Looking Unto Jesus

SECT. Of knowing Jesus, as carrying on the great work of our Salvation from the Creation until his first Coming.

LOoking comprehends knowing, considering, desiring, &c. as you have heard; and accordingly that we may practice.

1. We must know Jesus carrying on the great work of our Salvation in the beginning, and from the beginning of the World: Come let us learn what he did for us so early in the morning of this World: He made it for us, and he made us more especially for his own Glory; but presently after we were made, we sinned and marred the Image wherein God made us; this was the saddest Act that ever was; it was the undoing of man, and (without the mercy of God) the damning of all Souls, both of men and women to all Eternity; and, O my Soul, know this for thyself, thou wast in the loins of Adam at that same time, so that what he did, thou didst; thou wast partaker of his Sins, and thou wast to partake with him in his punishment: but well mayest thou say, Blessed be God for Jesus Christ; at the very instant when all should have been, damned, Christ intervened; a Covenant of Grace is made with man, and Christ is the Foundation, in and through whom we must be reconciled unto God: Come soul, and study this Covenant of grace in reference to thyself; had not this been, where hadst thou been? nay, where had all the World been at this day? Surely it concerns thee to take notice of this great Transaction. After man had fallen by Sin, Christ is promised; & that all the Saints might partake of Christ, a Covenant is entered; this at the beginning of the World, was more dim, but the nearer to Christ's coming in the Flesh, the more and more clearly it appeared: Howsoever dimly, or clearly, thus it pleased God in Christ to carry on the great work of our Salvation at that time, viz. by a Promise of Christ, and by a Covenant in Christ, and for thy better knowledge of it, study the Promise made to Adam, and Abraham, and Moses, and David, and Israel. Come Soul, study these several breakings out of the Covenant of Grace; it is worth thy pains, it is a Mystery which hath been hid from Ages, and from Generations, but now is made manifest to the Saints. Here lies the first and most firm Foundation of a Christians comfort; if thou canst but study this, and assure thyself of thy part in this, thou art blessed forever; O how incomparably sweet and satisfying is it to a self-studying Christian, to know the faithful engagements of the Almighty God, through that Son of his Loves, in a Covenant of Grace.

SECT. II. Of Considering Jesus in that Respect.

2. WE must consider Jesus carrying on the the great work of our Salvation in that dark time; it is not enough to study it and know it, but we must seriously muse, and meditate, and ponder, and consider of it, till we bring it to some profitable Issue: This is the Consideration I mean, when we hold our thoughts to this or that spiritual subject, till we perceive success, and the work do thrive and prosper in our hands. Now to help us in this, —

1. Consider Jesus in the first Promise made to man; It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. When all men were under guilt of sin, and in the power of Satan; and when thou, my Soul, wert in as bad a case as any other, then to hear the sound of this glad tidings, then to hear of Jesus, a Savior, and Redeemer, sure this was welcome News. Come, draw the case nearer to thyself; thou wast in Adams Loins, suppose thou hadst been in Adams stead; suppose thou hadst heard the Voice of the Lord walking in the Garding, suppose thou hadst heard him call, Adam, where art thou? Peter, Andrew, Thomas, where art thou? What? hast thou eaten of the Tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? Why then Appear and come to judgment, the Law is irrevocable, in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die; there is nothing to be looked for but death temporal, and death spiritual, and death eternal; O what a fearful condition is this! no sooner to come into the world, but presently to be turned over into Hell? for one day to be Monarch of the World, and of all Creatures in the world, and the very next day to be a slave of Satan, and to be bound hand and foot in a darksome dungeon? for a few hours to live in Eden, to enjoy every tree in the Garden, Pleasant to the sight, and good for food, and then to enter into the confines of eternity, and ever, ever, ever to be tormented with the Devil and his Angels? It is no wonder if Adam hid himself from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the Garden: O my soul, in that case thou wouldest have cried to the Rocks, and to the Mountains, fall on me, and hide me from the face of him that sitteth on the Throne. If God be angry, who may abide it? When the great day of his wrath is come, who shall be able to stand? And yet despair not, cheer up O my soul? for in the very midst of wrath God is pleased to remember Mercy; even now when all the world should have been damned, a Jesus is proclaimed and promised; and he it is that must die according to the Commination; for he is our surety, and he it is that by Death must overcome Death and the Devil; it shall bruise thy Head, said God to Satan, q. d. Come Satan, thou hast taken Captive ten thousands of souls? Adam and Eve are now ensnared, and in their loins all the men and women, that ever shall be from this beginning of the world to the end thereof; now is thy day of triumph, now thou keepest Holy-day in Hell; but thou shalt not carry it thus. I foresaw from all Eternity what thou hast done, I knew thou wouldest dig a hole through the comely and beautiful frame of the Creation; but I have decreed of old a Counter-work; out of the seed of the woman shall spring a Branch, and he shall bruise thy head, he shall break thy Power, he shall tread thy Dominion underfoot, he shall lead thy Captivity Captive, he shall take away sin, he shall point out to Men and Angels the glory of heaven, and a new world of free grace. In this promise, O my soul, is foulded and wrapped up thy hope, thy heaven, thy salvation; and therefore consider of it, turn it upside down look on all sides of it, view it over and over; there is a Jesus in it, it is a field that contains in the bowels of it a precious treasure, there is in it a Savior, a Redeemer, a Deliverer from sin, death and hell: are not these dainties to feed upon? are not these rarities to dwell on in our meditations?

2. Consider Jesus in that next promise made to Abraham: I will establish thy Covenant between me and thee, and thy Seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting Covenant, to be a God to thee and to thy Seed after thee: in respect of this Covenant Abraham is called the Father of the Faithful, and they which are of the Faith are called the Children of Abraham: And O my soul, if thou art in Covenant with God, surely thou dost by Faith draw it through Abraham, to whom this promise was made; for if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's Seed, and heirs according to the promise: Consider, what a mercy is this, that God should enter into a Covenant with thee in the loins of Abraham? God made a promise of Christ, and inclusively a Covenant of Grace in his comforting Adam; but he makes a Covenant expressly under the name of Covenant, with Abraham and his seed. O muse, and be amazed! What? that the great and glorious God of heaven and earth should be willing to make himself a debtor to us? O my soul think of it seriously; he is in heaven, and thou art on earth, he is the Creator and thou art his Creature: Ah what art thou! or what is thy Fathers house that thou shouldest be raised up hitherto! The very Covenant is a wonder; as it Relates to God and us; what is it but a compact, an agreement, a tying, a binding of God and us; When Jehoshaphat and Ahab were in Covenant, see how Jehoshaphat expresseth himself, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses: So it is betwixt God and us. If once he gives us the Covenant, then his strength is our strength, his power is our power, his armies are our armies, his attributes are our attributes, we have interest in all; there is an offensive and a defensive Language, (as I may say) betwixt God and us; and if we put him in mind of it in all our straits, he cannot deny us. As it was with the Nations allied to Rome, if they fought at any time, the Romans were bound in honor to defend them; and they did it with as much diligence as they defended their own City of Rome; so it is with the people allied to God, he is bound in honor to defend his People, and he will do it if they implore his aid; how else, is it possible God should break his Covenant? will he not stir up himself to scatter his, and our spiritual enemies? Certainly he will. Thus runs the tenor of his Covenant, I will be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee. This is the general promise; I may call it the Mother-Promise, that carries all other Promises in its womb; & we find a Jesus in this promise, consider that it is God in Christ that is held forth to us in this phrase, I will be as a God to thee: O sweet! Here is the greatest promise that ever was made; Christ God is more than Grace, Pardon, Holiness, Heaven, as the Husband is more excellent than the Marriage-Robe, Bracelets, Rings; the Well and Fountain of Life is of more excellency than the streams; Christ Jesus the objective happiness, is far above a created and formal Beatitude which issueth from him. O my Soul is not this worthy of thy inmost consideration? But of this more in the next.

3. Consider Jesus in that promise made to Moses and the Israelites, I am the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the Land of Egypt, out of the House of Bondage. Much hath been said to this Promise before as matter of thy Consideration; but to contract it, consider in the Promise the sufficiency and propriety; 1. Here is sufficiency: it is a promise of infinite worth, an hid treasure, a rich possession, an overflowing blessing which none can rightly value; it is no less than the great, and mighty, and infinite God; if we had a promise of an hundred worlds, or often heavens, this is more than all; heaven indeed is beautiful, but God is more beautiful; for he is the God of heaven: and hence it is that the Saints in heaven are not satisfied without their God; it is a sweet expression of Bernard, As whatsoever we give unto thee, Lord, unless we give ourselves, cannot satisfy thee; so whatsoever thou givest unto us, Lord, unless thou givest thyself, it cannot satisfy us: and hence it is, that as God doth make the Saints his Portion, so God is the Portion and Inheritance of his Saints. Consider the greatness, the goodness, the all-sufficiency of this promise, I am the Lord thy God! No question but Moses had many other rich promises from God, but he could not be satisfied without God himself: if thy presence be not with us, bring us not hence. And no wonder, for without God all things are nothing; but in the want of all other things, God himself is instead of all: It is God's alone Prerogative to be an universal good. The things of this world can but help in this or that particular thing: as Bread against hunger, Drink against thirst, Cloaths against cold and nakedness, House against wind and weather, Riches against poverty, Physic against sickness, Friends against solitariness: but God is an all-sufficient good; he is all in all both to the inner and outward man. Are we guilty of Sin? there is mercy in God to pardon us. Are we full of infirmities? there is Grace in God to heal us. Are we strong in Corruptions? there is power in God to subdue them in us. Are we disquieted in Conscience? there is that Spirit in God that is the Comforter, that can fill us with Joy unspeakable and glorious: And for our outward man all our welfare is laid up in God, he is the God of our Life Psal. 42.8. he is the strength of our Life. Psal. 27.1. he is a quickening Spirit, 1 Cor. 15.45 Which though it be in regard of the inner man, yet there it is spoken of the inward man, which the Lord shall quicken after death, and doth now keep alive by his mighty power; for in him we live, and move, and have our being.

O my Soul, that thou wouldst but ruminate, and meditate, and consider this promise in all thy wants & discontents: when means fail, and the streams run no more, O that thou wouldest then go to the Fountain, where the waters run sweeter, and more sure: for as Joseph said to Pharaoh it is not in me, God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace: So may Silver and Gold, and such things say to thee, It is not in us; God shall give enough out of himself: have God, and have all: want God, and there is no content in the enjoyment of all: It was the Apostles case as having nothing, and yet possessing all things: Surely he lived to God and enjoyed God, and he was an all-sufficient good unto him: God may be enjoyed in any condition, in the meanest, as well as the greatest, in the poorest as well as the richest: God will go into a wilderness, into a prison with his people, and there he will make up all that they are cut short of. Thy discontents therefore arise not from the want of outward means, but from want of inward fellowship with God: and if thou dost not find a sufficiency, it is because thou dost not enjoy him who is thy all-sufficient good: O stir up Faith, and consider the Covenant, think seriously on this promise, I am God all-sufficient: I am the Lord thy God.

2. Here is the propriety of Saints, the Lord thy God. O what is this, that God is thy God? Heaven and Earth, Angels and Men may stand astonished at it: What, that the Great and Mighty God, God Almighty, and God all-sufficient should be called thy God! It is observable what the Apostle speaks, God is not ashamed to be called their God: Would not a prince be ashamed to take a Beggar, a Runagate, a base and adulterous Woman to be his Wife? But we are worse than so, and God is better than so; sin hath made us worse than the worst of women, and God is better, holier, higher than the best of Princes: and yet God is not ashamed to own us, nor ashamed that we own him as our own, I am thy God. It is as if the Lord should say, use me, and all my Power, Grace, Mercy, Kindness, as thine own: go through all my Attributes; consider my Almighty Power, consider my Wisdom, Council, Understanding, consider my Goodness, Truth, Faithfulness: consider my Patience, Long-suffering, Forbearance, all these are thine: as thus, My Power is thine, to work all thy works for thee and in thee, to make passage for thee in all thy straits, to deliver thee out of six troubles and out of seven; my Wisdom is thine, to counsel thee in any difficult cases, to instruct thee in things that be obscure, to reveal to thee the Mysteries of Grace, and the wonderful things contained in my Law: my Justice is thine, to deliver thee when thou art oppressed, to defend thee in thy Innocency, and to vindicate thee from the injuries of men: what needs more? O my Soul, think of these, & all other God's Attributes: say in thyself all these are mine: nay more, think of God in Christ (for otherwise what hast thou to do with God in a Covenant of grace?) and say in thy heart Jesus Christ is mine, my Savior, my Redeemer, my head, my elder brother: his doings are mine, and his sufferings are mine, his Life and his Death, his Resurrection and Ascension, his Session and Intercession, all are mine: nay more, if Christ be mine, why then all good things are mine in Christ; I say in Christ, for they come not immediately, but through the hands of a sweet Redeemer; and though he be a man who redeemed us, yet because he is God as well as Man, there is more of God and Heaven, and free-love in all our good things, than if we received them immediately from God: Ravens have their food, and Devils have their being from God by creature-right; but we have all we have from God in Christ by Covenant-right,: this surely, this very promise is the main and principal promise of the Covenant; it is the very substance, Soul and life of all: O then how careful shouldest thou be to improve the strength of thy mind, thoughts, and affections on this only subject?

4. Consider Jesus in that promise made to David, He hath made with me an everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things, and sure. 1. An everlasting Covenant: consider this in the eternal efficacy, and not in the outward administration? it is Christ that hath built and prepared a Kingdom, that shall never fade, a spiritual and an heavenly Kingdom which shall never cease: and as he hath prepared it, so if thou believest, he hath entered into a Covenant with thy soul to bestow it on thee; it is an everlasting Covenant, and he will give thee everlasting Life. 2. It is ordered in all things: the Covenant of grace is so marshalled and ordered, that it stands at best advantage to receive and repel all thy objections. Many and many an objection hast thou raised; how often have such thoughts been in thee? Oh I am miserable, I shall not live but die, my sins will damn me, I am lost forever! And again, If God hath made with me a Covenant, why then have I something to do on my part? for this is the nature of the Covenant, to bind on both parts; but alas I have failed, I can do nothing, I can as well dissolve a Rock as make my heart of stone a heart of flesh, I can as well reach heaven with a finger as lay hold on Christ by the hand of Faith! Have not such arguings as these been many and many a time in thy heart? O consider how the Covenant is ordered and marshalled in respect of the Author of it, of the Persons interested in it, of the parts of which it consists, of the end and aim to which it refers: and in some of these, if not in all of these, thou wilt find thy Objections answered, removed, routed. 3. It is sure: God is not fast and loose in his Covenant? heaven and earth shall pass away, before one jot or title of his Word shall fail: consider O my Soul, he both can and will perform his Word; his Power, his Love, his Faithfulness, his Constancy, all stand engaged. What sweet matter is here for a Soul to dwell upon? what needs it go out to other objects, whilst it may find enough here? but especially what needs it to bestow itself upon vain things? O that so much precious sand of our thoughts should run out after Sin, and so little after grace, or after this Covenant of grace!

5. Consider Jesus in that new Covenant or Promise which God made with Israel and Judah, I will put my Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will be their God and they shall be my People; and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord; for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them, saith the Lord, for I will forgive their Iniquity, and I will remember their Sins no more. Oh what an error is it, that there is no inherent righteousness in the Saints, & there is no grace in the soul of a believer, but only in Christ! is not this the ordinary Scripture phrase? I will put my Spirit within you: and the water that I shall give you, shall be in you a Well of water springing up into everlasting Life: and the anointing which you have received of him, abideth in you: and Christ in you the hope of glory. Observe how the spirit of the Living Creatures was in the Wheels, so that when the Spirit went, they went, and when the Spirit was lifted up, they were lifted up; even so is the Spirit of Christ, acting, and guiding, and framing and disposing them to move and walk according to his Laws. The Kingdom of heaven is within you, saith Christ: and I delight to do thy Will, O God, (saith David) yea thy Law is within my heart. O my Soul, if thou art in Covenant with God, besides the in-dwelling of the Spirit, there is a certain spiritual Power or Principle of Grace, which Christ by his Spirit hath put into thy heart, enabling thee in some measure to move thyself towards God. And this Principle is sometimes called a new Life, Rom. 6.4. Sometimes a Living with Christ, Rom. 6 8. Sometimes a being alive to God, Rom. 6.11. Sometimes a revealing of his son in man, Gal. 1.15. And sometimes a putting of the Law into our inward parts, and a writing of the Law within the heart, Jer. 31.33. O consider of this inward Principle, it is an excellent subject, worthy of thy consideration!

2. I will be their God, and they shall be my people: Consider God essentially, and personally, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, God in himself and God in his Creatures: this very promise turns over heaven, and earth, and sea, and land, and bread, and cloths, and sleep, and the world, and life, and death, into free grace. No wonder if God set this promise in the midst of the Covenant, as the heart in the midst of the Body, to communicate life to all the rest; this promise hath an influence into all other promises; it is the great promise of the new Covenant, it is as great as God is, though the heavens, and heaven of heavens be not able to contain him: yet this Promise contains him; God shuts up himself (as it were) in it. I will be their God, 2. They shall be my People (i.e.) They shall be to me a peculiar People, Tit. 2.14. The word hath this Emphasis in it, that God looks upon all other things as accidents in comparison, and his substance is his People; they are his very Portion: for the Lord's Portion is his People, Jacob is the Lot of his Inheritance. They are his treasure, his peculiar treasure: his peculiar treasure above all People: If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my Covenant, then shall ye be a peculiar treasure unto me, and above all people; for all the earth is mine: Observe O my soul, all the earth is mine, q. d. All people is my people; but I have a special interest in my covenanted people, they are only my portion, my peculiar treasure. Blessed be Egypt my People, Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine Inheritance. I have made all People; Egypt and Assyria, and all the world is mine, but only Israel is my inheritance: the Saints are those that God satisfies himself in; the Saints are those that God hath set his heart upon; they are children of the high God, they are the Spouse that are Married to the Lamb, they are nearer God in some respects than the very Angels themselves, for the Angels are not in a mystical union so Married to Christ as God's People are. O the happiness of Saints! I will be their God, and they shall be my People.

3. They shall teach no more every man his Neighbor, and every man his Brother, saying, know the Lord; for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them, saith the Lord. Consider of this! O poor Soul, thou complainest many a time of thy weakness, thou knowest little or nothing: why, see here a Glorious promise; if thou art but in Covenant with God, thou shalt be taught of God, and then thou shalt know God far more clearly than the Jews of old; he will open to thee all his treasures of wisdom and knowledge, he will bestow on thee a greater measure of his Spirit, so that out of thy belly shall flow Rivers of Living waters. We say a good Tutor may teach more in a day than another in a week, in a month; now the promise runs thus, that all thy Children shall be taught of God; not that private instruction, or public Ministry must be excluded, we know these are appointed under the New Testament, and are subordinate to the Spirits teaching; but that the teachings of God do far surpass the teachings of men, and therefore the knowledge of God under the New Testament shall far surpass that under the old: herein appears the excellency of Christ's prophetical Office, He is such a Prophet as enlightens every man within, that comes into the World: He is such a Prophet as baptizeth with the Holy Ghost and with Fire: He is such a Prophet as makes men's hearts to burn within them, when he speaks unto them: He is such a Prophet as bids his Ministers, Go, teach all Nations, and I will be with you; and I will make you able Ministers, not of the Letter, but of the Spirit: He is such a Prophet as teacheth inwardly, clearly, experimentally, and sweetly: no man in the world can say this, or do this, but Jesus Christ, the great Prophet of the Church, whom God hath raised up like unto Moses, or far above Moses; Oh my Soul consider if thou art thus taught of God.

