Ambrose - Houston-Packer Collection BX5200 .A49 1674

Chap·a.sea.6. never more looked on as a !inner. Is not this the Covenant? q. d. I will remove· thy fins and do them away, as ifthey had never been ; I will b!ot them out of the Book of ;ny memory, I will obliterate the writing that nonelhall be able to read 1\. But you i' will fay, if !in remam !hll m the regenerate, .how are_ they fo forg•ven as to be remembred no more 1 Divines tell us of two tlungs m every hn, rhere ts macula e;~ reatu.s ; the filth and the guilt: this guilt fome again diltinguilh into the .guilt of lin, 'wh1ch they call rhe inward digf\ity and defert of damnanon; and.the gudr of pumOm1ent, wh1ch is the a<'lual ordination of a {mner unto damnatiOII. Now 111 d11faent refpefts we fay, that {in remains !till in Believers, and fin doth not remain in bdievers : Firft, if we fpeak of the filth of lin, or of rhe defert of damnation, fo it remains flill; bur if we fpeak of the actual obligation of a{inner to condempation, fv ir r~mains nor after pardon, but the !inner is as free as if he had never fmned. But you will fay, is not the filth of fin do~e away when lin ~s remitted I I anf:ver, the filth of !in is not done away by rem1lhon, but by fan<'!Jficatlon and renovanon; and becaufe in this life we have not a perfect inherent bolinefs ( fan<'lification at bell being but imperfeCt, and wrought in us by degrees) therefore during rhis life there is fomethino of the filth of fin, and efpemlly of the effeCls of ongmal fin 111ckmg ar.d·lltll cleaving ~o us. But here is our comfort, and herein lies the fweer of the Promife, that when God bath pardoned fin,. he takes away the guilt '.as to condemnation ; ~e ac- /{{ quits the !inner ot rhar obliganon; lre now looks upon lum n<>t as a finner, bm as a jullman; and fo in this fenfe he will forgive, and never more remember his fin. Ah Chrifiians! rake heed of their Dodrrne who would have JulbficatJon an abohtwn of fin in its real effence, and phyfical in-dwelling; let us rather fay with Scripture, rhat,all jufiified Saints mull rake down their Top-fail, and go to heaven halting, and that they carry their bolrs and fetters of in dwelling fin through the Field of Free.Grace, even ro the gates of Glory: Chrit\ daily walhing, and we daily defiling, to the end that Grace may be Grace. I have run through all rhe manifeflations of the Covenant of Grace, as we have them d•fcovered in the old Teftamem: And yet that we may fee the better how thefe things concern us, I Orall only propound rbefe rwo QE_eries more, and rhen we have done. 1. Whether is the Covenant of Grace the fame for fubflance in all ages ofthe world? Vile anfwer, yea; the Fathers before Chrifl: had nor one Coven:rm, and we anorher. but rhe fame Covenant of Grace belongs to us borh. This appears, in that firll they had the fanre Promife: fecondly, they had ir upon the fame grounds. r . They had the fame Promife , as, I willbeJ'o~<r Gpd, ~ndyou fha/1 be my1cop!e. And happy artthou, 0 Ifrael, faved by the Lord, ·And, T'Bc Lord u 011r Ki11g, and he will ~ev, ' 6 · "' favc "'· They had not only the hopes of an earthly inheritance in Car~aan (as fome out. 33 • 10 ' fondly imagine) but of an heavmly inheritance in the Kingdom of God; and to this !fa. 33 • 1,. 2, purpofe our Saywur fpeaksexprelly, Many Jhall come fro."' the Eaft and Weft, and fha/1 Mat.S. u. jit dow>~ with AbrafumJ, Ifaac and Jaccb in the Kingdom of Heaven. 2. As the~ had the fame Promife, fo they had it upon the fa_me.ground that \v' have; 0 ., even by fauh 111 Chn(t J efus: Abraham Jaw my day, fa~d Clml~ · and Chrifo u the John <. >6 • fame yefl;rday, and to day, and for e'l)er : he is d1e fame nor only i~ rega;·d of effence , He b. '3· 8 • but alfo mre~ard of rbe efficacy of h1s Office, from the beginning to rhe end of rhe world. We be!teve (fa1d Peter) that throJJgh the Grace of the Lard fe{its Chrift we Jhall Ach r). r r. be faved even M they : and unto us WM the Gofpei prc.<'hed (faith Pattl) M unto them. C!eb;4. '• Some may thrnk they had no Gofpel, but only the Law before Chrift: bur what fay you? Have we not obferved a 1hred of rhe Gofpel and of tlie Covenant of Grace, to run through all rhe Old Tellament, from firll to fa{\~ And how pbin is tl£Apo!He? For thu wfe alfo WM the Gofpelpreacbed alfo tot h!m tlw arc dead. Dead long finc'e' ; for 1 Pcr. 4• 6. b~ fpeaks of them who hved 111 th~ da~'es of NOMh. Nay the Apoftlno the Hebnits gtvesus aCatalogue of Old Tell:ament Believers: By faith 4b,el offiredup uptqCoda Htb.lr: 4· mor~ excellent Sa.crifice than Cain.-- By faith Enoch WM tr~nflatc(j t11.<t he'JI!_o{tld not 5: fecaeath.--By fmth Noahbeing warned of G~d, preparcr! ar1 .1t/(,-c'---By '/kitfrA7· braham when he was called to go into aplace which he Jhottld flit er recc(ve for an inhiriti.'nce, 8 • obeyed, and he went out, notl:}owing whither he went. -'fhefe all,dhd in faith nothaIJ• vt>tg rccetved thep•·omife;, bm havingfeen them afar off. andrrmcp.erfwaded of them and embraced them. Befides rhefe, he reckons up the faith of Abraham, Ifaac, and facob, and Jo[eph, and Mofes, and Rahab, and Gidco?J, and Barak,_; and Samfon, and {qhthll,

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