The Covenant of Grace

Trust not therefore upon every leaning of your soul upon conditional promises, for so you may build upon a Covenant made upon a work, and so you and your Covenant may fail together. But when you read how the Lord hath made such promises to such and such qualifications, then consider, that those things are indeed requisite ⟨p. 105⟩to be found in you, but who is there in heaven or earth that can work them in you, there is none but Jesus Christ, and unless you have him to be in you, you cannot have any of these things wrought in you. But will a poor soul say, I am not able to reach the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore all the promises do fall heavy upon a man, and he seeth that they are too burdensome, and too weighty for him: he doth not say, here is the qualification, and here is the blessing promised to it, and therefore I will take it to my self, but one that is taught of God, doth forthwith go and pray unto God, that he will set him in the way of those blessings, and that so he will make him partaker of them, he prayeth that God will give him his Son, and that he will adorn him with his grace, as a bride of Jesus Christ. Thus while the soul doth look towards Jesus Christ, and grace in him, the Lord doth secretly transform him into the image of Christ, by working such qualifications in him, and then beareth witness to that sanctification, which is wrought in his heart, thereby enlarging his soul ⟨p. 106⟩with strong consolation in Jesus Christ; and in the same way it is that the Lord doth strengthen the faith of his people to believe, that all those things, which God hath promised, are accomplished in Jesus Christ, and the Law fulfilled in me so far as Christ is in me, and therefore I come unto God in prayer to make good those promises unto me, in a right way, which would have been preposterously applied before Christ was given: And this may serve for Answer to the 5th Question.

Trust not therefore upon every leaning of your soule upon conditionall promises, for so you may build upon a Covenant made upon a worke, and so you and your Covenant may faile together. But when you read how the Lord hath made such promises to such and such qualifications, then consider, that those things are indeed requisite ⟨p. 105⟩to be found in you, but who is there in heaven or earth that can worke them in you, there is none but Jesus Christ, and unlesse you have him to be in you, you cannot have any of these things wrought in you. But will a poore soule say, I am not able to reach the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore all the promises doe fall heavie upon a man, and he seeth that they are too burthensome, and too weighty for him: he doth not say, here is the qualification, and here is the blessing promised to it, and therefore I will take it to my selfe, but one that is taught of God, doth forthwith goe and pray unto God, that he will set him in the way of those blessings, and that so he will make him partaker of them, he prayeth that God will give him his Sonne, and that he will adorne him with his grace, as a bride of Jesus Christ. Thus while the soule doth looke towards Jesus Christ, and grace in him, the Lord doth secretly transforme him into the image of Christ, by working such qualifications in him, and then beareth witnesse to that sanctification, which is wrought in his heart, thereby enlarging his soule