.£$ w* y% s, 71 ^fawC/fr**^ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library http://www.archive.org/details/viewofcovenantof02bost VIEW OF THE COVENANT of GRACE FROM THE SACRED RECORDS. WHEREIN The Parties in that COVENANT, the Making of it, its Parts conditionary and promiffory, and the Administration there- of, are diftinctly confidered : Together with The Trial of a faving pcrfonal Inbeing in it, and the Wat of instating Sinners "therein unto their eternal Salvation. To which is fubjoined, A MEMORIAL concerning Personal and Family Fasting and Humiliation, prefented to Saints and Sinners. By the late Reverend and Learned Mr THOMAS BOSTON,. Minifter of the Gofpel at Ettrick. EDINBURGH: Printed by and for John Gray. Sold at his Printing-houfe oppofite the City-guard. MDCCLXXV. THE CONTENTS. Page CT'IIE Introduction and general fcheme i Head I. The Turtles in the Covenant of Grace. I. /^ OD the Partycontraclor on Heaven V fide 9 VJF Conftdered in a threefold view 11 II. The Lord Jefus Chrift the Party- contractor on man'j- fide 12 The covenant of grace made -with Chrift as the laft A- dam, head and reprefentative of his fpiritual feed Evinced from five confederations 14 Five reafons iuhj it was fo made ip Inferences 2 2 III. The party- contratled and undertaken for 25 The ele£t vjere the party reprefented and contratled for in the covenant. Four proof s of it 26 Three ways they are viewed hi this covenant-repre- fentation 29 Inferences 3 1 Object. J fear I am none of thofe whom Chrifl reprefented in the covenant -, how then can I take hold of it by be- lieving ? Anfwer 33 Queft. Are there no marks whereby a finner may know himfelf to be one of thofe who were reprefented by Chrijl in the Jecond covenant ? Anfwer 3 \ Head II. The Making of the Covenant of Grace. T-J9 IV Chrijl, the Sjn of Cod, become thefeco::d Adam 37 a 2 How iv THE CONTENTS. How the covenant was made with Chrift as the fecond Adam . 39 Chrift giving his confent to the covenant, took upon him, a threefold charatler. I. The Kinfman -redeemer in the covenant 41 Performances of the Kinfman- redeemer four 43 II. 7 he Surety of the covenant 46 For whom Chrift became Jurety ib. For what he became furety 48 Whether or not Chrift's furetifhip is alfo of the na- ture of furetifhip/br one's performing of a deed? $6 III. The Prieft of the covenant 58 The neceffity of this proved * 59 Inferences 63 Head III. The Tarts of the Covenant of Grace. I. nn H E conditionary part of the covenant 68 ■*■ Condition, the word explained ib. Chrifi's righteoufnefs, the condition of the cove- nant 70 Proved by "five arguments ib. Cafe, How fljall I know that Chrift's righteoufnefs is indeed mine in poffeffion ? Anfwered 75 Chrift's righteoufnefs confifts of three parts 76 Holinefs of nature ib. Righteoufnefs of life 78 SatisfadUonyorym 81 Inferences 89 Of per Jons that have Chrift's righteoufnefs imputed to the?n, three charatlers 93 II. The prom'iffory part of the covenant 98 Importance of the promiffory part of the covenant cleared by feven confide rat ions 99 Two general kinds of promifes 1 02 To whom were they made ? 10 $ Inferences \ 06 Prcmi/cs peculiar to Chrift 1 10 Amftance ib. Acceptance ib. Reward THECONTENTS. v Reward 1 1 1 Promife of eternal life to the elecl 1 13 More genera/.'y confidercd 1 J c, More particularly in three periods 1 17 1. Before their union with Chrijl X 1 3 Promife 0/ preservation ib. Promife of th>- Spirit 120 2. From their union with Chrijl until death 124 Promife of) unification 125 A new andfaving covenant relation to God 128 Sanclificiri on 132 Perfeverance 152 Temporal benefits 156 3. From death thiough eternity 161 Promife of victory over death ib. — Everlalting life in heaven 163 Inference 107 No proper penalty of the covenant of grace 169 Head IV. The Admimfirat'ion of the Cove- nant of Grace. f^H R I ST the Adminiftrator of the covenant 171 ^ Sinners of mankind the objedf. of the adminiflration of the covenant 176 Confirmed by five arguments ib* Ends of the administration of the covenant 181 The bringing of fnners into the covenant ib. The management of them therein 1S2 The completing of their happinejs 1 83 The nature of the adminiflranon of the covenant 1 85 The relations Chrifl hath to the covenant as the Adtni- viflrator thereof ib. I. The Truftee of the covenant , in nine particulars 18 j II. The Teftator of the covenant, and here are opened 19 c The making of the te (lament 193 Who are rA^ legatees ? 196 Who is the executor of the teflament ? 20® What are the legacies left t 20 c III. The Prophet of the covenant 206 IV. The vi THE CONTENTS. IV. The King of the covenant 212 V. The IntercefTcr of the covenant 222 Head V. The 'Trial of a faving perfonal Inbeing in the Covenant of Grace. /""■* Haracters of thofe -who are favingly within ^-^ the covenant 228 Head VI. The Way of inflating Sinners perfonally and favingly in the Covenant of Grace. , CT^H E means of inflating afmner in the covenant, is -^ faith 243 It is moft agreeable to the nature and end of the covenant 244 The import of the word believing in thefcriptare- ufe of it 246 A twofold -word to he believed; the law and the gofpel 247 The faith of the law preparatory/or the covenant ib. The faith of the gofpel inflating in ike covenant, carries in it four things ' 251 I. The faith of CbrifTs fufficiency ib. II. The faith f the gofpel- offer 253 Object. I. But Chrlft is now in heaven, and I hear no voice from thence .- how then can I believe, that he off e ret h himfelf to me in particular ? Anfwer 255 ObjeC^., 2- But Chrifi in the word of the gofpel doth not name me : how then can I believe that he (ffereth him- felf to me in particular ? Anfwer ib. Object. 3. I fear I want the qualifications determina- five of thofe to whom the gofpel-offer is direcled, Sec. : how then can I believe that Chrift offers himjelf to me in particular ? Anfwer 256 III. The faith of our right to Chrifl: 259 Qutit. How can /, a poor /inner, by nature under the curfe, believe that Chrifl is my Saviour , that his rigb- tcGitfnefs, THE CONTENTS. vii teoufnefs, and eternal life, are mine ? Anfwer 260 Objett. I. If it be true, that Chrifl is my Saviour, that his right eoufnefs, and eternal life in him, are mine ; then 1 may be eafy, I'll certainly be faved -without any more ado. Anfwer 263 Objett. 2. But Chrifl a Saviour, his right eoufnefs, and eternal life, are things fo exceeding precious, and I am fo very finful and unworthy, that it is mighty hard for me to believe they are mine. Anfwer 264 IV. The faith q/" particular truft. for falvation 265 Object 1 . Since it is not true of all -who hear the gofpel, that theyfball be faved ; there cannot be, in the cafe of every one of them, a ground on which this particular truft may be warrantably founded. Anfwer 272 Object. 2. Many trufi in Chrifl as their Saviour, with a particular confidence, that he willfave them \ and yet are grofsly ignorant, profane, or formal hypocrites ; and therefore not true believers. Anfwer 273 The CONTENTS of the MEMORIAL anent Fafiing, &c. Chap. I. /~\ F religious fafiing and humiliation in gene *s ral, from 27c Chap. II. Of perfonal fafiing in particular 282 Sett. 1. Of the divine warrant for it 283 Sett. 2. Of a providential call to perfonal fafiing and humiliation, in twelve particulars 286 Sett. 3. Direblions for managing the duty 296 Of perfonal covenanting 3 1 2 Advices for the right managing of it ib. The form of a perfonal covenant 320 Chap. III. Of family -fafiing, &c. 328 Direblions for the managing of it 330 The conclufion 332 ADVERTISEMENT. TH I S Treatife, and the Memorial adjoin- ed, being pofthumous Works of my Father's, I thought it necefTary to teftify to the World, that they are publifhed as he left them, being printed from his own Manu- Jcript, prepared for the Prefs, without any Addition or Alteration whatsoever. Thomas Boston. VIEW OF THE COVENANT of GRACF, P s a L. Ixxxix. 3. / have made a covenant with my Chofen. i Cor. xv. 45. The laji Adam was made a quickening fpirit. AS man's ruin was originally owing to the breaking of the covenant of works, fo his recovery, from the firft to the laft ftep thereof, is owing purely to the fulfilling of the covenant of grace ; which covenant, being that wherein the whole myftery of our falvation lies, I am to efTay the opening of, as the Lord fhall be pleafed to affift. And there is the more needofimmble dependence on the Father of lights, through Jefus Chriit his Son, for the manifeftation of his Spirit in this matter, that whereas the^r/? covenant is known, in part, by the light of nature^ the knowledge of this fecond is owing entirely to revela- tion. It was from this covenant the Pfalmift, in the verfe im- mediately preceding the firft text, took a comfortable view of a glorious buildings infallibly going up in the midft of Cov. H. A ruins 5 2 J View of the Covenant of Grate. ruins ; even a building of mercy : For I have faid, Mercy fiall be built up for ever ; the ground of which confident affertion is, in our text, pointed out to be God's covenant with his Chofen. From the type of the covenant of grace, namely, the covenant of royalty made with David, he faw a building up of mercy for the royal family of Judah, when they were brought exceeding low. From the fub- Jldnce of it, he faw a building of mercy for finners of man- kind, who were laid in ruins by the breach of the firft co- venant. This is that new building free grace fet on foot for U6 ; into which they that believe are inftantly thereup- on received, and where once received, they fhall dwell for ever -, a building of mercy, in which every ftone, from the bottom to the top, from the foundation- itone to the cope- ftone, is pure mercy, rich and free metcy to us. Of this building of mercy I fhall drop a few words. And, I. The plan of it was drawn from all eternity, in the council of the Trinity : for it is according to the eter- nal purpofe purpofed in Jefus Chrijt, Eph. iii, n. The cbjetls of mercy, the time and place, the -way and means, of conferring it on them, were defigned particularly, be- fore man was miferable, yea before he was at all. 2. The builder is God himfelf, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, 1 Cor. iii- 9. Te are God's building. All hands of the glorious Trinity are at work in this building. The Father chofe the objects of mercy, and gave them to the Son to be re- deemed ; the Son purchafed redemption for them ; and the Holy Ghoft applies the purchafed redemption unto them. But it is fpecially attributed to the Son, on the account of his lingular agency in the work: Zech. vi- 12. Behold, the man whofe name is the Branch he fhall build the temple of the Lord: ver. 13. Even he fhall build the tem- ple of the Lord, and UK fhall bear the glory. 3. The foun- dation was laid deep in the eternal counfel ; beyond the reach of the eyes of men or angels. Paul confidering it, cries out, the depth ! Rom. xi. 33. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counfellor ? ver. 3 t . 4. It is more than five thoufand years fince this build- ing rofe above ground. And the firft ftone of it that appear- ed, was a promife, a promife of a Saviour, made in para- dife, after the fall, Gen. iii. 15, namely, that the feed of the The Introduction and general Scheme, 3 the -woman fhould bruife the head of the ferpent. Here was mercy. And mercy was laid upon mercy. Upon prtmifing mercv was laid quickening mercy, whereby our loft firft parents were enabled to believe the pro- mife ; and upon quickening mercy was laid pardoning mercy to them; and upon that again fantlifying and ejia- blifhing mercy ; and at length glorifying mercy. 5. The ciment is blood ; the blood of Jefus Chrift the Mediator, which is the blood of Cody Acts xx. 28. No faving mer- cy for finners could confift, nor could one mercy lie firm upon another in the building, without being cemented with that precious blood : but by it the whole building conlifts, and ftands firm for ever, Heb. ix. 22. 23. and vii. 24. 25. 6. Ever Cnce the time it appeared above ground, it has been going on. And many hands have been employed, to ferve in carrying on the work. In the firft ages of the world, Patriarchs were employed in it, fuch as Adam, Enoch, and Noah ; in the middle ages, Prophets, Priefts, and Levites ; in thefe the laft ajies, the Apoftles, and other extraordinary officers, and or. .nary minifters of the gofpel. Great has been the oppofition made to the building from the beginning, by Satan and his agents, both in the way of violence ami deceit ; yet has it all along been going on ftill. And now it is come far above mid height; it is drawing towards the top, and the time when the laft: ftone fhall be laid thereon : for it is evident, we are far advanced in the days of the voice of the feventh angel 9 wherein the myftery of God is to btfinifbeJ, Rev. x. 7. 7. The copefione will be laid on it at the laft day; at what time the promife will receive its full accomplishment, in the complete falvation of all the objects of mercy, then to be advanced unto the meafure of the flature of the fulnefs of Chrift) Eph. iv. 13. In that day our Lord Jefus Chrift, the great builder, fhall bring forth the head ft one thereof -with f bout ings, even the laft and crowning mercy, faying, Come, ye bleffed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, from the foundation of the -world. And. then fhall they dwell in the building of mercy perfected, zndfing of mercies for ever and ever. 8. laftly, The foundation on which it ftands, is a /m one. It is neceflary that it be fo: for a building of mercy to finners , from a holy juft A 2 Cod, 4 A View of the Covenant sf Grace. God, is a building of huge weight ; more weighty than the whole fabric of heaven and earth : and if it (hould fall, all is ruined a fecond time, without any more hope of relief. But it is a fure foundation, being God's ever- lafting covenant : 1 have made a covenant with my Chofen. In which words, together with the fecond text, there are four things to be confidered. i. 'The foundation en which the building of mercy Hands ; to wit, A covenant. 2. The parties- contrablors in that covenant. 3. The ma- king of it. And, 4. The nature of it. I. The foundation on which the building of mercy flands, is a covenant, a divine covenant, a fure one. The firfr, building for man's happinefs was a building of bounty and goodnefs, but not of mercy ,- for man was not in mi/cry, when it was a-rearing up. And it was found- ed on a covenant too ; namely, on the covenant of works, made with the firfl Adam : but he broke the covenant, and the whole building tumbled down in an inftant. But this is another covenant, and of another nature. In the type indeed and fhadow, it is the covenatit of royalty with David, 2 Sam. vii. II. 17. ; which was a foundation of mercy to his family, fecuring the continuance of it, and that as a royal family. Howbeit, in the antitype and truth, it is the covenant of grace, the covenant of eternal life and falvation to finners, the fpiritual/Wof the Head thereof, to be given them in the way of free grace and mercy, Pfal. lxxxix. 2. 4. 29. 36. ; and in which they are freed from the curfe, fo that it cannot reach them, not- withstanding of their failures ; but the Lord deals with them as his children ftill, though offending children, ver. 30. 33. ; and all by the means of Jefus Chrift the Saviour, the mighty One, ver. 19. This is the founda- tion of the whole building of mercy to finners in their low eftate, into which they were brought by Adam's fall. The revelation, promulgation, and offer madfe unto the fons of men, of this covenant which lay hid in the depths of the eternal counfel, is called the gofpel ,• the glad tidings of a new covenant for life and falvation to finners. II. The parties-contraclors in this covenant are, God, ajjd his Chofen, the lafi Adam : for it is evident from the nature of the things here fpoken of, ver. 3. 4. and from 2 Sam. The Introduction and general Scheme. 5 1 Sam. vii. 8. that thefe words, I have made a covenant •with my Chofen, are the Lord's own words. Beth heaven and earth were concerned in this covenant; for it was a covenant of peace between them : and accordingly the in- ter elis of both are feen to by the parties- contractors. 1. On Heaven's fide is God himklf, the pait<-;ropo/er of the covenant : I have made a covenant with ntj Chofen. He was the offended party, yet the motion for a cc venant of peace comes from him ; a certain indication of the good-will of the whole glorious Trinity towards tht reco- very of loft finners. The God and Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift, the Father of mercies beholding a loft world, his mercy feeks a vent, that it may be fhown to the mifcrable ; but jzt/iice ftands in the way of the egref- and building of mercy, without there be a covenant whereby it may be fatisfied. Then faith the Father, " The fi.it co- • c venant will not ferve the puroofe of mercy ; there mud " be a new bargain : but the loft creatures have nothing " left, to contract: for themfelves ; unlefs another take the *' burden upon him for them, there is no 'remedy in the " cafe: they cannot chufe fuch an one for themfelves ; I " will make a choice for them, and make the covenant <{ with my Chcfcn." 2. On man's fide, then, is God's Chofen, or clr.fcn One i for the word is Gngular. This chofen One, in the type, the covenant of royalty, is David; but in the antitype, the covenant of grace, it is the Son of God, the lajl Adam, even Chri/t the chef en of God., Luke x.xiii. 35. The truth is, Inch great things are faid of the party with whom this covenant w:.s made, of his feed, and of the efficacy of this covenant, as can fully agree to none but Chrift and his fpiritualyfe^ ver. 4. 27. 29. 36. 37. The royal family of Judah, the houfe of David, never recoveied their ancient fplendor, utter the Babylonifh captivity ; with a view to which time, this Pfalm feems to have been penned. Their kingdom is ex- tinct many ages ago ; and the grandeur of that family, ac- cording to the neflu is o^ite funk. But the proniif? made to David in the covenant of royalty, (till flourifheth, and will flourifh for ever in Jefns Chrilt, the top- branch of the family of David. How then can it be, but that, \x\ the perpetual building cj mercy, mentioned ver. 2. and the ejiabifhu.g 6 A View of the Covenant of Grace. eftablifhing of David's feed, and building up his throne t§ all generations, ver. 4. Chrift himfelf is chiefiy aimed at? And indeed he only was the mighty One, fit for the vaft undertaking in this covenant, ver. 19. : and him the Fa- ther points out to us, as his e left or chofen One, If. xlir. 1. III. As to the making of this covenant between the contra&ing parties : The Father made it with his own Son, / have made a covenant with my Chofen ; and that before the world began, Tit. i. 2. By their mutual agree- ment thereto, this covenant was completely made from eternity ; even as the covenant of works with the firft: Adam was, before we were in being. The original text calls it cutting oft a covenant ; which phrafe is taken from that ancient ufage of cutting off a beaft, by cutting it afun- der, at the making of a covenant, Jer xxxiv. iS. It intimates this covenant to be a covenant by facrifice .• wherein the party- contractor on man's fide was the facrifice, and divine juftice the fword that cut it afunder, according to Zech. xiii. 7. Awake, fword, againjl my fbepherd, and agrinft the man that is my fellow, Jaith the Lord of ho/Is : finite the fbepherd. And withal it imports the inviolablenefs and perpetuity of the covenant made ; no more for ever to be diilolved, than the parts of the beaft cut off one from the other, to be joined again as formerly. IV. For the nature of this covenant : There are five things belonging thereto that appear from the texts ; name- ly, 1, The being of a reprefentation in it; 2= The defign for which it was fet on foot ; 3. That there are in it a con- dition, and 4. A promife ; and, 5. Into whofe hands the admintft ration of it is put. I. There is a reprefentation taking place in this cove- nant. As it was in the firft covenant, fo it was likewife in the fecond ; the party contractor and undertaker on man's fide, was a reprefentative, reprefenting and fuftain- ing the pe:fons of others. This appears, in that the chofen One with whom the covenant was made, is called the lafi Adam : for it is plain, he is fo called in relation to the firjt Adam, who was the figure (or type) of him, Rom. v. 14. ; namely, in that like as the firjl Adam reprefenting his feed in the covenant of works, brought fin and death on them ; fo he reprefenting his, brings tighteoufnefs and The Introduction and general Si heme. 7 and life to them ; as the apoftle teacheth at large in that chapter. 2. The deftgn of this covenant was life, the moft valu- able intereft of mankind. The Lift Adam was made a quickening fpirit, 10 wit, to give lite to his feed. So it is a covenant of life, as the covenant of Levi, a type thereof, is exprefsly called, Mai. ii. 5. The firft covenant was a covenant of life too : but there is this difference, to wit, that the firft was for life in perfection to upright man having life befgse ; the fecond, for life in perfection to finful man legally and morally dead. The parties con- tracted for in this fecond covenant, were con fide red as under the bands of death, abfolutely void of life; and therefore utterly incapable to a£t for helping themlelves. They lay like diy bones fcattered about the grave's mouth, before the parties- contractors ; jultice forbidding to give them life, but upon terms confident with, and becoming its honour. 3. The condition of the covenant, the terms of that life, agreed to by the Reprefentative, is implied in that he was the loft Adam, namely, to go through with what the firft Adam had ftuck in. Adam, in the covenant of works, ftumbled in the courfe of his obedience, and fell ; and by his fall was quite difabled to begin it anew : he thereby came under the penalty of that covenant alfo, but was ut- terly unable to difcharge it. So the lajl Adam comes in the room of the firft, not as the Jir/l Adam ftood in his in- tegrity ; for in that cafe there was no place for a fecond Adam ; but as he lay a broken man under the firft bargain. And coming in his room in this cafe, his bufinefs was to fatisfy the demands of the firft covenant, in behalf of his feed. Thefe demands were now run up high, quite be- yond what they were to innocent Adam : the penalty was become payable, as well as the principal fum. Where- fore, the firft covenant being ingroffed in the fecond, is declared broken ; and the principal and penalty being fummed up together, the clearing of the whole is laid upon the laji or fecond Adam, as the condition of the fecond covenant. 4. The promife of the covenant, to be, upon that condi- tion, performed by the party-contractor on Heaven's fide, is S A View of the Covenant of Grace., is implied in thefe words, / have made a covenant with (in the original, to) my Chofen ; that is, " I have made a " covenant, binding and obliging myfelf by folemn pro- * 4 mife to my chofen One, for fuch and fuch benefits, upon •* the condition therein dated and agreed to." Compare the following ciaufe, 1 have f worn unto David my fervant* The nature of this promife will be inquired into in the due place. 5, Lajlly, The adminifl ration of this covenant is put into the hands of the party contractor on man's fide: The lafl Adam was made a quickening fpirit. Each of the con- tracting parties being God, it was not poffible that either party fnould fail, or that the laji Adam fhould break, as the jirji had done. Wherefore, the., time of Chrift's ful- filling of the condition of the covenant being prefixed by the Father, God took Chrift's fingle bond for fufficient fe- curity, and thereupon conftituted him adminifirator of the covenant. Thofe whom he reprefented, were confidered as being under death, which, in the language of the cove- nant, is a very extenfive term : the Spirit and life were to be purchafed by him, and did belong to the promife of the covenant. So, upon the credit of his fulfilling the condi- tion of the covenant in due time, the fulnefs of the Spirit, and eternal life, were lodged in him, to be communicated by him : E.ev. iii. 1. Thefe things faith he that hath the feven Spirits of God. 1 John v. 1 1 . God hath given to us eternal life: and this life is in his Son. John xvii. 2. As thou hafi given him power over allflefh, that he fljould give cHernal life. Thus was he made a quickening fpirit. Now the Doctrine of thefe texts thus compared and explained, is, Thzt the covenant of grace, for life andfalvation to lofi finners of mankind, was made with Jesus Christ the last Adam ; and he confiituted adminifirator of it. In handling of this weighty fubje£t, I deem it not nq- ceffary to infift, to prove that there is a covenant of grace, the being of which is obvious from the texts, and many other fcriptures, fuch as, If. xlii. 6. xlix. 8. and liv. 10. Heb, The Parties in the Covenant of Grace. 9 Heb. viii. 6 and xiii. 20. But the following account of it lhall be ranged under thefe fix heads ; namely, 1. The parties in the covenant of grace. 2. The making of that covenant. 3. The parts uf it. 4. The admini/iratiin of it. 5. The trial of a laving perfonal inbeing in it. 6. The way of mjiating linners peribnally and favingly in it. HEAD I. The Parties in the Covenant of Grace. IN all covenants, of whatfoever nature they be, whether covenants of ahjolute promife, or conditional ones, there mud needs be diitiniit parties : for howbeit, one may decree, refolve, or purpofe with himielf, without an- other party •, yet one's covenanting or bargaining, vow- ing or promifing, fpeaks an obligation thence arifing to another diflin£t party. Accordingly, in the covenant of gr^ce, there are three parties to be confidered ; 1. The party -contractor on Heaven's fide ; 2. The party-contrac- tor on man's fide; and, 3. The party contracled and un- dertaken/or. Of which in order. And, I. Of the Party-contratlor on Heavens felt. AS it was in the covenant of works in this point, fo it is likewife in the covenant of ^race ; the party upon the one fide is God himfelf, and he only. There was no need of any other to fee to the interefts of Heaven in this covenant; and there was no other when it was made, being made from eternity, before the world began, Tit. i. 2. This is plain from the words of the covenant, J -will be their Cod, Jer. xxxi. 33. But whether God is herem to be confidered perfcnally ot ejfentiallyy is not quite fo clear. Some divines think, Cot. II. B tbat io The Parties in the Covenant of Grace* Head L that the Father, personally confidered, namely, as the fir ft perfon of the glorious Trinity, is the party-contractor on Heaven's fide ; others, that God effentially confidered, that is, as Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, is that party- contractor. But however we conceive of that matter, we are allured from the holy oracles, that thefe three are one God; and judge, that, according to the fcripture, it may be fafely faid, that God effentially confidered, was the party-contraclor in the perfon of the Father. Hereby it is owned, that the Son and the Holy Ghofl have their part in the covenant, on Heaven's fide, as the party offended by man's fin : and, in the mean time, a peculiar agency in this great work of power arid authority, on that fide, is attributed to the Father ; as there is unto the Son f on man's fide. And that, of the party- contractor on Heaven's fide, we may conceive aright in this matter, thefe two things are, in the firfi place, to be taken notice of. i. He from all eternity decreed the creation of man after his own image, and the making of the covenant of works with him, in time. All things brought forth in time, lay from eter- nity in the womb of God's decree •, in virtue whereof they have their being in time : for which caufe the decree is faid to bring forth, as a woman doth a child, Zeph. ii. 2. And the creation of angels and men, with the providence about them, made many lines in the volume of the fealed book of the decrees. God felf-fufivcient needed neither man nor angel : but, for the manifeftation of his own glory, he purpofed from eternity to create them ; and moreover, to enter into fuch a covenant with man, as one fhould therein reprefent the whole family ; fovereign plea- sure mean while taking another method with the angelic tribe; but withal purpofing to give both the one and the other, a fuflicient ability to (land in their integrity, if they would. Thus, from eternity, the covenant of works, in all the parts and appurtenances thereof, was before the eternal mind ; though being made with a mere man, it could not actually be entered into, till once man was ere* ated. But, Known unto God are all his works from the be- ginning of the world, Acts xv. 18. 2. He decreed alfo from eternity, to permit the firit man, the reprefentative of Of the Party contrafler on Heavens Side. II «f the whole fmvlv, to fall, and fo to break the covenarit f and involve hinr.iVIf and all his pofrerity in ruins. It is evident from tfce fpotlefs holinefs of God, and the nature of the thing, db'at the divine permijjhn Wfcs not the ea of man's fall ; and from the neceflhry dependence of the creature upon the Creator, that without it he could not have fallen. But the Sovereign Lord of the creatures per- mitted the fall of man, for his own holy ends, puipufing to bring about good from it. Now, God the party contractor on Heaven's fide in the covenant of grace, is to be confidered in that matter, in a threefold view. i. He is to be confidered in it as an offended God; offended with all the fins of all mankind, original and a£tual. Looking upon the children of men, the whole mafs of mankind appeared in the eyes of his glory corrupt and loathfome, the very reverfe of his holinefs: he faw them all gone afide, together become filthy, none doing good, no not one, Pfal. xiv. 2. 3. In the nrft covenant, God con- tracted with man himfelf as a friend, without the inter- pofition of a mediator : but in the fecond covenant it was not fo, and it could not be fo ; for in it man was con- fidered as a fallen creature, a tranfgreilbr of the law, and an enemy to God ; and it is a covenant of reconciliation, a covenant of peace for thofe who had been at war with Heaven. 2. But withal God is to be confidered herein as a God purpoftng and decreeing from eternity to manifeft the glory of his fee grace, love, and mercy, in the falvation cf fome of mankind loft. Accordingly, we are faid to be fived in time, according to his own purpofe and grace given us in Chrijl Jefus, before the world began, 2 Tim. i. 9. Without fuch a purpofe of grace in God, there could never have been a covenant of grace. But the Sovereign Lord of the creatures, overlooking the fallen a:igels, as to any purpofe of mercy, entertained thoughts of love and peace towards fallen mankind, purpofing in him- fclf to make fome of them everlafting monuments of his free grace and mercy, partakers of life and falvation ; and fo fet en foot the covenant of grace. 3. Lafily, Yet we are to confider him alfo in this mat- B 2 Kr, 12 The Parties 4n the Covenant of Grace. Head L ter, as ajiifi God, who cannot but do ri^ht, give fin ay///? recompense, and magnify his holy law, and make it honour* ahle, Gen. xviii. 25. Hcb. ii. 2. If. xlii. 21. Upon the motion for extending mercy to Tinners of mankind, the juftice of God interpofeth, pleading that mercy cannot be fheivn them, but upon terms agreeable to law and juftice. And indeed it was neither agreeable to the nature of God, nor to his truth in his word, to ere£t a throne of grace on the ruins of his ctztXjufli"e, nor to fhew mercy in prejudjce of if. Now, the juftice of God required, that the law which was violated, mould be fully fatisfied, and the honour thereof repaired by fuffer in g and obedience ,• the former fuch as might fatisfy the penal fanction of the law, and the latter, the commanding part of it. The which being quite beyond the reach of the finners them- felves, they behoved to die without mercy, unlefs antther who could be accepted as a fufficient iurety, mould un- dertake for them, as a fccond Adam, coming in their room and ftead, as triey lay ruined by the breach of the cove* riant of ivorks. Thus flood the impediments in the way of mercy to fallen man, quite infuperable to him, or any of his fellow- creatures : and the covenant of grace was made, for re- moving thofe impediments out of the way, and that it might be the channel wherein the whole rich flood of faving mercy might flow freely, for the quickening, purging, fructifying, and perfecting of loft finners of mankind, who were under the bands of death and the curfe, through the breach of the firft covenant by the firft Adam. From what is faid on this point, we may draw this Inference, to wit, That the redemption of the foul is precious. The falvation of loit finners was a greater work, than the making of the world : the powerful Wtrd. com- manded, and this laft was done ; but the former was not, to be compafled, but with more ado. II. Of the Party-contraclor m Man's fide. E ha\'e feen, that upon the one fide, in the cove- nant of gr«ice, is God himfelf. Now, upon the other Cf the Party contraFLrr en Man's Side. 13 other fide is Jesus Christ the Son of God, with his fpiritual feed, Ucb ii. 13. Behold, 1 and the cl.Udren •which God hath given me : the former, as the p • ty-con- triclor and undertaker; the latter, s the party to trailed and undertaken for : A good reafon for his nam* 1mm*- nue/y which being interpreted, is, God with us, Maith. i. 2^. The partv-contra&or then with God, in the covenant of grace, is our Lord Jefus Chrift. He alone managed the interetfs of men in this eternal bargain : for at the making of it none of them -were in being; nrr, if they had been, would they have been capable of affording any help. Now, Jefus Chrift the prty-centra&or on man's fide, in the covenant of grace, is, according lo our texts, to be confidered in that matter, as the tajl or fecond Adam, head and reprefentativeof a feed, loft Tinners of mankind, the party contracted for. And thus he fifted himfelf Mediator between an offended juft God, and offending men guilty before, him. In which point lay one main difference be- twixt the firfi Adam and the lafl Adam .- For there is one Mediator between God and men, the man Chrift Jefus 1 who gave himfelf a ranfom, 1 Tim. ii. 5. 6. And fo the covenant of grace, which could not be made immediately with finners, was made with Chrift the la/t Adam, their head and reprefentative, mediating between God and them ; therefore called Jefus the Mediator of the new co- venant, to whom we come by believing, Heb. xii. 22. 24. The term Mediator is not, to my obfervr.tion, applied in the holy fcripture to any other, except Mofes, Gal. iii. 19. The law — was trdained by angels in the hand of a me- diator. And of him, a typical mediator, it is worth ob- ferving, that he was not only an inter-meffenger between God and Ifrael ; but, in God's renewing his covenant, m a way of reconciliation, after the breaking of the tables, the covenant was made with him, as their head and repre- fentative, Exod. xxxiv. 27. And the Lord f aid unto Mofes, Write thou thefe words : for after the tenor of thefe words [ have made a, covenant with thee and with Ifrael. This re- fers unto the gracious anfwer made to Mofes's prayer, ver. 9. Pardon our iniquity and our fin, and take us for thine inheritance* Ver. 10. And he (namely, the Lord) fiid, N Behold, 14 The Parties in the Covenant of Grace. Head I. Behold^ I make a covenant : before all thy people I will do marvels, &c. Ver. 28. And he wrote upon the tables {to wit, the new ones) the words $f the covenant, the ten commandments. Now;, Mofcs was alone on the mount with God, during the whole time of this tranfa£tion ; and in it the Lord fpeaks of him and the people as one, all along. For clearing of this purpofe anent the party contractor on man's fide, 1 fha'l, 1. Evince, that the covenant of grace was made with Christ as the Ibl/1 Adam, head and repfefentative of a feed ; and, 2. Shew why it was fo made. Firf, Th?t the covenant of grace, the fecond covenant, was made with Chrift as the laft or fecond Adam, head and reprefentative of a feed, to wit, his fpiritual feed, appears from the following confederations. 1. Covenants typical of the covenant of grace were made or eftablifhed with perfons reprefenting their refpective feed. Thus it was in the typical covenant in our text, the covenant of royalty made with David, an undoubted type of the covenant of grace. In it David was God's fer- vent, having a feed comprehended with him therein, Pfal. Ixxxix. 