Page:Faith's plea upon God's covenant (5).pdf/14

14 Have reſpect to our prayers and performances on this ground, ſince the covenant hath provided much incenſe to perfume the prayers and offerings of all ſaints, upon the golden altar that is before the throne, Rev. viii. 3. Have reſpect to our tears, when we ſigh and groan and mourn, and weep before thee, ſince the covenant provides a bottle for our tears, Pſalm lvi. 8. 'Put thou my tears in thy bottle.' Have reſpect to our needs on this ground, when we are hardened, that we can neither pray nor weep, nor ſhed a tear, ſince the covenant provides ſupply to the poor and needy, Philip. iv. 19. 'My God ſhall ſupply all your need, according to his riches, in glory, by Jeſus Chriſt.'

VI. I ſhall now proceed to make ſome application of the ſubject in theſe four words.

1. Hence ſee a mark and character of true believers, that are fit for a communion table, they are of God's mind; he hath a reſpect to the covenant, and they have a reſpect to the covenant; and hence they know what it is to plead with God upon the reſpect that he hath to the covenant: they could not do ſo, if they had not a high reſpect to it themſelves: they have ſuch a reſpect to the covenant in kind as God hath. They have a great reſpect to it, ſo as they eſteem it more than all things in a world, they would not give one promiſe of it, on which they have been cauſed to hope, for all the gold of Ophir. They have a dear and kindly reſpect to it, as all their ſalvation and all their deſire: yea, and all their delight alſo. The word of grace is ſweeter to them 'than honey and the honeycomb.' They have a full and univerſal reſpect to it, and to all the promiſes of it; they reſpect the promiſe