The fading of the flesh and flourishing of faith, or, One cast for eternity…

By this time Reader, I hope thou understandest the necessity and benefit of this relative change. With this Covenant thou art armed Cap a pie with armour of proof (with the righteousness of Christ) which is law proof, death proof, and judgement proof, and leavest Death wholly disarmed and naked. Without this thou hast no Weapons and findest Death a man of War. In the forequoted place, thou seest that sin is the sting of Death, and the strength of sin is the Law. The Law binds the soul over for disobedience to its precept, to its malediction and punishment, passeth a sentence of condemnation already upon the creature, and beginneth its execution in that bondage and fear, as flashes of the unquenchable fire, which seize on men in this life, Rom. 7.6. John 3.18. Heb. 2.14. And as sin hath its strength from the law (the law making it so powerful to curse and condemn) so Death hath its strength and sting, its venom and virtue, to kill and damn, to destroy soul and body, for ever from sin. Sin makes Death so deadly, that its the poison in the cup which makes it so mortal and loathsome a draught. Thy work and wisdom therefore is (as the Philistines when they heard that the great strength of Samson (the destroyer of their Country) lay in his hair, were restless till they had cut it off, and became weak so) now thou hearest wherein the strength of Death (the great destroyer and damner of souls) consisteth, to be unquiet night and day, to follow God up and down with sighs and sobs, strong cries, and ⟨p. 67⟩deep groans for pardon of sin, and to give thy self no rest till thou attainest an interest in this Covenant through Jesus Christ. Pious Job, though not in thy case, was for this cause exceeding importunate for a sense of this pardon. And why dost thou not pardon mine iniquity, and take away my transgressions? for now shall I sleep in the dust, and thou shalt seek me in the morning, and I shall not be, Job 7. ult. He crieth out as one fallen into a deep dirty ditch, or one whose house is fired. Water, Water for the Lords sake, to cleanse this defiled soul, and to quench this scorched conscience, Lord; Why doth the messenger (who useth to come post to me a poor condemned Prisoner with a pardon) lingering so long. Alas I wish he may not come too late. But what is the reason of this importunity for expedition?