3. 4. He was an eminent type of Chrift ; who is therefore called David, Hof. iii 5. Afterwards /hall the children of 'Ifrael return, andfeek the Lord their Gtd, and David their king. And the benefits of the covenant of grace are called the Jure mercies of David, If. Iv. 3. Thus was it alfo in the covenant of the day and night ( Jer. xxxiii. 20.) eftablifhed with Noah and his fons, reprefentatives of their feed, the new world, Gen. ix. 9. Behold, I eflablifb my covenant with you, and with your feed after y$u. And that this covenant was a type of the covenant of grace, appears from its being made upon zfacrifice, chap. viii. 20. 21. 22 ; and from the fign and token of it, the rainbow^ chap- ix. 13. appearing round a/out the throne, Rev. iv. 3. •, but efpecially from the nature and import of it, to wit, that there mould not be another deluge, Ge«. ix. II. ; the fubftance of which is plainly declared, If. liv. 9. As I have fworn that the waters of Noah fbould no more go over the earth ; fo have J fworn that I would not be wroth with thee, ntr rebuke thee. Ver. 10. For the mountains fl.mll depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindnefs (hall not depart j 1 om thee) neither fba-U the covenant of my peace be Of the Party contractor on Man's Side. 15 be removed, faith the Lord, that hath merry on thee. And fuch alfo was the covenant of the land if Canaan, made ■with Abraham representing his feed, Gen. xv. 18. and afterwards confirmed by oath, chap xxii. 16. 17. In all which he was an eminent type ot Guilt, the true Abra- ham, father of the multitude of the faithful, who, upon God's call, left heaven his native country, and came and fojourned among the curfed rac- of mankind, and there offered up his own fiefh and blood a facrihee unto God, and fo became the true heir of the worid % and received the promifes for his fpiritual feed ; the fum whereof is given by Zacharias, in his account of the covenant with Abraham, Luke i. 72 To remember his holj covenant: ver. 73. The oath which he [ware to our J at her Abraba>n^ ver. 74. That he ivould grant unto as, that -we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might ferve him without fear, ver, 75. in holinefs and righteoufnefs before him, all the days of %ur life. And finally, thus it was in the covenant of ez>er- lafing priefthood made with Phinehas, another type of the covenant of grace. In it Phinehas flood a reprefentative of his feed, Numb. xxv. 13. And he fhatl have it, and his feed after him. even tht covenant of an ever Lifting prieji- hood ; beciufe he was zejleus for his God, and made an a* tonement for the chiLiren oj Jfrael And therein he typified Jefus Chrift, reprefenting his fpiritual feed in the covenant of grace: for it is evident, that it is in Chrift, who made the great atonement for finners, the everlafting prieft- hood promifed to Phinehas, hath irs full accomplifbment, his fpiritual feed partaking of the fame in him ; according to Pfal. ex. 4. Thou art a Pried j or ever. Piev. i. 6. And hath made us kings and priefls unto God and his Father. Now, forafmuch as thefe typical covenants were made or eftablifhed with paities ftanding therein as public per- fons, heads, and reprefentatives of their feed; it natively follows, that the covenant of grace typified by them, was made with Chrift as the head and reprefentative of his fpi- ritual feed : for whatfoever is attributed to any .perfon or thing as a type, hath its accomplishment really and chief- ly in the perfon or thing typified. 2. Our Lord Jefus Chrift being, in the phrafeology of the Holy Ghoft, the lafl Adam, the reafon hereof cannot be 1 6 The Parties in the Covenant of Grace. Head I. be taken from the nature common to the firft Adam and him; for all mankind partake of that ; but from their . common office of federal headfhip and reprefentation, in the refpe&ive covenants touching man's eternal happinefs j the whrch is peculiar unto Adam, "and the man Christ. Accordingly, Adam is called thefirfi man, and Chrift the fecond man, i Cor- xtf. 47. ; hut Chrift is no other wife the jecond mmt, than he is the fecond federal head, or the re- prefentative in the fecond covenant ; as Adam was the firft federal head, or the reprefentative in the firft covenant. Agreeable to which, the apo'lle reprefents Adam as the head of the earthy men, and Chriil as the head of the heavenly men, ver. 48. ; the former being thofe who bear Adam's image, namely, all his natural feed -, the latter, rhofe who partake of the image of Chrift, namely, his fpiritual {ted, ver. 49. All this is confirmed from Adam's being 2. figure or type of Chrift, which the apoftle exprefs- ly afierts, Piom. v. 14 ; and from the parallel he draws betwixt them two, namely,- that as by Adam's covenant- breaking, Jin and death came on all that were his, io by Chrift's covenant keeping, righteoufnefs and life come to all that are his, ver. 17. 18. to. Wherefore, as the firit covenant was made with Adam, as the head and reprefen- tative of his natural feed ; fo the fecond covenant was made with Chrift, as the head and reprefentative of his fpiritual feed. 3. As the firft man was called Ad<.im, that is to fay, man ; he being the head and reprefentative of mankind, the perfon in whom God treated with all men, his natu- tal leed, in the firft covenant; and, on the other hand, all men therein tepiefented by h;m, do, in the language of the Holy Ghoft, go under the name of Adam, Pfal. xxxix. g. -II. Surely every man (in the original it is, all Adam) is vanity: fo Chrift bears the name of his fpiritual feed, and they on the other hand bear his name; a plain evi- dence of their being one in the eye of the law, and of God's treating with him as their reprefentative in the fe- cond covenant. Ifrael is the name of the fpiritual feed, -Rom. ix. 6. ; and our Lord Jefus Chrift is called by the fame name, If. xlix. 3. Thou art my fervant, Ifrael, in vjhom I vj Ul he glorified ; as feveral learned and judicious commentatois Of the Party-contraRor on Man's Side. 17 commentators do underftand it ; and is evident from the whole context, ver. I. 2.4. — 9. The truth is, Guilt is here fo oiled with a peculiar folemnity; for the original text It.mds precifcly thu<, Thou art my fervant „• IJrael, in ivhom I "will glorify my/elf : that is, thou art Ifr el repre- fentittvfy in whom I will glorify myfelf, and make all mine attributes illuftrious; as I was dilhonoured, and they darkened, by Ifracl the collective body of the fpiritual feed. And this lends us to a natural and unltrained interpreta- tion of that pafTige, Pfal. xxiv 6. This is the generation of them that feekhmi, that feek thy face, Jacob ; that is, in other words, that long for the appearing (Prov. vii 15. Gen. xxxii 30.) of the Mtffus, the Lord whom the Old Teftament church did fo feck; a pledge of whofe coming to his temple, (Mai iii. 1.), was the bringing in of the ark int^ the tabernacle that David had eretted for it, on which occafion that pfalm was penned. Accordingly it follows immediately, ver. 7. Lift up your heads, ye gates, and be ye lift up, je everlafting doors, and the King of glory (hall come in. And in another pfalm, penned on the fame occafion, and exprefsly faid to have been delivered on that very day into the hand of Afaph, 1 Chron. xvi. 1. 7. is that expreffion found, ver. 11. Seek his face continually ; juftly to be interpreted, agreeable to the circumftances of the main thing, which David, through the Spi it, liad in view that day, namely, the coming of the Meflias. Thus, Chrift bears the name of his fpiritual feed ; and they, on the o- ther hand, bear his name too : 1 Cor. xii. 12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body : fo afo is Chrift. 4. The promifes were made to Chrift as the fecond Adam, the head and representative of his feed : Gal. iii. 16. Aow to Abraham rs, in the new covenant, wherein the promife was to be lure, and not to mils of an accomplishment. They being then wholly a broken company, nor to be trufted in the matter, Jefus Chrift the Son of God was constituted head of the new covenant, to act for, and in name of the fpiritual feed : and that to the end, the covenant being in this manner i'ure in point of the fulfilling of the condition, might be alfo fure in point of the accompiifhmentof the promife. And this is the very hinge or" the ji ability of the covenant of grace, accoiding to the fcripture : Pfal. Ixxxix. 28. My mercy 11 The Parties in the Covenant of Grace. Head I. mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant Jt\iil ft and fast with him ver. 22 The enemy /lull not exact upon him; or, as others read it. and 1 think juftly, The enemy Jhall not beguile H PM namelv, as he did the firfl Adam The original phrafe i.^ elliptical q. d. The enemy /hall not beguile (his foul. Jer. xxxvii. q.) in him. Before I leave this point, 1 offer the following inference^ fiom ir. Inf. i. The covenant of redemption and the covenant of grace, are not two diftin£t covenants, but one and the fame covenant. I know that many divines do expiefs themfelves otherwife in this matter ; and that upon very different views, fome of which are no ways injurious to the doctrine of free grace. But this I take to be fcripture- truth, and a native confequent of the account given of the covenant of grace in our Larger Catechifm, to wit, •' That " the covenant of grace was made with Chiifr. as the fe- " cond Adam, and in him, with all the elect as his feed j ,c Gal. iii. 1 6. Now to Abraham and his feed were the •5 promifes made. He faith not, And to feeds, as of miny ; '* but as of one, And to thy feed, which is thrift Rom. «' v. 15 to the end. If. liii. 10. 11 When thou '* Jhalt mike his foul an offering for fin, he jhall fee his "feed, he fljall prolong his days, and the pleafnre of the ** Lord fhall profper in his hand. He /ball fee of the tra- " vel of his foul, and fhall be fatisfied," &c. So the cove- nant of redemption and the covenant of grace are but two names of one and the fame fecond covenant, under differ- ent confiderations. By a covenant of redemption, is meant a bargain of buying and felling ; and fuch a covenant it was to Chrifl only ; forafmuch as he alone engaged to pay the price of our redemption, 1 Pet. i 18. 19. By a cove-~ n wt of grace, is meant a bargain whereby all is to be had freely : and fuch a covenant it is to us only, to whom the whole of it is of free grace ; God himfelt having pro- vided the ranfom, and thereupon made over life and fal- ▼aiion to us, by free promife, without refpect to any work of ours, as the ground of our right thereto. To confirm this, confider, (1 ) That, in fcripture* reckoning, the covenants for life and happinefsto man are but two in number, whereof the covenant of works is one: Gal. Of the Party cent racier en Mai's Sile. 23 Gal. iv. 24. Tbefe are the two covenants ; the cue from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, namely, ge- nerating bond-children, excluded from the inheritance, v\r. 30. This is a aiftioguilhing character ot che covenant of works ; for /uch arc indeed the children of that covenant* but not the children of the covenant of grace under any difpenfation thereof Thefe two covenants are called tli^ old covenant, and the new covenant : and the old is called xhtjirjt, which fpeaks the new to be thefecond : Heb. viii. 13. In that he Juth, A new covenant, he hath made the firfl old. This is agreeable to the two ways unto life, re- vealed in the fcripture; the one by works, the other by grace, Rom. xi. 6 The one is called the law, the other grace, chap. vi. 14. The former is the law-covenant with the fir ft Adam reprefenting all his natural feed; made fit ii. in paradifc, and afterward repeated on mount Sinai, with the covenant of grace : the latter is the covenant of i ice, made with the Lcond Adam reprefenting his fpi- ritual feed, 1 Cor. xv. 47 48. (2.) It is evident that the falvation of finners is by the blood of the covenant, which is the blood of Chrill, lleb. x. 29. 1 Cor xi. 2?. And the fcripture mentions the blood of the covenant four times j but never the blood of the covenants ; therefore the cove- nant, the blood whereof the fcripture mentions, and our falvation depends upon, is but one covenant, and not two. Now, that covenant is Chrift's covenant, or the covenant of redemption ,• for it was through the blood of it he was brought again from the dead; namely, in virtue of the promife made iherein, to be fulfilled to him, upon his per- forming of the condition thereof, Heb. xiii. 20. And it is alfo his people's covenant, or the covenant of grace, Exod. xxiv. 8. Behold, the bLod of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you. It is exprefsly called their covenant, Ztch. ix. ii. As for thee alfo, by the blood o/thy cove- nant, I have fent forth thy prifoners out of the pit wherein is no water. The words exprefling the party here fpoke to, b ing of the feminine gender in the firit language, make it evident, that this is not directed to Chrift, but to the church ; fo the covenant is propofed as their covenant. And the fpiritual prifoners are delivered, in virtue of this their covenant, which certainly muft be the covenant of grace. 24 The Parties in the Covenant of Grace. Head I, grace. By all which it appears, that the covenant of grace is the very fame covenant that was made with Chrift, in reTp^cl: ot" whom it is called the covenant of redemption. Inf. 2. Likeas all mankind finned in Adam, fo belie- vers obeyed and fiffered in Chrift the fecond Adam For as, the covenant of works being made with Adam, as a public perfbn, and representative, t\\ finned in him, when he broke tha> covenant ; fo the covenant of grace being made with Chrifl, as a public perfon and repiefentative, all belie- vers obeyed andfi.ffered'm him, when he fo fulfilled this cove- nant This is the doctrine of the apoftle, Rom. v. 19 As by one man's difobedience many were made finners : Jo by the obedien e of one /ball many be made righteous, chap, viii. 3. Cod fending his own Son, in the likenejs of finful flefh, and for fin condemned fin in the fie fh; ver. 4. That the righ- teousness of the law might be fulfilled in us z Cor. v ili That we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Gal. ii. 20 / am crucified with thrift. And it affords a folid anfwer, for believers, unto the law's demand of obedience and fufrering for life and falvation. 3. Believers zxejujiified immediately, by the righteouf- nefs of Chiift, without any righteoufnefs of their own in- tervening ; even as all men are condemned, upon Adam's fin, before they have done any g:sd or evil in their own perions : Rom v. 18. As by the offence of one judgement came upon all men to condemnation : even fo by the righ- teoufnefs of one, the free gift came tipon all men untojufti* jication of iife. And thus believers are righteous be- fore God, with the felf fame righteoufnefs, which was wrought by Jefus Chrift, in his fulfilling of the cove- nant- The which lighteoufnefs is not imputed to them in its effects only; fo as their faith, repentance, and fincere obedience, are therefore accepted as their evangelical righ- teoufntfc, on which they aie juftified : but it is imputed to them in it/elf, even as Adam's fin was. 4. The covenant cf grace is abfolute, and not condi- tional, to us. For being made with Chrift, as reprefenta- tive of his feed, all the conditions of it were laid on him t and fulfilled by him. Wherefore all that remains of it to be accomplifhtd, is, the fulfilling of the promifes unto him and uio ipnituai feed : even as> it would have been, in the cafe Of the Party contractor on Man's Side. 25 cafe of the firft covenant, if once the firft Adam had fulfilled the condition thereof. 5 The covenant of grace is a contrivance of infinite ■wifdom and Ive, worthy to be embraced by poor finners, as well ordered in all things and lure, l Sam. xxiii. c. O admirable concrivarce of help for a defperate cafe ! Wonderful contrivance of a covenant of God, with them who were incapable of (landing in the prefence or his holineis, or of performing the leaft condition for life and falvation ! A new bargain for the relief of loft finners, made on the highcft terms with thofe who were not able to come up to the loweft terms ! Infinite wifdom found out the w iy, to wit, by a reprefentativc. The love of the Futher engaged him to propofe the reprefcntation ; and the love of the Son engaged him to accept of it. I hus God had one, with whom he might contract with the fafe- ty of his honour ; and who was able to fulfil the covenant, to the reparation of the injuries done to his glory: and finners alio had one able to a£t for them, and to puic.hafe falvation for them, at the hand of a holy juft God. So a fuie covenant was made, and a firm foundation laid, upon which God laid the weight of his honour, and on which finners may fafely lay their whole weight: Therefore thus faith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Z on a fare founda- tion : he that believeth, /hill not make ha/ie, If. xxviii. 16. /ball nof be afbamed, Rom ix. 33. 6. Lanly, The way to enter perfonally into the cove- nant of grace, fo as to partake of the benefits thereof, un- to falvation, is, to unite with Chrift the head of the cove- nant by faith. Being thus ingrafted into him, ye fhall partake of all that happinefs which is fecured to Chrift myltical, in the everlalting covenant : even as, through your becoming children of Adam, by natural generation, ye are perfonally entered into the firft covenant, fo as to fall under that fin and death which paffed upon all men, by the breach thereof, Rom. v. 12. III. Of the party coat rafted and undertaken for* A S the party- contractor and undertaker on man's fide, in the covenant of grace, wa» a reprefenta- Gov. II. D five; j6 The Parties in the Covenant of Grace. Head I. five ; fo the party contracted and undertaken for, was re- frefjntcd by him. And that thefe two, namely, the re- prefented, and thofe contratJcdjor, are of equal latitude, is plain from the nature of tne thing : for thpfe whom one represents in a covenant, he contracts for in that co- venant ; and thofe for whom one contract in a covenant made with him as reprefentative, are reprefented by him in that covenant.' Thus it was in the covenant of the fiifr. Adam, who was a figure of Chrift the head of the fecond covenant. In it, thofe whim Adam contracted for, he rrnrrft nted ; and thofe whom he reprefented, he c r, nrr;.ded fc>r : he reprefented his natural feed only, and foi ^iw aione he contracted: therefore thofe whom the fee oiid A am contracted lor, he reprefented ; and whom he re* relented, he contracted for. Now, the party reprefented and contracted for, by our Lord Jefus Chrilr, in the covenant of gr^ce, was the eLcl of mankind ,• being a certain number of niankind, cholen from eternity to everlaiting life ; children partakers of Gfjh and blood, which God gave to Chrift, Heb. ii. 13. 