Heb. 2.12 13. Isai 54.13 Joh. 6.4 5. 2 Cor. 5.19 John 16.13 14 15. John 3.1 1 Cor. 2.14 Rom. 1.19 20. 1 Corinth 1.24 John 14.6 Rom. 3.11 12. 1 Corinth 15.46 47. Rom. 5.14 Acts 22.2 3 4 5. Phil. 3.4 5 6 7 8. 1 Cor. 2.14 Rom. 10.14 15. Matth. 8.22 John 10.3 4 5. Psal 23.1 2 3. 1 Pet. 5.1 2 3. 1 Thes 2.7 8. 1 Pet. 2.2 3 7. Isai 66.11 12 13. Psal 45.1 Psal 66.16 17. 2 Corinth 4.5 John 10.12 Acts 20.28 29 30. Matth. 10.8 1 Thes 2.8 Ezek. 34.2 3. John 10.12 13. 2 Cor. 12.14 15. 1 Cor. 12.4 5 6 7. 2 Cor. 3.6 Rom. 7.4 6. Rom. 7.4 Phil. 3.3 1 Cor. 12.6 7. 1 Cor. 15.45 John 6.63 A word in season to two sorts of Elders in love Sect. 1 THe Elders which are among you saith the Apostle I exhort you to feed the flock of God read 1 Pet. 5.1 2 3. Now the Elders that are not able for to feed the flock of God let them be of what sort of Elders you please for to call them they are like unto a bad nurse that fills the childe full of bad milk and winde together and so as men walking with the winde of a false spirit as you may read it in the margent they profit the people nothing at all Micah 2.5 6 11. Deut. 32.8 9. Now there are two sorts of Elders The first sort is such as the Pharisees were that seemeth to be much for God and for the worship of God by way of tradition Matth. 15.1 2. The second sort of Elders is directly such as the Pharisees were that sought by all means for to put Jesus Christ to death Matth. 27.1 John 11.47 53. Now such Elders that are not able for to feed the flock of God and possess and keep that place They do as much as in them lies for to sterve the flock of God now the Elders that are but onely able for to feed the flock with shadows and no more as the letter of the Scriptures so far as natural reason can reach and so litterally examine the people and ask them questions and legally admonish them but not able for to break the bread of life to the people and so they build one another up in a specious form of Religion but they remain ignorant of Christ the power of Religion 2 Tim. 3.5 I believe that there are many Elders that are naturally very wise But the natural man perceiveth not the things of God neither doth this wise man know the things of God read 1 Cor. 2.14 How then can they instruct the people of things they themselves know not here are unfit Elders indeed But he that is an Elder in Jesus Christ is the good Elder and takes care for to make out Jesus Christ spiritually to the mindes and spirits of men 2 Tim. 4.5 22. But the fleshly Elder that is the natural man he is not a fit nor a true Elder for he desires to make a fair shew in the flesh and constrain men for to submit to them that they may glory in their flesh Gal. 6.12 13. And thus they zealously affect you that you might affect them and exclude us that are true Ministers and Elders of Jesus Christ saith the Apostle but this is not well for they would draw you from the truth and put you under the bondage of the law again Gal. 4.17 21. This may fill the ear but it cannot feed the heart this may please sense but not have the benefit of faith Now those that are right Elders whether they be lay Elders or learned Elders they must be men of honest report and full of the holy Ghost and wisdom If the Deacons were such as the Apostles did approve of read Acts 6.3 5 6. much more the Elders who are for to teach the people the word and doctrine of Jesus Christ which is the ground of the peoples being ruled well for the Elders are to teach the people as well the Matter of the Gospel as to admonish them of Manners to the Gospel and so sit and ask them questions and then admit of them 1 Tim. 5.17 I do desire that the Elders had but discerning spirits First The gift of discerning their own spirits Secondly The gift to discern the spirits of the people whom they receive This gift is and is to be had 1 Cor. 12.6 10 11. I ask doth not the greatest part of people in this Kingdom and the most people in most Parishes resemble the Papists as much as face doth face in a glass The Roman Catholike must not nor will not do any thing in matters of Religion without the consent of their holy Father the Pope and then the Jesuite and the Fryer and the Mass-Priest must be their Confessor and what they spake it must be Canonical And thus the people are led along in ignorance but they please the people once a yeer with a voluntary carrying of Christ upon the Cross for the people to kiss at the high Altar and then Christ is upon the Cross in another place a dying and the people adoring his picture and then there is publike confession of sin with penance and pilgrimage and then there is private examination and confession