac. 3.4.
• * 1.783

  Rom. 14.••.
• * 1.784

  Esa. 60.17.
• * 1.785

  1 Cor. 15.24.
• * 1.786

  Judg. 2.1.
• * 1.787

  Eccles. 5.6.
• * 1.788

  Rev. 2.1.
• * 1.789

  Zac. 3.7.
• * 1.790

  Parmenid.
• * 1.791

  Non quod fer∣re potes, sed quod profers, Cajet. Esa. 50.4.
• * 1.792

  1 Thess. 2.7.
• * 1.793

  Phil. 1.8.
• * 1.794

  Phil. 2.20.
• * 1.795

  Esa. 29.10.
• * 1.796

  Acts 18.5.
• * 1.797

  Eph. 4.14, 15.
• * 1.798

  2 Tim. 2.10. Col. 1.24.
• * 1.799

  Jude 9.
• * 1.800

  Acts 27.
• * 1.801

  Psal. 83.3.
• * 1.802

  Esa. 49.17.
• * 1.803

  Psal. 119.91.
• * 1.804

  Psal. 104.3.
• * 1.805

  Ezech. 38.1••
• * 1.806

  Esa. 10.24.
• * 1.807

  Hab. 3.9.
• * 1.808

  Ezech. 1.5, &c.
• * 1.809

  Rev. 2.10.
• * 1.810

  Job 1.6.
• * 1.811

  Rev. 12.10.
• * 1.812

  Zac. 3.1, 2.
• * 1.813

  Philem. 10, 11.
• * 1.814

  Joh. 1.1.
• * 1.815

  Hos. 2.6, 7.
• * 1.816

  Rev. 16.1.
• * 1.817

  Heb. 11.33.
• * 1.818

  Mat. 13.29.
• * 1.819

  Vers. 24, 25.
• * 1.820

  Gen. 14. ult.
• * 1.821

  Joel 2.25.
• * 1.822

  Mat. 10.29. Luk. 12.6.
• * 1.823

  Mat. 10.30.
• * 1.824

  Luk. 21.18.
• * 1.825

  Hos. 2.18.
• * 1.826

  Jer. 33.20.
• * 1.827

  Job 5.23.
• * 1.828

  Psal. 19.1.
• * 1.829

  Moller.
• * 1.830

  Joh. 19.36.
• * 1.831

  Cogita te esse in regione de∣serti, & in pe∣regrinatione vitae, Aug.
• * 1.832

  Hab. 3.9.
• * 1.833

  Esa. 4.5.
• * 1.834

  Esa. 67.17.
• * 1.835

  Zac. 4.23.
• * 1.836

  Mic. 5.7.
• * 1.837

  2 Thess. 2.
• * 1.838

  Mic. 6.5.
• * 1.839

  Isa. 42.6.
• * 1.840

  Rev. 2.17.
• * 1.841

  Zach. 4.7.
• * 1.842

  Isa. 35.6.
• * 1.843

  Luk. 21.25.
• * 1.844

  Heb. 1.1.
• * 1.845

  2 Pet. 1.20.
• * 1.846

  Hos. 2.21, 22.
• * 1.847

  Mat. 4.3. Psal. 127.1.
• * 1.848

  Eccles. 5.17.
• * 1.849

  Aust.
• * 1.850

  Deut. 19.5.
• * 1.851

  Rom. 8.20.
• * 1.852

  Act. 3.21.
• * 1.853

  Amos 5.8.
• * 1.854

  Job 38.31.
• * 1.855

  Judg. 5.20.
• * 1.856

  Mal. 3.10.
• * 1.857

  Rev. 11.6.
• * 1.858

  Esa. 65.22, 23.
• * 1.859

  Esa. 60.17.
• * 1.860

  Psal. 89.9. 2 Pet. 3.4.
• * 1.861

  Ma••. 24.7.
• * 1.862

  Prov. 17.16.
• * 1.863

  Luk. 13.32.
• * 1.864

  Psal. 37.25.
• * 1.865

  Gen. 45.5, 6, 7.
• * 1.866

  Gen. 50.20.
• * 1.867

  Esa. 10.6, 7.
• * 1.868

  Gen. 6.5. Gen. 8.21.
• * 1.869

  Seneca.
• * 1.870

  Jam. 1.15
• * 1.871

  1 Cor. 3.3.
• * 1.872

  Acts 13.10.
• * 1.873

  That the body may be afflicted by fasting and prayer, &c. and being famula in culpa, it may be socia in poeni∣tentia.
• * 1.874

  Mar. 14.71.
• * 1.875

  Luk. 22.32.
• * 1.876

  Rev. 7.6, 7.
• * 1.877

  Bern.
• * 1.878

  Dolor dolore tollitur, venen•• venenis dispe••luntur. Aug.
• * 1.879

  Psal. 51.
• * 1.880

  Dan. 4.17.
• * 1.881

  Psal. 1.1.
• * 1.882

  Psal. 141.4.
• * 1.883

  Jer. 18.18.
• * 1.884

  Prov. 6.14.
• * 1.885

  Danaeus de haeresibus, cap. 69.
• * 1.886

  Eccles. 1.15.
• * 1.887

  Jam. 3.15.
• * 1.888

  Luk. 13.32.