14. In their perfon he flood making this covenant wi.h his Father: in tbctr name he acted, finking this bargain with him, as a lurety to obey the law and fatisfy jultice. And this 1 flial!, in thefir/i pLce, confirm j and then fhall inquire how the elect were confidered in this cove- nant and federal reprefentation. Fir ft, That the eleel were the party reprefented, or con* tr '.tied and h-.idertaheu for, in the covenant of grace, ap- pears from the following grounds. 1. The paitv with whom the covenant was made, is in the text called God's Chofen; as reprefenting and contract- ing for all the chefen or elecl; : even as the firft man was called Adam or man, as reprefenting and contracting for allmanhhd, in his covenant. For, as the apoftle teach- eth, Heb ii. 11. he — and they — are all of one \ not only of one nature, but alfo of one body, to wit, the election : Chrift is the head elecl, If. xlii.'l. they the body elecl, Enh. v. 23. Therefore they go under one name, princi- pally belonging to him, and then to them by participation with him. Thus he is alfo called Abraham's feed, as re- piefentir.g all the fpirituai feed of Abraham, that is, the •lett, Of the Party ccntraclcd and undertaken for. 1 7 elect, Gal. iii \6. And to thy feed, which if C^ri ' ; and the jet 1 of the woman, as oppofed to the jerpent's feed i and under th.xt name alio the elect are comprehended ; they, and they only, being the p..rty betwixt whom and the ferpent with hi^ feed, God puts the enmity, according to the promife, Gen. ill 15. 2. Thofe whom Chrift reprefented and contracted for in the covenant of grace, are the heavenly men : 1 Cor. xv 47. 48. Thejirfl man is of the e irth, earthy 1 the /e- cond man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, fuch art they alfo th t arc earthy: and as is the heavenly, fuch are they alfo that are heavenly. Now, the heavenly men, belonging to Chrift the fciontl man, are none other but the elecl. For they are contradiflinguifhed to the earthy men, belonging to thefir/t man; to wit, all mankind taken in- to the firtt covenant in Adam : and therefore they are the elecl men, taken into the fecond covenant, in the ferond Adam. Again, the heavenly men are thofe who [hall bear the image of the heavenly man Chrift, ver. 49. ; and fuch are the elect, and they alone. And, finally, they are thofe to whom Chrift is, in refpect of efficacy, a quickening fpirit : for as is the heavenly, fuch are they alfo that are heavenly. As Adam's deadly efficacy goes as wide as his reprefentation did in the firft covenant, reaching all man- kind his natural feed, and them only \ io Chrilt's quicken- ing efficacy goes as wide as his reprefentation did in the fecond covenant, reaching all the elecl, his fpiritual feed, and them only : and if it did not, fome would be deprived cf the benefit, which was purchafed and paid for, by the Surety, in their name ; the which is not confident with the juftice of God. 3. They whom Chrift reprefented and contracted for in the covenant, are his feed, his fpiritual feed : Gal. iii. 16. Novj to Abr*. ham and his feed were the promifes made. He faith And to thy feed, which is Chrift. Pfal. lxxxix. 3. 4. I have fworn unto David my fervant. Thy feed will 1 ejtablifh for ever. In the covenants typical o( the cove- nant of grace, the parties reprefented were the feed of the rcprefentatives they were made with, 2ss was cleared be- fore : and in the firft Adam's covenant, his natural feed were the reprefented. Wherefore, in the fecond A dam's D 2 covenant, 28 The Parties in the Covenant of Grace. Head I. covenant, his fpiritual fedd are the reprefented. Now, Chrift's fpiritual feed are the eletl, and none other ; for they are thofe whom he begets with the -word cf truth, James i. 18. and are born again (i Pet. i. 23.) unto him in their regeneration ; whom therefore he fees 'as his feed, with his own image on them, If. liii. 10. They are the travel of his foul, who fooner or later are, all of them, ju/lified, ver u. They are the feed that shall ferve him, Pud. xxii. 30. ; which (hall be eflablifocd and endive for ever, namely, in a ftate of happinefs, Pfal lxxxix. 4. 29. 36 4. L-iflly, Chrilt was in the covenant of grace Ifrael re- pre/efifative, accoiding to that text, If xlix. 3 Thou art my fervant, Ifrael, in whom I will be glorified Now, Ifiael the collective body, is the eledt., Rom. ix. 6 They are not all Ifrael which are of Ifrael : therefore the eletl were the party reprefented and contracted for in the cove- rant. So thofe whom Cnrilt took with him into the bond of his covenant, are deiciibed to be the feed of Abraham t Heb ii. 16. For verily he took not on him the nature of Angels ; but he took on him the feed of Abraham : or rather, as it is read in the margin of our Bibles, more agreeable to the original, He taketh not hold of angels, but of the feed of Abraham he taketh hold. The original word fignifies to take hold of a thing running away, or falling down ; and in the fame manner of conltrudtion, i is ufed of ChriiVs catching hold ot Peter finking in the water, Matth. xw. 31. Fallen angela and men were both run away from God, and finking in the fea of his wrath : and Chrilt, with the bond of the covenant, takes hold of men ,• but not cf the fallen angels ; them he leaves to fink unto the bottom. All the fted of Adam was finking, as well as the^ci of Abraham, which is but a part of the feed of Adam, even fame of all mankind : but Chiift is not faid 4 have t^ken hold of the feed of Adim, that is, all mankind ; but of the fed of Abraham, that is, all the eletl, or the fpiritual Ifrael, c^etl the houfe cf Jacob, Luke i 33. Accordingly it is cbie:vable, that the fir ft time the covenant of grace was heard cf in the world, the difcourfe was diiedled to the ferpent, by way of narration, Gen iii. 14 15.; not to Adam, ai the firit covenant was, chap. ii. 16. 17. that Adam Of the Party contrdtled and undertaken for. 29 Adam might know, he was to come in here as a private perfon only, anil not as a public pcrfon with hi6 feed. And for this caufe alfo, our Lord Jefus is not fimply call- ed Adam, or man ,• but the Lift A ' iam, and the fecond m,in t whofe feed differs from that of the firji man, as Abraham's ft ed from Adam' s feed •. but he is fimply called Ifrael, with- out any epithet at all; and his Jeed is plainly determined to be the eUEl, If. xlv. 25. In the Lord fhall all the feed of Ifrael be juftified ; even as in the firft man all the feed of Adam was condemned, Rom. v. 18. For as the firft man was (imply called Adam or man, becaufe in the firft cove- nant, he was a compend of all mankind ,• he was all men in law-reckoning, they being all reprefented by him : fo Jefus Chrilt was a compend of all Ifrael, th*t is, all the eletl; he was all Ifrael in law- reckoning, they being all reprefented by him. And thus we have the true ground of the univerfality of that expreflion, If. liii. 6. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all ; i e. of all Ifrael t that is to lay, ail the eletl. The which is confirmed by a parallel text, bearing the type, whereof this hath the an- titype, viz Lev xvi 21. And Aaron /hall lay both his hands upon the head of the live-goat , and confefs over him all the iniquities of the children of Ifrael, and all their tranfgrejfiom in all their fins, putting them upon the head cf the goat. For as Ifrael was a people entertained with types, fo they themfelves were indeed a typical people. Secondly, We are to inquire, how the eledt were con- fidered in this covenant and lederal reprefentation. And therein they came under a threefold conlideration. 1. They were confidered as finners, loft, ruined, and undone in Adam ; lojt Jheep of the houfe of Ifrael, Matth. xv. 24. In the firft covenant, the whole flock of man- kind was put under the hand of one fhepherd, to wit, Adam -, but he, Jofing himfelf, loft all the flock, and was never able to recover fo much as one of them again. God had, from all eternity, put a fecret mark on tome of them, whereby he diltinguifhed them from the reit, 2 Tim. ii. 19- Having this fealf The Lord knowcth them that are his. And them alfo he faw among others, gone away from their pafture, wandering as waifs and ftrays, a prey to every devourer: but, in order to their being fought out, and re- turned, 30 The Parties in the Covenant of Grace* Head I. turned, and kept in fafety for ever J the new covenant was entered into wi.h another Shepherd, even our Lord Jefus Chriit; and they are put under his hand^ as the Shepherd ef Ifrael. In Adam's reprefentation in the covenant of ■works, the party reprefented was confidered as an upright feed, Eccl vii. 29. : but in Chrifr's reprefentation, in the covenant of grace, the party reprefemed was confidered as a corrupt finful mafs, laden with guilt, under the wiath of God and curfe of the law And who would have re- prefented fuch a company, putting himfelf in their room and Itcad ? But free love engaged our Lord Jefus to it. So the holy One of God reprefemed wretched finners ; the beloved of the Father rep: e fen ted the curfed company. 2. They ftcr- confidered aifo as utterly unable to help themfelves, in ^ hole or in part; as being without /irength, Rom v. >1 and finnvrs, without reparation of di ma es d.me to the honour of God through tin ; and without Honouring of the holy l.uv, by an exact obedience: but thefe things being quite beyond their re:ch, Chrift the S01 of God faith, " Lo, I com** 1 am content to take their place, " ana put myfelf in their roam, as afecond 4fam. n Now, the effect of this was, that hereby he was con iti t need la/l Adam^ or the ftcood Man, 1 Cor. xv. 47. and_?J7 ill Mediator, or Mediator in rcfpecl of office* between God and man, 1 Tim ii. 5. 6. There is one God* a': I me Mediator bet-ween God and men , the nun Chriji Jefttl t who gave himfelf a r\nf,m. for all. Being called of his Father unto that office, and having embraced the call thereto, he was inveited with the office, and treated with as fuch, before the world began t Tit. i. 2. And in- deed he, and he only, was fit for it. The two families of heaven and earth being at war, there could be no peace between them, but through a mediator. But where could a mediator be found, to interpofe between fuch parties, who would not either have been too high t ot elfe too low y in refpecW of one of the parties at variance ? Man or angel would have been too few, in refpe£f. of God\ and an unv ailed God would have been too high, in refpecl of fin- ful vie'i, unable to bear intercourfe with fuch heavenlv majefty. Wherefore, the Son of God, that he might be fit to mediate ; as he being God equal with the Father, was high enough in refpect of the party ojf ended \ fo he conf. nted to become low enough, in refpect of the party of ending, by his becoming miri. Secondly, it is to be inquired, How the covenant was made with Chri/l a: fecajid /LLxm ? And this alio may be taken up in two things. 1. The 4© The Making of the Covenant if Grace. Head it. T. The Father defigned a certain number of loft man- kind, as it were by name, to be the conftituent members of that body chofen to life, of which body Chrift was the defigned head ; and he gave them to him for that end : Phil. iv. 3. My fellow -labourers, ivhofe names are in the bock of life. John xvii. 6. Thine they were, and thou ga* ve/l them me. Thefe were a chofen company, whom fo- vereign free grace picked out from among the reft of man- kind, on a purpofe of love, and gave to the fecond Adam for a feed ; on which account they are faid to have been chofen in him, Eph. i. 4. ; being in the decree of election l.*id upon him as the foundation- ftone, to be built upon him, and obtain falvation by him, 1 Theff. v. 9 ; which decree, as it relates to the members -tied) is therefore call- ed the book of life ; being, as it were, the roll which the Fa- ther g?vc to tie fond Adam, the head'tltck, containing the »■ mes of thole defigned to be his feed, to receive life by h: n. Now,' our Lord Jefus Handing 2s fecond Adam, head of the election, to wit, fuch as fovereign pleafure fhould pitch upon to be veffels of mercy, did accept of the gift, of tie particular perfons elected or chofen by his Father : John xvii. 6. Thine they were, and thou gaveft them me. Ver. 10. And thine are mine. Likeas the jirfl Adam, in the making of the jirji covenant, flood alone without ac- tual iffue, yet had defiinated for him a numerous iffue, to be comprehended with him in that covenant, to wit, all mar.kind ; the which Adam did at leaft virtually accept : fo a certain number of loft mankind being elected to life, God, as their original proprietor, gave them to Chrift the appointed bead, to be his members, and comprehended with him in the fecond covenant, though as yet none of them were in being , and he accepted of the gift of them, being well pleafed to take them in particular, for his body myftica], for which he fhould covenant with his Father. And, in token thereof, he, as it were, received and kept as his own, the book of life containing their names, which is therefore called the Lamb's book of life, Rev. xxi. 27. 2. The Father propefed to him as fecond Adam, the new covenant for life and falvation to them, in the full tenor, promifs, and condition thereof; treating, in him y with all thefe The Making of the Covenant of Grace. 41 thefe particular peifons of loft mankind, elected unto life, and give" to him, even as he treated with all mankind, in Adam, in the fir ft covenant. The prom ifes therein propo- fe I c mankind, bj r , rnme elecljd to life, and given to him as his fphitual feed, entered into the feiond covenant with hib F.ither-, Accepting the prbmifes thereof, upon ine term: and condition therein propoied ; consenting and engaging to fulfJ the fame, for* them. And thus the covenant grace was made, and Concluded, betwixt the Falhrr, and Ch;i,t ihcfeiond A I ?ii, from all eternity; being the fe- cond covenant, in reipeel of or -er and manifefiation to the woild, though it was firlt in being: 1 Ccr. xv. 47. The fecond man is the Lord from heaven. If. liii. 10. IVhen thou jb alt make his foul an offering for fin, he /hall fee his feed. Tit. i. 2- In hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie, promi/ed before the world began. Pfal. xl. 6. Sacrifice and offering thou did; not dejire, mine ears hafi thou opened 7 Then faid /, Lo, I come 8. / de- light to do thy willy my God : yea, thy law is within my heart. Now, Chtift the fecond Adam, giving this confent, took upon him a threefold characler, of unparallelled weight and importance; fifting himfelf, (1.) The Kin/man re- deemer in the covenant, (2.) The Surety of tht covenant, and (}.) The Priejl of the covenant. The mediation of Chrilt doth indeed run through the whole of the covenant. And there are fevered other parts of that mediation, which relpe£ting the promijes of the covenant, do belong to the admini ft ration thereof. But thefe I have now mentioned, do refpeel the condition of the covenant, and fo beh g to the making thereof ; under which head we fhall confider them in order. Co v. II. F I. Chrijt 42 The Mdking of the Covenant of Grace. Head II. I. Chrift the Kin/man- redeemer in the Covenant. OUR Lord Jefus Chrift, the fecond Adam, giving his confent to the covenant, as propofed to him by the Father, filled himfelf Kinfm ■ n-redeemer in the covenant : Job xix. 25 / know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he Jhall (land at the latter day upon the earth. Under the law, when a man was not able to at~l for himfelf, to affert and ufe his own right, one that was akin to him, had a right to ac~t for him, coming in his room, and ftanding up in his right And fuch a one was called his Goel ', which properly fignifies a kin/man- redeemer. Hence that word is fometimes rendered a kin/man ; as Num. v, 8. If the man have no (Goel) kin/man to recom- fenfe the trefpafs unto. Piuth iii. 11. I am thy (Goe!) near kin/man : howbeit there is a (Goel) kin/man nearer than I. Sometimes it is tendered a redeemer; as Prov. xxiii. 11. Their (Goel) Redeemer is mighty. If. xlvii. 4. As for our (Goel) Redeemer, the Lord of hefts is his name. One's acting in that capacity is called doing the kmfman's party or redeeming, to wit, by right ot kin, Ruth iii. 13. and iv. 6. Howbeit, fuch a one might reiufe to do the kinfman's part ; as l\uth's kinfman- redeemer did, who re- figned his right to Boaz, and in token thereof drew off his ovtn fboe, and gave it him, Ruth iv. 6 7 i$. Now, Chrift the fecond Adam faw finners, his ruined kinfmen, quite unable to a£t, for them/elves. Not one of them all was able to redeem himfelf, and far lefs his bro- ther. Withal, the angels, near akin to them in the rational world, durft not meddle with the redemption , being lure they could not have miffed to mar their own inheritance thereby, nor have delivered their poor kinfmen neither. If he fhould have declined it, and drawn oft- his /hoe to them, or to any other of the whole creation, there was none who ciuift have ventured to receive it, or put his foot in it. / looked, faith he, and there was none to help ; and 1 won- dered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought falvation. If. lxiii. 5. He took on himfelf the character of their Kinfman- redeemer ; and of him as fuch Job fpeaks in the forecited paffage, which I conceive to be thus c^preffed in the original. / know t my Kinjman-redetmcr liveth ; Chri/l the Kinfman- re Jcrmer in the Covenant. 43 livcth .■ and the litter one s he /ball (land up upon the duff. In which words, Job comforts himfelf with a view of Christ, as his Ktnfmttti»tediemer living, even in his day, in refpect of bis divine nature ; and as the litter or fecdnd one, (in oppofition to the former or firft, Exod. iv. 8. 