it is not hid from thee neither is it far off 14. v. But the Word is very nigh unto thee in thy mouth and in thy heart that thou mayest do it 15. v. See I have set before thee this day life and good and Death and Evil. The Covenant we see here in the 6. v. was the promised Covenant in which God would Circumcise their heart and the heart of their Seed that they should love the Lord their God with all their Heart and with all their Soul that they may live and do all his Commandments As it is said in the 8. v. But now it is the knowledge of the Covenant is put into our mouths and in our hearts And therefore he saith that they and we may do it For he saith I have set before thee Life and Good Death and Evil. 16. v. In that I Command thee this Day to love the Lord thy God to walk in his ways and to keep his Commandments and his Statutes and his Judgments that thou mayest live And when a Lawyer asked our Saviour Christ what he should do to inherit Eternal Life Luke 10.26,27,28,29 He said unto him what is written in the Law How readest thou 27. v. And he answering said Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind and thy Neighbour as thy self 28. v. And he said unto him thou hast answered right this do and thou shalt live And the Lord saith in Mat. 22.40 On these two Commands hang all the Law and the Prophets And when the young Man in the Gospel came to our Saviour and asked him What he should do to inherit Eternal Life The Lord said unto him â—eep the Commandments as in Matth. 19.17 By all which we see that the Law of God should 〈◊〉 the Rule of our Lives in all things And Moses in his Song Deut. 31.30 also goes on in his former way of speaking in that he includes the adopted Seed with the Natural Seed of Abraham And in the 31. chap. and last ver it is said Moses spake in the ears of all the Congregation of Israel the Words of this Song until they were ended Wherein he saith Give ear O ye Heavens and I will speak and hear O Earth the words of my mouth We also here see that Moses terms the Princes of Israel and the People to be the Heavens and Earth To whom the Words of this Song to the half part of the 21. ver do particularly belong In which he makes mention of those things which were to come upon them as tho they had been already past And from the half part of the 21. verse to the 25. verse he speaks of that degenerate Root of Gall and Wormwood of whom God said in the latter part of the 21. v. to Israel I will move them to Jealousie with those that are not a people I will provoke them to Anger with a foolish Nation Now St. Paul directeth these very Words in his Epistle to the Romans Rom. 10.19 as knowing they were the foolish Nation vvith vvhom Israel should be moved to Jealousie and provoked to Anger vvithal First moved to Jealousie in that the Messias vvas preached and offered to them to bring them into covenant vvith God Secondly Anger in that they brought on them that miserable destruction vvhich remains to this day Novv vvhen St. Paul vvrote this Epistle to the Romans but sevv of them had received the Gospel But he to bear vvitness to the truth and knovving that it vvas that Nation vvhich by God vvas termed to be the foolish Nation A foolish Nation in that vvhen they had received the Knovvledge of the Truth they abode not in the commandment delivered to them by vvhich Christ and the Promises are attainable The which was made with their Fathers at Mount Sinai when they came out of the Land of Egypt that they should not worship other Gods nor make unto themselves any Graven Images that they should not commit Idolatry nor Blasphemy Murder Breach of the Sabbath Adultery Fornication and Theft all which and much more is their continual practice And their Theft is in taking the peoples substance for their Pardons and Indulgences for there is none that can forgive sins but God only These horrible crying sins with their unsatiable blood-thirsty cruelty to the Saints and Servants of God By which their willful and abominable Disobedience excludes them from the mercy promised in and through Christ and will bring upon them all those intolerable Curses which are here pronounced against their Land and themselves they being that Root of Gall and Wormwood against whom those worser Curses did particularly belong Novv that this Foolishness vvas meant by their falling off Paul makes it further evident by vvhat he vvrote to the Galathians In vvhich he says O foolish Galathians who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the Truth Novv vve see here that he terms these Foolish upon the same account as the other vvere so termed But here he rehearseth not the Words of God by Moses because they related not unto them but unto the former For in the follovving Verse of Moses his Song God saith of this Foolish Nation Deut. 32.22,23,24 For a fire is kindled in mine Anger and shall burn unto the lowest Hell and shall consume the Earth with her increase and set on fire the Foundations of the mountains 23. v. I will heap mischiefs upon them I will spend mine arrows upon them 24. v. They shall be burnt with hunger and devoured with burning heat and with bitter destruction I will also send the Teeth of Beasts upon them with the poyson of Serpents of the dust Now we know that these Judgments here set down were not inflicted on Israels Land but we see them evidently made out in this Roman Esaus Land vvhich is that root of bitterness And vvhereas God saith a Fire is kindled in mine Anger vvhich shall burn to the lovvest Hell by vvhich vve may plainly see that there is more than one Hell And this Word of his gives us fully to understand vvhence this Fire comes that does thus consume the Foundations of the Mountains that it is the Anger of God vvhich causes it vvhich Fire extends it self dovvn to the lovvest Hell and riseth upvvard into the Earth the vvhich conumes the Earth vvith her increase by those Torrents or Rivers of Fire the vvhich proceed from the Foundations of those Mountains the vvhich Mountains God hath set as Signs for these several hundred years as a mark for the fulfilling of these Prophesies and to inlighten the thinking Christians that they might know to vvhom these Judgments did appertain and also that they might make preparation for the Lord. Novv vvhereas God saith in the 24. v. I will also send the Teeth of Beasts upon them with the Poyson of Serpents of the Dust The meaning of which vvords is much like to vvhat Isaiah saith
which the Lord for our better inlightning tells us in Mat. 13.52 That every Scribe that is well instructed bringeth out of his Treasury things New and Old That is for the better understanding of the New Testament we must search the Old For indeed they both give light the one to the other And as to the meaning of the Lord in his saying this generation I was ignorant of how to apprehend it And being formerly asked by a Gentleman that had no belief of the Bible how I could since my Lord had so falfyfied his word in his promise as concerning his coming in that generation and since there has been so many generations and the Lord is not yet come At which time I could not give him a satisfactory answer neither any that could prove so to my self At which I was much troubled altho it did no way shake my belief in the Lord as not to believe him to be the Son of God and as being so he had made satisfaction for all them that truly love and fear him for through Mercy I had had those Experiences of the Lord unto me that I was not staggered therein notwithstanding my trouble was very great that my Lord should be termed a Deceiver in being worse than his word After which a considerable time I hearing of the Earth-quakes and the Cities of the Nations falling I thought it my best way to take the Lords Advice and search the Scriptures with more diligence than ever and I earnestly besought the Lord with Prayers that he would inlighten my Understanding therein And blessed be God he hath granted my request and not only so but having found out these several places the which are and will be standing witnesses to my Lord to prove that he hath not falsified his word to us in the Promise of his Coming but that he will certainly come in this Generation whose coming is just at hand which will be the day in which Christ will Judg the World and give rewards to his Servants at which time there will be none of these Corruptions for St. Paul and Esaras saith they shall be changed 2 Esd 6.26,27 The men that are received shall see it who have not tasted Death from their Birth and the Hearts of the Inhabitants shall be changed and turned into another meaning for evil shall be put out deceit shall be quenched as for faith it shall flourish and corruption shall be overcome and truth which hath been so long without fruit shall be declared Then will the saying of the Angel to the Blessed Virgin be made good concerning Christ as in Luke 1.32,33 He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the Throne of his Father David And he shall reign over the House of Jacob for ever and of his Kingdom there shall be no end Now the Throne of his Father David was on Mount Sion and Jerusalem And Christ saith to Nathanael in John 1.51 Hereafter you shall see Heaven open and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man When this eminent Glory of Christ shall be Revealed then also will come to pass the saying of the Apostle as in Ephes 2.7 That in the Ages to come he might shew the exceeding Riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus This exceeding Riches of the Grace of Christ will be manifested toward them in the World to come Of which World to come shall proceed Ages and Generations And God saith of Israel in Isa 45.17,18 Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting Salvation ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded World without end For thus saith the Lord that Created the Heavens God himself that formed the Earth and made it he hath established it he created it not in vain he formed it to be inhabited I am the Lord and there is none else And St. Paul instructing the Church by Timothy saith 1 Tim. 6.19 That they do good that they be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on Eternal Life We see here is another time spoken of and if it's time it is then before Eternity and so before the final Judgment wherein 't is said the Sea Hell and Death shall deliver up their Dead And whereas there is spoken of three Generations and three Worlds and three Times the which three ways of expressing includes one and the same thing and that there will be a time wherein the Glory of the Righteous shall be reveal'd as there has been times wherein they have been despised and therefore St. Paul saith Rom. 8.18,19,20,21,22 But I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us 19. For the earnest expectation of the Creature waiteth for the manifestation of the Sons of God 20. For the Creature was made subject to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope 21. Because the creature it self also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God 22. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travelleth in pain together until now Here the Apostle speaketh in the usual Scripture way in that he mentions that which is to come as tho it were then present the which by his following words he doth so explain himself as in the 23. v. where he saith And not only they but our selves also which have the first fruits of the Spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our Body 24. For we are saved by hope but hope that is seen is not hope for what a man seeth why doth he hope for 25. But if we hope for that we see not then do we with patience wait for it As concerning this Hope the Lord puts forth the Parable in Luke 19.12,16,17 He said therefore a certain noble man went out into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return By this we see the Lord was to return again when he had received the Power of the Kingdom and then he will give here rewards to his Servants according to their diligence imployed in his Service as in the 16. and 17. v. Then came the first saying Lord thy pound hath gained ten pounds And he said unto him well thou good servant because thou hast been faithful in a very little have thou Authority over ten Cites And here we see according to the improvement of the Talent he gives us so will his rewards be for the God of Judgment will not be such a partial Judg as some has thought him But the Judg of all the World will do right Now by the Parable that the Lord put forth concerning the Wedding
Lord is my Helper Now Moses rehearsed the Covenant of the Lord to Israel before his Death Where he saith in Deut. 30.10 If thou shalt hearken unto the Voice of the Lord thy God to keep his Commandments and his Statutes which are written in the Book of the Law and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine Heart and with all thy Soul V. 11. For this Commandment which I command thee this day it is not hidden from thee neither is it far off V. 12. It is not in Heaven that thou shouldst say who shall go up for us into Heaven and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it V. 13. Neither is it beyond the Sea that thou shouldst say who shall go over the Sea for us and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it V. 14. But the word is very nigh unto thee in thy Mouth and thy Heart that thou maist do it This you see was spoken to the Church that was Elected Called and Chosen out of the whole World and so far Renewed and Inlightned as to be put into a Capacity of Obedience so as they might have done it as Moses saith If they had used their Diligence therein and with Prayer sought to God for his Assistance then the Lord according to his Promise would not have fail'd them nor forsake them Now the Heathen had neither the word in their Mouth nor in their Heart and some of them must have crossed the Seas if they would have had it Now Moses saith in the 15th v. See I have set before thee this day Life and Good Death and Evil. V. 16. In that I command thee this Day to Love the Lord thy God to walk in his ways and to keep his Commandments and his Statutes and his Judgments that thou mayest live and multiply and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the Land whether thou goest to possess it V. 17. But if thine Heart turn away so that thou wilt not hear but shalt be drawn away and Worship other Gods and serve them V. 18. I denounce unto you this day that ye shall surely perish and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the Land whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it V. 19. I call Heaven and Earth to record this day against you that I have set before you Life and Death a blessing and a Cursing therefore choose Life that both thou and thy Seed may live Now this was said to the whole Jewish Church that God had brought out of Darkness and given them the knowledg of himself and his Law Upon which Moses absolutely saith that he hath set Life and Death before them which he could not have said had their Destruction been absolutely decreed before the foundation of the Material World was I do not deny a fore-knowledg in God that Man mightmiscarry but I absolutely deny that God made a Decree for Mans Damnation before ever man was Created or the World in which they Transgressed but that the Decree was passed according to the saying of the Angel after Man had offended Neither do I deny but that some particular persons are so chosen or their Election to be such so as they shall not be cast off But that which I deny is That the Jewish Church was not so chosen or Elected but that by their sinning they might be cast off For it was but a conditional Covenant that then God made with them But as to that New Covenant the which God hath promised to make with them to give them a New Heart and a New Spirit that they should not sin against him and that they should be all taught of God from the least of them to the greatest of them and that he would never leave them nor forsake them nor leave them so as to forsake him but then he will rain down Righteousness and shower down blessings upon them Hos 10.12 Isa 65.22 Ezek. 24.34 Jer. 31.33,34 Jer. 32.40,41 Isa 60.21 But this Promised Covenant still remains to be made with them which God has Promised by his Oath shall be made with them and confirm'd unto them the which Promise will be made good to them at the Restitution of all things which will not be till Christ again comes to which St. Paul's Epistles do most of them drive at wherein he speaks of Election And as to that of Esau and Jacob whom God hath set as the Figure of both Worlds Esau being the Figure of this World and Jacob of that which is to come therefore it is said I have loved Jacob and hated Esau because the Glory was intended for the other World which is Jacob and that they of this World that are of Esau will part with their Birth-right rather than withstand a Temptation or wrestle with Affliction in the day of Tryal which Birth-right is the Promise of Salvation if they hold out to the end for which we must all Pray Wrestle and Run or else we shall not receive the Prize For now the Body of the Christian Church stands on no other Conditions than Israel then did as to their Calling and Election That is they are so far renewed as to be brought into the knowledge of God and put into a capacity of Obedience in which as the Apostle saith 2 Pet. 1.10,11 We are to use all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure For if ye do these things ye shall never fall For so an entrance shall be ministred unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ And St. Paul to the Philippians saith Phil. 2.12,13,15,16 Work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling And in the next Verse it is said For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure That is it is so far the good will and pleasure of God as to call us renew us and enlighten us in the knowledg of himself whereby he hath put us into a capacity of working out our own Salvation with Fear and Trembling And he saith in the 15th Verse That ye may be blameless and harmless the Sons of God without rebuke in she midst of a crocked and perverse Nation among whom ye shine as Lights in the world Verse 16. Holding forth the word of Life that I may rejoyce in the Day of Christ that I have not run in vain nor laboured in vain Now he knew there was a possibility of their miscarriage by the Admonition that he gave them which if they did it would take away his rejoycing in the Day of Christ in that he had laboured for them in vain And the same Apostle to the Hebrews saith Heb. 10.22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having your hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and your bodies washed with pure water And here the Apostle tells us what is required of us if we are made partakers of
