256. . Chrifl thi King the compaf1i of the difcipline of the covenant, yet the· cafiiog a kind of hdl into them, making ·them to~ ' roar by teafo'n ofdifquiernefs of heart,' Pfat xxxviii. ·· 8 .. js within the compafs of it. And, what is worfc than any of all thefe, it comprehends'their"being har– raffed with horrid ttlnptati6ns, ,arid fe't up as marks for Satan's 'fi'ei·y darts, Eph. vi. 16. · the hardningof their hearts, !fa. lxiii. 11· and 'their being fuffered to fall into one fin, and ·that a grofs fin too, for the puniili.ment of another, as in the cafe ,of David and Peter. All thefe things are within the compafs ofthe difcipline ofthe covemint; and believers arc particu· larl)i and direCl:ly threatned with tHem, in cafe of their {Hfobedience, to · move them to beware of it : ,yea,. anu tney .are 'often in~i~ed .by Zion's Kihg, on his· beloved fubjccrs ; that, by thefe marks of his difplea– fiue .again'il: their·fin, he may correCt: them, make fin ' bJtter to them, and fiir them up to repentance and watchfulnefs. And ·the worfr of them all, even the v~ry hardening of their' hearts, and the puni!hing of ohe fin; with another, are, by the fove_reign grace of. the cpveriant, , m:itde effeB:ual for thefc holy ends : the which grace 6pening :the heart in renewed repentance, godly forrow for fin breaks forth the more forcibly,, as waters do which have been long dam'd up. Thus . ihefe bitter waters, running in the. channel of the co– venant, become healing wat~rs ·: thefe £harp fwGrds ' are, by the covenant, beaten into plow·fhares : and . thefe piercing- {pears, ·into pruning-hooks. Of this difcipl,ine of the covenant, all the fubjeCl:s ofChrifr in this world, do partake; and they mun be under it, till they arriye at pe'rfeB:ion in the other world, Heb. xii. 6,· 7, s~ , Four,thly, He gives them the pardons of the cove– nant ; the pardotJing of crimes committed againil: the Jaws of God; being one of the royal prerogatives of Zion'_s King, whom 'God hath exalted to b~ a Prince arid a s·aviollr, tb give repentance to ljrae.l, and for- ' give· ..
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=