4. I will forgive their Iniquity, and I will remember their Sins no more. Consider of this! Blessed are they whose Iniquities are forgiven, and whose Sins are covered. Consider O my soul, suppose thy case and thy condition thus: As thou livest under Laws of men, so for the transgression of those Laws thou art called to account; the Judge weighs, and gives an impartial and just judgment, he Dooms thee to the Axe, or Rack, or Wheel; and because of the aggravation of thy Crime, he commands thee to be tortured leisurely, that Bones, Sinews, Lights, Joints might be pained, for twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years; that so much of thy flesh should be cut off every day; that such and such a Bone should be broken, such and such a day; and that by art the flesh should be restored, and the Bone cured again; that for so many years as is said, thou mightest be kept every day dying, and yet never die; that all this while thou must have no Sleep, nor Ease, nor Food, nor Cloathing convenient for thee; that Whips of Iron, Lashes and Scourges of Scorpions, that Racks, Wheels, Cauldrons full of melted Lead, should be prepared instruments of thy continual, horrible, terrible Torments; in this case, suppose a mighty Prince, by an Act of free and special Grace, should deliver thee from this Pain and Torture, and not only so, but should give thee a Life in perfect health, should put thee into a Paradise of Pleasures, where all the honor, acclamations, love, and service, of a world of Men and Angels should await thee, and where thou shouldst be elivated to the top of all imaginable Happiness, above Solomon in the highest Royalty, or Adam in his first Innocency; where not this mercy? wouldest thou not thing it the highest Act of Grace and Love, that any creature could extend to his fellow-creature? and yet O my Soul, all this is nothing but a shadow of grace in comparison of the love and rich grace of God in Christ in the justification of a sinner. If thou hast a right to this promise, I well forgive thy Iniquity, and I will remember thy sin no more. Thou art delivered from eternal Death, and thou art entitled to an eternal Kingdom; O know thy blessedness aright! Consider how infinitely thou art engaged to God, and Christ, and mercy, and free grace! This promise sounds forth nothing but grace and blessing; grace from God, and blessing on us; it is grace, because nothing but grace and mercy can forgive: it is grace, because God, if he will, hath power in his hand to Revenge; he doth not pass by sin as men do offenses, when they dissemble forgiveness; they may forgive, because they have not power to avenge: it is otherwise with God; To me belongs Vengeance and Recompence, saith God: He is able to destroy and yet he chooseth to forgive; this is his Name, strong and gracious.

O my Soul thou art apt to complain, what? will the Lord forgive my Sins? What reason hath God to look on me, to Pardon me, to pluck me as a firebrand out of the Fire of Hell? why should God forgive me? But now consider (if thy heart be humbled) — the Lord will do it. —

1. Because he delighteth in Mercy; it is a pleasure to God to forgive Sins: never did we take more pleasure, nor so much pleasure in acting and committing of sin, as he doth in the pardoning of sin; he is the Father of Mercies, he delights in mercy as a Father in his Children; it doth him good to see the Fruits of his own mercy, in taking away the sins of his own people.

2. Because it is his purpose which he hath purposed within himself from all Eternity; this was the great design of God (as you have heard) to make his grace glorious in those whom he intends to save; he will have the praise of the glory of his Grace: he will not lose his glory; he will be admired in his Saints; he will make the World to wonder, when it shall be known what sin hath been committed by them, and pardoned by him. And hence it is that God's people are called Vessels of Mercy, that he might make known the Riches of his Glory on the Vessels of Mercy; for, as Vessels are or may be filled up to the brims, so the Vessels of Mercy shall be filled with Mercy, up to the Brim, that the Riches of his Glory in the pardon of Sin, may be seen and known to the wonder of all the world.

3. Because it is his Nature and Inclination to pardon Sin: this appears, 1. In the Proclaiming of his Name, the Lord, the Lord, Merciful, and Gracious, Long-suffering, abundant in Goodness and Truth, keeping Mercy for Thousands, forgiving Iniquity, and Transgression, and Sin.

2. In his gracious Invitations; Come unto me, saith Christ, if sin burden you, I will ease you. 3. In his patience and waiting for Repentance; he waits to this very end that he might be gracious, and that he may have mercy, for the Lord is a God of judgment.

4. Because it is his promise to pardon sin; I, even I, am he that blots out thy transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember thy sins. This promise of Pardon is one of the great blessings of the Covenant of Grace; you hear the words in this very expressure of it, I will forgive their Iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.

Now come, consider O my soul, of every particular in this gracious Covenant, and O be serious in thy Consideration; surely there is too much expense of thy spirit upon vain, and transitory, and worldly things; alas, alas, thou hast but a short time to live; and the strength of thy mind, that I call for, it is the most precious thing thou hast; O then let the business and activeness of thy mind, let thy inmost thoughts and deep affections be acted and exercised on this Subject; be careful that none of these waters run besides the Mill. If God and Jesus, and all thy good be included here, why should not thy whole soul be intent on this? Why shouldst thou spend it on the Creature? why shouldst thou be so subject to carnal griefs and fears? surely all these are fitter to be fixed on God in Christ, on Jesus in a Covenant of Grace.

SECT. III. Of Desiring Jesus in that respect.

3. WE must desire after Jesus, carrying on the great work of our Salvation in a way of Covenant before his coming in the flesh. It is not enough to know and consider, but we must desire. Thus is the order of God's work, no sooner hath his Spirit clearly revealed the goodness of the Promise that we come to know, but the soul considers of it, turns it upside down, views it in all its Excellencies, weighs it in the Ballance of its best and deepest meditation. This done, the Affections begins to stir, and the soul begins thus to reason; O happy I, that I see the goodness of this gracious Promise; but miserable I, if I come to see this, and never have a share in it. O why not I Lord? Why not my Sins Pardoned? Why not my Corruptions Subdued? Why not the Law Written in my Heart, and put into my inward parts? Why may not I say, my Lord and my God? or I am my Beloveds, and my Beloved is mine? Why not this Covenant established between God and me? Now my Soul thirsts after this as a thirsty Land, my affections hunger after Jesus in a Covenant of Grace: Oh, I would fain be in Covenant with God; for this is all my Salvation and all my desire, 2 Sam. 23.5. — But here is an Objection. —

The Object of this desire is apprehended as absent and distant; we do not covet those things that we do enjoy; if they are present, we rather rest in them, than move towards them, or desire after them; how then should David or any soul already in a Covenant of grace desire after the Covenant; What is this? He hath made with me an everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, for this is all my Salvation and all my Desire.

It is true, the Object of desire qua tale, is something absent, yet not always absent in the whole, but in the parts and degrees of it; the very presence of a good thing, doth in some sort quicken the desires towards the same thing, so far forth as it is capable of improvements or augmentation: As we see in external Riches of the Body, none desire them more eagerly than those that possess them; and the more gracious the Soul is, the more is the heart enlarged in the appetition of a greater measure of Grace; as the putting in of some water into a Pump, doth draw forth more: no man is so importunate in praying, Lord help my unbelief, as he that can say, Lord, I believe: things may be desired in order to improvement and further degrees of them. Again, things present may be the Object of our desires unto continuance; as he that delighteth in a good thing that he hath, he desireth the continuance of that delight; so the soul of a man having a reach as far as immortality, it may justly desire as well the perpetuity, as the presence of those good things it enjoyeth. —

Come then, O my soul, and whet on thy desires in every of these respects; as, 1. Desire after thy interest in the Covenant. 2. Desire after thy improvement of the Covenant. 3. Desire after the continuance of thy Covenant-state. 4. Desire after Jesus the great business, or the all in all in a Covenant of Grace.

1. Desire after thy interest in the Covenant; O say in thyself, is it thus? is the Lord willing to receive me to his Grace? was that his voice in the streets, how long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity? turn ye at my reproof, behold I will pour out my Spirit unto you? was that his Proclamation, Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, incline your ear and come unto me,— and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David? and are these the promises offered in the Covenant, I will put my Law into their inward parts, and I will write it in your hearts, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my People? Oh the Blessed condition of those People that are in Covenant with God! Blessed art thou O Israel, who is like unto thee, a People saved by the Lord; Oh happy is the People that be in such a case, yea, happy is that People whose God is the Lord. But ah! what can I say? no sin like unto my sin, no misery like unto my misery; alas, I am an alien to God, I am separated from his People, I am out of the Covenant; like a poor Prodigal, I die for hunger, whilst those that are in my Fathers house have bread enough: Oh that I were in their condition! never did David long more for the waters of the well of Bethlehem, than my Soul now touched with the sense of Sin, doth desire to be at peace with God, and in Covenant with God; O I thirst, I pant, I gasp after him, I long for Communion, and Peace with him; with my soul do I desire thee in the night, yea, with my Spirit within me do I seek thee early.

2. Desire after the Improvement of the Covenant; it may be God hath given thee an interest in it, but alas thy hold is so weak that thou scarce knowest the meaning of it; the Lord may answer, but yet he speaks darkly, as sometimes he spake to the woman, go thy way and Sin no more; it is a middle kind of expression, neither assuring that her Sin was pardoned, nor yet putting her out of hope but it might be pardoned; so it may be God hath given thee some little ease, but he hath not spoken full peace; go on then and desire more and more after confirmation: say in thine heart, O Lord thou hast begun to show grace unto thy Servant, but oh manifest to me all thy goodness; thou hast given me a drop, and I feel it so sweet, that now I thirst, and long to enjoy the Fountain; thou hast given me a kiss of thy mouth, and now I pant to be united to thee in a more perfect and consummate marriage; thou hast given me a taste, but my appetite and desire is not thereby diminished, but enlarged; and good reason, for what are these drops, and tastes, but only the first fruits of the spirit? and earnests of the spirit? oh then what are those harvests of Joy? what are those treasures of wisdom, and free grace hid in God? I have indeed beheld a feast of fat things, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees, of wines on the lees well refined; but O what a Famine is yet in my spirit! O Lord I have longed for thy Salvation, I am ready to swoon for further union, and clearer manifestation of my share and interest in this Covenant of grace, come Lord Jesus come quickly.

