Secondly, Seemg that God and man, having been at so great a distance as they were by sin, must needs meet in some mediator, some middle person, in whom and by whose blood (as covenants usually were confirmed by blood) this covenant must be ratified, consider who this is, and what he hath done for the establishing of it: " There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus," 1 Tim. ii. 5. He is the " surety of this tes- tament," Heb. vii. 22 ; the " mediator of this better covenant, established upon better promises," chap. viii. 6. Neither is this surety or mediator subject to change; he is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever," chap. xiii. 8. But though he be so in himself, yet is the work so that is committed to him? Saith the apostle, " All the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory
IV.] THE COVENANT OF GRACE. 211
of God by us," 2 Cor. i. 20. God hath in him and by him ascer- tained all the promises of the covenant, that not one of them should be broken, disannulled, frustrated, or come short of an accomplish- ment. God hath so confirmed them in him, that he hath at his death made a legacy of them, and bequeathed them in a testamentary dis- pensation to the covenanters, Heb. ix. 15-17. And what he hath farther done for the assurance of his saints' abiding with God shall afterward be declared.
Thirdly, The faithfulness of God is oftentimes peculiarly mentioned in reference to this very thing: "The God which keepeth covenant" is his name. That which he hath to keep is all that in covenant he undertaketh. Now, in this covenant he undertaketh, — first. That he will never forsake us; secondly. That we shall never forsake him. His faithfulness is engaged to both these ; and if either part should fail, what would the Lord do to his gTeat name, " The God which keepeth covenant?"
Notwithstanding the undertaking of God on hoth sides in this covenant; notwithstanding his faithfulness in the performance of what he undertaketh ; notwithstanding the ratification of it in the blood of Jesus, and all that he hath done for the confirmation of it ; notwithstanding its differing from the covenant that was disannulled on this account, that that was broken, which this shall never be (that being broken not as to the truth of the proposition wherein it is con- tained, " Do this and live," but as to the success of it in bringing any to God) ; notwithstanding the seal of the oath that God set unto it, — they, I say, who, notwithstanding all these things, will hang the un- changeableness of this covenant of God upon the slipperiness, and uncertainty, and lubricity of the will of man, " let them walk in the light of the sparks which themselves have kindled;" we will walk in the light of the Lord our God.
When first I perused Mr Goodwin's exceptions to this testimony, chap. X. sect. 52-56, pp. 219-224, finding them opposed not so much nor so directly to our inference from this place as to the design, intendment, and arguing of the apostle, Rom, ix.-xi., and to the re- enforcing of the objections by him answered, casting again the "rock of offence" in the way by him removed, I thought to have passed it without any reply, being not convinced that it was possible for the author himself to be satisfied either with his own exposition of this place or his exceptions unto ours ; but arriving at length to the close of his discourse, I found him " quasi re preclar^ gesta," to triumph in his victory, expressing much confidence that the world of saints, who have hitherto bottomed much of their faith and consolation on the covenant of God in these words expressed, will vail their faith and understanding to his uncontrollable dictates, and not once make mention of the name of God in this place any more. Truly, for my
212 DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVERANCE. [CHAP.
part, I must take the boldness to say that, before the coming forth of his learned treatise, I had read, and, according to my weak ability, weighed and considered, whatever either Arminians or Socinians (from the founder of which sect their and his interpretation of this place is borrowed) had entered against the interpretation insisted on, that I could by any means attain the sight of, and was not in the least shaken by any of their reasonings from rejoicing in the grace of God, as to the unchangeableness of his love to believers, and the certainty of their perseverance with him to the end, therein expressed ; and I must add, that I am not one jot enamoured of their objections and reasonings, for all the new dress which, with some cost, our author hath been pleased to furnish them with, fashionably to set out themselves withal. Were it not for the confidence you express, in the close of your discourse, of your noble exploits and achieve- ments in the consideration of this text (which magnificent thoughts of your undertaking and success I could not imagine from the read- ing of your arguments or exceptions, though on other accounts I might), I should not have thought it worth while to examine it par- ticularly; which now, to safeguard the consolation of the weakest believers, and to encourage them to hold fast their confidence, so well established, against the assaults of all adversaries, Satan or Arminians, I shall briefly do : —