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God Now we are to take notice that this Man was one that truly feared God and in that he then believed that Christ was the Son of God which he no sooner believed but he knew that he must render to him the like obedience as he had done unto God The which he believing was baptized And also the Text saith that Philip Preached to him Jesus and in so doing he taught him the conditions upon which Christ had offered life and salvation to which he must yield if he would become justified by him Chap. VII Abolishing the Ceremonial Law the Yoke taken off of the Neck of the Disciples ACts 15.6,7,8 And the Apostles and Elders came together for to consider of this matter And when there had been much disputing Peter rose up and said unto them Men and Brethren ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the Gospel and believe And God which knoweth the hearts bare them witness giving them the Holy Ghost even as he did unto us Now whereas he saith God which knoweth the hearts bare them witness giving them the Holy Ghost even as he did unto us That is God bare them witness that this belief in them was according to the tenour of the Gospel and therefore God gave to the first Gentile-Churches the Holy Ghost as he did to the believing Jews And therefore he saith in the 9th verse And put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by Faith Here we see that by this Faith their hearts were purified in their believing the mercy was not to be received nor retained without a complying frame of spirit to the will of God in yielding their obedience to the Gospel which requires our love to God and his Commands Whereas he saith in verse 10. Now therefore why tempt ye God to put a Yoke upon the neck of the Disciples which neither our Fathers nor we were able to bear This Yoke which he here speaks of was Circumcision Sacrifices and often Washings and Purifications which were very burdensom and not profitable for they could no ways make the comers thereunto perfect But Faith in Jesus Christ begets a holy life For in the believing that Christ is become the Author of eternal Salvation to all that obey him Heb. 5.9 The belief of this makes Faith a purifying Faith But whereas the Apostle saith Acts 15.11 But we believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they That is the Believers of the Jews that were Circumcised which had yielded their obedience unto Christ did alike believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ they should be saved even as the Believers of the Gentiles that had embraced the Faith in yielding their consent to be obedient to the Gospel For as the Believers of the Gentiles were saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ without Circumcision and the Ceremonial Law So the Believers of the Jews did also believe that they might be saved without them as well as the Gentiles But as for the Moral Law we are as much obliged to keep it as ever Israel was Rom. 2.13 For not the hearers of the Law are just before God but the doers of the Law shall be justified By these words Saint Paul declares that the Moral Law was in as full force as ever it was But as for the Ceremonial Law which afterwards was termed the Law of Moses about which was this Contention it being then to be abolished This is further treated of Acts 21.21 They are informed of thee that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses saying that they ought not to Circumcise their Children neither to walk after their Customs And so in v. 23,24 of the same chapter it is to the like effect Chap. VIII Of things strangled and Blood NOW as to the things forbidden in the Ceremonial Law which we are still to refrain he singles out and writes concerning them Acts 15.28,29 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things that ye abstain from Meats offered to Idols and from Blood and from things strangled acd from Fornication These things not being forbidden in the Moral Law it was thought good by the Holy Ghost and by them to leave a Command that those things should still be refrained But as for the Doctrine of the Gospel in which is included the Moral Law the Apostles had before well instructed the Church in In which Gospel there is required obedience to all God's Commands and Precepts with a Promise of the Everlasting Inheritance to them that obey Rev. 2.10 This their Faith in believing the Promise carried them out into all good works even to suffering and to death Chap. IX What is required of a Christian to be a Christian indeed shewing that he is also obliged to keep the Moral Law SAINT Paul exhorteth Timothy To fight the good fight of Faith 1 Tim. 6.12 In which Faith we see there is included a Battle to be fought And St. Paul saith The World was crucified to him and he to the World Gal. 6.14 And that he that is in Christ must become a new Creature 2 Cor. 5.17 Rom. 12.1,2 And That ye present your bodies a living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service And be not conformed to this World but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God And in Ephes 4.22,23,24 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts And be renewed in the spirit of your mind And that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Wherefore putting away lying speak every man truth to his neighbour Gal. 6.7,8,9 Be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the slesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting Let us not be weary in well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not As we have therefore opportunity let us do good unto all especially unto them who are of the houshold of Faith Gal. 5.22,23,24 The fruits of the Spirit is love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance against such there is no Law And they that are in Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Now tho' there was no Law to condemn such yet there was the Law of God to guide them And of such as these the Apostle spake when he said They were not under the Law but under Grace The like he saith Gal. 5.18 But if
having slighted his mercy Therefore this is no incouragement to us that live under the call of the Gospel to deferr repentance For the day of grace and the day of life have not one and the same date For if we will go on frowardly in the ways of our own hearts God will leave us to blindness of mind and hardness of heart Now God said that David was a Man after his own heart and why because his heart immediatly answered the call of God by his Word or Messengers as the Psalmist saith Psal 27.8 When thou saidst Seek ye my face my heart answered unto thee thy face Lord will I seek This is the voice which God requires of us The which he found not in Israel As saith St. Paul Rom. 10.21 To Israel he saith all the day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying People And also in Proverbs Prov. 1.24,26 Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh By this we may plainly see God complain'd of them because they were wanting to themselves in not improving the season of grace which he had put into their hands Therefore God saith in the 32. v. Prov. 1.32,33 The turning away of the simple shall slay them and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them But whosoever shall hearken unto me shall dwell safely and be quiet from fear of evil What is here spoken is to the foolish and wise Christians and of the near approaching time to come Now the Epistle to the Romans St. Paul sent presently after their conversion when as dayly there were new converts brought over to the Church for their comfort to let them understand that if they should immediatly after their conversion be taken away by a natural death or a violent one upon the account of their faith that they should no ways be startled or dismayed because they had not time after their conversion to do any good action even so much time as to be baptized but only believed as the Thief did and thereupon called upon the Lord for mercy and so departed this life yet they should be saved upon which occasion they were baptized for the dead as the ancients say and of which St. Paul speaketh 1 Cor. 15.29 What shall they do which are baptized for the dead if the dead rise not at all why are they then baptized for the dead Now that they that call upon God so as to have salvation his following words make out where the Apostle saith Rom. 10.14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed By which we see their calling is insignificant without believing and if they savingly believe it must be according to the tenor of the Gospel Which requires of us repentance from dead works and love to and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and if we live amendment of life for he that is in Christ must become a new Creature and walk as he himself walked 1 Joh. 2.6 And as St. Paul to the Romans saith Rom. 8.1,8 There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit 6. v. For to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace By which we may plainly see St. Paul's meaning was not that they might remain in their own natural state and so call upon God and be saved but that his meaning was as I before shewed you for what is set down here and what is set down in the 10. Ch. was writ at one and the same time being one and the same Epistle And the Jews wisely tell us that we must look to the words which go before and the words that follow after if we intend to come to a right understanding of the Scripture Now God by the Prophet Jeremiah makes mention of the miscarriage of Judah and how she did but feignedly call upon him as in the 10. v. Jer. 3.10 And yet for all this her treacherous Sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart but feignedly saith the Lord. And the Apostle saith Rom. 6.16,17,18 Know ye not that to whom ye yield your selves servants to obey his servants ye are to whom ye obey whether of sin unto death or obedience unto righteousness But God be thanked that you were the servants of sin but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you Being then made free from sin ye became the Servants of righteousness The which is an evident token that we have no share in Christ's righteousness if we our selves walk not in the ways of righteousness And also we sin our sins over again if we do but delightfully think on them And the Apostle relates to Titus what they were before they were converted Titus 3.3,4,5,6,7,8 For we our selves also were sometimes foolish disobedient deceived serving divers lusts and pleasures living in malice and envy hateful and hating one another But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour That being justified by his grace should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life This is a faithful saying and these things I will that you affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works The Apostle having here set down what they were before the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared And whereas he said Not by the works of righteousness which they had done but according to his mercy he saved them by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost Here we see was an inward change wrought in them from whence did arise their hopes of salvation And whereas he said that the Spirit was shed on them abundantly it was for the establishing the Gospel And as to what he saith as to their being justified by his grace they should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life That is as I before told you upon their first conversion and resigning themselves up to Christ to be wholly guided and governed by him according to the rule of his word then it is the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them whereby they become justified in sight of God And whereas he saith I will that they affirm constantly that they that have believed in God might be carefull to maintain good works The which he said to let them understand that if they did not persevere in a holy life they might be cast off According to what the Lord saith Joh. 15.2.6,8,9,10,14 Every
him also freely give us all things That is God will freely give us all things if we will receive it according to the tender of his Grace in his Word and with patience wait for it as these did And whereas he saith in 33. v. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect it is God that Justifieth 33. Who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the Right hand of God who also maketh interessione for us That is as I elsewhere said that we are no sooner converted and brought into an holy Resignation of our selves unto God but we are accepted of God through the satisfaction made by the Death of Christ who now lives to make intercession for such And as to what we were before we were Converted those sins will not be laid to our charge But this is no incouragement to us to sin and defer Repentance for those Romans never had the knowledg of the truth before But we are born Children of the visible Church and if we defer Repentance and check the good motions of the Spirit and refuse to be obedient to the word thinking it will be time enough hereafter to look after Heaven In so doing we tempt God to leave us to hardness of Heart and blindness of mind therefore the Apostle doth so earnestly exhort the Hebrews To day whilst it is called to day not to harden their Hearts That is not to put off Repentance till to morrow And when we are brought home to Christ by Repentance and resigning up our selves to him we are then no sooner in him but we must walk in newness of Life Of which St. Jude puts in remembrance Jude 6.7 Of the Angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitations he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the Judgment of the great day Even as Sodom and Gomorrha and the Cities about them in like manner giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange Flesh are set forth for an Example suffering the vengeance of eternal Fire By which we see if we give our selves a liberty to sin God does with hold his restraining Grace from us and so through sin we become subjects of God's wrath And whereas St. Paul saith Rom. 8.35 Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword 36. As it is written for thy sake we are killed all the day long we are accounted as Sheep for the Slaughter 37. Nay in all these things we are more than Conquerers through him that lovedus 38. For I am perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come 39. Nor height nor depth nor any other Creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. By these words we see that St. Paul was of this perswasion That they being once in Christ that it was not any nor all of these forementioned things should be able to separate them from the Love of God through Christ By which we see there is nothing but wilful sin that can separate the Soul from the Love of God in Christ if once accepted And whereas St. Paul saith 2 Thes 2.13.14 We are bound to give thanks alway to God for you Brethren beloved of the Lord because God hath from the beginning chosen you to Salvation thro' Sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth whereunto he called