9. Dt-ut. xuv. 3. 4.), namely, the latter or fecond Adam Redeem- er, in oppofition to the former or firft Adam destroy- er; firmly believing, that the one, uniting to himfelf a human nature, fhould as fure ft and up upon the dujl of the earth, and do the kin/man's part for him ; as the other, having the breath of life breathed into his noftriis, flood up upon it, and ruined all. Now, there were four things the kin/man- redeemer was to do for his kinfman, unable to act. for himfelf; all which Chrift the fecond Adam undertook in the covenant. I. He was to marry the -widow of his deceafed kinfman, to raife up feed to his brother. Hereof Boaz was put in mind by Ruth, chap, iii 9. I am Ruth thine handmaid ; fpread therefore thyjlirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinfman. Compare ver. 10. — 13. chap. iv. 10. and Ezek. xvi. 8. I fpread myfkirtover thee — and thou be- camejl mine. Our nature was in a comfortable and fruit- ful condition, while the image of God, imprefled there- upon in Adam, remained with it ; but that image being removed, in the fpiritual death caufed by his fin, there en- fued an abfolute barrennefs, as to the fruits of holinefs, in our nature thus left. But our Kinfman- redeemer consent- ed to marry the widow: Being to take to himfelf a human nature, he undertook to take on our human nature in par- ticular, taking his flefh of Adam's family Thus was it provided, that his body fhould not be made of nothing, nor of any thing whatfoever, that was not derived from Adam as its original. It was a low mitch indeed for him; and would have been fo, even if the family of Adam had been in its primitive ftate and fplendour ; but now it was confidered as in the depth of poverty and difgrace- Yet, being neceffary for our redemption, he confented thereto, as our Kinfman' redeemer. Accordingly, in the fulnefs of time, he was made of a woman, a daughter of Adam's fa- milv, Gal. iv. 4. and fo was a fon of Adam, Luke iii. 23. 38. Thus was a foundation laid for the mylticai F 2 ftiarria^« 44 The Making of the Covenant of Grace. Head II. marriage of believers with him ; which myflical mar- riage doth not belong to the condition and making of the covenant, properly fo called, but to the promife and admi' nijlration of it, being a Tinner's perfonal entrance therein- to. And the great end, in fubordination to the glory of God, for which this more intimate union and match with cur nature was gone into by our Kin/man-redeemer, was to render it yet again fruitful in the fruits of true holinefs t and without it, our nature had foi ever remained under ab~ folute barrenncjsy in that point, even as the nature, of fallen angels doth 2. He was to redeem the mortgaged inheritance of his poor kinfrnan : Lev. xxv. 25. If thy brother be -waxen poor % and hath fold away fame of his pojfefjion', and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then Jhall he redeem that which his' brother fold : or rather, then fhall come in his kin/man-re- decrner y that is near unto him , and he (hall redeem that 'which his brother fold. Our father Adam waxing pcor % through the deceitful dealing of the tempter with him, quite foldaxuay the inheritance of eternal life y for a morfel of forbidden fruit : and his children waxen more poor dill, through their own perfonal fault, had let themfelves far- ther and farther from it. They could not have raifed, a* mongft them all* what would have redeemed fo much as one man's part of it. Howbeit, without it was redecmed t they could never have had accefs to it. Wherefore the Jecond Adam, as Jfinfman- redeemer , took the burden of the redemption on himfelf, and agreed to pay the price of that purchafe ', dying for us x that -we might live together u/iih htm, 1 ThefT. v. 10 3. He was to ranfom his poor kinfrnan in bondage, pay- ing the price of his redemption : Lev. xxv. 47. If — thy brother — wax poor-, and ftl I himfelf — ver. 48. After that he is. fold y he may be redeemed again ; one of his brethren may redeem, him. Ver. 52.- — according unto his years ft hall be give him again the price of his ademption. Being fold, in the loins of our firu 1 father, we were brought into bon- ciige under the curfe of the law. So we are by nature the Uvf s bondriieiij and confequently flaves to fin and Satan ; never to have been relcafed without a ranfom^ the full wenh, Qi to. many fouls.. This ranfom was ftated in the covenant - a Chrift the Kinfman- redeemtr in the Covenant. 45 covenant ; to wit, That the Kin/man- redeemer fhould give btm/elj a rar.fm for hib poor kinfmen : and he agreed to it, lor purcbafing their liberty, 1 Tim. ii. 5. 6. The lanibm was great, foul for foul, body for body ; a perfon of infinite dignity, for his poor kinfmen in bondage. But he confenced to take on him the form of a Jcrvanl, that tbey might be fee free ; to have his ear bored at the law's door-/ 0/1, that they might be delivered out of their bondage, 4. Laftly, fie was to avenge the blood of his Jldin kinf- man on the flayer : Deut. xix. 1 2. 777* elders of his city Jballfend and /etch him thence, and deliver him into the- hiind cf the (Goel] avenger of blood, that he may die. Our K'.njman redeemer faw all his poor kindred Jlain men. And the devil was the murderer, John viii. 44. He had mini- itered poifon to them in the loins of their firft parent ; yea, he had fmitten them to death, killed them with an arrow (hot through the eye. But no avenger of their blood could be fjur.d, till the fecond Adam, as their Kinfman- redeemer, did, in the fecond covenant, undertake the a- venging of it. Mean while, the murderer had the power of death, Heb. ii. 14 ; and the fling of death is fin, and the ftrength if fin is the law, 1 Cor. xv. 56. Wherefore, there was no dif arming and deflroying of the murderer, without taking the /ling out of death which he had the power of. And that was not to be done, but by remo- ving the guilt of fin, whereby fmners were bound over to death : neither was this to be done, but by Satisfying the law, whofe awful fanttion of death ftrongly kept fail the guilt of death on the finners. Thefe were the iron gates to be broke through, ere the Kinfman- redeemer, the aven- ger of blood, could get at the murderer. But the mighty liedeemer undertook, by his own death and Sufferings, to Satisfy the law ; and by that means to remove the Jlrcngth of fin ,• and by this means again, to take away the fting of death : and fo by his own death to dejlroy the mur- dcrer, that had the power of death; and thus to avenge the blood of h'ibfain kinfmen upon him, Heb. ii. 14. bo did Samfon, a type of our Kinfman- redeemer, avenge Ifrael of the Phililtines their opprefibrs, pulling down the houfe on the Philiflines, and dying himfelf to deftroy them, Judg. xvu II. Chrifl 45 The Making cf the Covenant of Grace. Head II. II. Chrifl the Surety of the Covenant, CHRIST, the fecond Ad 'am, conferring to the cove- nant, filled himfdf alfo Surety of it : Heb. vii. 22. By fo much was Js/tu nude afurety of a better tejtament \ or rather, as others read it, of a better covenant. Afure- ty is one who undertakes for another, obliging himfelf whether for paying his debt, civil or criminal, or for his performing a deed. J hat we may then rightly understand Chart's fureti/bip, it is nectflfafy we confider, 1. For whom, 2. For what, he became furety in the covenant. Firfty For whom Chri/i became furety in the covenant. I find two things advanced on this head, namely, (1.) That he became furety for God to fmners ; and (2.) Surety for sinners to "God/. To the firrt of thefe, the Socinians re- ftrain ChriiYs fureti/hip, denying the fecond ; and fo 0- verthrow the foundation of our falvation. But all ortho- dox divines agree, in that the fecond of thefe is the main thing in ir. Some of them indeed make no difficulty of admitting, that Chriit became furety for God to finners, as well as furety /or finners to God ; undertaking, on God's part, that ail the promifes fhall be made good to the feed, even to all that believe. There is no queftion, but God's promiies are, in refpect of his infallible truth and veracity, moit firm zn&fure in themfelves, and cannot mifs to be performed: but we, being guilty creatures, are flow ef heart to believe ; and therefore do need what may make them more Jure to us, or afiure our hearts they fhall be performed to us. And for this caufe, he hath given us his word of prornife under his hand, in the holy fcriptures; and an earneji of the promifed inheritance, Eph. i. 14. ; the feal of the Spirit, ver 13. 2 Cor. i. 22. ; the facramcn- tal feali ', Rom. iv. 11.; yea, and his folemn oath too, in the matter, tofhew unto the heirs of prornife the immuta- bility of his cmnjtl, Heb. vi. 17. And if Jefus Chrift is furety for God to us, it is no doubt for the fame end. But I doubt, if the holy fcripture calls Chrift a furety in that fenfe at all. In the forecited paffage, Heb. vii. 22. the only text wherein Chrift is exprefsly called zjurety, it is evident^ that his juretifbip therein mentioned, refpects his Chrijl the Surety cf the Covenant. 47 his pricflly office, wherein he deals with God for us : ver. 20. And in as much as nU -aitbcut an oath he was made priejl, 21. ( by him that fat J unto him, The Ljrd /■ware, and will not repent, Tbju art a priefl for ever after the order of Mekhiftdec ) ver. 22. By fa much was Jefus made afurcty of a better tejlament. But his furetijhip for Cod to us, cannot relate to his priejily ojue, but to his kingly office, in rtfpetl of which all power ib given to him in heaven and in earth ; and confequcntly a power to fee that all the promifes be performed to his people And therefore his furetijhip mentioned in that text, ib/or us to God, and not for God to us. It is but in other two texts only, as far as 1 have obferved, that we read ol furetijhip, relative to the cafe between God and a iinner : and in both or them, the furetijhip is not to the (inner, but for him. They are Pfal. cxix. 122 Be furety for thy fervant for good ,• and Job xvii. 3. Put me in a furety with thee. The original pluafeology or expiefkon, is the fame in thelatrtr text as in the former ; and the fame in them both, as in the cafe of Judah's furetijhip for Benjamin, to his father, Gen. xliii. 9 and xliv. 32. Now, unlefs the facred ora- cles go before us, in propoGng Chrifl. as a furety for God to us, I fee no reafon, why the being of fuch a thing at all fhould be yielded to the adverfaries, who mvke fuch a pernicious ufe of it. As for the comfort that might arife from it to us, the fame is fully fecured, in that the whole adminifi ration of the covenant is committed into the hand of our Lord Jefus Chrift ; zv.d he is the Tru/iee and Tefla- tor of the covenant or covenant benefits ; as fhall be fhown in the due place. But, without all peradventure, Chrifl: the Mediator and fecond Adam, became furety^ in the covenant, for finners to God; as the fcriptures do abundantly declare: Pfal. lxxxix. 19. I have laid help upon one that is mighty. 1 Tim. ii. 5. One Mediator between God and men, the man Chrifi Jefus ; ver. 6. Who gave himjef a ranfmfor alL 2 Cor. v. 21. He hath made him to be fin for us, who knew 120 fin. If. liii. 6. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity cf us all. Gal. iii. 13. Chrijl Lith redeemed us from the curfe cf the law, being made a curfe for us. If. liii. 5. lie was wound- ed for our tranfgrcj/isr.s, he was bruifed for our iniquities* The 48 The Making of the Covenant of Grace. Head II. The covenant of grace was made with the fpiritual feed, irt Chrift, the fecond Adam., taking burden for them upon himfelf as their furety. And without z furety it cotld not have been made with them. For they were a company of broken men, owing a thoufard times moie than- they were all worth : and their word in a new bargain for life and falvation was worth nothing ; there could be no regard had to it in heaven. There was neither truth nor ability left them, after the fir ft covenant was broken. Behold their character in point of truth or veracity, Rom. iii. 4. Let God be true t but every man a liar : and in point of ability^ chap. v. 6. When we were yet without ft rength, in due time Chrift died for the ungodly. The demands in this covenant were high, and quite above their ability to an- fiver : and bsfides, they themfelves were falfe and fickle. They brake their word in the firfi covenant, when able to have kept it \ hew could they be trufted in this new bar* gain, when their ability was gone ? 80 there was an ab- folute neceffity of a furety for them in it. And jei'us Chrift became furety for them : fo the new covenant, on which depends all their falvation, was made, and made fure. Salomon tells us, That he that is furety for a fir anger i fhall fmart for it : and he that hateth fureti/bip, is Jure y Prov. xi. 15. Our Lord Jefus knew very well, the burden he took on himfelf in his furetifhip for finneis ; the cha- racter of thofe whom he became furety for j and that he could have no relief from them : but his love to his Father's glory, and the falvation of finners, engaged him in it* being perfe£fly fure to fmart for it, as will appear from confideiing, Secondly^ For what he became furety in the covenant. Suretifhipy in refpetV. of the fubjecl:- matter of it, is of two forts. 1. There is a fureti/bip for paying one's debt : Prov. xxii. 26. Be not thou one" of them that jirike hands % or of them that are fureties for debts. 2. A fureti/bip for one's performing of a deed: chap xx- 16. Take his garment that is furety for a fir anger ; and take a pledge of him for a fir :nge woman : that is, of him who is furety for htr goon behaviour ■, for fhe will leave him in the lurch. Now, our Lord's furetifhip for finners was of the firft fort. Chrift as the Jecond Mam t confenting to the cove- nant, Chrift the Surety of the Covenant. 43 riant, fifled himfelf/i/rrfv for the debt of the feed repe- fented by him. Their delft was f by God's etcrn.il fore- knowledge) dated from the broken covenant of -Lorkr, in the whole latitude of the demands it bad on them : and he became furety for it, (biking hands with his Father to pay it completely And, c. He became///rvfy for their debt $f pun i/bmen t, which thev, as finners, were liable in payment of, as the original phrafeth it, 2 Theff. i. 9. That was the debt owing to the divine juftice, for all and everv one of their fins, original or a£tual. The demerit of their fins, as offences againft an infinite God, was an infinite punifhment. They were liable to bear che pains of death, in the full latitude there- of; to fuffer the force of revenging wrath, to the com- plete fatisfablion of infinite jttftice, and full reparation of God's injured honour. This was their debt of punifhment : a debt which they themfelves could never have cleared, though paying to the utmoft of their power, through ages of eternity. But this their debt Chrift became furety for, obliging himfelf to lay down his life for theirs % which was loft in law : Pfal. zL 6. 7. Sacrifice and offering thou didjl not defire y mine ears hafl thou opened. Then f aid /, Lo, J come. John x. 15. I lay down my life for the fheep. ver. 18. I lay it down of my fe If : I have power to lay it down , and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. Here is a furetifbip that never had a match ! David, in a tranfport of grief for the death of his fon Abfalom, wiftyes he had died for him, 1 Sam. xviii. 33. ; Pveuben will venture the life of his two fons for Benjamin, Gen. xlii. 37.; and Judah will venture his own for him, chap, xliii. 9. while yet there was hope that all would be fafe : But our Lord Jefus deliberately pledgcth his own life for finners, when it was beyond all pei adventure, the precious pledge would be loft in the caufe, and that the death he would fuffer, would be a thoufand deaths in one. Some have offered themfelves fureties in capital caufes, and embraced death, for their country ax friends 1 and per adventure for a good man fomc would even dare to die. But Cod commendeth his love to- wards us, in that while we were yet finners^ (and ene- mies ), Chrift died for us } Rom. v. 7. 8. 10. Co v. II. G Now, 50 The Making of the Covenant of Grace* Head IT« Now, in the fecond Adam's furetifhip for the criminal debt of his fpi ritual feed, there was not an enfuring of the payment thereof one way or other, only ; as in fimple cautionry : but there was an exchange of perfons in law j Chrift fubftituting himfelf in their room, and taking the ■whole obligation on himfelf This the free grace of God the creditor did admit, when he might have infifted, that the foul that finned fhould die : and, a delay being withal granted as to the time of the payment, God thus mani- fested his forbearance, celebrated by the apoftle, Rom. iii. 25. And, in virtue of that fubftitution, Chrift became debtor in law, bound to pay that debt which he contracted not ; to re/iore that -which he took not away, Pfal. lxix. 4. For, becoming furety for them, to the end there might be laid a foundation, in law and juftice for exacting their debt of punifhment from him, their guilt was transferred on him, If. liii. 6. The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. This was pointed at, in the laying of the hand on the head of the facrifices under the law, efpecially on the head of the fcapegoat, Lev. xvi. 21. And Aaron fhall lay both his hands upon the head of the live~goat, and con~ fefi over him all the iniquities of the children of Ifrael, and all their tranfgreffions in all their fins, putting them upon, the head of the goat- All the fins of all the eleel: were at once imputed to the Surety, and fo became his, as his righteoufnefs becomes ours, namely, in law-reckoning, 2 Cor. v. n. For he hath made him to be fm for us, "who knew no fin ; that we might be made the righteoufnefs of God in him. And he himfelf fpeaks fo of them, Pfal. xi. 12. Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, as feveral valuable interpreters do underftand it, according as the apoftle gives us direction, determining Chrift himfelf to be the fpeaker in this pfalm, Heb. x. 5.6. 