I 5 z Book. Ill. Looking tMt! :Jefus. Chap. I.Sed:. 3 Joh s.s6. poffeffion , art thou able to beleeve this ? you will fay what are thefe to the condltion of the covenant, which is only to beleeve in God, and to beleeve in Jefus Chri!'t? 0 yes , I. Thefe were fbaddowes of the great promife Chrift; and therefore rhac aCt offajth, whereby Abraham beleeved that he fhould have a fon and tha~ his children fhould poffe1fe the land of (anA-an, wa; Jikewife a branch , a fhaddow , a pledge of chat maine aCl: of faith whereby be.heleeved the promifed feed, in whvm himfdfe and all the nations of the earth fhould be bkffed. But 2. Let .this be remembred that Abraham did not only bd eeve the tempo- .rall promifes , but every promife; as I will be thy foield , .1nd thy exceedin~ great reward; now who is our fhield but Chrifi? and who is our reward but C\lrift? but efpecially he belen·d rhe promife of the feed, and who is the head of the feed but ChnH? yea he beleeved in thllt promifed feed in whom all the naiions ~1 · - the earth jbould be biefled ; and who was that but Chrift? your father Abraham (faith Chrift) rejoyced to fee my MJ, and he fawit, and was glad. 1-f:e faw ic? how could he fee it? thou art nr, t yei fifty yeares old (fatd the Jewes) and haft thou feen~ Ab?ah.1r-' ; cr could Abraham fee thee, or thy day? yes, even then he f:iw it when E1e beleeved in Chri·fl:; he could fee it no other ways but by an eye of faith; and therefore no queftion he beleeved in Chrifi, and that was counted to him for righteoufnes. ' But (may fome fay) if faith alone be the condition of the covenant , then what need is there ofany obedience , or workes of holines? - this was the old plea of loofe libertines in the A poJ · ftles times, to whom 'Jttmes gave anfwer, But wilt thou Lr.; w,O all'/.~.~o. 1 "< vaine man, that faith without workp i1 dead: a good tree (faith Chrifi) is. kz;own by its fruites; and fo is right and found faith; let a man beleeve in truth, and he cannot but love; and if he love,he cannot but be full of good workes; thus Abraham was jufl:ified by faith, Abrah.ll'm beleev ed God (faith the Apofilc) and it w.zs imputed to him f or righte?ufnes; but ':"as not this faith accompanied with workes? obterve but (fatth the Apofrle) when God bade him offer his fon, did he not do it? and was not that an exceeding great worke ? furely his faith wrought with kis Jam.t.l3-com•work;s , andby fai •h WAs workp m11de perfect. p~red with u. 7· Who is the head"both as undertaker, and purchafer, and .z.~· · treafurer upon whom i:his Covenant is efiablifhed? 1 anfwer, Chrilt
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