you by our Gospel to the obtaining of the gloey of our Lord Jesus Christ Now whereas St. Paul saith That God from the beginning chose the Thessalonians to Salvation Now were these words to be taken as hitherto we have done there is a contradiction in the Apostles own words For in the Ephesians he there saith that they were chosen in Christ before the Foundation of the World And here in the Thessalonians he saith from the beginning Now were they chosen from the beginning of the material Heavens and Earth or from the beginning of the first world of People which was in the seed of Cain and Seth. Then were they not chosen before the foundation of the World but at the foundation of the World therefore these words admit of a contradiction And from the beginning here spoken of could not reach to God and Eternity for there is neither beginning nor end therefore his words here and in the Ephesians admit of two meanings The first is as I before proved to you That the Churches that first trusted in Christ was made choice of for the glorious Tabernacle and so will appear to the praise of his Glory as being approv'd of of God as to matter of choice or liking in God for the glorious Tabernacle sooner then Israel or before Israel which is the foundation of the world here spoken of as I have already clearly proved Now whereas he saith that the Thessalonians were chosen from the begining to Salvation is no other then from the begining of the preaching of the Gospel The which begining I shall make clear to you by the words of our blessed Lord and St. John First what the Lord saith to his Disciples in John 15.27 And ye shall also bear witness because ye have been with me from the begining And St. John saith 1 John 2.24 Let that therefore abide in you which ye have heard from the begining If that which ye have heard from the begining shall remain in you ye also shall continue in the Son and in the Father By what is here said it is evident that the Apostle had no other meaning then from the begining of the publishing of the Gospel by reason Christ and the Apostles did express themselves so And the Apostles own words are to the like effect in Phil. 1.5 For your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now which is no other then from the first day they heard the word Now the Thessalonians their being chosen to salvation was not so absolute but that they might through their own neglect fall short of salvation as St. Pauls own words make appear Because he saith in the 2 Thes 1.11 Wherefore also we pray alwaies for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith with power By what is here said it doth appear that the Thessalonians being chosen to salvation was like that of the children of Israel who was chosen of the Lord for the Land of Canan for God brought them out of the Land of Egypt That was God by his own out stretched arm brought them out of Egypt and through the red Sea This being that which lay not in their power to do But when he brought them into the Wilderness they were to fight for the Land of Canan or else they were never to
but forbids his Prophets to pray for them as in Jer. 7.16 the Lord said Therefore pray not thou for this people neither lift up Cry nor Prayer for them neither make intercession unto me for I will not hear thee And God also saith in Jer. 11.14 Therefore pray not thou for this people neither lift up Cry nor prayer for them for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble By which we see that Repentance will not be accepted at all times For the Lord also saith Jer. 14.12 When they fast I will not hear their cry and when they offer burnt-offerings and an oblation I will not accept them but I will consume them by the Sword and by the Famine and by the Pestilence And it is said Jer. 14.10 Thus saith the Lord unto this people thus have they loved to wander they have not refrained their Feet therefore the Lord doth not accept of them he will now remember their Iniquity and visit their sins We see here that the Lord doth not require of them that which they could not do but that which they could do for they might have refrained their Feet and laid a restraint upon themselves Therefore the Lord saith Isa 50.1 Thus saith the Lord where is the Bill of your Mothers Divorce whom I have put away or to which of my Creditors is it to whom I have Sold you behold for your iniquities have you sold your selves and for your Transgressions is your Mother put away Here the Lord declareth that he was Married to Israel but because of their Sins they were put away And here the Lord speaketh in derision to them Wherein he saith Unto which of my Creditors have I sold you As much as to say I have kept Covenant with you but you for your Iniquities have sold your selves Now had God Reprobated these before the Foundation of the Material Heavens and Earth to Sin Death and Damnation there is no deceit can be like it seeing God has thus here declared against it and in Ezekiel by his Oath and word avouched it But whilst we were too much poring on the sayings of St. Paul since we no better understood them and too slightly passing over the Oath and Word of God and not weighing the dangerous consequence that doth attend a mistake herein But our usual saying is fore-warn'd fore-arm'd but we were not so wise as to take the warning for St. Peter cautions us that in St. Paul's Epistles there are some things hard to be understood which some wrest to their own destruction And this St. Peter saith where he speaketh of the New Heavens and Earth of which St. Paul saith in some places before the World began and also he saith from the foundation of the World and again he saith the World to come Now the words of St. Peter are these in the 2 Pet. 3.13 Nevertheless we according to his promise look for New Heavens and a new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness 14. v. Wherefore beloved seeing that ye look for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him in Peace without spot and blameless 15. v. And account that the long-suffering of our Lord is Salvation even as our beloved Brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you 16. v. As also in all his Epistles speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest as they do also the other Scriptures unto their own destruction Now St. Peter doth make it clear that in all St. Paul's Epistles he did speak to them of these things that is of the World to come and of their Election and Choice for that World before that World began the which St. Peter here terms the New Heavens and Earth Now whereas he saith That it is they that are unlearned and are unstable that did wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction And now tho we have men of Learning and stable in these our days amongst us Yet those that first brought in this darkness were neither learned nor stable in the school of Christ And whereas St. Paul saith Heb. 1.2 God hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son whom he hath appointed Heir of all things by whom also he made the Worlds Now what were the Worlds that were made To which I Answer First The Material Heavens and Earth Secondly The world of People that did proceed from Adam the which is generally called the old World Thirdly The world of People which did proceed from Noah of whom we sprang And also the World to come the Foundation of which is Israel as I have already proved for the Earth is said to be set fast in them And St. Paul saith 2 Tim. 1.9 Who hath saved us and called us with an Holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us iâ— Christ Jesus before the World began That is at the first Establishing of the Gospel there was a general call not of their works but according to a purpose in God which was given in Christ before the World began which is the World to come for in Heb. 2.5 he tells It is the World to come of which he speaks Now whereas he saith in 2 Tim. 1.10 But now is made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ who hath Abolished Death and brough life and immortality to light through the Gospel Now here he speaks in the Scripture way of speaking In that he saith hath abolished Death and brought Life and Immortality to Light At which time Death was not Abolished therefore spoken for time to come which then at the appearing of Christ all the Dead Bodies of the Saints will be raised and his Living Saints so chang'd that there shall be no more fear of their falling off so as to tast Eternal Death And he tells us how this Life and Immortallity comes to light That the knowledg of it is through the Gospel of which he saith He was made a Minister Now seeing Life and immortality comes to light through the Gospel we should in all things labour to walk in Obedience thereunto which Gospel includes the whole Moral Law The which is if we perform the Conditions we shall be made partakers of the Promises which is Immortality and Eternal Life For now God expecteth Fruit from â—s as he did from Israel But if there is no other found with us than was with them that is in shew only we must ook to be hewen down and cast into the Fire at his coming Now whereas St. Paul saith in Titus 1.2 In hope of Eternal Life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began Now this Promise without doubt was all along as to Adam and before the World which sprang from him and so to Noah Before this World was that sprang from him But I believe
in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats That the Sheep went into everlasting Life That is that none of them which the Lord then will receive into Mercy shall ever see Hell but have Everlasting Life although they may afterward taste of a Temporal Death According to which the Lord saith in John 8.51 Verily verily I say unto you if a man keep my sayings he shall never see Death Now it is very clear that the Lord did not mean that they should not die a Temporal Death because vve see that all die So the Lord said of all the Sheep that they went into Everlasting Life because they were all of them then secured from Hell And St. John saith to them to whom he wrote wherein he includes himself John 3.14 We know that we have passed from Death to Life because we love the brethren And the Lord saith John 6.50 This is the Bread which cometh down from Heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die We see when the Lord hath taken away the sting of Death from his people he afterwards counts their departure hence not a dying So the Lord after this way of speaking said of his Sheep in the Parable that they vvent into Life Eternal Now if we will ever understand the Scriptures we must understand the Scripture way of speaking and when the Lord comes at which time his Sheep will be gaihered then will Christs Sheep be brought into One Fold and then shall we be all taught of God Then it is there will be One Fold and One Shepherd And then also shall Japhet dwell in ths Tents of Shem. And now as the very Elect follows the Lord through all Persecutions and Afflictions so Israel shall obey him in the fullness of all things Now the Lord when he was upon the Earth spake to the Jews in dark Sentences and Parables because they seeing might not see and hearing they might not understand The which makes the sayings of Christ more dark to us Now that the Waldenses and Albigenses are the very Elect spoken of by Christ it does certainly appear because they have ever remained undeceived by the Beast and False Prophets when all the rest of the World was fallen off according to the Declaration of the Angel in Rev. 17.8 The Beast that thou sawest was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless Pit and go into Perdition and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of Life from the foundation of the Wâ—…ld Now these Waldenses and Albigenses continuing stedfast and being never drawn off by the beast it doth certainly appear they are the very Elect spoken of by Christ Matt. 24.24 Now the Lord said to his Disciples Luk. 10.20 Rev. 21.27 Your Names are witten in Heaven But he did not say to them that their Names were written in Heaven from the foundation of the World and altho it doth appear that the Names of the Children of the Church are written in Heaven by what God said to Moses in Exod. 32.33 And the Lord said to Moses whosoever hath sinned against me him will I blot out of my book And by what David saith of the Enemies of Christ as in Psal 69.28 Let them be blotted out of the Book of the Living and not be written with the Righteous By which it doth appear that the Children of the Church as they come into the World that their Names are written in Heaven till by their Sin their Names are blotted out thence for the Covenant being made with them and their Children the which shews that the Childrens Names must be written in the Book of Life till such time that by their wilful sinning they Exclude themselves from the Mercy promised by that Covenant and then are their Names blotted out of the Book of Life Now whereas St. Paul in Ephesians saith That they were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the World So here in the Revelations those that should remain a standing Witness are said to be Written in the book of Life from the foundation of the World the which fully declares there is a two fold meaning in it The which is as I have already proved to you Now it being impossible to deceive the very Elect it does thereby appear to be the Jews because there was a certain select number chosen of the Jews the which was according to the Election of Grace the which the words of St. Paul makes appear and the words of Christ doth seem to signify as much where he speaks of the Sheep which his Father had given him as in John 10.27,28,29 Now the Christian Jews were said to be all warned to go out of Jerusalem before the Destruction thereof but where they went we know not And they being Christians and living amongst the Christians it might be those that retained their Religion when all the rest fell away And so these Waldenses and Albigenses do therefore appear to be these Christian Jews because there is said there is a certain number of the sews that does follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth And also it is said when the Servants of God were to be Sealed there was a certain number of every Tribe Sealed excepting Dan Rev. 7.3,4 The Angel saying hurt not the Earth neither the Sea nor the Trees till we have sealed the Servants of â—od in their foreheads And I heard the number of them that were Sealed And there were Sealed an hundred forty and four thousand of all the Tribes of the Children of the Israel In the first place he saith he heard the number of them that were sealed but he does not tell us what that number was but leaving that he goes on and tells us how many were Sealed of all the Tribes of the Children of Israel And in the following verse he saith of every Tribe there was Sealed twelve Thousand And having spoken of the Sealing he saith in Rev. 9. After this I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all Nations and Kindreds and People and Tongues stood before the Throne clothed with white Robes and Palms in their Hands 10. v. And cried with a loud voice saying Salvation to our God which siteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb. This appears to be spoken of the raised Saints and the Glorious Tabernacle where the Throne of God will be And whereas he saith in the 11. v. And all the Angels stood round about the Throne and about the Elders and the four Beasts and fell before the Throne on their Faces and worshiped God Now these four Beasts doth seem to be the People of the Nations that are saved alive to live upon the Earth after the Glory of the Lord is manifest that then they will be gathered to Canaan to Worship where the Throne of God will be in the glorious Tabernacle Now in Rev. 4. There is no mention made of the multitude of People of all Nations that
reign over the house of Jacob for ever and of his kingdom there shall be no end Now as to what the Pen-man of Psal 99. saith in the rehearsal of the message sent by Nathan to David which has its special Reference to Christ beginning at the 27. v. of Psal 89. Also I will make him my first born higher than the Kings of the Earth 28. v. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore my Covenant shall stand fast with him 29. v. His seed also will I make to endure for ever and his Throne as the days of Heaven 30. v. If his Children forsake my Law and not walk in my Judgment 31. v. If they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments 32. v. Then will I visit their Transgressions with a Rod and their iniquity with stripes 33. v. Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail 34. v. My Covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips 35. Once have I sworn by my Holiness that I will not lie unto David 36. v. His Seed shall endure for ever and his Throne as the Sun before me This being peculiarly meant by Christ in the time of his glorious Kingdom and that to us and the body of the Jewish Church it belongs not in that God Christ St. Peter and St. Paul do declare the contrary for St. Paul saith Heb. 6.5,6 If we wilfully fall away after we have tasted the good word of God and of the Powers of the World to come the Apostle saith we cannot be Renewed again by Repentance And therefore this Promise is not made to us And also now God proves and tries his and here in this world commonly God's best Saints suffers the greatest Afflictions And as the Apostle saith Hebrews 12.6 For whom the Lord loveth he chastneth and scourgeth every Son whom he receiveth 7. If ye endure Chastening God dealeth with you as Sons For what Son is he whom the Father chasteneth not 8. But if ye be without Chastisement whereof all are partakers then are ye Bastards and not Sons And after all if we fall away as in Heb. 10.26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledg of the truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for sins 27. v. But a certain fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the Adversaries But when this promise was made annext to this Threatning there is no Afflictions threatned to them that do well Now Israel at their first entring into the Land of Canaan was upon their Obedience promised Prosperity and Plenty of all things as in Deut. 28. but we by the Gospel are promised no such thing but on the contrary sorrow affliction and persecution and if we hold out to the end we shall receive a Crown of Life which the Lord the righteous Judg shall give at that day unto all them that Love his Appearing 2 Tim. 4.8 not only to the raised Saints but unto them that he will find so at his coming for when we are put past the power of the Second Death and all sin and sorrow done away then we receive a Crown of Life And the Lord saith of them that keep his sayings John 5.24 That they shall never see death and if so after sin and sorrow is gone then it is we have the Crown of Life When Christ again comes to take the Kingdom then Israel will be so fixt in the Lord as they shall not sin against him And for the thousand years that the Glory of the Lord is more eminently visible and Satan bound up then shall all the Families of the Earth be blessed in Christ But after that time when the Eminent Glory of the Lord is not so Visible and Satan again loosed then will he seek for the new Brood of the young ones that was left of the old Stock and who these young ones are said to be I have already told you was sold by Israel and so scattered upon the Earth and he will draw off as many of the Gentiles as he can with them with the chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal which are of the Race of Japhet as in Gen. 10.2 and in 1 Chr. 1.5 which will be the Gog and Magog spoken of in Ezek. 38.2 Son of Man set thy face against Gog the land of Magog the chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal and Prophesy again him And in Rev. 20.8 There is Gog and Magog again spoken of Now after Satan has deluded these to their Destruction then it is said Zac. 14.16 It shall come to pass that every one that is left of all the Nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King the Lord of Hosts and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles Now these here spoken of that are left of all the Nations that came against Jerusalem are those that came not up to Fight against Jerusalem for as many as went up to Fight against Jerusalem of all the Nations as many as were left of them will be destroyed by the Plagues that are set down in the 12. v. of the same chap. and after the Destruction of Gog and Magog the Devil is said to be cast into Hell for ever and for ever which signifies it will be a long time before the final Judgment because there is mention made of two evers For the next World consisteth of one ever Now after the destruction of these forementioned Enemies of Israel the Lord saith in Zach. 14.17 And it shall be that whosoever will not come up of all the Families of the Earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King the Lord of Hosts even upon them shall be no Rain Here we see God threatens them but with a Temporal Punishment So when this glorious time is come that Christ and his People hath the Supreme Power then will this Promise in the 89. Psalm be of force to the People of the World to come For altho Israel will be so secured in the Lord that they cannot sin against him Yet the other promised Elect will not so securely stand And here finding in Zachariah but a Temporal Punishment threatned after that last overthrow I therefore do believe that the words in the Psalms hath a reference to that time to come For where this Chastisement is spoken of in that Psalm it is also said in the 29. v. That his Throne shall continue as the days of Heaven And now this particular Throne of Christ is not for he is said to sit now on the Throne of his Father as in Heb. 10.12,13 But this man after he had offered one Sacrifice for sins for ever sate down on the right hand of God From henceforth expecting till his Enemies be made his Footstool The ever here Spoken of is meant of the ever of this World which World is the wicked People and when the ever of their time is
themselves without fear Clouds they are without water That is for any to feed themselves without fear the Apostle terms them Clouds without water But for Believers to be timerously fearful of themselves because of their own weakness lest they should offend that fear is pleasing in the sight of God because it keeps them in a diligent watchfulness And were there not great cause of fear the Apostle would not have so forewarned the Saints of that roaring Lion that walks about seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet. 5.8 And of such as fear it is said The Lord will deliver them who through fear of death were all their life-time subject to bondage Heb. 2.15 Here we see there is comfort for them that so fear But as for such as are mistrustfully fearful of the faithfulness and power of God that he will not perform his promise according to his word and therefore they will not venture the loss of the delights and advantages of this World so as to obey his Commands and Precepts of such fearful and unbelieving it is of whom the Lord saith They shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone Rev. 21.8 Therefore St. Paul saith to the Saints Heb. 10.35 Cast not away therefore your confidence which hath great recompence of reward That is confidence in the power and faithfulness of God for as we believe that God is so we must believe that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him Heb. 11. v. 6. And that the Crown of Life according to the promise of the Lord will be given to them that continue faithful to the death Rev. 2.10 Therefore St. Paul saith For ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the promise Heb. 10.36 For whosoever doeth the will of God comes in as Heirs to the promise And accordingly St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 9.26 I therefore so run not as uncertainly so sight I not as one that beateth the Air. This being the Apostle's faith his confidence in the faithfulness of the promiser which made him thus run and fight for in so doing he knew that he was not at an uncertainty And this is the faith or belief which is to the saving of the Soul For verily there is a reward for the righteous Psal 58.11 For God doth never justifie the ungodly by the imputation of the Righteousness of Christ but when they turn from sin unto God for God will no otherwise clear the guilty 1 John 4.18 He saith Perfect love casteth out fear That is where perfect love is it casteth out all slavish fear but not a filial Child-like fear but it is not every sincere-hearted Christian can be thus assured they are made perfect in love and those that are so are not thereby assured that their love will so remain For the Lord saith of the Church of Ephesus That she was fallen from her first love for which she was threatned to be removed out of his favour if she did not repent and do her first works Rev. 2.4,5 Chap. X. Christ the Author of Faith HEB. 12.2 Looking unto Jesus the Author and finisher of Faith For had not God promised Christ and by him everlasting Life to all them that should keep his Covenant there had been no ground for Faith or hope of Salvation Therefore of this Faith Christ is the Author the which faith or hope caused all those Worthies of old to undergo all those difficulties mentioned in the foregoing chapter which are as a Cloud of Witnesses to incourage us to suffer and to follow the Lord Jesus thro' all difficulties Who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God ch 12. v. 2. The which if we accordingly deny our selves in obedience to him Christ will then compleatly finish our faith in giving the Crown of Life to them who have continued faithful to the death Chap. XI What it is to be born of God and to overcome the World 1 JOHN 5.1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him Now we must always look to the words that go before and to those that follow after if we would come to a right understanding of the word For in that he saith They that love God they likewise love Christ that is begotten of him or else they cannot be born of God For if they or we are not by our believing that Christ is the Son of God brought off from the delights of this World we cannot be born of God For it is such a belief in us that Christ is the Son of God which draws out our heart to love and obey him as God or else our belief in him is not such as makes us to be born of God Therefore he saith in verse 2. By this we know that we love the Children of God when we love God keep his Commandments For by the Commandments of God we are commanded to love the Children of God and by keeping the commands of God it is we know that we love God therefore the Apostle saith in v. 3. This is the love of God that we keep his Commandments and his Commandments are not grievous By which we see our love to God and Christ is in keeping their Commands And he saith in verse 4. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the World and this is the victory that overcometh the World even our faith What meaneth the Apostle here in saying that by faith they overcame the World He meaneth all the vain fleshly and covetous desires of any thing relating to the World which by their faith they overcame Which faith set them on work looking for the reward promised which is the Crown of Life But notwithstanding some have again been overcome by the World and so made shipwrack of faith and a good conscience 1 Tim. 1.19 and others as in 2 Pet. 2.18,19 They allure thro' the lust of the flesh thro' much wantonness those that were clean escaped from them who live in errour While they promise them liberty they themselves are the servants of corruption for of whom a man is overcome of the same is he brought in bondage By which nothing can be more plain than that those that have had the New Birth wrought in them and have overcome the World may again be overcome by the World and brought into bondage and so the latter end is worse with them than the beginning as in ver 20,21 Now the man that is born of God is brought off from the World and whilst he so continues new-born or brought off from the World he sinneth not because he doth not wilfully commit sin For the sins that are not wilfully committed will not be imputed for Christ remains their Advocate John 5.16 If any man see his
for a shadow to them in the day time from the heat and for a covert from the storm and from the rain Of which Tabernacle I shall speak more to hereafter Now whereas it is in some places of Scripture set down the first coming of the Lord with his second coming whereby it hath made those Scriptures appear more dark to the Reader but it is no other than as the Kingdom of Christ is intermixt in several places of the Psalms and elsewhere with the Kingdom of David and Solomon and whilst some lie poring on these places they leave Twenty nay many more clear Texts of Scripture unregarded whereas they should look in all places to the Scriptures way of speaking But I must needs own that a false receiv'd Opinion does mightily blind the Understanding And also in that it is the ordinary way of Scripture speaking both in the Old and New Testament of things that are decreed shall be done to mention them as though they were already done the which does something darken the meaning of it to the Reader But the Omnipotent God looking on all things that he has determined to be done in time to be as though it were already done But when we find it hath not been done it remains sure and certain to us that it will be done being promised by that God and Lord that cannot lie Neither will he perform his promise unto us by the halves But when I consider the Strong Promises of God to Israel even to both the Houses of Jacob which are scattered through the Face of the whole Earth that he will again restore them and that all these wonderful Blessings shall be then made good unto them in their own Land and to their Children after them and that they should have all the good things of this Life and that in such a wonderful manner And also God having promised an Everlasting Covenant with them that he will never depart from them nor leave them to depart from him and that the City shall be built upon her own Heap and that they should continue a Nation upon the Earth as long as the Sun and Moon endureth And in that these things are set down in so many places of Scripture when they should be made good to Israel as at the day of the great slaughter when the Towers fall when a Nation shall be born at once and at the End of this World And when there is a New Heaven and Earth all which will be when the Lord comes to judge the World in the Valley of Jehoshaphat Having these plain places of Scripture it strikes me with Astonishment to think with what Darkness we have read them But whereas St. Paul saith in 1 Cor. 15.50 That Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God neither doth corruption inherit incorruption It is true Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom which is in the Heaven of Heavens Neither as it is here said can Corruption inherit Incorruption which is Flesh and Blood with its corrupt Affections and Lust cannot inherit the Kingdom of Christ which then will be made like to Eden the Garden of God as it is said in Isa 31.3 no more than Adam could enjoy Paradice after he had sinned But as for Flesh and Blood we know he had it in the first Creation but it was his sin made him obnoxious to God for which he was cast out of Paradice But Israel when again restored will be past that danger through the Everlasting Covenant that God will then make with them when they are made partakers of the Glory that shall be revealed And St. Paul speaking of the Resurrection of the Dead saith in 1 Cor. 15.42,43,44 So also is the Resurrection of the Dead It is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption it is sown in dishonour it is raised in glory it is sown in weakness it is raised in power 44. It is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body Now the Apostle tells us that this great Change in Verse 52. will be in a moment in the twinkling of an Eye at the last Trump for the Trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed 53. For this corruption must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on Immortality 54. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written Death is swallowed up in Victory 45. O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy Victory 56. The sting of Death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law 57. But thanks be to God which giveth us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ We see there is no other raised here but them that truly sing O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory Now whereas St. Paul saith in 1 Thes 4.13,14,15,16 I would not have you ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him 15. For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep 16. For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a Shout with the Voice of the Archangel and the Trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first 17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and so shall we be ever with the Lord. Now whereas St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 15.51,52 We shall not sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an Eye at the last Trump for the Trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed Here he saith we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an Eye at the last Trump Now in these words the wicked are not included for they are never numbered with the righteous And it is said When Christ cometh the wicked shall be slain by the Sword that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord and that all Fowls were filled with their Flesh as in Rev. 19.21 Therefore not changed because they then knew a temporal Death as well as a spiritual Therefore by this word we all the Apostle doth only include those that were to bear their Testimony to the Truth as the first Churches did and as the Vaudois have remained a continual Standing Witness to the Truth If by this Change here spoken of he doth include also at that moment an Immortal Change then it doth appear to be none but the Witnesses that are said to lie in the Street