3. Desire after continuance of the Covenant-state: many a sweet soul cannot deny but that the Lord hath shown mercy on him, but he fears that he shall not hold out: he feels within such a Power of corruption, such strong temptations, so many lusts, that now he doubts, O what will become of my poor Soul? what will be the issue of this woeful work? why come now and desire after perseverance: when Peter was ravished on the mount, it is good being here (says he) let us build three Tabernacles; his desire was to have continued there forever; and it was the prayer of Christ in Peters behalf, I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not; what was this Prayer but Christ's vehement desire of Peters continuing in the faith? shall Christ desire, and will not thou desire after thy own perfection? O come with these Pantings, and Breathings after God; put forth thy desires in these or the like expressions, O Lord thou hast said I will betroth thee unto me forever; and what means this but that the conjugal love of Christ with a gracious soul shall never be broken? what means this but that the bond of union in a believer to Christ is fastened upon God, and the spirit of God holds the other end of it, and so it can never be broken? 2. O Lord thou hast discovered in thy Word, that th s union is in the Father, who hath laid a sure foundation, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his: and that this union is in the Son, who loves his to the end: and that this union is in the spirit who abides in the elect forever. 3. Thou hast discovered, that the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord, that hath mercy on thee. 4. Thou hast said that the Saints shall be kept by the Power of God. q. d. The special Power I mean to put forth in this world, it is to uphold the spirits of my saints; the special work I have in the world to exercise my power about, it is to keep Christ and the saints together; it is through the power of God that heaven and earth is kept up, but if God must withdraw his Power from the one of these, sooner should heaven and earth fall in pieces, than God would not uphold one gracious soul that hath Union with his Son Jesus Christ. And if th • se be thy sayings, why then Lord I desire the accomplishment; O fulfil what thou hast said; it would break my heart if ever the Covenant should be broken betwixt me and thee: my desire is towards thee, and the more I enjoy thee, the more and more I desire and pant after thee; my desires are like thyself, infinite, eternal, everlasting desires.

4. Desire after Jesus, the great business, or the all in all in a Covenant of Grace: the most proper object of desire, especia • lie to man fallen, is Jesus Christ: hence it is that a poor sinner under the sense of sin, cries out with the vehemency of desire, Christ, and none but Christ; give me Christ or I die, I am undone, I am lost forever. But what is Christ or Jesus to a Covenant of grace? I answer, he is the great business, he is the all in all. Christ hath at least a Six-fold relation to the Covenant of grace. 1. As he is more than a creature, he is the Covenant himself. 2. As he deals betwixt parties, he is the messenger of the covenant. 3. As he saw, and heard, and testifieth all, he is the witness of the covenant. 4. As he undertaketh for the parties at variance, he is the surety of the covenant. 5. As he standeth between the contrary parties, he is the Mediator of the covenant. 6. As he signifieth the covenant, and closeth all the Articles, he is the Testator of the covenant. Oh here is abundance of fuel for thy desire to work upon. 1. Consider the fuel, and then set on the flame thy desire,

1. Christ is the covenant itself. I gave thee for a covenant of the People, for a light of the gentiles. And I will preserve thee, and give thee for a Covenant of the People. Christ, God and Man, is all the Covenant: 1. Fundamentally, he is the original of the Covenant; the Covenant of grace takes i • s being and beginning from Christ; he is the covenant-maker, undertaker, manager, dispatcher, he doth everything in the covenant; 2. Materially, the very substance of the covenant stands in this, I will be their God, and they shall be my People; now Christ he is both these in himself; he is God unto his People, and he is the People representatively unto God, and before God. 3. Equivalently; many branches or fruits of the Covenant are to be fulfilled to believers in their season, but as soon as ever they are Justified, Christ is said to be the Covenant, as a present pawn or earnest delivered into the hands of a man at the very instant of his justification; and this pawn is of equal value and worth with the whole Covenant when it is fulfilled to the uttermost. Thus Christ in every of these respects is the Covenant itself; he is very peace, and reconciliation itself, and this man shall be the Peace when the Assyrian shall come into our Land. As fire is hot for itself, and all other things hot for it, as they participate of it; so Christ is the Covenant itself, and all we are so far in Covenant to Christ, as we have anything of Christ; want Christ, and want peace, and want the Covenant of grace.

2. Christ is the messenger of this Covenant. The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his Temple, even the messenger of the Covenant whom ye delight in. Christ travels with tidings between parties of the Covenant. 1. He reports of God to us, he commends his Father unto us, my Father is the husband man; and this is the Fathers will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I shall lose nothing; and he commends himself to us, it became the Lord Jesus to commend himself, I am the bread of Life, I am the Light of the world, I am the Door, I am the good Shepherd. It is a wonderful thing how Christ is a broker, (as I may say) for Christ; wisdom crieth out, she uttereth her voice in the streets; come, eat of my bread, and drink of my wine which I have mingled: Ministers cannot speak of Christ, and of his Father, as he can do himself. O my Soul to excite thy desires, come, and hear Christ, speak of Christ, and of his Father, and of Heaven, for he saw all. 2. He reports of us to God; he commends us to his Father; O righteous Father the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. Christ gives a good report of the Saints in Heaven; the Father and the Son are speaking of him (as I may say) behind back, and surely a good report in heaven is of high esteem; Christ tells over Ephraim's prayers behind his back, I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a Bullock unacustomed to the yoke, turn thou me and I shall be turned, thou art the Lord my God: and thereupon God resolves, Is Ephraim my dear Son? Is he a pleasant Child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still, therefore my bowels are troubled for him, I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord. Happy souls of whom Christ is telling good Tidings in heaven; for he is the Angel of the Covenant.

3. He is the witness of the covenant; he saw, and heard all, Behold I have given him for a witness to the people. And he is called the faithful witness. The Amen: The faithful and true witness. The covenant saith, The Son of man came to seek, and to save that which was lost; Amen, saith Christ, I can witness that to be true; the covenant saith, Christ died, and rose again for sinners; Amen saith Christ, I was dead, and behold I live for evermore; Amen. There's not anything said in the covenant, but Christ is a witness to it; and therefore we read in the very end of the Bible, this Subscription (as I may call it) in relation to Christ: He which testifieth these things, saith, surely I come quickly. Amen.

4. Christ is the Surety of the covenant. In as much as not without an oath he was made a Priest, — by so much was Jesus made a surety of a better Testament. The covenant of works had a promise, but because it was to be broken, and done away, it had no oath of God, as this hath; O doubting soul, thou sayest thy salvation is not sure, think on this Scripture, thou hast the oath of God for it; it is a sworn article of the covenant, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be Saved; and to this end is Christ a Surety. 1. Surety for God, he undertakes that God shall fulfil his part of the covenant, Fear not little flock, for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. And all that the Father giveth me, shall come to me, and him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. 2. Surety for us; and to this purpose he hath paid a ransom for us; and giveth a new heart to us; and he is engaged to lose none of us. Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost.

5. Christ is the Mediator of the covenant: the Apostle calls him Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant: He hath something of God, as being true God; and something of man, as sharing with us of the nature of man; hence he is Mediator by office, and layeth his hands on both parties, as a days-man doth; and in this respect he is a friend, a reconciler, and a servant. 1. A friend to both parties, he hath God's heart for man, to be gracious, and he hath man's heart for God to satisfy justice. 2. A reconciler of both parties; he brings down God to a treaty of peace, and he brings up man by a ransom paid, so that he may say unto both, Father come down to my brethren, my kindred and flesh; and thou my Sister and Spouse come up to my Father, and my Father, to my God, and thy God. 3. He is a servant to both parties, Behold my servant, saith God, my righteous servant. Yea, and our servant, He came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.

6. Christ is the Testator of the covenant: He died to this very end, that he might confirm the covenant, Where a Testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the Testator, for a Testament is of force, after men are dead, otherwise it is of no strength at all, whiles the Testator liveth. Christ then must die, and Christ's blood must be shed, to seal the covenant of grace; it is not every blood, but Christ's blood that must seal the everlasting covenant, Heb. 13.20. And his blood being shed, he is then rightly called the Testator of the covenant.

O what fuel is here to set our desires on flame? come soul, and bend thy desires towards Christ, as the Sun-flower towards the Sun, the Iron to the Loadstone, and the Loadstone to the Pole-star; yea, the nearer thou drawest towards Christ, the more and more do thou desire after Christ; true desires never determine or expire: He that thirsts let him thirst more (saith Bernard) and he that desires let him desire, yet more abundantly. Is there not cause? O what excellencies hast thou found in Christ? Poor soul, thou hast undone thyself by sin, there's but a step betwixt thee and damnation; but to save thy soul, Christ comes leaping on the Mountains, and skipping on the Hills; he enters into a covenant with God; he is the covenant, the Messenger of the covenant, the Witness of the covenant, the Surety of the covenant, the Mediator of the covenant, the Testator of the covenant, the great business, the all in all in a covenant of grace; If David could say, My soul breaks for the longings that it hath to thy judgments at all times, how mayst thou say, My soul breaks for the longings that it hath to thy mercies, and my Jesus at all times? Oh I gasp for grace, as the thirsty land for drops of rain; I thirst, I faint, I languish, I long for an hearty draught of the Fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Oh that I could see Jesus flying through the midst of heaven, with the Covenant in his hand! Oh I long for that Angel of the Covenant; I long to see such another vision as John did, when he said, And I saw another Angel fly in the midst of Heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to Preach unto them that dwell upon the Earth. What? Is that Covenant in the hand of Christ? and is my name written in that roll? Say Lord; Is my name written on the Heart of Christ? Oh! if I had the glory and possession of all the world, if I had ten thousand worlds, and ten thousand lives, I would lay them all down, to have this poor trembling soul of mine assured of this: Oh my thirst is insatiable, my bowels are hot within me, my desire after Jesus in reference to the Covenant is greedy as the grave, the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.

SECT. IV. Of hoping in Jesus in that Respect.

