Page:Faith's plea upon God's covenant (1).pdf/4

 4 ''that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they ſhall not depart from me, Ezek. xxxvi. 26. A new heart alſo will I give you, and a new Spirit will I put within you: And I will take away the ſtoney heart out of your fleſh, &c. Jer. xxxi. 33. But this ſhall be the covenant that I will make with the houſe of Iſrael, after thoſe days, ſaith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they ſhall be my people.'' And in Pſ. lxxxix. throught. It is called a covenant of grace; becauſe grace is the begining and the end, the foundation and top-ſtone of it; even grace reigning thro' righteouſneſs.- It is called a covenant of mercy; becauſe therein mercy to the miſerable is proclaimed thro' juſtice ſatisfying blood; for there mercy and truth met together; and all the ſure mercies of David are conveyed thereby. It is called a covenant of peace and reconciliation; becauſe it both treats of peace with God and makes it good. It is called a covenant of promiſe; becauſe it lies in promiſes with reference to us; and theſe to be accompliſhed upon the condition already fulfilled in Chriſt's obedience and ſatisfaction ; and becauſe therein the faithfulneſs of God is pledged, for making out all the promiſes to believers, and the children of promiſe. It is called a covenant of ſalt; becauſe it is an incorruptible word, an everlaſting covenant well ordered in all things and ſure. In a word it is a covenant of help to poor, helpleſs ſinners, ſaying: ''I have laid help upon one that is mighty. O Iſrael, thou but deſtroyed thyſelf, but in me is thy help.'' It is a covenant of pardon to the guilty.