tells us who they are that shall be gathered It is the Nations that are then upon the Earth at his coming And the Lord in the 33. V. saith He shall set the Sheep on his right hand but the Goats on the left V. 34 Then shall the King say to them on his right hand come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the world Now whereas the Lord saith come ye blessed that is they were blessed because they were excepted and also there was that found in them that did distinguish them from the wicked of the world Here by these words of our Lord we are fully informed that they are to enter into the Kingdom that was prepared for them from the foundation of the World and we know what Kingdom that was which was then prepared at the foundation of the World that it was this material Heaven and Earth and the Garden of Eden and when Christ comes it is this will be again restored to Israel and the rest of the Elect with them whom Christ will set at his right hand as being part of his Sheep but this setting them on the right hand and left is but a figurative Speech and spoken by way of Parable as I shall prove by several places of Scripture And whereas the Lord saith in Mat. 25.35 I was an hungred and ye gave me meat I was thirsty and ye gave me drink I was a stranger and ye took me in V. 36. Naked and ye clothed me I was sick and ye visited me I was in prison and ye came unto me V. 37. Then shall the Righteous answer him saying Lord when saw we thee an hungred and fed thee or thirsty and gave thee Drink V. 38. VVhen saw we thee a Stranger and took thee in or nake and clothed thee V. 39. Or when saw we the sick or in prison and came unto thee V. 40. And the King shall answer and say unto them verily I say unto you in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me V. 41. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand depart from me ye cursed into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels V. 42. For I was an hungred and ye gave me no meat I was a thirsty and ye gave me no drink V. 43. I was a stranger and ye took me not in naked and ye clothed me not sick and in prison and ye visited me not V. 44. Then shall they also answer him saying Lord when saw we thee an hungred or a thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not Minister unto thee V. 45. Then shall he answer them saying verily I say unto you in as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these ye did it not to me V. 46. And these shall go into everlasting punishment but the Righteous in to Life Eternal That is the Lord then giveth them an assurance of their Eternal Salvation So as they are for ever after past the power or fear of the Second Death Now when Christ said to them on his Right Hand Inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World he did not then say any thing to exclude a Temporal Death but at the conclusion of the whole matter the Lord said The Righteous shall go into Life Eternal That is then they shall have the assurance of Eternal Life for then by the New Covenant-Promise which will then be made with them they are put past the power of the second death And the Lord by his Word counts a Temporal Death not a dying as in John 8.51 Verily verily I say unto you if a man keep my Sayings he shall never see death And when they are again restored then they will be put into a capacity never to offend any more by the Promised New Covenant that then will be made with them of which the Christian that is now become a New Creature will be partaker of that promis'd New Covenant with them but how few is there of such And whereas it is said in Matth. 25.32 that before him shall be gathered all Nations and that he shall separate the one from the other and that he shall set the Sheep on his Right Hand and the Goats on his Left But yet when the blessing was by the Lord pronounc'd the Word All was not then included And if it had all the innocent children and the poor had been all excluded because the one had no knowledge how to do good upon which the blessing was pronounc'd and the poor had it not to do withal Nor doth the Lord include the Word All in that Everlasting Sentence of Condemnation but this Sentence was chiefly to them that knew him but would not live in Obedience to him nor do the good that was required of them for they did not deny the knowledge of the Lord but said Lord when saw we thee thus and thus Whereupon the Lord saith In as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these ye did it not to me You have not obeyed the great Commandment I left with you at my departure which was to love one another and that you should bear one another's burdens and you knowing most of my Revealed Will wherein my Mercy and Love is comprehended and in that you have shewed no Mercy to the Elect or Sheep of God now there remains no Mercy for you the which I left upon Record by my Servant James chap. 2.13 That he shall have judgment without mercy that have shewed no mercy Now if their Punishment be so great to them that has done no good in their Generation according to their Capacity how much severer Punishment must those Christians expect that are committing all those Evils which this Nation and the rest of the Christian World doth abound in accompanied with the Romish Cruelty to the Servants of Christ And as St. Peter saith 1 Pet. 4.18 If the Righteous scarcely be Saved where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear that are filling up their days in commiting iniquity since every sin doth augment their Punishment And the Lord also tells us Mat. 7.19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good Fruit is hewen down and cast into the Fire V. 20. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them V. 21. Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven V. 22. Many will say unto me in that day Lord Lord have we not Prophesied in thy Name and in thy name cast out Devils and in thy name done many wonderful works V. 23. Then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity Here the Lord doth in a more clear manner Figure out to us the Papists with their signs
should wholly fall off And by what Dan saith of his Children in his last Testament is to the same effect For he saith I am sure in the latter days ye shall depart from the Lord and walk in naughtiness working the abominations of the Gentiles and haunting wicked Women in all lewdness by the Working of deceitful Spirits in you For I have read in Enoch that Satan is your Prince and that all the Spirits of Fornication and Pride shall ply themselves in laying Snares for the Children of Dan to make them sin before the Lord. Here we may see what was the reason that none of Dan was of that Number which was to be Sealed for the Glorious Tabernacle when the Lord again comes which is the Sion that shall be revealed and then shall Jerusalem again be built having twelve Gates as in Ezek. 48. from the 31. v. to the 35. called after the Names of the Tribes of Israel according to that of the New Jerusalem which comes down from Heaven of which it is said There is no Temple in it Rev. 21.22 And I saw no Temple therein for the Lord God almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it But as to the New Earthly Jerusalem there is said will be a Temple for from under the threshold of which shall issue forth the Waters spoken of Ezek 47.1 Now that these Waters here spoken of are real Waters is certain in that there is nothing in the whole Book of God to prove it a figurative speech and we are not to makefigures and that there shall be by these Waters real Fruit Trees as is said and also abundance of Fish in the River For the Lord hath declared that then the Earth shall abound with all good things And then of Jerusalem it shall be said from that day the Lord is there as in Ezek. 48.35 It was round about eighteen thousand measures and the name of the City from that day shall be The Lord is there And then it is the saying of the Apostle will be fullfilled in the Manifestation of the kindness of the Lord to them in the Ages to come as in Eph. 2.6,7 And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding Riches of his Grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus Now in Heaven we neither read of Ages nor Generations and were the Ages here spoken of meant of them that are in Heaven he would have said That the Ages that are past might see the exceeding Riches of his Grace in his kindness towards them because that they being in Heaven would sooner behold the exceeding Kindness of the Lord toward them than those that are afterward to go to Heaven of the following Generations or Ages Therefore the kindness here spoken of must be manifested here when the New Jerusalem shall descend out of Heaven when that Glorious Tabernacle shall be Revealed which the Lord shall pitch and not Man over the Land of Canaan And the Land that is given by the Lord in Ezek. 47.14 appears to be far larger than what Israel has had in Possession Now as to what Obadiah saith in the first part of the Chapter where he treats of the Real Seed of Esau and from the 15. v. downward of the Day of the Lord being near upon all the Heathen by which he comprehends the Wicked of the World that their reward should then be given them At which time there should be deliverance on Mount Sion as it is said in the 17. v. But upon Mount Sion shall be deliverance and there shall be Holiness and the House of Jacob shall possess their possessions 20. And the Captivity of the Host of the Children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites even to Zarephath and the Captivity of Jerusalem which is in Sepharad shall possess the Cities of the South 21. And Saviours shall come upon Mount Sion to Judg the Mount of Esau and the Kingdoms shall be the Lords Here you see this Prophet with Esdras comprehends all the Wicked World under the Name of Esau And this Prophet also gives us to understand when the Kingdom shall be the Lords That is when Saviours come upon Mount Sion and the World is Judged By which words we see that now the Kingdom is not termed the Lords not till such time that he comes to Judg the World and to restore Israel's Inheritance to them And then at that time the Kingdom will be the Lords St. Paul Terms this World as it is now to be ruled by the Devil Whereas he saith 2 Cor. 4.4 The God of this World hath blinded the minds of them which believe not And in Eph. 6.12 he saith We wrestle not against Flesh and Blood but against Principalities against Powers and against the Rulers of the darkness of this World and against Spiritual Wickedness in high places And the Devil boasting to our Saviour of his Power Luke 4.6 When he shewed him all the Kingdoms of this World in a moment of time and the Devil said unto him all this Power will I give thee and the Glory of them for that is delivered unto me That is after mankind again became wilfully wicked God left them to Satan's Delusion And although the Devil is the Father of Lies yet he would scarce have told them to the God of Truth who knew how far his Power did extend And the Lord himself saith John 14.30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you for the Prince of this World cometh and hath no part in me But you may say I thought God had ruled all things in Heaven and Earth God doth invisibly over-rule the Devil or else he would destroy all the Righteous from off the Earth were not his Power limited by the most high but the visible rule as is declared by the Apostle is in the Devil who carries on the Darkness of this World Eph. 6.12 by himself and all his adherents for it is said That he ruleth in the Hearts of the Children of the Disobedient but you may say the Lord did say to his Disciples Mark 9.1 Verily verily I say unto you that there be some of them that stand here which shall not tast of Death till they have seen the Kingdom of God come with Power Which was made out in his Transfiguration in 2. v. Six days after Jesus taketh Peter James and John and leadeth them up into an high Mountain apart by themselves and he was transfigured before them 3. v. And his Raiment became shining exceeding white as Snow so as no Fuller on Earth can white them 4. v. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses and they were talking with Jesus 7. v. And there was a Cloud overshadowed them and a voice came out of the Cloud saying this is my beloved Son hear him Now the other Evangelists say a bright Cloud Which makes it out to us where the Heavenly Powers
are put out of a Capacity of being such any longer And had this City been in Heaven as some would have it when the Wine-press is trod it must have taken up the whole confine of the Heavens or otherwise the Wine-press of God's wrath would appear to be trod in the Heavens without the City But this being too great an absurdity St. John to end all Controversy saith in Rev. 2. He saw the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of Heaven And in the first verse he saith I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more Sea The New Heavens and the New Earth is as I before shewed you The New Powers and New People in whom dwelleth Righteousness As Christ and his raised Saints the New Heaven and his Elect the New Earth Now whereas he saith there was no more Sea And St. Jude terms the wicked The Raging Waves of the Sea foaming out their own shame And where the Destruction of Babilon is spoken of the Multitude that came against her is said to be the Sea Jer. 51.42 The Sea is come up upon Babilon she is covered with the multitude of the Waves thereof Now the Sea has a prevailing Power therefore the Sea spoken of in Revelations which shall be no more is that the wicked shall then have no more prevailing Power For altho the Devil does gather together after the thousand Years his Gog and Magog yet it will be to their utter Destruction And the Lord spenking in Isa 57.20,21 of Israel's Peace and Healing and of the Wicked Worlds Destruction as in the 20. v. But the wicked are like the troubled Sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt There is no Peace saith my God to the Wicked Here the wicked are said in the day of their Destruction to be like the troubled Sea And at the time when Israel shall be delivered from under the Power of all his Enemies it is said Psal 68.22 The Lord saith I will bring again from Basham I will bring my People again from the depths of the Sea Here we see that the wicked are the depths of the Sea from which God will bring his People from under their Power And the wicked as a Sea shall never more prevail And it is said Jer. 33.23,24 Thy tacklings are losed they could not well strengthen their Mast they could not spread the Sail. Then is the Prey of a great spoil divided the lame take the prey The Inhabitants shall not say I am sick the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their Iniquity When the Lord comes then the wicked can neither spread their Sail nor strengthen their Mast Then will the prey of a great spoil be divided then will the lame take the prey That is the Afflicted People of Israel And at that time the Inhabitants shall not say I am sick And whereas St. John saith Rev. 21.2,3,4 And I John saw the Holy City New Jerusalem coming down from God out of Heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband And I heard a great Voice out of Heaven saying behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his People and God himself shall be with them and be their God And God shall wipe away all Tears from their Eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are past away And the Lord saith Rev. 3.12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the Name of my God and the Name of the City of my God which is the New Jerusalem which cometh down out of Heaven from my God and I will write upon him my New Name Here the Lord as well as St. John saith the New Jerusalem comes down out of Heaven from God Now as to what this City is that comes down out of Heaven from God it does plainly appear to be the whole Church triumphant for St. John saith it is this City the New Jerdsalem which he saw prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband Then it cannot be any outward glorious Fabrick which the Lord is said to espouse or is fit to be the Lamb's Wife But the Lord has promised to espouse his Church to himself at the great Wedding-Supper For as yet the Souls are said to be under the Altar and therefore not yet made Partakers of the Glory that shall be revealed But at the Last Trumpet when the Dead shall be raised incorruptible and the Bodies of the Saints again to them re-united and those that have been the Lord's Witnesses mentioned in the Revelations with them caught up in the Clouds to meet the Lord in Air. And then as it is said God shall wipe away all tears from their Eyes and then there shall be with them no more Death neither sorrow nor crying And by the promised new Covenant Israel will then fall little short of this when the Lord hath taken away their sins and so secured them in himself as they shall never more sin against him For altho afterward thay shall know a temporal Death Yet the Lord in John 11.26 John 6.50 Terms that not a dying And Revelations 19.11 It is there declared how the Lord shall come For St. John saith Râ—v 19.11,14 That he saw Heaven opened and behold a white horse and he that sate upon him was called faithful and true and in righteousness he doth Judge and make war 14. And the Armies which were in Heaven followed him upon white horses cloathed in fine Linen white and clean By which we see these Armies here spoken of come out of Heaven And St. John in the 14 Chap. 14. v. Doth open to us what these white horses are For he there saith Rev. 14.14 He beheld a white Cloud and upon the Cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man having on his head a Golden Crown and in his hand a sharp sickle You see here that the white horses are white Clouds and that the Lord will come in the Clouds of Heaven as was declared by the Angels in Acts 1.11 And the Lord also told his Disciples John 14.2 In my fathers house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you 3. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto my self Now without doubt in the Clouds there will be Receptacles of Glorious mansions for the Lord and his chief raised Saints and Angels And St. John saith Rev. 21.9 There came unto him an Angel and talked with him Saying come up hither and I will shew the bride the lambs wife 10. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high Mountain and shewed me that great City
the Lord loved him And what the Lord here saith as to his selling his Estate and giving it to the Poor was as well to instruct the Church by reason they were not long to have inheritances there the which all the Church followed after the Crucifixion of the Lord. And St. Paul saith in Acts 13.26 Men and Brethren Children of the Stock of Abraham and whosoever among you feareth God to you is the word of this Salvation sent By which it is clear that none was left of God to blindness of Mind that truly fear'd his Name And so now it is with us as 't was with the Jews that our Inheritances here will signify little to us And whereas the Lord saith Matt. 11.13 For all the Prophets and the Law Prophesied until John That is until John there was a Succession of Prophets and the whole Law was of force until John after which the Ceremonial Law was Abolished But the Moral Law and some of the Prophesies of the Antient Prophets will be of Force in the World to come Bishop Vsher says We do not well understand what Sanctification and the New Creature are it is no less than for a man to be brought to an intire Resignation of his Will to the Will of God and to live in the Offering up of his Soul continually in the Flames of Love as a whole Burnt-Offering to Christ and how little says he are many of those who profess Christianity experimentally acquainted with this work on their Souls And he further saith 'T is those of the Inner-Court that shall be left as a Seed to partake of the Glory And also good Mr. George Withers saith The Lord will again come whom the Jews do expect And also Mr. Saltmarsh witnessed it with his Death And all the Scriptures do agree in foretelling the second coming of the Lord and other good men whom God hath open'd their Eyes to understand the same with the evident signs that were foretold should be before the coming of the Lord as now if we will be wilfully ignorant of the Truth we must take what follows And that we are in the time of Daniel's 45. Year is most certain and that there is a great many of them past since the signs have been upon the Earth is evidently manifest but as to the day and Hour of the Lord 's coming is uncertain altho very near at hand therefore we should prepare for it and pray for his coming and earnestly desire it I am apt to believe the first Blasing-Star that was seen in 1662 of which it was said it was a rod to whip the World withal which I take to be the first sign that God gave notice of the near approaching Judgment of this World and since we have had several Blazing-Stars and continual Signs As the oft-repeated Earth-quakes and the Cities of the Nations falling with the repeated Rivers and Floods of Fire out of the Earth and Wâ—rs in divers places which were the signs the Lord gave us of his coming which the Earth never produc'd the like before The Lord grant we may be warned by the signs of the Time as all that look Sion ward may â—ay themselves low at his foot that they may be refreshed by his presence And Lord grant that thy Ransomed ones may be many My Book being not so well done as I intended therefore I shall not at this time give an account of the Return from the Land of the Enemy of them that Died Innocently being clearly to be proved by those that are said to be slain in the New Testament are said they shall return from the Land of the Enemy in the Old and also in the last Judgment they are all Judg'd according to the deeds done in the Body With several other places to the like effect which I shall not here mention THE Christian Belief Shewing What a Christian ought to Believe What a true Soul saving Faith is What a false Faith is and Instructions as to a true One With a Brief Explanation Shewing how the Spirit of Christ must be in us or we are none of his proving that it is the same mind is required in us as was in Christ Jesus in having our wills brought into Subjection unto the Will of God And not that the Holy Ghost is given to be in us as it was in the first Churches whereby mighty Sgns and Wonders were done by them and the same Anointing taught them the hidden Misteries of God for the Confirmation of the Gospel that others and those that did come after them might believe the Truth thereof As also an Account of Boptism as to the sign and the thing signified And of the Trinity By M. Mersen London Printed and Sold by John Clarke at the Bible in the Old Change John Gwillim in Bishops-gate-street over against the Royal James Mrs. Mitchel at the Crown and Cushion in Westminster Hall and Mr. Garin over against the Crown Tavern in the Strand the corner of St. Clements Church Yard 1697. The TABLE ADefinition of a true Faith p. 182 A Covenant p. 185 A false Faith and instructions in the true One p. 187 Concerning the everlasting Life given the believer p. 202 A grain of Faith explained p. 228 How it is Christ dwells in us by his Spirit if we are his explained p. 233 An explanation of Baptism p. 245 An explanation of the Trinity p. 247 Concerning the Soul of Man Advertisement THis being part of a Book which contains three Subjects which is parted that all might the better attain to the knowledge of the things therein contained The other Book fully explains the meaning of St. Paul where he speaks of willing and running And therein also is the Faith of Abraham clearly explained with the other difficult places And also therein is proved that the Spirit or Holy Ghost that was but with the Disciples or Church was afterward given to be in the first Churches Joh. 14.17 And therefore Peter said that God put no difference between us and them He there speaks of those that were likewise fore-chosen and did partake of the Holy Ghost to be in them by which they immediately upon receiving spake with Tongues Act 15.8 which evident Witness was to confirm the Gospel to the following Generations But when I Wrote this book I then thought that those that laid hold of the offered Mercy were likewise termed the Elect as well as those that were fore-chosen But since by the Word I find they are but in Covenant I therefore here acknowledge my mistake in explaining those words of St. Peter Acts 15.9 which mistake is in page 232 blotted out THE Christian Belief OR That a Christian ought to Believe according to the Precept of God's Word â— Believe in God the Father Almighty That he was from all Eternity to 〈◊〉 all Eternity God blessed for ever â—…inite in Wisdom Holiness Justice â—…odness and Truth also in Power and 〈◊〉 Glory and that he was the Gen. 1 1â—
Maker 〈◊〉 Heaven and Earth and all things â—…rein contained whether visible or inâ—…ble and that out of the Gen. 2.7 dust of the â—…und God created Man and breathed inâ—… him the breath of life and thereby â—…n became a Gen. 28. living Soul and was plac'd 〈◊〉 God in Gen. 1.26,27 Eden the Garden of God in â—…oly happy blessed State and God â—…ve them Power over the Fish of the 〈◊〉 the Fowl of the Air and the Beast 〈◊〉 the Field and over all the Earth and over every thing that creepeth on the Earth And Man should have so continued in this blessed and happy State Gen. 2.17 never to have known decay sickness forrow or death had he not there sinned against his great Creator and his most liberal Benefactor Gen. 3.4,5 in that they did adhere to the Enemy of God which is the Devil and believed what he said and did not believe the God of Truth for which they were turn'd out of Paradise Gen. 3.23 and became more vile and miserable than all Creatures that have their Being upon Earth and so 't would have succeeded to his unborn Posterity Job 14.4 Psal 51.5 Job 4.8 for now their Natures became corrupt so as Righteousness and Holiness and Wisdom which was the Image of God stampt upon them now had left thâ—m and was quite defaced in them and they became 〈◊〉 like the Prince of Darkness which is â—…e Devil who for his Pride and Rebelâ—â—n against God he and his Adherents were cast out of Heaven and from glorious Angels became Devils in Hell and are kept in Chains of Darkness unto the Judgment of the Great Day of God who are to be punished eternally in Hell-fire Joh. 3.44 Joh. 3.8 Jude 6. 2 Pet. 2.4 But God looking on Mankind in their forlorn and miserable Condition with an eye of pity and compassion gave them a word of Comfort which was That the Gen. 3.15 Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's head which is the Devil and God said that he would put enmity between the seed of the Woman and the seed of the Serpent And in that God had compassion on Mankind rather than upon the fallen Angels so as to send them a Saviour Luk. 2.11 Mat. 1.21 There was this reason the fallen Angels were the principal and alone Causes of their own Rebellion but Mankind was stirr'd up to it through the subtil Insinuations and Lyes of the Devil Gen. 3.1 and therefore Mankind had a Tender of Grace offered them if we receive it according to the condition as it is offered us which is with Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ with Love and Obedience to him to whom all the Prophets bear witness â—…aring he should be born of a Virgin 〈◊〉 speaking of his Sufferings and of his Death and of his Rising again Act. 20.21 Act. 4.12 Act. 3.23,26 Isa 7.14 Isa 53. Ps 16.10 Act. 2.24 13.34 I believe in this Lord Jesus Christ â—hat he is the onely begotten Son of God who gave himself to satisfie Divine Justice and to make Reconciliation for poor â—ost and undone Creatures which were dead in Trespasses and Sins through that â—f Adam's Transgression Joh. 1.14 Joh. 10.15,18 Eph. 2.1 Heb. 9.14 2 Cor. 3.5 Gen. 6.5 Rev. 3.17 Rom. 7.15 Job 4.20 Isa 30.33 2 Pet. 2.4,5 whereby our Nature became so corrupt that we have â—est us neither Strength to stand 〈◊〉 Willâ—… striâ—… nor 〈…〉 〈…〉 in which woful condition we should have spent some few Days here and after which been plunged into Hell it self for ever and there to have been tormented with the Devil and damned Spirits Luk. 16.32 Jud. 7. Isa 5.15 Deut. 32.22 Joh. 1.1,2,3 without any redress had not the Son of God the second Person in the Trinity who to fulfil his Fathers promise and for the wonderful Love he bare to his Creatures he left the Throne of his Fathers Glory where he had been from all Eternity and did vouchsafe to take upon him the means of our Flesh and therein was conceived by the Power of the Holy Ghost in the Womb of the Virgin Mary Matt. 1.20,21 Luk. 1.30,31,32 but born of her without sin and when he came into the World he then suffered the Miseries of this Life the Wrath of God and the cursed Death of the Cross that through Death he might destroy him that had the Power of Death which is the Devil and deliver them who through the fear of Death were all their Life-time subject to bondage Luk. 23.35,36 Luk. 23.33 and 44 45 46. Heb. 2.14,15 and the Lord of Life was buried descended into Hell and continued under the Power of Death till the third Day Luk. 24.6,7 in which he rose again from the Dead as a triumphant Victor over Sin Death and Hell and after his Resurrection he was seen oâ— all his Apostles 1 Cor. 15.5,6 and of above 500 Brethreâ— at once and remained upon the Earth for the space of forty Days and then he went to Mount Olivet with his Disciples and more Witnesses Act. 1.3.9,10,11,12 and from thence he ascended up into Heaven and now sitteth at the Right-hand of God the Father and there maketh intercession for the Saints according to the Mind of God Heb. 1.3 Joh. 12.41 Rom. 8.34 Heb. 6.7.25 I believe also that assuredly there is Life and Salvation to be had through our Lord Jesus Christ if we come to him by faith and repentance so as to confess and forsake our sins and believe in him and his word so that we unfeignedly love and fear to offend him we shall be beloved of him and made eternally blessed by him through his perfect Righteousness which shall be imputed to us who is able to preserve us in time and in Eternity I believe in the Holy Ghost that he is the Sanctifier of our Natures whereby our Wills are renewed so as to desire to serve the living God in truth and in sincerity and also in time of trouble he doth often administer comfort and consolation to the Saints Acts 20.21 and 3.19 John 14.21 Joh. 8.31 Jer. 23.6 Rom. 8.14 1 Cor. 3.15 Gal. 5.16 1 Cor. 1.22 Joh. 5.26 I believe there is a Holy Catholick Church a member of which is every sincere hearted Christian throughout the World that worships the Lord in spirit and truth for our blessed Lord saith John 4.23,24 that the Father seeketh such to worship him I believe there will be the Resurrection of the Body and Life everlasting for the Righteous and eternal Damnation for them that go on in their wicked Ways I believe also that the Lord will come in the last Day in the Clouds of Heaven to render vengeance to his Adversaries and those that know not God and will not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 15.21,22 Joh. 5.28,29 Col. 1.18 Matt. 25.46 John 11.24 Acts 1.11 2 Thess
Faith which some take up with now-a-days which is no other than of the Devils coining and his Accomplices in that they say he that believeth through the merits of Christ that he shall be saved therefore they shall be saved If they do but also confess their sins leaving out repenting and forsaking them Which is contrary to the holy Word of God And as St. Peter saith they wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction 2 Pet. 3.10 I hope the Prince of Darkness hath not so blinded their minds but that they will own that those did believe that they should be saved when they said to the Lord Christ in Matth. 22. vers Mat. 7.22.23 Have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out Devils and in thy name done many wonderful works Then will the Lord profess unto them that he never knew them depart from me ye that work iniquity And also that the foolish Virgins did believe they should be saved when they say in Matth. Mat. 25.11,12 Lord Lord open to us But he shall answer and say verily I say unto you I know you not And whereas the Lord saith in John 47. v. Joh. 6.47 Verily verily I say unto you he that believeth on me hath everlasting life And whereas St. John saith vers 12. 1 John 5.12 He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life And also the Lord saith in John 6.40 Joh. 6.40 And this is the will of him that sent me that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day I hope upon serious considerations none will say they believe in Christ for Salvation when they will not believe what the Lord saith concerning the conditions upon which Salvation is tendred by him the which conditions are repentance love and new obedience And the Lord saith in John 8.31 v. To the Jews which believed on him John 8.31,47,51 If ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed And again in the 47. vers He that is of God heareth Gods word ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God And the Lord saith in the 51. vers Verily verily I say unto you if a man keep my sayings he shall never see death That is he shall never see Hell in Esdras Esd 2.39 And the Lord also saith in John 21. vers John 14.21,24 He that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest my self unto him And again in the 24. v. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings and the word which you hear is not mine but the Fathers which sent me And Christ saith in the Gospel of John Joh. 15.10 If ye keep my conmandments ye shall abide in my love even as I have kept my Fathers commandments and abide in his love And again the Lord saith Joh. 12.48 He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him the word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day And he saith in the 25. v. Joh. 12.25,26 He that loveth his life shall lose it and he that hateth his life in this World shall keep it unto life Eternal If any man serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my servant be if any man serve me him will my Father honor And the Lord saith to the Jews 34. v. Joh. 8.34,44 Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin And in the 44. v. he saith to them ye are of your Father the Devil and the lusts of your Father ye will do But the Lord saith to them that would have an interest in him in the 34. v. Mark 8.34,35,36,37,38 Whosoever will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me For whosoever will save his life shall lose it but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospels the same shall save it For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own Soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his Soul whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels We here see by all this that it is a belief in Christ and his Word that is required of us unto which we are to shew our love and obedience and St. John saith 1 Joh. 4.15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God God dwelleth in him and he in God and he farther saith in the 5. c. and 5. v. Joh. 5.5.13 Who is he that overcometh the World but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God And again in the 13. These things have I written to you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God Can they think it is here meant only a verbal confession with their mouths is required when in their works and practice they deny him No it is the confessing of him always is required as in our words and actions wills and affections in suffering unto death it self By which we see this word confessing him hath a larger extent than some People are aware of Who like unto the Jews that thought Adultery was only in the action but the Lord gave them to understand that it had a far larger extent when he said to them in Matth. Mat. 5.18 that every one that looketh on a Woman to lustafter her hath committed adultery already with her in his heart And whereas it is said to believe on the name of the Son of God That is to believe that he is that Seed that shall bruise the Serpents Head and make reconciliation for all that should with love and thankfulness receive him For although all are freely invited by Christ in the call of the Gospel to come to him but it is none but them whose wills are brought over to him as to become obedient can receive him or the Blessing purchased by him Now all are willing to receive the benefit but all are not willing to perform the conditions whereby they might be made partakers of the Blessing but like Balaam say O that I might die the Death of the Righteous they being unwilling to forego this present evil World Of whom the Lord saith in Isai 13. v. Isa 29.13 This People draweth near me with their mouth and with their lips do honour me but have removed their heart far from me and their fear towards me is taught by the
had brought down his will into subjection to Christ in hopes to obtain eternal salvation by him and his love a full satisfaction Therefore he saith after he had spoken of the righteousness of Abraham Gal. 3.7,8 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith the same are the Children of Abraham And the Scripture foreseeing that God would justifie the heathen through faith preached before the Gospel unto Abraham saying in thee shall all the nations be blessed This is as I before told you was upon the publication of the Gospel that all that were converted thereby so as to be brought into the fold of Christ they no sooner so believed but that all original and actual sins that they had aforetime committed were done away and they accepted as perfectly righteous in and through the imputed righteousness of Christ by faith in him And so they were excluded from the curse oâ— the law for all their past sins before conversion done by them Gal. 3.9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham That is if they continue faithful as he did And St. Paul farther saith Gal. 3.13,14 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us for 〈◊〉 is written cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith That is if we have not our spirits brought over into a conformity and suitableness to the spirit of Christ then are we not of this faith and so not delivered from the curse of the law And it is further said Rom. 8.6 For to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace And St. Paul also saith Rom. 3.20,21,22 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin That is we cannot fulfill the law to that perfection as to become justified thereby But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested being witnessed by the law and the prophets That is by the law with the paschal Lamb and the bloody Sacrifices by the Prophets in that they did all along Prophesie of him Rom. 3.23,24,25 Even the righteousness of God which is by â—aith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all â—hem that believe for there is no difference 〈◊〉 all have sinned and come short of the â—…ry of God Being justified freely by his â—ace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ Whom God hath set forth to â—e a propitiation through faith in his blood 〈◊〉 declare his righteousness for the remission 〈◊〉 sins that are past through the forbearance 〈◊〉 God Here he tells them when their â—ns are to be forgiven that it was their â—ast sins before they were brought into â—e faith of Christ that upon their conâ—ersion were all forgiven them As the â—postle saith Rom. 3.26 To declare I say at this â—ne his righteousness that he might be â—ct and the justifier of him which belieâ—…th in Jesus Whereas he saith that â—e might be just which was in that he â—…t the Son of his love according to his â—…omise and so justified them that belieâ—ed in Jesus which belief is as I beâ—…e proved to you for we are no sooner 〈◊〉 Christ but we must become new Creaâ—…res 2 Cor. 5.17 And he saith Rom. 3.27,28 Where is boasting â—en it is excluded by what law of works â—y but by the law of faith Therefore we â—nclude that a man is justified by faith â—ithout the deeds of the law Here Paul â—akes this conclusion that a man is juâ—…fied by faith without the deeds of the law For he here wrot to the Gentiles that had been given to all sin and idolatry to let them understand how they became justified that it was by faith which faith has as large an extent as I have before shewed you and that it must be a faith like Abrahams And in the 25. v. before-mentioned He there tells them when their sins are forgiven so as they become justified without the works of the law Rom. 3.25 that it is upon their conversion that then their forepast sins shall be forgiven them and that they are then justified by faith without the deeds of the law so that iâ— they are suddenly after taken away by death they shall be accepted through the righteousness of Christ And St. Paul saith Rom. 3.29,30 Is he the God of the Jews only is he not also of the Gentiles Yes of the Gentiles also Seeing it is one God which shaâ—… justifie the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through faith Now Stepheâ— saith to the Jews Acts 7.51 they were uncircumcifed in heart and ears although they were circumcised in the flesh Now the Gentiles were not circumcised yet they aâ—… said to be circumcised by faith then thaâ— must be in heart and ear by which wâ— may also see that this justifying faith 〈◊〉 such as doth produce a holy life Anâ— the Apostle saith Rom. 3.31 Do we then make voâ—… the law through faith God forbid ye 〈◊〉 establish the law That is none can obey the law with that sincerity delight and desire as those that are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands And St. Paul saith of the outward circumcision Gal. 5.6,7,8 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but faith which worketh by love Ye did run well who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth This perswasion cometh not of him that calleth you We also here see that saving faith worketh by love and there is no such obedience as that wherein the heart is engaged And he here tells the Galatians that they did run well who did hinder them that they should not obey the truth And before he told them that they had begun in the Spirit by which it was certainly sure they were in the right And he farther lets them understand that it was not of him that called them that this delusion or perswasion came therefore it was by the wiles of Satan and his Instruments that they foolishly were insnared But St. Paul saith Rom. 2.7,8,9,10,11,12,13 To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality eternal life But unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath Tribulation and anguish upon every Soul of man that doeth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile But glory honour and peace to every man that worketh good to the Jew first and also to the Gentile For there is no respect of Persons with God For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law For not
the hearers of the law are justified before God but the doers of the law shall be justified That is as I tell you they were upon their first conversion and resignation justified by their faith in Christ but after we are converted and justified by faith then whilst we have life we must use our diligence to walk in obedience and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. And here we see he acknowledges the moral law to the greatest height and tells us that we must be judged by it and the Gospel 2 Cor. 7.1 For he saith in the 16. v. In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel Therefore as St. Peter saith 2 Pet. 3.14 We must be diligent that we may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless And the Apostle saith again 1 Pet. 1.13,14,15 Wherefore gird up the loyns of your mind be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ As obedient Children not fashioning your selves according to the former lusts in your ignorance But as he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation That is endeavour to be holy in all your conversations And as it is said in Heb. Heb. 12.14 Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. By which we see nothing but a close walking with Christ will keep us in the love of Christ for if we sin willfully after we have thus received the knowledge of the truth I find no hope of mercy for the greater light we sin against the greater condemnation we fall under as witness when the Lord was in the Camp of Israel the man that gathered sticks on the Sabbath day was utterly cut off from the Congregation of the Lord. Rom. 15.29,30,31,32,35 Because he despised the word of the Lord therefore was he cut off in his iniquity and was stoned to death So also underneath the evident manifestations of the Spirit of God in the Apostles time we see in the Acts by Ananias and Saphira his Wife Acts 5.1,2,3,4,5 that having joyned themselves to the Church and in that they hypocritically would appear in the sight of the Apostles more devoted to the interest of the Church then really they were therefore St. Peter tells them they had not lyed unto man but unto God for he saith likewise whiles it remained was it not thine own and after it was sold was it not in thine own power why hast thou conceived this in thine heart thou hast not lyed unto men but unto God And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the Ghost By which we see of what dreadful consequence it is for us to pretend to be more holy than we really are Therefore let this be a warning to us to be better than we pretend to be for 't is God that knoweth the heart and tryeth the Spirits of men And also God saith Ezek. 33.12 Therefore thou Son of man say unto the Children of thy people the righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression as for the wickedness of the wicked he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth And the Apostle saith Heb. 6.5,6 that if they willfully sin after they have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the World to come they cannot be renewed by repentance For if we are only of the outward Church we fall short of Salvation and must have our share in the threatned misery and if we deferr repentance and check the good motions of the Spirit we thereby lose the day of grace and so are left of God And if we go to hear the word and do not benefit thereby we are like the Earth which drinketh in the rain Heb. 6.3 yet bearing thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned And if we are willfully ignorant It is said it is only the Fool hates knowledge Pro. 1.22 And God saith my People are destroyed for lack of knowledge Hosea 4.6 And whereas the Lord saith John 5.20,21,22,23,24 For the Father loveth the Son and sheweth him all things that himself doeth and he will shew him greater works than these that ye may marvel For as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickneth them even so the Son quickneth whom he will For the Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment to the Son By this we may plainly see that Christ spake this for the time to come in which he will jduge the World for when he then came it was to teach and to suffer and now as he is at the right hand of God it is said he sits there as an Advocate with the Father but when he comes again he is then our Judge therefore this is spoken for that time when all judgment shall be given to him The Lord saith That all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father he that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him Now the Jews and Turks honour him not as they do the Father therefore spoken for time to come And he saith Verily verily I say unto you he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life That is when the Lord again cometh that them which he then findeth thus will have everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but then will be passed from death unto life And he saith John 5.24,25,26,27,28,29 Verily verily I say unto you the hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live For as the Father hath life in himself so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself By all the foregoing words it doth evidently appear to be the first resurrection the which will be at the coming of the Lord and here spoken in the usual way of Scripture speaking in mentioning that which is to come as though it were already come Now although the wicked are termed to be dead in sin yet in the foregoing words there was made no mention of them but of the judgment that was committed to Christ Neither is the voice of Christ after his Ascension said to call home any but St. Paul And the Holy Ghost was not given till after the People were brought home by the voice of his Messengers in the call of the Gospel Therefore this must needs be meant of the first Resurrection which will be when Christ again cometh And the Lord saith Joh. 5.27,28,29 And
