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

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God's Covenant
5

'A new heart alſo will I give you, a new ſpirit will I put within you, and I will take away the ſtony 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 I will be their God: and they ſhall be my people.' And in Pſalm lxxxix throughout. It is called a covenant of Grace; becauſe grace is the beginning and the end, the foundation and top ſtone of it: even grace reigning through righteouſneſs.—It is called a covenant of Mercy, becauſe therein mercy to the miſerable is proclaimed through 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 haſt deſtroyed thyſelf, but in me is thy help.' It is a covenant of Pardon to the guilty, ſaying, 'I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy tranſgreſſions for mine own ſake, and I will not remember thy ſins.' It is a covenant of Supply to the needy, ſaying, 'When the poor and needy

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