WE must hope in Jesus carrying on the great work of our salvation in a way of Covenant; now what is hope but a good opinion of enjoying its object; indeed a good opinion is so necessary for hope, that it makes almost all its kinds and differences; as it is greater or lesser, so it causeth the strength or weakness, the excess or defect of this passion, hope: This good opinion is that which renders hope either doubtful, or certain; if certain, it produceth confidence or presumption; presumption is nothing but an immoderate hope without a ground: but confidence is that assurance of the thing hoped for in some measure, as if we had it already in hand. Hence it is that we usually say we have great, and strong, and good hopes, when we would speak them assured; which hath occasioned some to define it thus: Hope is a certain grounded confidence that the desired good will come; not to insist on this; all the question is, Whether those promises contained in the Covenant of grace belong unto me? and what are the grounds and foundations on which my hope is built? If the grounds be weak, then hope is doubtful, or presumptuous; but if the grounds be right, then hope is right, and I may cast Anchor, and build upon it.

In the disquisition of these grounds, we shall only search into those qualifications, which the Scripture tells us they are qualified with, with whom the Lord enters into a Covenant of grace; and these we shall reduce, 1. To the condition of the Covenant. 2. To the promise of the Covenant. As —

1. If thou art in Covenant with God, then hath God wrought in thee that condition of the Covenant, a true, and lively, and soul-saving, and justifying faith. Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved. If thou believest, thou shalt be saved. The promise of life contained in the Covenant is made only to believers; This is so sure a way of trial, that the Apostle himself directs us thereunto, Examine yourselves whether ye be in the Faith; Ay, But how shall I examine, for there are many pretenders to faith in these days? Why thus, 1. True faith will carry thee out of thyself into Christ, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; a faithful man hath not his life in himself, but in Christ Jesus: he hath his spiritual being in the Father, and in his Son Jesus Christ; he is joined to the Lord, and is one Spirit; he seeth the Father in the Son, and the Son within himself, and also the Father within himself through the Son; Know ye not that Christ Jesus is in you, except ye be reprobates? Ye shall know me (saith Christ) that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you. By faith we enjoy the glory of union. The glory which thou hast given me, I have given them that they may be one even as we are one, I in them, and thou in me; though we have not the glory of equality, yet we have the glory of likeness; we are one with Christ, and one with the Father by faith in Christ.—2. True faith will carry thee beyond the world; a believer looks on Christ overcoming the world for him, and so by that faith he overcomes the world through him; This is the Victory that overcometh the world, even your faith: Hence it is that the Saints are said To be clothed with the Sun, and to have the Moon under their feet; when through faith they are clothed with The Son of Righteousness, the Lord Jesus; then they trample upon all sublunary things, as nothing worth in comparison of Christ. 3. True faith is ever accompanied with true love: if once by faith thou apprehendest God's love, and Christ's love to thee, thou canst not but love that God, and love that Christ who loved thee, and gave himself for thee; We love him, because he first loved us; he that loveth not God, hath not apprehended God's love to him; if ever God in Christ be presented to thee for thy justification, it is such a lovely object, that thou canst not but love him; He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love. 4. True faith purifies the heart, and purgeth out sin; When God discovers this, that he will heal backsliding, and love freely, and turn away his anger, then Ephraim shall say, What have I anymore to do with Idols? if ever Christ reveal himself as the object of our Justification, he will be sure to present himself as the pattern of our Sanctification: the knowledge of God's Goodness will make us in love with holiness; they shall fear and tremble, for all the goodness, and for all the prosperity, that I procure unto them, saith the Lord: The golden chain of Mercy let down from Heaven, doth bind us faster to the service of our God. 5. Above all, observe the rise: true faith, if it be true, it is ever bottomed upon the sense and pain of a lost condition; spiritual poverty is the nearest capacity of believing: this is faiths method, be condemned to be saved: be sick and be healed. Faith is a flower of Christ's own planting, but it grows in no Soul but only on the margin and bank of the Lake of fire and brimstone; in regard there's none so fit for Christ and Heaven, as those who are self-sick, and self-condemned to Hell. They that be whole, need not a Physician (saith Christ) but they that are sick. This is a Foundation of Christ, that because the man is broken, and hath not bread, therefore he must be sold, and Christ must buy him, and take him home to his fire-side, and clothe him, and feed him there. I know Satan argues thus, Thou art not worthy of Christ, and therefore what hast thou to do with Christ? but Faith concludes otherwise, I am not worthy of Christ, I am out of measure sinful, I tremble at it, and I am sensible of it, and therefore ought I, and therefore must I come to Christ; this arguing is Gospel-logic, and the right method of a true and saving-faith: for what is faith, but the act of a sinner humbled, weary, laden, poor, and self-condemned? Oh take heed of their doctrine who make faith to act of some vile person never humbled, but applying with an immediate touch, his hot, boiling, and smoking Lusts, to the bleeding blessed Wounds, and Death of Jesus Christ.

2. If thou art in Covenant with God, then hath God fulfilled in some part the promises of this Covenant to thy Soul: As —

1. Then hath God put the Law into thy inward parts, and writ it in thy heart: look as Indenture answers to Indenture, or as a face in the glass answers to a face, so the conformity of thy heart, and inwards to the Law of God; thou obeyest God's Will, and delightest in that obedience; Thou sayest with David, I delight to do thy Will O God; yea, thy Law is within my Heart.

2. Thou hast a covenant-relation to God, and a covenant-interest in God; and thou art by covenant as one of the people of God. Christ hath thy soul, thy body, thy affections, thy love to the very uttermost; God hath a propriety, and a peculiarity in thee; thou art Christ's by Marriage; thou hast past over thyself unto him to be his Jewel, his Spouse, his Diadem, his Crown, his Servant, his Child forever.

3. Then art thou clearly taught to know the Lord; thou knowest him in another manner than thou didst before; I will establish my Covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. There is a double knowledge. 1. A speculative knowledge, and thus men may know much, but they are not affected according to the things they know. 2. A practical knowledge; and thus if we know the Lord, we shall see in him that excellency and beauty, that our Hearts will be affectioned towards him, and we shall be able to say, that we love him with all our Heart, and with all our Soul, and with all our Strength.

4. Then hath God pardoned thy sins, and He will remember thy sins no more? But how should I be assured of that? Why thus, — 1. If thou hast sincerely confessed, bewailed, and forsaken thy sins; Wash ye, make ye clean, put away the evil of your doings from before mine Eyes, cease to do evil: — And presently it follows, come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as Scarlet, they shall be as white as Snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. To the same purpose, Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have Mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly Pardon. 2. If thy heart, after many storms and troubles be calmed, and quieted through saith in Christ; Being justified by faith, we have peace with God; What? hast thou peace with God? and hath God stilled thy soul with peace? this is an argument of thy sins pardon — 3. If thine Heart be singularly inflamed with the love of Christ; the Woman that Had many sins forgiven her by Christ, she loved him much. Upon that account she wept, and washed his feet with her tears, and so wiped them with the hairs of her head; she kissed his feet, and anointed them with Ointment, nothing was too good for Christ, who had forgiven her all her sins.— 4. If thy heart, and soul, and all that is within be singularly enlarged to praise God for his pardons; Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities. If thine heart feel his pardons, thy mouth will sing his praises; and hereby thou mayest be assured that God hath pardoned all thy sins.

Come now; are these, O my soul, the grounds of thy hopes? a lively faith in Jesus? an accomplishment in some measure of the promises of the Covenant? why, these are the fuel of hope; if this be thy case, act thy hope strongly on Christ, and on the covenant of grace; say not, hope is only of things future, and therefore if I be already in covenant, What need I hope? For whether thou art in covenant or no, it is the main question here; nay, though it be granted that thou art in covenant, and that hope is swallowed up in the complete presence of its object; yet it is not at all diminished, but rather increased by a partial presence. As in massy bodies, though violent motion be weakest in the end, yet natural motions are ever swiftest towards the center: so in the hopes of men, though such as are violent and groundless, prove weaker and weaker, yet those that are stayed and natural (or rather gracious) are evermore stronger and stronger, till they procure the utmost presence and union of their object. The nearer we come to a fruition of a good, the more impatient we are to want it. O then hope in Jesus! draw on thy hope yet more and more in this Covenant of grace! be not content only with an hope of expectation, but bring it on to an hope of confidence, or assurance; thou canst not fail if thou hangest thy hope on Jesus: Christ is not fastened as a loose nail, or as a broken rotten hedge in the covenant of grace; he is there As a nail in a sure place; and they shall hang on him all the glory of his Fathers house; the offspring and the issue; all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons. Come soul, thou art a vessel of small quantity, hang all thy weight on Christ, he is a nail that cannot break.

SECT. V. Of Believing in Jesus in that Respect.

5. WE must believe on Jesus carrying on this great work of our salvation in a way of covenant. Many a time Satan comes and hurles in a temptation, What? Is it likely that God should enter into a covenant with thee? yea, sometimes he so rivets in this temptation, that he darkens all within, and there's no sight of comfort in the soul: O but now believe! now if ever is the season for faith to act; little evidence and much adherence speaks saith to purpose. We read of some who could stay themselves upon the Lord, whiles they walked in darkness upon the margin, and borders of a hundred deaths. David fears no evil, though he walked through the valley of the shadow of death; for his faith told him, that God was with him. Heman could say, thy wrath lieth hard upon me, thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves; sure he thought, God could do no more to drown him; not only a wave or two, but all God's waves were on him, and over him; and yet he believes, Lord I have called daily upon thee. Hezekiah's comforts were at an hard pinch. Mine eyes fail with looking upwards: O Lord I am oppressed; yet praying argues believing, Lord undertake for me. Christ's sense of comforts was ebb and low, when he wept, and cried, that he was forsaken of God; yet then his faith is doubled, as the cable of an Anchor is doubled when the storm is more than ordinary, my God, my God.

Poor soul! thou standest wondering at this great condescension of God; What? That God should enter into covenant with me? What? that God should make such great and precious promises with me? Surely these comforts, and these privileges, are too high for me, or for any soul breathing. — It may be so; and yet be not discouraged, for God will magnify his grace, and therefore he will do this great thing; all that thou hast to do, and all that God requires of thee, in this case, is only to believe; indeed thou hast no part in Christ, no part in the covenant of grace, if thou wilt not believe; faith is the condition of the covenant of grace; and therefore either believe, or no covenant.

I know it is not easy to believe; nay, it is one of the hardest things under heaven to persuade a soul into faith: What? Will the great God of heaven make a Covenant with such a wretch as I am? I cannot believe it. Why, What's the matter? Ah my sins, my sins, my sins! God is a consuming fire against such, he cannot endure to behold iniquity: little hopes that ever God should enter into a covenant with me. But to help on, or to allure a soul in, consider, O thou soul, of these following passages.

1. Consider of the sweet and gracious nature of God: that which undoes broken hearts, and trembling souls, it is misconceivings of God: we have many times low, diminishing, ex enuating thoughts of God's goodness; but we have large thoughts of his power and wrath: now to rectify these misapprehensions, consider his name, and therein his nature, the Lord, the Lord, Merciful, and Gracious, Long-suffering, and abundant in Goodness, and Truth, keeping mercy for Thousands forgiving Iniquity, Transgressions, & Sins; and will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children, and upon the Children's Children, unto the Third and Fourth Generation. O terrible Text! says the Soul, alas I am guilty of thousands of sins; and if this be his Name I am undone, woe to me and mine, unto the Third and Fourth Generation. But consider again, and in this description of God we shall find an Ocean of Mercy to a Drop of Wrath; a Sea of Oil to an half drop of scalding Lead. For,—

1. God doth not begin, the Lord, the Lord, that will by no means clear the guilty; but, the Lord, the Lord, Merciful, and Gracious, Long-suffering; this is the first and greatest part of his Name; God is loath to speak in justice, and wrath; he keeps it to the last; m • rcy lies uppermost in God's heart; if the sentence must come, it shall be the last day of the Assize.

2 Many words are used to speak his goodness: Merciful, Gracious, Long-suffering and abundant in Goodness, keeping Mercy for Thousands, forgiving Iniquity, Transgression and Sin; here be six several phrases, to show the Riches of his Goodness, but when he speaks his wrath, what haste makes he over it? there's only two expressions of that; it was a Theam he took no delight in; Judgment is his Work, his strange Work; for he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of Men.

3. There's a difference in the expression; when God speaks of mercy, he expresseth it thus, abundant in Mercy; keeping Mercy for Thousands. But in visiting sins, it is not to thousands, but only to the Third or Fourth Generation. Surely Mercy rejoiceth against Judgment. God would show Mercy to Thousands, rather than he would destroy three or four.

4. What if by no means God will clear the guilty? stubbornly guilty? yet never will he destroy humble souls that lie at his feet, and are willing to have mercy on his easy terms. How shall I give thee up Ephraim, how shall I deliver thee O Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? My heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together, I will not execute the fierceness of Mine anger, I will not destroy Ephraim, for I am God and not Man, the Holy One in the midst of •• ee; O my soul! why standest thou at a distance with God? Why dost thou fancy a Lion in the way? O b • lieve in God, believe in Jesus! and believe thy portion in this Covenant of grace! have sweet and delightful thoughts of God's nature, and thou wilt not, thou canst not sly from him: some are of opinion that a soul may fetch more encouragements to believe, from the consideration of God's gracious and merciful nature, than from the promise itself.

2. Consider of the sweet and gracious nature of Jesus Christ: our thoughts of God are necessarily more strange than of Jesus Christ, because of our infinite distance from the Godhead; but in Christ, God is come down into our nature, and so infinite goodness, and mercy is incarnate; art thou afraid, O my soul, at his name Jah, and Jehovah! O remember his name is Immanuel; the Lyon is here disrobed of his garment of terror; his rough hair is turned into a soft wool; see thy God disrobed of his terrible Majesty, see thy God is a man, and thy Judge is a Brother; mince Jehovah with Jesus, and the Serpent wi • l be a rod; O that Balsamy name, Jesus; that name that founds healing for every wound, settlement for every distraction, comfort for every sorrow: but here's the misery, souls in distress had rather be poring on hell than heaven; rather frighting themselves with the terrors of justice, than staying themselves with the fl • ggons of Mercy. O my soul, how canst thou more contradict the nature of Christ, and the Gospel-description of Christ, than to think him a destroyer of men? b • t wherein appears the gracious nature of Christ? I answer, in his being incarnate, O how could Jesus have manifested more willingness to save, than that the God-head should condescend to assume our nature? surely this is ten thousand times more condescension, than for the greatest King to become a sly, or a toad, to save such creatures as toads and flies. 2. In his tender dealing with all sorts of sinners, he professed th t he came into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He wept over Jerusalem, saying, O Jerusalem, Je • usalem, how oft would I have gathered thee as an Hen gathereth her chickens under her wings? but ye would not. I would, but ye would not And when his Disciples would have had fire come down from Heaven to consume though • e that refused him, he reproves them, and tells them, they know not of what spirits they were of. 3. In his care of his own; not caring what he suffered, so they might be saved. Alas, alas, that the Lord Jesus should pass through a life of misery, to a death more miserable, to manifest openly to the world the abundance of his love; and yet that any soul should suspect him of cruelty, or unwillingness to show mercy! Ah my soul, believe; never cry out, my sins, my sins, my sins; there is a gracious nature and inclination in Jesus Christ to pardon all.

3. Consider of that office of saving, and showing mercy, which Christ hath set up; this is more than merely a gracious inclination; Christ hath undertaken and set up an office to seek, and to save that which was lost; to bring home straying Souls to his Father, to be the great Peace-maker between God and Man, to reconcile God to man, and man to God, and so to be the Head and Husband of his People. Is not here a world of encouragement to believe in Jesus? what? to consider him as one who hath made it his office to heal, and relieve, and to restore, and to reconcile? Among Merchants I remember they have an office of security, that if you dare not adventure on Seas, yet there you may be ensured, if you will but put in at that Office: in this manner Christ hath constituted and assumed the office of being a Mediator, the Redeemer, and the Savior of men; he hath erected, and set up on purpose an office of mere love, and tender compassion, for the relief of all poor distressed sinners: if they dare not venture otherwise, yet let them put in at this office. O what jealous hearts have we that will not trust Christ, that will not take the word of Christ without an office of security? surely Christ never so carried himself to any soul, that it need be jealous of his love and faithfulndess, yet this dear husband meets with many a jealous spouse: O my soul take heed of this! Satan hath no greater design upon thee than to persuade thee to entertain hard thoughts of Christ: believe! never say God will not take thee into Covenant, for to this purpose he hath erected an office to save and have mercy.

Consider of those tenders and offers of Christ, those entreaties and beseechings to accept of Christ, which are made in the Gospel. What is the Gospel? or what is the sum of all the Gospel, but this? O take Christ, and life in Christ, that thou mayest be saved: what mean these free offers, Ho everyone that thirsteth come to the waters, and whosoever will, let him take of the Waters of Life freely: and God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, &c. God is the first suitor and solicitor, he first prays the Soul to take Christ. Hark at the door! who is it that knocks there? who is it that calls now, even now? open unto me my Sister, my Love, my Dove, my Undefiled, for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night? See him through the windows, this can be none but Christ: his sweet language of Sister, Love, and Dove, bespeaks him Christ; his suffering language, that his head is filled with dew, and his locks wih the drops of the Night? bespeaks him Christ; But hearken the motion he makes to thy Soul; Soul! consider what price I have given to save thee; this my body was crucified, my hands and feet nailed, my heart pierced, and through anguish I was forced to cry, my soul is heavy, heavy unto death, and now what remains for thee but only to believe? See all things ready on my part, remission, justification, sanctification, salvation; I will be thy God and thou shalt be of the number of my People; I offer now myself and merits, and benefits flowing there-from, and I entreat thee accept of this offer. O take Christ, and Life, and Salvation in Christ What is this the voice of my beloved? are these the entreaties of Jesus? and O my soul, wilt thou not believe? wilt thou not accept of this Gracious offer of Christ? O consider who is this that proclaimeth, inviteth, beseecheth? if a poor man should offer thee mountains of gold thou mightest doubt of performance, because he is not of that Power; if a covetous rich man should offer thee thousands of silver, thou mightest doubt of performance, because it is contrary to his nature; but Christ is neither poor, nor covetous; as he is able, so his Name is gracious, and his nature is to be faithful in performance; his Covenant is sealed with his blood, and confirmed by his oath, that all shall have pardon that will but come in, and believe: O then let these words of Christ (whose lips like lilies are dropping down pure myrrh) prevail with thy soul, say Amen to his offer, I believe, Lord help my unbelief.

5. Consider of those Commands of Christ, which notwithstanding all thy excuses and pretences, he fastens on thee to believe: And this is his Commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ. Surely this Command should infinitely outweigh and prevail against all other Countermands of Flesh and Blood, of Satan, Nature, Reason, Sense, and all the World. Why this Command is thy very ground and warrant, against which the very Gates of Hell can never possibly prevail: when Abraham had a command too kill his own only dear Son, with his own hand, though it was matter of as great grief as could possibly pierce his heart; yet he would readily and willingly submit to it; how much more shouldst thou obey, when God commands no more, but that thou shouldest belive on the name of his Son Jesus Christ? There's no evil in this Command; no, no, it comprehends in it all good Imaginable; have Christ, and thou hast with him the excellency and variety of all blessings both of heaven and earth; have Christ, and thou hast with him a discharge of all those endless and easless torments of Hell; have Christ, and thou hast with him the glorious Deity itself, to be enjoyed through him to all Eternity. O then believe in Jesus! suffer not the Devils cavils, and the groundless exceptions of thine own heart to prevail with thee against the direct Commandment of Almighty God.

6. Consider of these Messages of Christ, which he daily sends by the hands of his Gospel-Ministers. Now then we are Ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye Reconciled unto God. What a wonder is here! Would not an earthly Prince disdain and hold it in foul scorn to send unto his inferior rebellious slaves for reconcilement? It is otherwise with Christ; he is content to put up at our hands all indignities and affronts; he is glad to sue to us first, and to send his Ambassadors day after day, beseeching us to be reconciled unto him: O incomprehensible depth of unspeakable Mercy, and Encouragement to come to Christ! That I may digress a little, say thou that readest, wilt thou take Christ to thy Bridegroom, and forsake all others? This is the Message which God hath bid me (unworthy Ambassador) to deliver to thee: the Lord Jesus expects an answer from thee; and I should be glad at heart to return a fit answer to him that sent me; say then, dost thou like well of the Match? wilt thou have Christ for thy Husband? wilt thou enter into Covenant with him? wilt thou surrender up thy Soul to thy God? wilt thou rely on Christ, and apply Christ's merits particularly to thyself? wilt thou believe? for that is it I mean by taking, and receiving, and marrying of Christ: Oh happy if I could but Join Christ and thy Soul together this day! Oh happy thou, if thou wouldst this day be persuaded by a poor Ambassador of Christ! Blame me not if I am an importunate Messenger; if ever I hear from thee, let me hear some good News, that I may return it to Heaven, and give God the Glory. Come, say on; art thou willing to have Christ? wouldst thou have thy name enrolled in the Covenant of Grace? shall God be thy God, and Christ thy Christ? wilt thou have the Person of Christ, and all those privileges flowing from the Blood of Christ? sure thou art willing, art thou not? stay then; thou must take Christ on these terms; thou must believe on him (i e.) Thou must take him as thy Savior and Lord, thou must take him, and forsake all others for him. This is the true Faith, the condition of the Covenant: O believe in Jesus, and the Match is made, the hands are struck, the Covenant established, and all doubts removed.

SECT. VI. Of loving Jesus in that respect.

6 WE must love Jesus, as carrying on this great work of our Salvation in a way of Covenant. I know Love is reckoned as the first and fundamental Passion of all the rest; some call it the first springing and out-going affection of the Soul; and therefore I might have put it in the first place, before Hope or Desire; but I choose rather to place it in this Method, as (me thinks) most agreeing (if not to the order of Nature, yet) to the Spiritual workings, as they appear in my Soul. When a Good is propounded' first I desire, and then I hope, and then I believe, and then I love. And some describing this spiritual love, they tell me, it is an holy disposition of the heart, arising from Faith. But to let these niceties pass for a Spiders web (curious, but thin) certain it is that I cannot believe all these transactions of God, by Christ in a Covenant-way for me, but I must needs love that God, & love that Christ who hath thus firstly & freely loved my soul; go on then O my Soul, put fire to the harth, blow on thy little spark, set before thee God's Love, and thou canst not but love; and therein Consider, 1. The Time. 2. The Properties. 3. The Effects of God's love. 1. For The Time; He Loved thee before the World was made: hast thou not heard? and wilt thou ever forget it? were not those ancient Loves from all eternity admirable, astonishing, ravishing Loves? 2, He Loved thee in the very beginning of the world: was not the promise expressed to Adam intended for thee? as thou sinnedst in his loins, so didst thou in his loins receive the Promise, It shall bruise thy head: And not long after, when God established his Covenant with Abraham and his Seed, wast not thou one of that Seed of Abraham? If ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's Seed, and heirs according to the Promise. 3. He loves thee now more especially, not only with a Love of benevolence, as before; but with a love of complacency: not only hath he struck Covenant with Christ, with Adam, with Abraham in thy behalf, but particularly and personally with thyself; and O what Love is this? If a woman lately conceiving, love her future fruit; how much more doth she love it when it is born and embraced in her Arms? So if God loved thee before thou hadst a being, yea before the world or any Creature in it had a being, how much more now? O the height, and depth, and length and breadth of this immeasurable Love! O my Soul, I cannot express the Loves of God in Christ to thee; I do but draw the Picture of the Son with a coal, when I endeavor to express God's love in Christ.

2. For the properties of this Love: 1. God's Love to thee is an eternal Love. He was thinking in his eternity of thee in this manner, At such a time there shall be such. Man and such a Woman living on the earth: in the last times such a one (I mean thou that readest, if thou believest) and to that Soul I will reveal myself, and communicate my loves; to that soul I will offer Christ, and give it the hand of Christ to lay hold on Christ; and to that purpose now I write down the Name in the Book of Life, and none shall be able to blot it out again. Oh eternal Love! Oh the blessed transactions between the Father and the Son, from all eternity to manifest his Love to thy very Soul!

2. God's love to thee is a choice Love; it is an elective, separating Love: when he passed by and left many thousands, then, even then he sets his heart on thee: Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith God, yet I loved Jacob, and hated Esau. So, wert not thou such an ones Brother, or such an ones Sister that remained wicked and ungodly? wert not thou of such a Family; whereas many, or some are passed by, yet God hath loved thee, and pitched his Love on thee: Surely this is choice Love.

3. God's Love to thee is a free Love: I will love them freely, saith God, And the Lord did not set his Love upon you, and choose you, because ye were more in number than any people, — but because the Lord loved you; there can be no other reason why the Lord loved thee, but because he loved thee. We use to say, this is a woman's reason, I will do it because I will do it; but here we find it is God's reason, though it may seem strange arguing; yet Moses can go no higher, he loved thee, why? because he loved thee.

God's love to thee is the Love of all relations: look what a friends Love is to a friend, or what a Fathers Love is towards a Child, or what an Husbands Love is towards a Wife; such is God's Love to thee; thou art his Friend, his Son, his Daughter, his Spouse; and God is thy All in All.

3. For the Effects of his Love: 1. God so Loves thee, as that he hath entered into a Covenant with thee. O what a Love is this? tell me, O my soul, is there not an infinite disparity betwixt God and thee? He is God above, and thou art a Worm below: He is the High and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose Name is Holy: and thou art less than the least of all the Mercies of God: O wonder at such a condescension! that such a Potter, and such a Former of things should come on terms of bargaining with such clay as is guilty before him! Had we the tongues of Men and Angels, we could never express it!

God so loves thee, as that in the Covenant he gives thee all his Promises? Indeed what is the Covenant but an accumulation, or heap of Promises? As a cluster of stars makes a Constellation; so as a mass of promises concurreth in the Covenant of Grace; where-ever Christ is, clusters of divine promises grow out of him; as the motes, rays and beams are from the Sun. I shall instance in some few. As, —

1. God in the Covenant gives the world. All is yours, whether Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas or the World, 1 Cor. 3.22. First seek the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. These temporary blessings are a part of the Covenant which God hath made to his People; It is he that giveth thee Power to get wealth, that he may establish his Covenant which he sware unto thy Fathers. Others, I know, may have the World, but they have it not by a Covenant-right; it may be thou hast but a little, a very little of the world; well, but thou hast it by a Covenant-right, and so it is an earnest of all the rest.

2. As God in the Covenant gives thee the world, so in comparison of thee and his other Saints, he cares not what becomes of all the world. I loved thee, saith God, therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy Life: If the case be so, that it cannot be well with thee, but great evils must come upon others, kindred, people and nations, I do not so much care for them, saith God, my heart is on thee, so as in Comparison of thee, I care not what becomes of all the world: O the love of God to his Saints!

3. God in the Covenant pardons thy sins; this is another fruit of God's love: Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins by his own blood; it cost him dear to pardon our sins; even the heart-blood of Christ: such were the transactions betwixt God and Christ: if thou wilt take upon thee to deliver souls from sin (saith God to his Son) thou must come thyself, and be made a Curse for their Sin: Well (saith Christ) thy will be done in it; though I lose my Life, though it cost me the best blood in my heart, yet let me deliver them from sin: This exceedingly heightens Christ's Love, that he should foresee thy sin, and that yet he should Love. Many times we set our Love on some outward unthankful Creatures, and we say, could I but have foreseen this untowardness, they should never have had my Love: but now the Lord did foresee all thy sins, and all thy ill requitals for love, and yet it did not once hinder his love towards thee, but he puts this in the Covenant, I will forgive their Iniquities, and remember their sins no more.

4. God in the Covenant gives thee Holiness and Sanctification. I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your Idols will I cleanse you: this Holiness is our excellency in the eyes of Men and Angels: this is the Crown and Diadem upon the heads of Saints: whence David calls them by the name of excellent ones. Holiness is a Spirit of Glory, 1 Pet. 4.14. it is the delight of God: as a Father delights himself in seeing his own Image in his Children, so God delights himself in the Holiness of his Saints: God loved them before with a love of benevolence and good-will, but now he loves them with a love of complacency: The Lord takes pleasure in those that fear him; the Lord takes pleasure in his People. Holiness is the very Essence of God, the Divine Nature of God: O what is this, that God should put his own nature into thee? You are partakers of the Divine Nature. O what a love is this that God should put his own Life into thee? that he should enable thee to live the very same life that he himself lives? remember that piece of the Covenant, I will put my Law into their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.

5. God in the Covenant gives thee the knowledge of himself: it may be thou knewest him before: but 'tis another kind of knowledge that God now gives thee than thou hadst before. When God teaches the Soul to know him, it looks on God with another eye: it sees now another beauty in God than ever it saw before: for all that knowledge that it had before, bred not love: only Covenant-knowledge of God works in the Soul a true Love of God. But how doth this Covenant-knowledge work this Love? I shall tell you my own experiences: I go through all the Virtues, Graces and Excellencies that are most amiable: and I look in the Scriptures, and there I find them in God alone: if ever I saw any excellency in any man, or in any Creature, I think with myself, there is more in God that made that Creature: He that made the Eye, shall not he see? And so he that made that Loveliness, is not he Lovely? Now when by these Mediums I have presented God thus lovely to my Soul, then I begin to feel my heart to warm. As when I conceive such an Idea of a man, that he is of such a carriage, behavior, disposition, that he hath a mind thus, and thus framed, qualified and beautified, why then I love him; so when I apprehend the Lord aright, when I observe him as he is described in his Word; when I observe his doings, and consider his workings, and learn from all these together a right Idea, opinion or apprehension of him, then my will follows my understanding, and my affections follow them both; and I come to love God, and to delight in God. O here's a sweet knowledge! surely it was God 's Love in Christ to put this blessed Article into the Covenant of grace; They shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord.

