A34674:103
The Covenant of Grace
The covenant of grace discovering the great work of a sinners reconciliation to God / by John Cotton ... ; whereunto are added Certain queries tending to accommodation [sic] between the Presbyterian and Congregational churches ; also a discussion of the civill magistrates power in matters of religion ; by the same author.The covenant of grace discovering the great work of a sinners reconciliation to God / by John Cotton ... ; whereunto are added Certain queries tending to accommodadation [sic] between the Presbyterian and Congregationall churches ; also a discussion of the civill magistrates power in matters of religion ; by the same author.
London: printed by M.S. for Francis Eglesfield and John Allen, 1655
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.
1 The Swine are those of whom our Saviour Christ saith, That they return unto their wallowing in the mire; like unto these are such men who at the hearing ⟨p. 45⟩of some Sermon have been stomach sick of their sins, and have rejected their wicked courses, but yet the swines heart remaineth in them, as a Swine when he cometh where the puddle is, will readily lye down in it: so will these men wallow in the puddle of uncleanness when their conscience is not pricked for the present: But these are a grosser kind of Hypocrites.
1 The Swine are those of whom our Saviour Christ saith, That they returne unto their wallowing in the mire; like unto these are such men who at the hearing ⟨p. 45⟩of some Sermon have been stomach sick of their sins, and have rejected their wicked courses, but yet the swines heart remaineth in them, as a Swine when he cometh where the puddle is, will readily lye down in it: so will these men wallow in the puddle of uncleannesse when their conscience is not pricked for the present: But these are a grosser kind of Hypocrites.
2 There is another sort that go far beyond these, and they are Goats, so called, Matth. 25.32,33. and these are clean Beasts such as chew the cud, meditate upon Ordinances, and they divide the hoof, they live both in a general and particular calling, and will not be idle; they are also fit for sacrifice; what then is wanting? Truly they are not sheep all this while, they are but Goats, yet a Goat doth loath that which a Swine will readily break into; but where then do they fall short of the nature of sheep? A difference there is, which standeth principally in these particulars.
2 There is another sort that goe far beyond these, and they are Goats, so called,