Twenty sermons preached at Oxford before His Majesty, and elsewhere

GAL. 3.22. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

You see in this excellent portion of Scripture, the two Covenants of Almighty God: to wit, the Covenant of Nature, and the Covenant of Grace. The first of Nature, which was written by God in mans heart, and this is the holy Law of God, by virtue whereof a man was to continue in that integrity, holiness and uprightness, in which God had first created him, and to serve God according to that strength he first enabled him with, that so he might live thereby.

YOu see in this excellent portion of Scripture, the two Covenants of Almighty God: to wit, the Covenant of Nature, and the Covenant of Grace. The first of Nature, which was written by God in mans heart, and this is the holy Law of God, by vertue whereof a man was to continue in that integrity, holiness and uprightness, in which God had first created him, and to serve God according to that strength he first enabled him with, that so he might live thereby.

But now, when man had broken this Covenant, and entered into a state of Rebellion against God, he's shut up in misery, but not in misery for ever, as the Angels that fell •ere, being reserved in chains till the judgement of the great day, Jud. v. 6. No, the Lord hath shut him up in prison, only for a while, that so he may the better make a way for their escape and deliverance, and for their entrance into the second Covenant of Grace: that so making him see his own misery, wherein by nature he is, and cutting him off from his own stock, he may be ingrafted in Christ, draw sap and sweetness from him, and bring forth fruits to everlasting life. And this is the method the Scripture useth: It concludes all under sin, that so the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe,