Christ the fountain of lifeChrist the fountaine of life

Answ. Even they that make a Covenant with God, they often break Covenant with him; and so often as you entertain any thought in your mind, wherein you have not consulted with God, and do any thing further then you have warrant from God, so often have you broken Covenant; so often as there is any passage in our lives, for which we had not warrant from the mouth of God, and wrought it by the strength of his grace, and eye of his providence, so far have we broke Covenant with him; but yet notwithstanding this breach of Covenant, here stands their help, and this is their comfort, that God hath given Christ for a Covenant, Esa. 49.8. so that he will make good our breach of Covenant on his own part, and Heb. 7.22. he becomes a Surety for our parts, God needs no Surety for his part, but we need one; so that if we have Christ for our Surety, then this is required of us, that knowing we have broken Covenant with God, we ought to blush, and to be ashamed of it, Ezra 9.6. to 12. and Dan. 9.5. to 20. they confess they have broken Covenant with God, and thereupon they sit down blushing, and weeping, and rending their garments, that they should enter into such a solemn Covenant with God, and hope to receive so many mercies from him, and yet so unfaithfully to break Covenant with him, when we see that we have transgressed and forgotten the Covenant of God, and break the counsels of God, we or ours: It is for us in such a case to do as those people did in Ezra and Nehemiah, who broke Covenant with God; to go and blush before him, that we should deal so unworthily with that God, that hath made such a perpetual Covenant of faith with us, that will be all that is good to us, and hath not been wanting to do all for us: and we notwithstanding, who undertook, solemnly that we and our children, and servants should walk after God, and we would teach them to do what is good in Gods sight, and yet we do not take care that they do so; and for other of our friends, whom we might be helpful to, we wholly neglect ⟨p. 39⟩them; we ought to shame our selves for this breach of Covenant, else we cannot say, that we make a true Covenant with God, & charge our selves for being so false unto God, and then some good may come of it. When the people had broken Covenant with God, and God was very angry, and would have no more to do with them,