6. God in the Covenant of grace gives thee his Son. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Nay more, as God hath given thee his Son, so he hath given thee himself. O my Soul, wouldest thou not think it a marvelous love, if God should say to thee, Come Soul, I Will give thee all the World for thy Portion; or that I may give thee a testimony that I love thee, I will make another world for thy sake, and I will make thee Emperor of that world also. Surely thou wouldst say, God loves me dearly; ay but in that God hath given thee his Son, and given thee himself, this is a greater degree of Love. Christi • ns! stand amazed; Oh what love is this to the Children of men! Oh that we should live to have our ears filled with this sound from Heaven! I will be a God to thee and to thy Seed after thee, I am the Lord thy God; I will be their God, and they shall be my People. O my Soul, where hast thou been? rouse up, and recollect, and set before thee all these passages of God's Love in Christ; are not these strong atractives to gain thy love; what wilt thou do? canst thou choose to love the Lord thy God? shall not all this love of God in Christ to thee constrain thy love? It is the expression of the Apostle, The Love of God constrains us: God in Christ is the very Element of Love, and whither should Love go but to the Element? Air goes to Air, and Earth to Earth, and all the Rivers to the Sea: every Element will to its proper place: Now God is Love, and whither should thy Love be carried, but to this Ocean, or Sea of Love? Come my Beloved (said the Spouse to Christ) let us get up early to the vineyards, let us see if the Vines flourish, whether the tender grapes appear; there will I give thee my Loves: The flourishing of the Vine, and the appearing of the tender grapes are the fruits of the graces of God in the Assemblies of his Saints; now wheresoever things appear, whether in Assemblies, or in secret Ordinances, then and there (saith the Bride) will I give thee my Loves; when thou comest to the Word, Prayer, Meditation, be sure of this, to give Christ thy Love: What? doth Christ manifest his presence there? is there any abounding of his graces there? O let thy Love abound: by how much more thou feelest God's Love towards thee, by so much more do thou love thy God again: many sins being forgiven, how shouldst thou but Love much?

SECT. VII. Of joying in Jesus in that respect.

WE must joy in Jesus as carrying on the great work of our Salvation in a way of Covenant. I know our joy here is but in part; such is the excellency of Spiritual joy, that it is reserved for Heaven; God will not permit it to be pure and perfect here below: and yet such as it is (though mingled with cares and pains) it is a blessed duty; it is the light of our souls: and were it quite taken away, our lives would be nothing but Horrour and Confusion: O my Soul, if thou didst not hope to encounter joy in all thy Acts, thou wouldst remain languishing and immovable, thou wouldst be without action and vigor, thou wouldst speak no more of Jesus, or of a Covenant of grace, or of God, or Christ, or Life, or glory. — Well then go on O my Soul, and joy in Jesus; if thou lovest him, what should hinder thy rejoicing in him? It is a Maxim, that as Love Proceeds, so if there be nothing that retains the Appetite, it always goes from Love to Joy. One motion of the Appetite towards good is to be united to it, and the next Appetite towards good is to enjoy it: now Love consists in union, and joy in fruition; for what is fruition, but a joy that we find in the possession of that thing we love? Much ado there is amongst Philosophers concerning the differences of Love and Joy. Some give it thus; As is the motion of fluid Bodies which run towards their Center, and think to find their rest there; but being there, they stop not, and therefore they return, and scatter themselves on themselves, they swell and overflow: So in the passion of Love, the Appetite runs to the beloved Object, and unites itself to it, and yet its motion ends not there; for by this passion of joy, it returns the same way; again it scatters itself on itself, and overflows those Powers which are nearest to it; by this effusion the soul doubles on the Image of the good it hath received, and so it thinks to possess it more; it distills itself into that faculty, which first acquainted it with the knowledge of the Object, and by that means it makes all the parts of the Soul concur to the possession of it. Hence they say, That joy is an effusion of the Appetite, whereby the Soul spreads itself on what is good, to possess it the more perfectly.

But not to stay in the inquiry of its Nature, O my Soul, be thou in the exercise of this Joy; Is there not cause? come see, and own thy Blessedness; take notice of the great things the Lord hath done for thee. As,— 1. He hath made a Covenant with thee of temporal mercies; thou hast all thou hast by free-holding of Covenant-Grace: thy Bread is by Covenant, thy sleep is by Covenant, thy safety from Sword is by the Covenant, the very tilling of thy Land is by a Covenant of Grace, Ezek. 36.34. O how sweet is this? Every Crum is from Christ, and by virtue of a Covenant of Grace.

2. He hath made a Covenant with thee, of spiritual mercies; even a Covenant of Peace, and Grace, and Blessing, and Life for evermore; God is become thy God, he is all things to thee; he hath forgiven thy sins, he hath given thee his Spirit, to lead thee, to sanctify thee, to uphold thee in that state wherein thou standest; and at last he will bring thee to a full enjoyment of himself in Glory, where thou shalt bless him, and rejoice before him with joy unspeakable and full of glory. O pluck up thy heart, lift up thy head, strengthen the weak hands and the feeble knees; serve the Lord with gladness and joyfulness of Spirit, considering the day of thy Salvation draweth nigh. Write it in Letters of Gold, that thy God is in Covenant with thee, to love thee, to bless thee, and to save thee. Yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and receive thee to himself, and then thou shalt fully know what it is to have God to be thy God, or to be in Covenant with God. I know these Objects rejoice not every heart; a man out of Covenant, if he look on God, he is a consuming fire: if on the Law, it is a Sentence of Condemnation; if on the Earth, it brings forth Thorns by reason of sins; if on Heaven, the Gate is shut; if on the Signs in Heaven, Fire, Meteors, Thunder, strike in him a terror. But O my Soul, this is not thy case: a Man in Covenant with God, looks on these things with another eye; if he look on God, he saith, This is my Father; if on Christ, this is my elder Brother; if on Angels, these are my Keepers; if on Heaven, this is my House; if on the Signs of Heaven, Fire, Meteors, Thunder, these are but the effects of my Fathers Power; if on the Law, the Son of God hath fulfilled it for me; if on Prosperity, God hath yet better things for me in store; if on Adversity, Jesus Christ hath suffered much more for me than this; if on the Devil, Death, and Hell, he saith with the Apostle, O Death! where is thy Sting? O Grave! where is thy Victory? Come poor soul, is it not thus with thee? what? art thou in Covenant with God, or art thou not? If yet thou doubtest, review thy grounds of hope, and leave not there, till thou comest up to some measure of assurance: but if thou art persuaded of thy Interest, O then rejoice therein; is it not a Gospel-duty to rejoice in the Lord, and again to rejoice? The Lord is delighted in thy delights: he would fain have it thy constant frame and daily business to live in joy, and to be always delighting thyself in him.

This one Promise, I am the Lord thy God, is enough to cause thy appetite to run to it, and to unite itself to it by Love; and to scatter itself on it, and to overflow those powers of the Soul that are nearest to it, that every part of the Soul may concur to the possession of it. Bless the Lord, O my Soul (saith David) and all that is within me bless his holy Name. So rejoice in the Lord, O my Soul, and all that is within me, rejoice in the Name of God. This is true joy, when the soul unites itself to the good possessed in all its parts: And was there ever such an object of true joy as this? Hark, as if Heaven opened, and the voice came from God in Heaven; I will be a God to thee, and to thy Seed after thee: I am the Lord thy God; and I will be thy God. What? doth not thy heart leap in thy bosom at this sound? John the Baptist leaped in his mothers womb for joy, at the sound of Mary's Voice; and doth not thy soul spring within thee at this voice of God? O wonder! some can delight themselves in sin; and is not God better than sin? Others more refined, and indeed sanctified, can delight themselves in remission of Sin, in Grace, Pardon, Holiness, Fore-thoughts of Heaven; how exceedingly have some gracious hearts been ravished with such thoughts? But is not God, the objective happiness, the Fountain-blessedness, more rejoicing than all these? Why? Dear soul if there be in thee any rejoicing faculty, now awake, and stir it up; it is the Lord thy God whom thou art to rejoice in; it is he whom the glorious spirits joy in: it is he who is the top of Heavens joy, their exceeding joy: and it is he who is thy God as well as their God. Enough! enough! or if this be not enough, hear thy Duty as the Lord commands thee: Rejoice in the Lord, Phil. 3.1. Be glad ye Children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, Joel 2.23. Rejoice in the Lord all ye Righteous, for praise is comely for the upright, Psal. 33.1. Rejoice in the Lord ye Righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness, Psal. 97.12. Let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice, let th • m ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them; let them also that love thy Name be joyful in thee, Psal. 5.11. Let the Righteous be glad, let them rejoice before God, yea let them exceedingly rejoice, Psal. 68.3. Glory ye in his holy Name, let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord, Psal. 105.3. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him, let the Children of Zion be joyful in their King, Psal. 149.3. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice O ye Righteous, and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart, Psal. 23.11. O what pressing Commands are these?

SECT. VIII. Of calling on Jesus in that respect.

1. WE must call on Jesus, or on God the Father in and through Jesus in reference to this gracious Covenant: Now this calling on God contains Prayer and Praise.

1. We must pray: we must use Arguments of Faith challenging God, Turn thou me, and I shall be turned: Why? for thou art the Lord my God. This Covenant is the ground on which all Prayers must be bottomed; the Covenant we know contains all the Promises, and what is Prayer but Promises turned into Petitions? Thus prayed the Prophet Jeremy, Do not abhor us for thy Names sake, do not disgrace the Throne of thy Glory, remember, break not thy Covenant with us. —Why? Art not thou he the Lord our God? And thus prayed the Prophet Isaiah, Be not wroth very sore, neither remember iniquity forever, behold we beseech thee; and why so? we ar • all thy Poople: q. d. Everyone doth for its own: the Prince for his People, the Father for his Children, and the Shepherd for his Sheep: and will not God do for his own in covenant with him? Be thy soul in the saddest desertion, yet come and spread the Covenant before God: A Soul in the greatest depth, swimming on this Covenant of Grace, it keeps it from sinking; whence Christ in his blackest, saddest hour, prayed thus, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Be thy Soul in trouble for sin and prevailing corruption: yet go to God, and plead his Promise and Covenant: say as Johoshaphat, Lord, I am so born down by the power of my sin, that I know not what to do, only mine eyes are unto thee; O do thou subdue mine iniquities. Be thy soul troubled for want of strength to do this or that duty; yet go to God and Christ in the Covenant of Grace, and say,