of sin to the Priest at other times and then he absolves them and remits their sins and then they are fit for the Eucharist as they think and when Easter day is come and Christ is risen and they have received the Eucharist then they are merry and think they have done enough for all the yeer after and with a devotion they eat up that Christ which they observe days and times for for they say The bread is his very flesh and the wine is the very blood of Jesus Christ which they drink and thus they please themselves with shadows and go crossing themselves to their graves rejoycing in the shadow and yet remain ignorant of Jesus Christ the substance I ask again Sect. 2 Doth not the greatest part of our English Protestants and the greatest part of people in most Parishes resemble the Papists as face doth face in a glass for they must not nor will not do any thing in matters of Religion without a Councel or a Synod Now it is plain That a Councel or a Synod may erre Instance Now the chief Priests and Elders and all the Councel sought false witness against Jesus to put him to death And I think this was an error read Matth. 26.59 Now these men had the Scriptures of the Prophets to be their guide but they could not know Jesus by them though he was present amongst them The second instance is A whole Councel and a Synod together may erre and the Councel and the Synod met together for to command the Apostles That they should not teach in Jesus name nor speak any more of his doctrine and so when they had beaten them they let them go And I think this was an error read Acts 5.21 28 40. And so the
1 Cor. 1.30 And Christ bids the soul be of good cheer for its sins are forgiven Matth. 9.2 and he hath overcome the world for it though it live amongst men that are slanderers and say it will have none of his Law to be its rule and call it Antinomian that will live as its own list For Christ hath done all for it and it needs to do nothing at all And this they say It will not pray for pardon of sin for God sees no sin in it and they say it takes liberty by Freegrace to sin and is infectious as the plague But mark how Christ speaks to the soul Be of good cheer poor soul for I know thy works and thy tribulation and patience and poverty and where thou dwellest even where Satans throne is Revel 2.9 10 11 13. But be of good cheer O poor soul though these men hate thee yet thou art blessed and when they shall separate thee from their company and shall reproach thee and cast out thy name as evil for my sake rejoyce thou in that day and be of good cheer for I have overcome this world of men Luke 6.22 23. John 16.32 33. Now mark how Jesus Christ doth vindicate these reproached ones I know saith Christ that you acknowledg that without me you can do nothing Joh. 15.5 When I have inlarged thine heart and put my self therein saith Christ then I will be thy law and thy rule and thy day and thy power and thou shalt be willing in me and I will be thy law in which thou shalt delight and it shall not be grievous but thy joy Psa 119.32 110.3 Rom. 7.22 Psal 1.2 1 John 5.3 Secondly Thou canst not live as thy own list O thou poor soul saith Christ for thou art not thy own I have bought thee with a price and thou art joyned unto me in and by the Spirit and thou shalt live as I will have thee saith Christ for I will give thee both to will and to do of my good pleasure and thou shalt not be barren nor unfruitful 1 Cor. 6.17 19 20. Phil. 2.13 2 Pet. 1.8 Thirdly Jesus Christ did not suffer and die for himself but he tells thee O poor soul that he died for thee to bring thee as a son unto glory and bids thee be of good cheer for he hath finished the work which God gave him to do for thee O poor soul and thou needest not for to do any thing at all for life or for to get Christ who is thy life Mistake me not here Sect. 4 for most people do mistake this point Christ tells thee O poor soul again That he hath finished all for thee upon the Crose and thou needest not to work for life neither needest thou to work for to get Christ for Christ is a free gift of God and not for us to get of God Now as Christ hath done all for the soul so Christ tells the poor soul he will do all in it for he is the vine and the soul is a branch in him and it shall work from a principle of life which is in him which is its original and he will pour into it spiritual influence and nourishment and it shall bring forth much fruit because of him read Heb. 2.9 10 11. John 17.4 5 6. 