1 ~, ~ Boqk. I II. · Looking unto. :fef us. Hcb, £.8~ repeated in the Epillle to the H~brewu. Bel;o/d the daye;;;;;;; {.tith the Lord' when i will makJ II mw covc:Mnt wuh the houfi oj Iji-ael, and the houfe of 'fudah. --In that he Jdth a new cc- 'VCiU!flt ,he hath made thr firft c!d; now that w!Jich dccrJyeth, and nNixeth cld, is ready to ".l~tnifh away. The new Co<:encmt, is ufually underftood in the latter fenfe ;, it is new becaufe diverfe fmm that which God made with the fathers before Chrill:; it hath a new wodbip , new adoration ·, a new forme of the Church, new witneifes, new .tables, new facraments and ordinances. and there never to be abrogated or difanulled, never to wa:ce 0t/ as the Apoftle fpeakes: yet in ref9ect of thofe new bleffing; which God be~owe~ upon Ifrael immediately afte_r the captivity, this very mamfefiat10n may be called new; and tn reference· to this , behold the dayes came, faith the Lord, · th~tt they fo,l{f no mor~ fay, the Lord liveth which brought up the children of Ijracl DUt of the land of Egypt; .but the Lord liwth which brought up, a?'ld which Jeadthe fe~d ofrh: houfe of Ifra:l out of the /Vorth country, and frcm all countrm whither I IMd dnven them, and they fha/t dwell in their own land. · 2. Wherein doth the expre1fure of this covenant excel 'the former , which God made with their fathers? I anfwerJ. It excels in the very tenour, or outward adminifiration of the covenant : for this ~ovenant after it once began , continued without interruption until Chrift, whereas the former was broken , or did expire. Hence God calls it a new covenant ; - -mt according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the-da7 that I took_them by the hand to bring them ·oHt of the ·land ofEgypt, which my covenant they brak , altliough 1 was an husband ltnto them faith the Lord. In this refpeet it might be called new, or at lea£1: it ma-y be called an inchoation of the new, becaufe it continued till Chrift , which no other expreifure of the covenant did before , and fo it exceHed all the former. 2. It excells in the fpiritual bepefits aMd graces of the Spirit; we find that under this covenant they were more plentifully beflowed upon the Church , then formerly: mark the promifes, I wiltJet mine eyes upen them for good, and I will bring them again to thi.s land, 11nd I will build them , . N.nd not pull them downe , and I will plant them , and not p!t1c~ them up ; and I willgive tbem an heart to k._now me, that J a111 t~c Lord , and they fhali be my peofle . a~'
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=