7. He was in- deed without fin inherent in him; but not without fin imputed to him, till in his refurretlion he got up his dif- charge, having cleared the debt by his death and fuffer- ings. Then was he jujiified in the Spirit, 1 Tim. iii. 16. and fo fhall appear the fecond time, without fin, Heb. ix. 28 -, the fin which was upon him, by imputation, the fir ft time he appeared, being done away at his refurre£tion. 1, his relation of our fin to Chrift, is neceffary from the nature Chriji the Surety of the Covenant, $i nature of furetiflAp for debt ; in which cafe, no body doubts but the debt becomes the furcty's, when once he hath ftricken hands for it. And how elfe could the law have /ii/ily proceeded againft Chrift ? How could our pu- ni/hvicnt have been, in ju/fice, inflicted on him, if he had rot had fuch a relation to our fin r If the law could not charge out Jin on him, in virtue of his own voluntary undertaking, it could have no ground in jufiice to inflict our puntjhment on him. 2. He became furety for their debt of ditty or obedience t the which alio is a debt according to the ftyle of the holy fcripture, Gal. v 3. A debtor to do the -whole law. The law as a covenant of works, though it was broken by them, and they had incurred the penalty thereof, yet had neither loft its right, nor ceafed to exact of them the obe- dience which at fir ft it required of man. as the condition of life. They were (till bound to per/eel obedience, and on no lower terms could have eternal life, as our Lord taught the lawyer for his humiliation, Luke x. 28- Thou hajt anfwered right ■. this do, and thoujhait live. The paying of the debt of pumjhment, might f.itisfy as to the penalty of the bond : but there is yet more behind, for him who •will meddle in the affairs of the broken company. How fhall the principal fum therein contained, be paid; namely, the debt of obedience to the law, for life and falvaiion ? The honour of God could not allow the quitting of it : and they were abfolutely unable to pay one mite of it, that would have been current in heaven ; forafmuch as they were without Jlrength, Rom. v. 6. and dead in tref- paffes and fins, Eph. ii. I. quite as unfit for the doing part, as for the filtering part. But Chrift became furety for this debt of theirs too, namely, the debt of obedience to the law as a covenant, which was, and is the only obe- dience to it /or life-, obliging himfelf to clear it, by obeying in their room and ftead, and fulfilling what the law could demand of them in this kind : Pfal. xl.7. 8. Then faid I, ho, I come — / delight to do thy will, my God : yea, thy law is within my heart. Matth. iii. 15. Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteoufnefs . Chap. v. 17. Think not that lam come to dejlroy the law — I am not come to dejlroy, but to fulfil. And here alfo there was an exchr.n^e of perfons in law, G 2 Chrift 52 The Making of the Covenant of Grace* Head IT. Chrift fubftituting himfeif in their room, and taking their obligation on himfeif: in virtue of which, he became the law's debtor for that obedience owing by them; and this he himfeif folemnly owned, by his being circumci/ed, Luke ii. 21. according to that of the apollle, Gal. v. 3. / tefiify again to every man that is ci) ' cumcifed, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. For, becoming /urety for them in this point alfo, he transferred on himfeif their (rate of fervitude, whereby the law had a right to exatt that debt of him, which they, upon the beach of the co- venant of works, were liable in payment of. For clearing of this, it is to be confidered, that all mankind was by the fir ft covenant, the covenant of works, constitute God's hired fcrvants ; and actually entered to that their fervice, in their head the firft Adam. And, in token hereof, we are all naturally inclined in that charac- ter to deal with God ; though by the fall we are rendered incapable to perform the duty of it, Luke xv. 19. Make me as one of thy hired fervants. The work they were to work, was perjetl obedience to the holy law ; the hire they were to have for their work, was life, Rom. x. 5. The man that doth thofe things , Jhall live by them. The penalty of breaking away from their Mailer, was bondage under the curfe, Gal iii. 10. Curfed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But violating that covenant- of hired fervice, they brake away from their Lord and Ma- iler : fo they not only loft all plea for the hire, but they became bond- men under the curfe \ ftiil obliged to viake out their fervice, and that, furthermore, in the mifery of a ftate of fervitude or bondage, Gal. iv. 24. Thefe are the two covenants ; the one from the mount Sinai, which gen' dereih to bondage. Their falling under the curfe, inferred the lofs of their liberty, and conftituted them bond-men ; as appears from the nature of the thing, and inftances of the curfe din other cafes, as Gen. he. 25- Curfed be Canaan ; a fervant of fervants (hall he be. Jofh. ix. 23. Now therefore ye (namely, the Gibeonites) are curfed, and there (hall none of you be freed from being bond men- The very ground being* curfed, (Gen. iii. 17.), falls under bondage, according to the fciipture, Rom. viii. 21. Now, Chrijl the Surety of the Covenant, 53 Now, Chrift faw all his fpirirual feed in this flate of fervitude ; but unable to bear the mijery of it, or to fulfil the fervice : and he put himfcit in their room, as they were bond-men ; transferring their ftate of fervitude on himfelf, and fo filling himfelf a bend fervmt for them. The holy fcriptuie fets this matter in a clear light. That is a plain teftimony unto it, Phil. ii. 6. 7. 8. Who being in the form of God — took upon him the form of a fer- vant — and became obedient unto de.iih, even the death of the cro/f. The form of a fervant, which he took upon him, was the form of a bondservant. For fo the word in the original properly fignifies ; being the fame word that is conllantly ufed in the New-Teftament phrafe, which wc read bond or free, or bond and free, 1 Cor. xii. 13. Gal. iii. 18. Eph. vi. 8. Col. iii. II. Rev. xiii. 16. and xix. 18 And the apoftle leads us to underhand it fo here, telling us, that this great Surety fervant became obedient unto death, even the death of the crofs. The which kind of death was a Roman punifhment, called by them, the fervile punifhment, or punifhment of bond-fervants : be- caufe it was the death that bond men malefactors were or- dinarily doomed unto ; free- men feldom, if ever, accord- ing to the law. And foraf.nuch as his being in the form of Cody denotes his being very God, having the very na- ture and effence of God ; for the form is that which effen- tially diftinguifheth things, and makes a thing vo be pre- cifely what it is ; and this form is, according to the apo- ftle, the foundation of his equality with God his Father, which nothing really different from the divine efience, can be: Therefore his taking upon him the form of a bondfer' vant, mull neceffarily denote his becoming really a bond- fervant, as really as ever man did, who was brought into bondage, or a ftate of fervitude. The Father folemnly declares the transferring of our ftate of fervitude on Chrift, fpeaking to him under the name of Ifrael, as was cleared before, If. xlix. 3. Thou art my fervant , Ifrael, in whom I ivill be glorified. As if the Father had faid to him, " Son, be it known, it is M 2greed that I take thee in the room and place of Ifrael, " the fpiritual feed, to perform the fervice due in virtue " of the broken original contract : Thou in their ftead art *' my 54 77>* Making of the Covenant of Grace. Head II, ■ my fervant ; my bond fervant, (as the word is rendered, " Lev. xxv. 39. and elfewhere) : it is from thy hand I " will ^ook for that fervice " Agreeable hereunto is the account we have of our redemption from the curfe, Gal. iii. 13. namely, that it was by Jefus Chrift being made a curie for us • for it is -written, Cur fed is every one that bangeth on a tree-, the which Chrift did, dying on a crqfsy the capital punifhment of bond-men. Behold the folemnity of the translation, Pfal. xl. 6. Sa» crif.ee and offering thou did/i not defire, mine ears haft thou opened. The word here rendered opened, properly figni- fics digged, as may be feen in the margin of our Bibles : and fothe words are, Mine ears thou digged/} through ; that is, boredft, as it is expreffed in our paraphrafe of the Pfalms in metre, Mine ears thou bor'd. This has a manifelt view to that law concerning the bond fervant, Exod. xxi. 6. Then bis mafier fJjaH bring him unto the judges ; hejbiilal/b bring him to the door, or unto the door- pof : and his ma- ster fhall bore his ear through with an aid ; and he /ball serve him for ever ; that is, in the language of the law, till death. This is confirmed from Hof. iii. 2. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of f live r ; which was the half of the ftated price of a bond-woman, Exod. xxi. 32. In the original it is, So I digged her through to me ,■ the fame word being here ufed by rhe Holy Ghoft, as Pfal. xl. 6. It is a pregnant word, which is virtually two in fig- nification : and the fenfe is, I bought her, and bored her ear to my door-poft, to he my bond-woman ; according to the law, Deut. xv. iy. Thou (halt take an aid, and thruft it through his ear unto the door, and he (hall be thy fervant for ever : and alfo unto thy maid fervant thou fh alt do like- wife. That the boring, of her ear as a bonl-woman, was no ways inconfiftent with the prophet's betrothing of her to himfelf, Hof iii. 3. appears from Exod. xxi. 8. Jofeph was an eminent type of Chrift as the Father's fervant. And it is obfervable, that he was firft a bond- fervant, and then an honorary fervant. In the former ftate, being fold for a fervant, Pfal. cv. 17. he was a type of Chrift, a bond fervant in his ftate of humiliation-, whofe moft precious life was accordingly fold by Judas for thirty pieces of fiiver, the ftated price of the life of a bond-fer- vant : Chrift tix Surety of the Covenant. $*; vant ; Exod. \\\. 2.2. If the ox /ball pulb a manfrvaut* or maidservant ,• he Shall give unto their ma ier thirty Jbekels of filver, and the ox /kail be Ihted. In the latter date, being made ruler over all the land of Egypt, Pfal. cv. 21. 22 Hen. xli. 40. he was a type of Chrift, in that mod honourable and glorious fervicc or mini/lry, which was conferred on him in his ftate of exaltation, where- in he was conflituted a /ervant, for whofc law the i/'L's Jball wait, If. xlii. 4.; God having given him a name 'which is above every name, that at the name of Jefus, every knee fbould bow, Phil, ii 9. 10. This latter fervice of Chrift belongs ro the promife of the covenant; but the former, to wit, the bond fervice, being his furetyfer- vice, belongs to the condition of the covenant. Where* fore, rifing from the dead, having fulfilled the condition of the covenant, paid the debt for which he became furety, and got up the difcharge, he put off for ever the form and character of a bond-fcrvant, and rofe and revived, that he might be Lord both of the 'lead and living, Rom. xiv. 9. And hence it clearly appears, how the obedience of the man Chrijl comes, in virtue of the covenant, to be imputed to believers for righteoufnefs, as well as his [atisfaftion by fuffcring : for that kind of obedience which he performed as our furety, was no more due by him, antecedently to his contract of fureti/lvp, than his fatisfatlion by fuffering. It is true, the human nature of Chrift, being a creature, owed obedience to God in virtue of its creation; and mu.t owe it for ever, forafmuch as the creature, as a creature, is fubject to the natural law, the eternal rule of righteouf- ntfs : but Chriit's putting himfelf in a ftate of frvitude, taking on him the form of a bond-fervant, and in the ca- pacity of a bondf ervant, performing obedience to the law, as it was ftated in the covenant, for life and filvat ion, was entirely voluntary. Obedience to the natural law was due by the man Chnft y by a natural tie ; but obedience to the pofitive law, binding to be circumcifed, baptized, and the like, which fuppofed guilt on the party fubjected thereto, was not due, but by his own voluntary engagement. And the obedience of a fon to the natural law, he owed natu- rally ; but obedience to that or any other law, in the character of a bond-fervant, and thereby to gain eternal ife 56 The Making of the Covenant of Grace* Head II f life and falvation, he owed not but by compact. The hu- man nature of Chrift had a complete right to eternal life, and was actually poffeffed thereof, in virtue of its union •with the divine nature ; fo that there was no occafion for him to gain life to himfelf by his obedience. Wherefore, Chrift's taking on him the form of a bond fervant, and in that character obeying the law for life and falvation, were a mere voluntary work of his, as furety for finners -, where- in he did that which he was no otherwife bound to, than by his own voluntary undertaking. Now, forafmuch as the obedience of Chrift imputed to believers for righteouf- nefs, is his obedience of this kind only ; there is a clear ground for its imputation to them, according to the cove- nant. And thus we have feen Chrift's furetifhip in the cove- nant to be of thenatuiecfa furetifhip for paying one's debt ; and what the debt was, which he became furety for. If it be inquired, Whether or not Chrift' '* furetifhip is alfo if the nature of furetifhip for one's performing of a deed? or, Whether Chrift htczmt furety in way of caution to his Father, that the elect fhould believe, repent, and perform fincere obedience P I anfwer, Though the ele&s believing, repenting, and fincere obedience, are infallibly fecured in the covenant ; fo that whofoever, being fubje&s capable of thefe things, do live and die without them, mail un- doubtedly perifh, and are none of God's elecl ; yet I judge, that Chrift did not become/wr^fv in the covenant, in way of caution to his Father, that the elecl: fhould perform thefe deeds, 01 any other ; and that that way of fpeaking doth not fo well agree with the fcripture«account of the covenant. Becaufe, 1. It doth fomewhat obfcure the grace, the free grace t of the covenant; whereas the covenant is purpofedly fo ordered, as to manifeft it mod illuftrioufly, being offaith, Jhat it might be by grace, Rom. iv. 16. For fuch a furetifhip, or cautionry for the eletTs performing of thefe things, muft needs belong to the condition of the covenant, properly fo called ; as being a deed of the Mediator, whereby he promifeth fomething to God, and engageth that it {hall be performed by them : and fo thefe things perfoimed by them accordingly, muft be a part of the condition Chriji the Surety of the Covenant. 57 condition of the covenant. But that finners themfelves perform any part of the condition of the covenant, proper- ly fo called, cannot be admitted without prejudice to the grace of the covenant : for fo far as we perform, in our own perfons, any part of the condition, the re-ward is not of grace, but of debt ; for to him that worketh, is the re- ward not reckoned of grace, but of debt, Rom. iv. 4. But the reward is -wholly oi grace to us, as it is of debt unto Chrift; for to him that worketh not, but believeth on him th.it jujlijieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for right e- cufnejs, ver. 5. Chap, xi. 6. And if by grace, then it is no more of works ; other wife grace is 110 more grace. Sup- pofe a man is furety for a thoufand pound, for his neigh- bour, who is thereupon to have a right to a certain valu- able benefit; and that this man abfolutely becomes furety for the whole fum, excepting only an hundred pence; for which hundred pence alfo he becomes cautioner, that it (hall be paid by the principal : it is evident, that the con- dition of this bargain is divided between the furety and the principal, though indeed their (hares are very unequal : but however unequal they are, as far as the hundred penes which the principal pays in his own perfon, do reach, fo far the benefit is of debt to him. Or put the cafe, A furety engageth for the whole of the fum payable ; and, befides, is furety for the principal's good behaviour ; it is evjdent, that in this cafe the good behaviour of the prin- cipal is a part of the condition of the bargain, as well as the payment of the money ; fince caution for it is required by him who is to communicate the benefit. At this rate, the condition is ftill divided between the furety anc4 princi- pal; and the latter performs a part of it as well as the for- mer : and fo the reward is, in part, of debt unto him, as well as to the furety. The application hereof to the cife in hand is obvious. The fum of the matter lies here : If Chrift did, in the covenant, become furety in way of caution for his people's performing fome deed; the performing of the condition of the covenant, properly fo called, is divi- ded betwixt Christ and them, however unequal their fhares are; and if the performing of the condition is divi- ded betwixt Christ and them, fo far as their part of the Cov. II. H performance 5 8 The Making of the Covenant of Grace. Head II. performance goes, the reward is of debt to them, which obicuies the grace of the covenant. i. According to the fcripture, the elect's believing, re- penting, and fincere obedience, do belong to the promif fory part of the covenant. If we confider them in their original fituation, they are benefits promised in the co- venant, b)> God, unto Chrilt the Surety, as a reward oi his, fulfilling the condition of the covenant. And fo they are, by the unchangeable truth of God, and his ex itl ju/iice % infured beyond all poffitnlity of failure : Pfal. xxii. 27 All the ends oj the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord. ver. 30. A fyed_ shall ferve him. ver. 31. 'They f hall come, and shall declare his right eoufnejs unto a. j ccpie that find I be born Pfal. ex. 3. Thy people shall be "willipg in the day oj thy power See If. liii 10. with ver. i. Ezek, xxxvi 26. 27. 31. Heb. viii. 10. 