A29699:198
Paradise opened, or, The secrets, mysteries, and rarities of divine love, of infinite wisdom,…Paradice opened, or, The secreets, mysteries, and rarities of divine love, of infinite wisdom,…
Paradise opened, or, The secrets, mysteries, and rarities of divine love, of infinite wisdom, and of wonderful counsel laid open to public view also, the covenant of grace, and the high and glorious transactions of the Father and the Son in the covenant of redemption opened and improved at large, with the resolution of divers important questions and cases concerning both covenants ... : being the second and last part of The golden key / by Thomas Brooks ...Paradice opened, or, The secreets, mysteries, and rarities of divine love, of infinite wisdom, and of wonderful counsel laid open to publick view also, the covenant of grace, and the high and glorious transactions of the Father and the Son in the covenant of redemption opened and improved at large, with the resolution of divers important questions and cases concerning both covenants ... : being the second and last part of The golden key / by Thomas Brooks ...
London: printed for Dorman Newman, 1675
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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, Christ is said to be the mediator of this Covenant, §1Heb. 9. 15. And for this cause, he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament; they which are called, might receive the promise of eternal inheritance: Certainly, that Covenant, of which Christ is the Testator, must needs be a Covenant made with us: for else, if the Covenant were made only with Christ (as some would have it) then it will roundly follow, that Jesus Christ is both Testator; and the party, to whom the Testaments and Legacies are bequeathed: which sounds harsh; yea, which, to assert, is very absurd: Since the creation of the world, was it ever known, that ever any man did bequeath a Testament and Legacies to himself? Surely no▪ Christ is the Testator of the New Covenant; and therefore, we may safely conclude, that the New Covenant is made with us. The office of Mediator (you know) is to stand betwixt two at variance: The two at variance, were God and man: Man had offended and incensed God against him; God's wrath was an insupportable burden, and a consuming fire; no creature was able to stand under it, or before it: Therefore Christ, to rescue and redeem man, becomes a Mediator; Christ▪ undertaking to be a Mediator, both procured a Covenant to pass betwixt God ⟨p. 20⟩and man, and also engaged himself for the performance thereof on both parts; and to assure man of partaking of the benefit of God's Covenant, Christ turns the Covenant into a Testament; that the conditions of the Covenant, on God's part, might be as so many Legacies; which being confirmed by the death of the Testator, none might disannul, Heb. 8. 6. He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. The promises of the new Covenant are said to be better in these six respects, 1. All the promises of the Law, were conditional: Do this, and thou shalt live; the promises of the new Covenant are absolute of grace, as well as to grace: 2. In this better Covenant, God promiseth higher things; here God promiseth himself, his son, his spirit, a higher righteousness, and a higher sonship: 3. Because of their stability, those of the old Covenant, were swallowed up in the curse;