A09990:210
The new covenantThe nevv covenant
The new covenant, or the saints portion A treatise unfolding the all-sufficiency of God, and mans uprightness, and the covenant of grace. delivered in fourteen sermons upon Gen. 17. 1. 2. Whereunto are adjoined four sermons upon Eccles. 9.1. 2. 11. 12. By the late faithful and worthy minister of Jesus Christ John Preston. Dr. in Divinity, chaplain in ordinary to his Majesty, master of Emmanuel College in Cambridge, and sometimes preacher of Lincolns Inn.The nevv covenant, or the saints portion A treatise vnfolding the all-sufficiencie of God, and mans uprightnes, and the covenant of grace. delivered in fourteene sermons vpon Gen. 17. 1. 2. Wherevnto are adioyned foure sermons vpon Eccles. 9.1. 2. 11. 12. By the late faithfull and worthie minister of Iesus Christ Iohn Preston. Dr. in Divinitie, chaplaine in ordinary to his Maiestie, maister of Emmanuel Colledge in Cambridge, and sometimes preacher of Lincolnes Inne.
London: printed by I. Dawson for Nicolas Bourne, 1629
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
First;1 Saith he, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. That is; There is in the Creature an excess of vanity, as you know, that is the height of the Hebrew Superlative, vanity of vanities. Besides, it signifieth a heap of vanities, a nest of vanities, a wondrous exceeding great vanity, such as he knew not how to express what that vanity is that is in the Creature. Beloved, it is a vain thing, we say, that cannot profit, and therefore we see in ⟨p. 142⟩the 2. verse, What remains to a man of all his travels, or what avails it, or what profits it, according to that in the Gospel, which is the best expression of it? Saith our Saviour, Put the case thou hadst all the good things in the world, that all the glory of the world, that all the riches in the world were in thy possession, yet, saith he, when thou shalt loose thy soul, what is all this? It cannot help thee to save thy soul, what will it profit thee? That is; It is an unprofitable thing to make us happy. Besides, in this the vanity of the Creature is seen, that it is of a mouldering, vanishing nature. Isa. 40. Rom. 8. those two places express it:2 Isa. 40. 6. All flesh is grass, and all the glory of it as the flower of the grass. That is; As it is expressed in the next Verse, as the grass is of a fading nature, so is the Creature it self, and as the Flower of the grass, sets out all the excellency, all the gifts, and beauty of the Creature that is found in it, The spirit of God blows upon it, and the grass withers, and the flower fades away: so in Rom. 8. the Creature is subject to vanity. That is; It is of no abiding condition, it withers, and wastes, and hath nothing in it, to maintain it. Besides, it is called vain: because it is not able to bring any enterprise to pass. You would think the Creature were able to do much, but you see what the Lord saith; A man thinks he is able to build a house, or he thinks he is able to watch a City. No; saith the Lord, if I withdraw my self, thou shalt be able to do nothing, nor any Creature whatsoever. What is said of that,