An Expoption of the Epiple ~ fallethintothe ground if itdothnot die, it remaineth alone, that is, it remaineth SermotJ fruitlefs·, it bringeth forth nothing; fo if I would have been alone irt Heaven I XXI X. needt:d never to have died, yea I needed never to have come from thence, but ~ (faith he,) if I.will have others ~ome upthither,look as the Corn .mu!t die before fuch time as~ram grow upoutoftt,fo mu!t I. And though Corn mdeed m dying feeth corrupuon,for you cannot fuppofe adeath ofa gram ofCorn but by corrupt- . ing; w.hich i~ a way of A~alosy to what he meam to expr~fs ~bout himfelt he calleth tt a dyJng ofthe gram, la as though he faw no ·carrupuon m the Grave yet . . die he did, and in thofe terms exprelfeth the limilitude. He ex1>relfeth it therefore by way of fuch a limilitude as ofhis death, not that he futfered corruptipn,but that he as a man had a death anfwerablc to it; he died by breathing out his Soul, and if he had not done that, he mu!t have been in Heaven alone, but having died, not ~n Hundred fold or a Thoufand fold only commeth up, but an innumerable com– pany of Believers in all ~ges throughout all the world both Jews andGmtilrs. To give you a reafoil or two to lhew you the nece!Tity of it. The fir!t was to confirme the Covenant of Grace and to make it of a Covenant a Tefiament,which was much for our advantage. · There are two reafons (I will only mention them.) in Heb, 9.15,t6,t7. And for thiuaufe (faith he,) heu the Meiliator of the New Tejlammt, that 6y means of death, they that are called might reutvr the promift of eternal i11heritance, (§c. He compareth here you fee the Covenant of Grace not to a Covenant limply, butto a Te!lament, to a man's Will; that word Berith, which the Hebrew ufeth for Covenant, theGreekEx– pofitors and the Septuagitlt they !till tranllate it Tefiament, and the Apofile there– fore l<eepeth to their tranllation, and he kcepeth indeed to the intent and fcope of the Holy Ghofi, for it was not limply a Covenant God made but a Tefiamenr. And therefore if you mark it, at the 18th. verfe he putteth Exod. •+ where Mofts took the Blood and fprinkled it on the People and faid l. Behold the 6/oodof the Covmattt whtch the Lord hathmade wtthyou; now fatth the Apofilethere in the 18th. verfe,Ntither wao the firjl Teflamrnt dedicated without blood; by blood he meaneth death, for they did not only take the blood of the Beails from them by letting of them blood,but they killed them,and then took the blood and fprinkled the Covenant. Now, ~u tlus was done in a Type, that although it was a Cove– nant, yet it was fuch a Covenant as mufi have the death of him with whom and for whofe fake the Covenant was made, and fo it was both a Covenant and a Te– fiamcnt. Now, it being a Tefiament, mark whatthe Apoille faith in the follow- · ing verfes, to lhew you the nece!Tity of Chri!t's death. Where a TePame11t is, (faith he,) theremufialfoof lltcrj]ity be the death of theTejlator; ofnece!Tiry, whv ? Becaufe if it be a Tefiamentit is never made immutable till the Tefiator dieih, as the civil! Lawyers fay, iris but a changeable thing till the Te!tator is dead, but after he is dead it fiandeth immutable. If it h~d been barely a Cove– nant it would not have comforted us fo much, but it is proved a Tefiament now be· caufe Chri!l died. You fee then one reafon why it was necelfary Chrifi lhould die, that he might make the Covenant of God a Tefiament, And why was the Covenant of God to be made a Tefiamenr. I will tell you.In God's Covenant with us and fi1r our falvation and with Chri!l likewife for us, there was both free grace, in refped of free grace. it is called a Covenant; and there was Jufiice to be fatisfied and that requireth death, and in that refped it is called a Tefiamenr. I make my Covenant with you f~ith God to Chrifi, but the Condition is your death, but it !ball not only be a Covenant but a Tefiament, you !hall die, and you lhall make your will when you die,and the Co– venant I make with you lhall be aTe!tament to them that belong to you: Now this Tefiammt, this Will of his would not have been in force if he had not died. The Typical Covenant was not ratified but by death, it was blood , QOt limply drawn from the Bea!ls by blood-letting but killing of the Beafis and then taking their blood and confirming the Covena~t, So the blood of Chri!t !till noteth out his death in the Scripture, as the blood 10 the Old Tefiament noted out the Beafis llain, He was to die to make the Covenant a Te!tament.
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