11. If it be ;slkt fl, 'po vlum are thife promifes made, and the pio- mifes of the like nature through the Bible ? it is evident, that fevcral of them are made to Chi ill exprefbly; and the apoftle anfwers as to them all, Gal. iii. 16. To Abraham and his feed were the promifes made — To thy feed, which is Chrijl. And whereas there are found promifes wheiein Chrift himfelf is the undertaker, as John vi. 37. All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me ; they are not to be taken for ChrifVs engaging to his Father, as cautioner for a deed to be done by the feed : but therein he fptaks to men, as adminijlrator of the covenant, intrufted with the conferring on finners, the benefits purchaled by his obedi- ence and death, and made over to him by the promije of the Father : Matth. xi. 27. All things are delivered unto me of my Father, ver. 28. Come unto me, all ye that la- bour, and are heavy laden, and 1 will give you reft. Luke xxii 29. And I appoint (or difpone) unto you a kingdom^ as my Father hath appointed (or difponed) unto me. Thus far of Chrift' 's furetifhip in the covenant. IIT. Chrijl the Priefi of the Covenant. A S it was neceflary for Chrift, the fecond Adam, his j£j^ doing the part of a Kin (man-redeemer, that he ihould become fureiy in the covenant ; lb it was neceflary to Chrift the Prieft of the Covenant. 59 to his performing of what he became furety for, that he fhould be a Prie/t. And accordingly, confenting to rhe co- venant, he became the />/-;.•// of the covenant, Heb. ix. 1 f. Chrijl being cane an high / ricjl of good things to come. A Jne/i is a public perfon, who lieals with an ojj ended God, in the name of the guilty, for reconciliation, by fa;/iftcr, which he offer eth to God upon an alt ir, being theieto call- ed of God, that he may be accepted. So a prie/t fpeaks a relation to an altar, an altar to -ifm ifac, anda facrifice tojin. Thofe whom Chrift reprefented in the covenant, being fmncrs, he became thenr Prieft, their High Prieft, appear- ing before God in rheir name, to make atonement and re- conciliation for them : and this was the great thing that the whole prieft hood undei the law, and eipecially the high priejthood, did typify and point at. Their nature was the prieft's garments he put on, to exerc'fe his priejtly office in ; the fame being pure and undtfiled in him : and in their niture he fuftained their perfons, reprefenting them before God, as their great High Prieft. A lively type hereof was daron's bearing before the Lord, the names of the children of Ifrael, the twelve tribes, upon his two fhoulders, in the fhoulder-pieces of the ephod ; thefe names being engraven on two onyx-ftones fet therein by divine appointment, Exod. xxviii. 9 10. 12. : as alfo his bearing them in the breqftplate, being engraven on twelve ftones fet therein, ver. 15. 29. Thus Aaron, the high prieft y was all Ifrael reprefentatively ; an illuftrious type of Chrift the Prieft of the covenant, the fpiritual Ifrael reprefenta- tive, If. xlix. 3. The necejfity of Chrift the fecond Adam his becoming a Prieft., appears in thefe following things join ly coiiii- dered. t. Thofe whom he reprefented, were finners .- and there could not be a new covenant without proviiion made for removing of their fin j and that required a prieft. The fir ft covenant was made without a prieft, becaufe then there was no fin to take away ; the parties therein reprefented, as well as the reprefentative, were coniidered as innocent perfons. But the fecond covenant was a covenant of peace and reconciliation between an offended God and finners, not. to be made but by the mediation of H 2 do The Making of the Covenant of Grace. Head II. a prieji, who fhould be able to removefn, and repair the injured honour of God : Zech. vi. 13. Hejhall be a Prieji upon his throne, and the counfel of peace Jhall be between them both. And there was none fit to bear that character 'but Chrift himfelf. No man was fit to bear it ; becaufe all men were finners themfelves, and fuch an high prieji became us, as was undefiled, feparated from finners, Heb. vii. 26. It is true the eledl angels were indeed undefiled ; but yet none of them could be prieji of the covenant ; becaufe, 2. Sin could not be removed without a facrijice of fuflicient value, which they were not able to afford. The new covenant behoved to be a covenant by facrifice, a covenant written in blood : and without /heading of blood there was no remiffion, Heb. ix. 22. Therefore the typical covenant with Abraham was not made without the fo- lemnity of facrifice, Gen. xv. 9 ; that he might know the covenant to be a covenant of reconciliation, in which a jufl God did not fhevv his mercy, but in a way confident with the honour of his jujlice. Now, the facrifices of beafts, yea, and whatfoever the creatures could afford for facrijice in this cafe, were infinitely below the value. But Jefus Chrilt becoming a prieji, gave himself a facrifice to God, for eftabiifhing the covenant ; and that facrifice was for a fweet -fuelling favour, Eph. v. 2. or, as the Old-Teftament phrafe is, a Javour 0) rejl, Gen. viii. 21. jnarg. The reprefented, being finners, were corrupt and abominable before God: and he, as it were, fmelled a favour of dijquiet from them, they being afmoke in his nofe, If. lxv. 5. ; their fin fet his revenging jujlice and wrath aftir. But the facrijice of Chrift himfelf, was fit to fend forth fuch ■afweetfmelling favour unto God, as fhould quite overcome the abominable Javour rifing from them, and lay his revenging juifice and wrath to the moft calm and pro- fouudeft re/t. The ntceffity of a facrifice in the fecond covenant, arofe from the jujlice of God requiring the execution of the curje of the broken jirf covenant ; whereby the finner fhould fall a ;acrifice for his fin, according to that, Pfal. xciv. 23. He Jhall bring upon them their own iniquity, and Jhall cut them ojf in their own wickednefs. It was an ancient Chriji the Priejl of the Covenant. 61 ancient cuftom, in making of covenants, to cut a beaft in twain, and to pafs between the parts oi it : and that paff- ing between the parts, refpecled the falling of the curie of the covenant upon the breaker ; Jer xxxiv 18. And I will g and juftice therewith fatisfied, ver. 17. 3. No facrifice could he accepted, but on fuch an altar as (houJd fantlrfjt the g'ft to its necefTary value and de- figned effecl, Matth. xxiii. 19. And who could furnifli that but Chrift bimfelf, whofe divine nature was the altar, from * nence the facrifice of his human nature de- lived its value and efficacy as infinite ? Heb. ix. 54. How much moi e jhatl the blood of Chrift, wht, through the eter- nal Spirit, offered himfeif -without jpot to G,d, purge your conf ience from dead uorks ? His blefied body fufFering and bleeding to death on the crofs, and his holy foul fcorched and melted within him with the fire of the di- vine wrath, both in the mean time united to his divine nature, were the facrifice burning on the altar, fiom the which God fmelled a fmeet favour, to the appeafing of his wrath, and fati*fyii?g of his juftice fully. Not that Chrift: wa« a facrifice only while on the crofs : but that his offering of himfeif a iacnfice, which was begun from his incai nation in the womb, the facrifice being laid on the altar in the firft moment thereof; and was continued through his whole lite ; was completed on the crofs, and in the grave: Heb. x. 5. Wherefore when he comet h into the world, he faith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldfl not, but a body haft thou prepared me :• — ver. 7. Then faid I, ho, I come. If. liii. 1. IVhen-vse fhall fee him, there is no beauty that we (hould defire him. ver. 3. He is — a man of farrows, and acquainted with grief. 2 Cor. v. 21. He hath made him to be fin for us. 4. Laftly, There behoved to be a priefl to offer this fa- crtfice, this valuable facrifice, unto God upon that altar ; elfe there could have been no facrifice to be accepted, and fo Inferences from the fecond Head. 6$ (o no removal of Jin, and confcqnemly no new cove- nant. And fince Chrift himfelf was the facrifice, and the altar too, he himfelf alone cooU be ihe prtert. And fjorafmuch as the weight of the filiation of fmner6 lay up- on his c ill to that office, he was made prieji of the cove- mat by the oath of God, Heb vii- 20.21. Ashe had full pfwer over his own life, to make himfelf a facrijice for others ; fo his Father's folemn invefling of him with this office by an oath, gave him accefs to cfier himfelf ef- fectually i even in fuch fort a* thereby to fulfil the condi- tion of the covenant, and to puichafe eternal lite for them. Inferences from the ftcond Head. I (hall fhut up this bead, of the making of the covenant of grace, with two inferences from the wbole- lnf. 1. What remains for finned, that iJjry may be per- fonally and favingly in covenant with God, is Dot, as parties contractors and undertakers, to make a covenant with him, for life and fahation ; but only, to take kzfd if God's covenant already made from eternity, between the Father and Chrift the fecond Adam % and revealed and of- fered to us in the gofpel, If. Ivi. 4. 6- I have no defign hereby to difparage our covenants made for national re- formation by our godly progeai&0f% and commonly called the National Covenant, and Solemn League and Ojveni \our fin, without danger. r neie would make a blajpbemous pro/ ejfion. Ac- c uiingly, your prtfumptuous Jmful life and praclice, is a courfe of prailical bbfphemy againfl the Son of God, ma- king him the minifler of fin ; and evidenceth your preten- fions to the imputation of hh/atis/atlhn to be altogether vain. Nay, of a truth, if ye have any faving interefl: in the. death of Chrift, your old man is crucified ivith him, Rom. vi. 6. ; and ye are dead with him, ver. 8. } dead with him to fin, to the world, and to the law. (1.) If ye have z faving interefl in Chrifl's death, ye are deed with \i\n\ to Jin: Rom. vi. 10. In that he died, he died unto fin once. Ver. 11. Like-wife reckon ye a!f» ycurfclves to be dead inleed unto fin. While our Lord Jefus lived in the world, the fins of all the elect, as to the guilt of them, hung about him, and made him a man offorrews all along : when he was upon the crofir, they wrought upon him molt furioufly, flinging him to the very foul, till they killed him, and got him laid in the grave. Then they had done their utmoll againfl him, they could do no more. 80 dying for fin, he died unto it, he was delivered from it : and in his refurre£tion he fliook them all off, as Bbul fhook the viper off his hand into the fire, and felt no harm ; riling out of the grave, even as he will appear the fecond time, without fin. Wherefore, if you do indeed know the fellowflnp of his /offerings, if you really have fellow/bip with him in them, death will have made its way from Chrift the head unto you as his members ; his death unto fa cannot mils to work your death unto it alfo. If you are dead indeed with Chrift, as ingrafted into him, fin hath got its death's wounds in ycu ; the bond that knit your hexrts and your lufls together, is loofed ; and ye will be lhaking off the viperous biood of them into the fire, $6 The Parts of the Covenant of Grace. Head III. fire, in the daily practice of mortification. But if ye are not dead, but ftill living unto fin, it is an infallible evidence ye are none of the members of Chrift : Rom. vi. 2. How Jhall we that are dead to fin, live any longer therein f Ver. 3. Know ye not, that fo many of us as were baptized into Jefus Chrift, were baptized into his death ? (2.) If ye have a faving intereft in Chrift's death, ye are dead with him to the world : Col. iii. 1. If ye then be rifen with Chrift, feek thofe things which are above. Ver. 3. For ye are dead, and your li/e is hid with Chrift in God. The world hated him, and ufed him very unkindly while he was in it ; and when he died, he parted with it for good and all, John xvii. 1 1, Now 1 am no more in the •world — / come to thee. The quieteft lodging that ever the world allowed him in it, was a grave : and coming out from thence, he never flept another night in it. He tar- ried indeed forty days in it after that ; as many days as the Ifraelites years in the wildernefs ; the 'former an ex- emplar, the latter a type of the Chriftian life, from con- version till the removal into the other world : neverthelefs he was dead to the world ftill ; he converfed now and then with his own, but no more with the world. Now, if ye are his, ye are dead with him unto the world too, in virtue of his death; being crucified unto it, Gal. vi. 14. Union with Chrift by faith lays finners down in death, in Chrift's grave; and fo feparates between them and the •world for ever : and withal, it raifeth them up again with Chrift unto a quite new manner of life ; no more that manner of life which they lived before their union with him, than that which Chrift lived after his refurrec- tion, was the manner of life he lived before his death : Rom. vi. 4. We are buried with him by baptifm into death : that like as Chrift was raifed up from tht dead hv the giory of the Father, even fo we also fihould walk in newness of life. If your title to heaven is indeed fettled, by your receiving the atonement, now is your forty days before your afcenfion into it ; now are ye no more of the world, although ye be in it : your treafure and heart are no more there. Ye are no more indwellers in it, as natives ; but travelling through it, as ft 'rangers, coming Inferences f rem the condition ary Part of the Cov. 97 coming up from the wildernefs, leaning on the Beloved, Cant. viii. 5. (3.) Lajlly, If ye have a faving intereft in Chrift's death, ye are dead with him to the law alfo : Gal. ii. 19. ■/ through the law am dead to the law. Ver- 20. I am cru~ cified with Chrifl. Our Lord Jefus took on our nature to fatisfy the law therein ; the whole courfe of his life was a courfe of obedience to it, for life and falvation to us ; and he fullered, to fatisfy it in what of that kind it had to de- mand, for that effect. In a word, he was born to the law, he lived to the law, and he died to the law ; namely, for to clear accounts with it, to fatisfy it fuljy, and get life and falvation for us with its good leave. He was made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law. Gal. iv. 4. 5. And when once it fell upon him, it never left exacting of him, till it had got the utmoft farthing, and he was quite free with it, as dead to it, Pvom. vii. 4, In token whereof, he got up the bond, blttted it out, yea, rent it in pieces, nailing it to his crofs, Col. ii. 14. Now, Chrift became dead to it, dying to it in his death on the crofs : fo that the holinefs and right eonfnefs of the man Chrift did thereafter no more run in the channel in which it had run before, namely, from the womb to his grave ; that is to fay, it was no more, and fhall be no more for ever, obedience performed to the law for life and falva- tion \ thefe having been completely gained and fecured, by ■ the obedience he gave it from the womb to the grave. Wherefore, my brethren, if ye are his, ye alfo are become dead to the law by the body of Chrifl, which became dead to it on the crofs, R.om. vii. 4. As ye will not be libertines in your life and practice, being dead to fin, and the world, with Chrift; fo ye will not be legalifls in your life and practice neither, being alfo dead with him to the law as a covenant of works. Your obedience will run in another channel than it did before your union with Chrift, even in the channel of the gofpel. Ye will ferve in newnefs of fpirit, in faith and love. The frowns of a merciful Father will be a terror to you, to fright you from fin ; love and gratitude will prompt you to obedience. The grieving ot the Spirit of a Saviour, will be a fpring of for row to you; and his atoning blood and perfeel righteoufnefs will be the Cov. II. N fpring- 98 The Parts of the Covenant of Grace. Head III. fpring-head of all your comfort before the Lord ; your good ivorks but ftreams thereof, as they evidence your faving intereft in thefe, are accepted through them, and glorify God your Saviour. Ye will not continue to ferve in the oldnefs of the letter, as before ; at what time the law was the fpring of all the obedience ye performed ; fear of the punifhment of hell for your fins, and hope of the reward of heavens happinefs for your duties, being the weights that made you go, though for all them you often flopped; your farrows fpringing from your ill works, under the influ- ence of the law allenarly ; and your comforts from your good works, under the fame influence; ye being alive to the law, and dead to Chrift. Rom. vii. 6. Bat now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held ; that we fhould ferve in newness of fpirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. If by faith you wholly rely on ChriiVs righteoufnefs, the holinefs of his nature, the righteoufnefs of his life, and his fatisfaElion for fin, how is it poflible but ye mult be dead to the law f for the law is not of faith, Gal. iii. 12. But if you per- form your obedience for life and fa Iv at ion, looking for ac- ceptance with God on the account of your works, you go in a way directly oppofite to the way of faith, and either altogether reject Cbrijl 's fatisfying of the law, or elfe im- pute imperfection unto his payment of the bond. And Chrijl is become of no ejfebl unto you, whofoever of you are juflifed by the law ; ye are fallen from grace, Gal. v. 4. Thus far of the jirfl part of the covenant, namely, the conditionary part. The second Part cf the Covenant, namely, the promis- sory Part. N every covenant, whether it be a proper or improper covenant, there is a promife. And in a proper cove- nant, the promiffbry part anfwers to the conditionary part ; teing an obligation, which the party-covenanter to whom :the condition is performed, comes under, for fome benefit to be bellowed in view of the performance of the condi- tion* This is the promife of a pi oper covenant, binding on The promiffory Part of the Covenant. 99 on him who makes it, providing the party contracting with him do his part. In eveiy fuch cafe, where the thing is lawful and pcffiblc, it binds in point of truth zadfaitb- fulnefs, by virtue of compacl : in forrce cafes it binds alfo, in point of remunerative jufiice ; to wit, where the con- dition performed is properly equivalent to the benefit pro- mi fed. The covenant of grace, made between Gon and Christ as the head and representative of his Spiritual feed, is a proper covenant. And in it there is a promiffory party anfwering to the conditionary part already explain- ed : and it is Gon's part of the covenant, as the other was the Mediator's. Thereby God hath obliged himfelf, to make the benefits therein condefcended on, forthcoming, upon the confederation of the performing of the condition. And forafmuch as the condition performed by Chtift, was Strictly meritorious of the benefits promifed; the promifes are binding and firm, not only in refpecl of the truth and faithfulnefs, but alfo of the juftice of God. Of what weight and importance the promiffory part of the covenant is, will appear by the following considera- tions. r. The covenant hath its name from this part of it, "being called the covenants of promife, Eph. ii. 12. Cove- nants, becaufe, though Still in itfelf but one covenant, yet from its firft promulgation in paradife, it was often renewed, as to Abraham, Jacob, the Israelites in the wilderneSs, and to David : and as oSt as it was renewed, it was renewed in a promije. The firft covenant had a promife of life ; yet is not it called a covenant of promife : on the contrary, the law, or that covenant, is oppofedto the promife ; though not in its ufe, yet in its nature, Gal. i ii - 18. If the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promife. For the law's promife of life, was fufpended on the condition of works, to be performed by men tbemfelves : whereas in the Second covenant, life and falvation are pro- mifed to Sinners freely, for Chrift's fake, without refpecl: to anv work of theirs, as the condition thereof. 2. The covenant is defcribed to us, by the Holy Ghoft, as a clutter of free promifes of grace and glory to poor tin- ners, in which no mention is made of any condition : Heb. N 2 viii. ioo The Parts of the Covenant of Grace. Head III. viii. io. This is the covenant / will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts : and I will be to them a Cod, and they /kail be to me a people. Ver. 11. And they flj all not teach every man his neighbour, and every wan his brother, faying, Know the Lord : for all /hall know me, from the lea/l to the greatefl. Ver. 12. For I will be merciful to their unrighteou/ne/s , and their fins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Thefe promifes with their condition, having been propofed to, and accepted by Chrift as /econd Adam, and the condition performed by him j the covenant comes natively, in the gofpel, to . be fet before us in them, to be by us received and embraced in and through Chrift, by faith. Thus the promifes are the covenant by way ofeminency; even God's covenant, wherein he hath bound himfelf to perform his part, as the Mediator hath already performed his. And in this fenfe, indeed, the covenant of grace is not condi- tional, but confifts of ab/olute promifes; that is, promifes become ab/olute, through the condition thereof actually performed already: but being confidered in its full latitude, and in refpeel: of Chrift, the covenant, and all the promifes thereof, are properly and itridtly conditional. 3. The promifes of the covenant are the purchafe of the blood of Chrift ; the fruit of his fulfilling all righteoufnefs, in his birth, life, and death. As the curfe came by the de- merit of Adam's fin ; {o the promifes are owing to the me- rit of Chrift's righteoufnefs ; they aie the new te/lament in his blood, 1 Cor. xi. 25. From the promife of th« bread and water, (If. xxxiii. 16.) to the promife of a feat with him on his throne, (Rev. iii. 21.) they are all the purchafe of his meritorious obedience even to the death, jultly are they called exceeding precious promifes, 2 Pet. i. 4. as being the price of his blood. Of what unfpeakable weight and importance muft they be, that coit/uch a price, between the Father and his own Son! 4. The great defign and end of the covenant, is accom- plifhed in the performing of the promiffory part thereof ; and that is, the glory of God, and the/aivation of finners. The great glory to God, and grace to finners, fpringing up from the whole of the covenant, meet together here, uamejy, in the accompiifhment oi the promifes, as all the rivers The promijfory Part of the Covenant. 101 rivers meet together in the Tea. The promifes were the great thing the parties-contra&ors had in view, when they entered into the covenant: it was room for than the Fa- ther iought by his propofal of the covenant ; and that was \. hat the Son intended to purchafe, by his fulfilling the iition. The condition of the covenant is the foundation oi the promifes ; the promifes the glorious fuperjlrutlure reared upon that coflly foundation. The .ubnini/t ration of the covenant, is fubfervient to the accomphflnneut of the promifes. The condition of the covenant was performed on earthy in the fpace of about thirty-three years : the pro- mifes have been a-performing more than jive thoufand years on earth, and will be a performing in heaven, through the ages of eternity. 5. The h-ippiiH'j's and comfort of all the elecl:, for time and eternity, depends upon the promifes of the covenant. What keeps unconverted elecl: perfons from dying in th.:t flate, and io dropping down to hell, but the promife of the covenant? what makes grace overtake them, when they are fleeing from it, but the promife I what preferves grace in them, like a fpark of fire in an ocean, that it is not ex* tinguifhed, but the promife? and what is ihtic Jecurity and comfort in the face of death, but the fame promife ? 2. Sam. xxiii. 5. 6. The glory of the man Chiift, as Mediator, depends on the promife of the covenant. This was the fecunty, in the faith of which he lived on earth, about the fpace of thirty-three years, in a very low condition ; and in end died an ignominious death : Pfal. xxii. 4. Our fathers trufted in thee : they trujled, and thou didfi deliver them. He paid the price of the redemption of finners, while as yet many of the redeemed were not born, nay nor as yet are ; and feveral of them imbrued their hands in his blood : but he refted on the promfe of the covenant. He plead- ed it, when he was jult entering into the (welling waves of death, where he was, like Jonah, to be f.vallowed up, John xvii. 5. Now, Father, glorify me with thy [elf. And in the faith of the accomplifhment of the promife, he completed his performance of the condition : for the joy that was fet before him in the promife, he endured the crofs t de- fpifing thejhame> Heb. xii. 2. 7. Lafll h IG2 The Parts of the Covenant of Grace. Head III, 7. LaJIly, God hath fworn the promifc of the covenant : / have made a covenant with my C ho fen .- / have fivorn un- to David my ferv ant. The apoftle tells us, that God -will- ing more abundantly to (hew unto the heirs of promife the immutability of his counfel, confirmed it by an oath, Heb. vi. 17. A tender man will not [wear a promife, but in a matter of weight. Of what unfpeakable weight and im- portance then muff, the prcmife of the covenant be, which she God of truth hath confirmed with his oath ? Now, for clearing of this part of the covenant, we fhall, 1. Confider of the promises in general ; and, 2. Take a mots particular view of them. Of the Promifes in general. AS to the promifes in general, two things are to be inquired into : 1. What are the general kinds of them ? and, 2. To whom they are made? I. As to the general kinds of the promifes ; confidering the parties on whom the promifes of the covenant of grace have their diretl and immediate effect, they appear to be of two general kinds. 1. Some of them have their diretl and immediate effect: on Christ himfeif, the head of the covenant; fuch as the promife of affftance in his work, and the promife of a name above every name. So in the firft covenant, there were promifes which were to have their direct and imme- diate effect on Adam himfeif, and looked not, but medi- diately and indirectly, to his poflerity, fuch of them, at leaft, as fhould have lived after the complete fulfilling of the condition of that covenant ; namely, the promifes of natural life continued in vigour and comfort, and of fpi ri- tual fife continued in favour and fellowfhip with God, du- ring the courfe of his probationary obedience. 2. Others of them have their diretl and immediate ef- fect on Chrift's fpiritual feed, comprehended with him in the covenant ; fuch as the promifes of regeneration, of the new heart, and clean ft tig from the defilement of Jin. So in the firft Adam's covenant, the promife of life contained a ptomife of the holy concept ion- and birth of his natural feed: in The promijfory Part of the Covenant. 103 in refpect of which, the promife would have had its diretl and immediate effect, not on Adam himfelf, but on his pojlerity. II. The next thing to be confidered, is, To whom they •were made ? And we may rake up this point in two things. Firfl, The promifes of the firlf. fort, namely, thoie ha- ving their difefi and immediate effect on the per/on of Christ, were made to Chrijt himfelf. Of this no doubt can be moved. And they were made to him as head of the covenant, ihe fecond Adam, :he reprefentative of his feed. This appears from our text, wherein he is called the Chojeu, the he.td-dect, and reprefentative of the eleclion, David Gou's fervant : in which capacity, the covenant was cu f cj, 1 , or made, to him, by the Father. It is evi- dent, that all the promifes of affijlante in his work, and of his fubiequent reward, were made to him in view of his performance of the condition : and therefore, fince ^per- formed the condition, as head of the covenant, fecond A~ dam, and reprefentative of his feed, thefe promifes were made to him in that capacity. The promifes of this kind then were made to Chritl only. And that was the peculiar honour put upon the head of the covenant, in the promijfory part ; as it was his pe- culiar burden to fulfil the conditionary part So he hath the name which is above every name, and is anointed with the oil of gladnefs above his fellows. In the eleclion, where- of he is the head, he mines above the reft, as the fun in his meridian brightnefs above the twinkling ftars. He is the Benjamin at God's table with his brethren, whofe tnefs of promifes in the covenant, is five times fo much as any of theirs ; the Jofeph, who was fepar ate from -his bre' thrcn, in fulfilling the condition of the covenant, and hath a double portion in the promifed land, made over to him, as the firfl- born among/l many brethren. Neverthelefs, as the honour and profperity of the head redound to the numbers, their inter eft, in refpeel of their union and communion, being a joint interelt; fo the glo- ry and honour fettled on Christ by prcmife, are a fpring of grace and glory to his members, an enriching treafure, their glory and crown. He is that head of gold, which puts a glory on the body : and the ointment poured upo* the 104 The Parts of the Covenant cf Grace. Head II L the head, cannot mifs to go down to thcfkirfs of his gar- ments. And hence is, (r.) The continual cry of prayer by the whole company of the faithful, for the accompli/h- ing of the promifes made to the Mediator, Pfal. lxxii. 1 5. Prayer alfo /ball be made for him continually. It is evident that pfalm concerns the Meffias. But prayer made continually for Christ! how can that be? Why, till the world end, that cry in prayer fhall never ceafe, among the faithful, Thy kingdom come, Matth. vi. 10. It be- gan with Adam's embracing the promife by faith, was carried on all along the time of the Old Teftament ; and now it hath been founding in the New-Teffament church more than fixteen hundred years, and fhall not ceafe until the confummation of all things. (2.) Hence slfo the joyful acclamations of praife, by the fame company, for the accomplijhment of promifes to the Mediator. When- foever there appears any fuch accomplishment made, it is matter of joy to the church ; and the more there appears of it, the joy is the more increafed. Thus the church hath ifong upon the fulfilling of the promife of the gathering oi the nations unto him, If. xii. 1. ; of his victory over Antichrift, Rev. xix. 1. ; of the calling of the Jews, ver. 6. And when, the end being come, all the promifes made to him fhall be accomplifhed j that will afford them an everlafting fong of praife. Secondly, The promifes of the other fort, namely, thofe having their diretl and immediate effect on the elecl, ar^ made to Chrid primarily, and to them fecondarily ; firft, to the head; then, to the members, through him. j. The promifes having their immediate effect on the eletl, are made to Christ immediately, primarily, and chiefly. God hath in the covenant promifed grace and gkry, all that pertains to life and godlinefs, unto a felecfc company of mankind : but the promife of all thefe was fir ft and chiefly made to Christ their head; fo that he hath not only an inter eft in thefe promifes, but the chief intereft in them. This appears by feveral documents from the word of God. j/?, The apoftle teftifies, that the promifes ivere made to the feed, which is ChriJ}, Gal. iii. \6. And. the pro- mifes he fpeaks of, are the piomife of the blcjfing, of the Spirit, The promijfory Part of the Covenant. 10$ Spirit, ver. 14.; of the inheritance, ver. 18 ; the pro- miles received through faith, ver. 14. Even theje are made to Chrift the head of the body. This is confirmed by thofe railages which (hew God's covenant to be made with Chrift, and in the mean time explain it by a promife of the happinefs of h\s feed, Pfal. Jxxxix. 3 with 4. ver. 28. and 29. ver. 35. and 36. And what is more natural, than to make a promife to a father, in favour of his chil- dren ? 2(lly, Our Lord Jefus is conftitute the heir of all things, (Heb. i 2-), in viitue of the promife of the covenant, / ivi/l make him my firftborn, Pfal. lxxxix. 27. Now, if Chrift, as the fecond Adam, be heir of all things, by his Father's promfe, the promifes of all things are made to him; and confequently, the promife of eternal life, com- prehending all happinefs to his people, is made to him in the firjl place. So Chriji is the Jtrjl and chief heir ; and they are fcondary heirs in and through him. Hence, in view of the great promife of the covenant, / ivill be their Cod, our Saviour hath that endearing exprefiion, / afcend unto my Father and your Father , and to my God and your Cod, John xx. 17. Compare Rom. viii. 17. And if chil- dren, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Chrift. 3^/y, As in the covenant of works, God promifed life to //dam's natural feed, upon condition of his perfect obe- dience, which is evident from death's coming on them, by his difobedience : fo in the covenant of grace, he hath, promifed life to Christ's fpiritual feed, upon condition of his obedience; for as in Adam all die, even fo in Chrift fhall all be made alive, 1 Cor. xv. 22. But that promife of lifeTor Adam's natural feed was primarily made to A- dam himfelf, while as vet none of them were in being ; and they were to partake of it only through him, to whom it was made as their reprefentative. Therefore the pro- mife of life to Christ's fpiritual feed, was made chiefly to Chr ist himlelf ; and to them only in and through him. Accordingly we are told, that the promife of eter* nal life, upon which the hope of believers is built, was made before the world began, Tit. i. 2. And to whom could it be then made immediately and primarily, but to Chrift the head of the covenant 1 Cov. II. O Laftly, Thefe 106 The Parts of the Covenant of Grace. Head III. Laflly, Thefe promifes contain a part of the reward^ made over in the covenant, to Jefus Chrift, who, for the joy that was fet before him., endured the crofs, Heb. xii. 1. A great part of which joy lay here ; He fhall fee his feed the travel of his foul, If, liii. to. 1 1, All of thefe promifes were the price of his blood to him, the purchafe of his obedience and death ; therefore called the new te- flament in his blood. To whom could the reward be chief' ly promifed, but to him, who performing the condition, wrought the work ? Unto him therefore it was of debt, namely, in virtue of the promife, which made it due to him, upon his performing of the condition. The blefhngs of the covenant which come on the elect, are certainly to be confidered as a reward to Chrift, as well as a free gift to ihem. And confidering them in the firftof thefe views, there is no more abfurdity in the promife of the new heart's being made to Christ, than in a phyfician's making a promife to a father to cure his lame child, when he hath given him fecurity for hivS fees : in which cafe, the child cannot look on the promife as made to himfelf at all, but fecondarily, through his father, who was the party-con- iraclor. This is a point of considerable weight, and ferves both to inform our minds, and direct our praclice : for the following inferences from it are native. (i.) The promifes of the covenant are not made to the believers good works ; but to CbrijTs works, and to the •working believer in Lim. Unto the believer they are ab- folutely free, and not of debt ,• and therefore are not made to his works ; for to him that wcrketk, is the reward not reckoned of grace 9 but cf debt, Rom. iv 4. There is in- deed a comely order of the promifes, whereby the promife of purity of heart to the ele£t, goes before the promife of their feeing God in heaven ; the promife of humiliation, befoie that cf lifting up : whereupon it is declared in the adminift ration of the covenant, that the pure in heart Jhall fee God ; that they who humble therrf elves, fl.mll be lifted up : and thus godlmefs hath promife of the life that now is, and of that which is to come, 1 Tim. iv. 8. But the foundation of all thefe promifes, whether of things that ate our duty, or our privihge i what thc-y all depend upon as The promiffory Part of the Covenant. 107 as their proper con liticn, is the obedience of Chrift allenar- ly; they being all made to him in the firft place, the latter as well as the former. (2.) Thejir/i grice, whereby the dean* elect are quicken- ed, and made to believe and unite with Chrift, is conveved to them in the channel of a promife, as well as the grace following faith : Ezek. xxxvi. 27. / will put my Spirit within you. For although in their natural ftate, they are not capable of a believing pleading of the proirrife ; nor have they, at that time, a yzxiowzXfaving intereft in the promifes ; yet the Lord Jefus knoweth them that are his, and for whom the promifes were made to him ; and ha- ving the adn: : "i/l 'ration of the covenant in his own hand, he cannot fail of feeing to the accomplifhing of them, in the appointed time. Howbeit they, bting dead in trefpaffes and fins, cannot confult their own intereft ; yet he having the chief intereft in the promifes, will not ne- glect his own caufe, but will f