19.30 4.10 15.5 Fourthly Jesus Christ tells the poor soul that it needs not doubt of the pardon of sin for he hath put an end to its sins and brought in everlasting righteousness unto it for to cover it and he will open its eyes and awaken it that it may run and read its pardon and be satisfied with beholding his face in righteousness which will transform it into his likeness and cause it for to sing the song of the Lamb and to have the high praises of God in its mouth Dan. 9.24 Psal 17.15 Revel 14.1 2 3 4 5. Psal 149.4 5 6. Fifthly Christ tells the soul that God sees no sin in his that is in the new man that is the heavenly man which is that holy thing which shall be born in thee O thou poor soul and this holy thing shall be formed in thee O thou poor soul and this is the seed of God which shall be born in thy heart and it cannot sin because he is born of God And this is the good part or the better part which Christ speaks of to Martha Now this good thing or this better part is even God himself Now we are to consider betwixt the spirit and the flesh Now in the Spirit which is of God there is no evil or sin but in the flesh there is not this good neither can flesh and blood inherit the Kingdom of God for in my flesh saith Paul I know there dwelleth no good thing Now a true Christian in this life doth consist of good and evill Now the good part in a true believing man or woman brings the bad part every moment unto the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ to be crucified as Paul speaks By which Cross saith he I am crucified to the world the flesh and sin and the world the flesh and sin are crucified unto me upon this Cross And I thank God through Christ my Lord which hath freed me from the body of this death So that with the minde I my self saith the Apostle serve the Law of God but in my flesh there is a law of sin which is nailing to the Cross of Christ every day 1 Cor. 15.47 48 49. Luke 1.35 Gal. 4.19 Psal 27.4 1 Iohn 3.9 Luke 10.41 42. 18.19 These Scriptures shew where God sees no sin And these Scriptures which I shall now name shew how and where God doth see sin that is in the flesh and upon the Cross of Christ 1 Corinth 15.50 Rom. 7.18 Gal. 5.17 6.14 Rom. 7.21 22 23 24 25. Col. 2.13 14 15. Heb. 2.14 15. Sixthly Free-grace doth not open a door to let in sin into the soul but the soul as a chaste Virgin married unto Christ the Fountain of Free-grace by which grace the soul is strong to shut the door against sin Romans chap. verse 4. Titus 2. verses 11 12. Seventhly Those that speak so much of Free-grace are not infectious as a plague as some call them and say they are corrupt in the brain and so they are dangerous Now such men do labor to bring an evil report upon these men for Free-grace sake Now by this means there is a disaffecting and a great neglecting of the speaking of Free-grace and rather a teaching of men for to do some good thing of their own as it were and so to get our selves qualifications as it were for to fit us for Christ Good master what shall I do saith the young man that I may inherit eternal life Mark 10.17 And so saith the Pharisee I have fasted and prayed and done many things therefore I am not as other men are Luke 18.11 12. Now is it not apparent that most people and
by promise he shal bruise the head of Goliah cause the Champion of the Philistims to sink in the head of their Army and though they may rise again and bruise his heel yet a stone shal be directed from a sling and shal sink in at Goliahs forehead and he shal fal 2 Chron. 18.19 20 21 22 33 34. 1 Sam. 17.47 48 49 50. And so a man going along the streets Nochance but providence doth all a flie comes into his eye and troubles him and so a tile fals from a house and hurts him Now none of these be accidents in respect of God but through our weakness we cal them so but God hath his design in them all Sect. 9 Now God which made heaven and earth and the sea the round world and all things that are therein Acts 14.15 This God is a wonder-working God and his blessings are unto the the utmost bound of the everlasting hils Gen. 49.26 Now this wonder-working God Psal 107.8 15 21 31 42 43. made and wrought curiously his first Creation that we might behold him in it as in a glass far more curiously then any Artificer can make a curious Watch Lord saith David thou hast wonderfully made me and curiously wrought me out of the dust of the earth or belly of the earth thou hast fashioned me Psa 139.14 15 16. Now all this makes way for the appearance of Christ yet nevertheless man being in this honor abideth not Psal 49.12 Now comes in that which God neither created nor made and that is sin Now God saw every thing that he had made and behold it was very good or very lovely Gen. 1.31 Now God made not sin Sin is none of Gods Creation but a vail over it for sin is very evil and very ugly and sin hath drawn a vail of deformity over the whole Creation that was given to the first Adam Now Adam and Eve seeking themselves and to advance themselves in eating the forbiden fruit they met with sin and sin deceived them both and before they were aware they had slain a man I mean Christ Gen. 3.1 5. And Cain did the like Gen. 4.8 And thus you see what a curious piece of work the first Creation was Instance in Adam while he lay in his form of a man upon the earth before the Lord without life and after the Lord had breathed into him the breath of life he was a very curious piece but he continued but a very short time for he forgot the Law of his God and the Command of his Maker Gen. 2.7 16 17. And so sin and the devil broke in upon him and so in him sin brought shame sorrow pain and grief upon all Gen. 3.7 8 16 17 19. And this is that which the Apostle speaks of and saith The whole Creation groaneth and traveleth in pain until now to be delivered Rom. 8.21 22. And thus you see how sin hath caused a jarring in this earthly and natural Creation 1 Cor. 15 44 45 47. Instance in Adam and Eve and Cain Job So that nowhere is nothing but an earthly sound Every one stands weeping for Christ though they know him not and earthly musick and every man is groaning in the grave of his earth and stands weeping until the Lion of the tribe of Judah teach him to know the time of restauration and the time of refreshing and the time of the new Creation whereby they shal see the heavens that were first made to perish and wax old as a garment and as a vesture God wil fold them up or as a painted-cloth is taken down and folded up so shal these first Heavens and this first Creation be changed But the Heaven of God or the Heaven in God this was never made but was before time and shal swallow up time into eternity and this Heaven shal never fail and when the Lion of the tribe of Iudah shal unloose the seals of the Everlasting Gospel and shal teach men to sing the new song even the song of the Lamb that was slain by Adam and Eve in the eating of the forbiden fruit and so by Cain in slaying of Abel By this Lamb I mean Jesus Christ who shal change men from the first Creation which is ful of sin and misery into the Liberty of the Spirit of the Lord which is the new heaven read these three Scriptures Revel 5.5 8 to the end Hebr. 1.10 11 12. 2 Cor. 3.17 18. But you wil say Object God might have prevented all this misery in the first Creation which you have spoke of My answer is Answ God could have prevented sin if he would for coming into his first Creation but God suffers sin or permits sin to be there therefore God sees sin Psal 94.7 8 9 God permits of many things for his own glory 10 11. God did not create sin nor make it for sin is very evil and that which God made was very good Gen. 1.31 Therefore Gods design is to destroy sin for he sent his own Son into the world for that purpose 1 Ioh. 3.8 Sin shal work for good Rom. 8.28 And Gods design is to bring forth his own glory through all in making a new Creation and bringing forth Jesus Christ God in his first Creation considers the weakness of men in sining that they are but dust Psal 103.14 15. Therefore he saith you have destroyed your selves but in me is your help Hosea 13.9 Now if God look away but a moment mans capacity takes it for anger Sect. 10 Psal 30.5 Then God comes and saith Anger is not in me fury is not in me I wil love you freely for I am love it self Isai 27.4 Hosea 14.4 And though thou hast crucified my Son yet I wil come to thee in the cool of the day that is Christ my son is the day and with thee in him I am wel pleased The Godhead is the womb out of which every good perfect gift doth proceed and my Sons blood shal be a cool plaister to heal thy heat of sin Gen. 3.8 By the washing of regeneration from the womb of the new birth and the renewing of the holy Ghost by which thou shalt be born read Tit. 3.4 5 6. Now the Godhead is the womb of the morning and Christ is the first child in that womb Psal 110.3 And Christ is the bright morning Star in that womb read Revel 22.2 4 5 16. And all those that are Christs are born out of that womb and God sees no sin in himself therefore God sees no sin in that which is born of himself for that which is born of God with reference to Christ cannot sin because it is born of God and is the seed of God 1 Ioh 3.9 And this is the new Creation in which God sees no sin or sees no sin in them or in that Now here God sees no sin in the new creature because it is his seed upon consideration it may be found where sin