decreed their Works and so concluded them as finisht from the Foundation of the World To which I answer It was from the Foundation of thar World that then was a laying in Israel which the Twelve Tribes were then the Foundation of And not that their Works were finished or they condemned from the foundation of the Material Heavens and Earth For in Esdras 3.17 And it came to pass that when thou leddest his Seed out of Egypt thou broughtest them to Mount Sinai Verse 18. And bowing the Heavens thou didst set fast the Earth and movedst the whole World and madest the Deeps to tremble and troubledst the men of that age That is the world that is to come was establisht in the twelve Tribes which in the Hebrews is mention'd as the foundation Which people now being scattered throughout the face of the Earth when they are again gathered at the coming of the Lord with the Glory that shall then be revealed with the dead that shall be raised will be the world that is to come of which the Apostle speaks And of which he saith they were chosen before the foundation of the world was which world is yet to come as I have show'd you And the Angel further telleth 2 Fsdras 7.11,12,13,14 Which Angel by the word appears to be Christ He saith because for their sakes I made the world And when Adam transgressed my statutes then was decreed that now is done V. 12. Then were the entrances of this world made narrow full of sorrow and travel They are but few and Evil full of Perils and very painful V. 13. For the entrances of the Elder World were wide and sure and brought immortal fruit V. 14. If then they that live labour not to enter these strait and vain things they can never receive those that are laid up for them We see here that the Angel does absolutely declare to Esdras when the decree was past in which the entrance into blessedness was made strait or hard to be attain'd that it was after the fall of Adam and that now we must labour or else we cannot receive the good that is laid up for us which saying is like that of the Lords in Rev. 3.10 because thou hast kept the word of my patience I also will keep thee from the hour of Temptation which shall come upon all the World to try them that dwell upon the Earth V. 11. Behold I come quickly Hold that fast which thou hast that no man take thy Crown V. 12. Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out We here plainly see by the words of the Lord both to Esdras and St. John that there is a part required of us the which is to be performed by us that no man take thy Crown That is as much as to say if thou perform not the condition another shall take thy Crown which was prepared for thee for I can raise me a People another way Of which God hath left us several Examples As first when Israel sinned God would have destroyed them and made of Moses a great Nation Where then would their absolute Election have been for in Exod. 32. where God saith unto Moses in the 7th verse Go get thee down for thy People which thou broughtest out of the Land of Egypt have corrupted themselves V. 8. They turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them They have made them a Molten Calf and have Worshiped it and have Sacrificed thereunto and said these be thy Gods O Israel which have brought thee up out of the Land of Egypt V. 9. And the Lord said to Moses I have seen this People and behold it is a stiff-necked People V. 10. Now therefore let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great Nation But by Moses's earnest Prayer the fierce Anger of the Lord was asswaged And therefore in the 14th v. it is said The Lord repented of the Evil which he thought to do unto his People Now these are the Elect and chosen People of God whom he had Called Enlightned and put them into a capacity of Obedience and made them sensible what his Will and Pleasure was But they continued not in their Obedience but were quickly turn'd aside and therefore the Lord said they have corrupted themselves Of which also St. James saith chap. 1.13,14,15 Let no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any man Verse 14. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed Verse 15. Then when lust hath conceived is bringeth forth fin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death By which we may plainly see that all Evil proceeds from our own hearts and the inbred corruption that is within them being stirr'd up thereunto by the subtil Instigations of the Devil and by the Traps and Gins and Snares that he still lays in our way and the World heedlesly are taken in them And how many after they know the Ways of God yer how few of them do industriously lay forth themselves to serve him as they do the World the Flesh and the Devil Rom. 6.16 But we are his Servants to whom we obey whether of sin unto death or of Obedience unto Righteousness And in Heb. 4.16 it is said Let us come boldly unto the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find Grace to help in time of need The which if we do and so continue to do God hath promised that he will never leave us nor sorsake us as Heb. 13. wherein he instructs us how to order our Conversation aright thereby to become partakers of the promise In Heb. 13.1,2,3,4,5,6 Let brotherly love continue Verse 2. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained Angels unawares Verse 3. Remember them that are in Bonds as bound with them and them that suffer adversity as being your selves also in the body Verse 4. Marriage is honourable in all and the Bed undefiled but Whoremongers and Adulterers God will Judge V. 5. Let your Conversation be without Coveteousness and be content with such things as you have for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee In this latter part of the Verse he speaks of singular Persons whereas he saith the Lord will never leave thee that is we must each of us search our own Hearts to know whether we walk in a Resignation of our wills to his will and also to go out of our selves to fetch strength from him And then it is he hath promised That he will never leave us nor forsake us V. 6. So that we may boldly say the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me That is every one that doth so walk may say particularly for himself That the
to himself Herein is not comprehended how God doth deal with some particular persons but to the general carrying on of the Church in the World Now whereas St. Paul saith in Rom. 3,9 For we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin 10. v. As it is written there is none Righteous no not one And he faith in Eph. 2.3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in time past in the lust of the Flesh fulfilling the desires of the Flesh and of the mind and were by Nature the Children of wrath even as others Tho through sin both Jews and Gentiles are all of them fallen under the Curse and so the wrath of God yet our natures are not alike estrang'd from God Now in Acts 18.9,10 Spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a Vision be not afraid but speak and hold not thy peace 10. v. For I am with thee and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee for I have much people in this City That is People or much ground capable to receive Seed so as to bring forth Fruit. And as there is several sorts of ground so the Lord tells us there is two sorts of Seed But not that God did Reprobate Man before the Foundation of the material heavens and Earth to Damnation but that the Devil hath since so twisted himself into the Nature of great part of Mankind that he is as it were become one with them Therefore the Lord put forth Matt. 13.24 Another Parable unto them saying the Kingdom of Heaven is likned unto a Man which sowed good Seed in his Field 25. v. But while men slept his Enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way 26. v. But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit then appeared the Tares also 27. v. So the Servants of the Housholder came and said unto him Sir didst not thou sow good seed in thy Field from whence then hath it Tares 28. v. He said unto them an enemy hath done this The Servants said unto him wilt thou then that we go and gather them up 29. v. But he said nay lest while ye gather up the tares ye root up also the wheat with them 30. v. Let both grow together until the Harvest and in time of Harvest I will say to the Reapers gather ye together first the Tares and bind them into bundles to burn them but gather the wheat into my barn Here is a clear demonstration that the Tares are a false Seed of the Devils sowing And the Lord speaks of them in Isa 57.3 But draw near hither ye Sons of the Sorcerers the Seed of the Adulterer and the Whore 4. v. Against whom do ye sport your selves against whom make ye a wide mouth and draw out the tongue are ye not Children of Transgression a seed of Falshood Here we see that a false Seed comes in much this way and what is here spoken of by the Lord has a more particular reference to the Christians who are guilty of these things and in especial manner to the Romans by whom all those abominable wickednesses are allowed and that this was spoken to the Christians it doth appear in the foregoing Chapter Isa 56. from the 7. v. to the end by reason God speaketh of the gathering of the out cast of Israel and that he then will gather others with them and it is evident Israel hath never since been gathered And at that time it is said That all the Beasts of the Field and Forrest should come to devour And that could not be to Devour Israel for it is said they are then to be restored and it is made farther evident in that it is said The Watchmen are all blind and so treating of the same effect in the next Chapter as I have set down in the 3. and 4. v. Now as to what St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 4.7 For who maketh thee to differ from another and what hast thou that thou didst not receive now if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it That is the good ground before it receiveth Seed will bring forth Weeds as the other doth Thorns but when the good ground does receive Seed there is presently a difference in the growth of the Fruit in that of the good ground from that of the Thorny yet nothing to be boasted of because all that is good in them came from that hand that gave the Seed or else they might for ever have remained the Children of wrath as well as others Therefore the lower we set in our own Estimation the higher we rise in God's Now whereas Christ saith in John 6.44 No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him That is at first God must draw the Heart to Christ that the Soul might be convinc'd that he was the Christ And in the Apostles time there was given the Holy Ghost to bear witness to the World the truth thereof Neither can any now come to Christ except the Father draw him And in the visible Church of Christ there is a three-fold drawing of God First By the Invitation of his word and by way of Reproof Instruction and Exhortation Secondly There is the reproof of the Spirit of God which we commonly call the checks of Conscience Thirdly There is the good Motions of the Spirit of God all these being the drawings of God to bring us home to him through Christ to Repentance This being the ordinary way of God's Working in his Church And Israel having these drawings of God therefore he calls out to them by his Prophets for to come to Repentance because â—e had put them in a capacity so to do giving them power to do that part for themselves but when through their continual resisting the good Spirit of God and in refusing to be obedient to his word And then it is God leaves them And therefore St. Stephen said to them Acts 7.51 Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears ye do always resist the Holy Ghost as your Fathers did so do ye And then it is as it is said they that are accustomed to do evil cannot learn to do well That is when through their own resisting they weary out the good Spirit of God so as he leaves them to themselves But whilst God calls Israel to come to Repentance there was a door of Mercy open to them Therefore God saith in Ezekiel 33.11 Say unto them as I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the Death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Turn ye turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye die O house of Israel Here it is evident by the Word of God that when he thus invited them there was a door of Mercy open to them but when God would not shew Mercy to his people Israel then doth God neither call on them to Repentance
Well-doing and to take to the Rules that he has set before us that we may so do According to which Christ saith in John 8.51 Verâ—…y verily I say unto you if a man keep my saying he shall never see death That is he shall never see Hell And the Lord saith John 10.14,15,16 I am the good Shepherd and know my Sheep and am known of mine Here the Lord seems in a more especial manner to signifie the very Elect. And in the following Words the Lord includes all the Sheep as in the 15. v. As the Father knoweth me even so know I the Father and I lay down my Life for the Sheep Here is all the Sheep included And the Lord saith in the 16. v. And other Sheep I have which are not of this Fold them also must I bring and they shall hear any Voice and there shall be one Fold and one Shepherd Here the Lord plainly declares to us that he hath two sorts of Sheep and that they are not now of one fold That is the one does not now stand so securely in him as the other does but he saith He must bring them into one fold at which time they shall hear his Voice And then it is there shall be one fold and one shepherd And this will be when the Lord comes again to Mount Sion at which time the Lord will make the promised New Covenant with the House of Israel And then all Israel will be so fixed in him that they shall never more fall away For God saith Isa 40.17 Ezek. 36.24,25,26,27,28 For I will take you from among the Heathen and gather you out of all Countries and I will bring you into your own land Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness and from all your Idols will I cleanse you 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 and I will give you an Heart of Flesh And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my Judgments and do them And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your Fathers and ye shall be my people and I will be your God So it is said Ezek. 11.19,20 and in Jer. 32.37 Behold I will gather them out of the Conntries whither I have driven them in mine anger and in my fury and in great wrath and I will bring them again into this place and will cause them to dwell safely And they shall be my People and I will be their God And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me for ever for the good of them and of their Children after them And I will make an everlasting Covenant with them 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 Yea I will rejoyce over them to do them good I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole Heart and with my whole Soul And the Lord saith Jer. 31.33.34 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 Laws in their inward Parts and write it in their Hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my People They shall teach no more every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother saying know ye the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them saith the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more And God saith Jer. 30.9 But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their King whom I will raise up unto them And Ezek. 34.22 Therefore I will save my flock and they shall no more be a prey and I will judg between cattle and cattle And I will set up one Shepherd over them and he shall feed them even my servant David he shall feed them and he shall be their Shepherd And I the Lord will be their God and my servant David a Prince among them I the Lord have spoken it And I will make with them a Covenant of Peace and will cause the Evil Beasts to cease out of the Land and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods And the Lord in John having fully declared to us that he hath two sorts of Sheep And that they are not now of one Fold with those that are the very Elect but that he must bring them into one Fold and then there shall be but one Fold at that time when there is but one Shepherd And that will be when the Lord maketh the Promised New Covenant with the House of Israel Now when this New Covenant is made with Israel we see by the oft repeated words of God that then Israel will be so secured as the very Elect are now whom God hath set as his standing Witness in this World So as it remaâ—ns a thing impossible to deceive them And then sâ—all Israel no more fall into sin arâ—er this New Covenant is made with them And as for us we now stand on the same terms as Israel did the which is we have a promise of Everlasting Life if we concinue in well doing Heb. 5.9 For he is become the Author of Eternal Salvation to all them that obey him And as it is said in Rom. 2.7 And to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality and eternal Life So it is by our continuance in well-doing after conversion that we shall be made partakers of Eternal Life Or if otherwise we shall be cut off For the Apostle saith Rom. 2.9,10 Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul of Man that doeth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile 10. v. But glory honour and peace to every man that worketh good to the Jew first and also to the Gentile That is as many of the Christians as are brought in by the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and so became the seed of Abraham For it is said Gal. 3.29 and Gal. 3.9 If ye be Christs chen are ye Abrahams Seed and heirs according to the promise So when this promised New Covenant is made with the Natural and with the Adopted Seed of Abraham And although the rest of the Elect that are to be called in at the coming of the Lord have not that Everlasting New Covenant made with them as to secure their Off-spring so as they shall never more fall away yet they will stand secure whilst the Eminent Glory is among them and Satan bound up from them and the glorious Tabernacle in their View then they will all be of One Fold so as none for that time shall fall off according to which is the saying of the Lord
was the Devil Perfect And whereas the Lord saith in St. Matthew Be ye perfect even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect And it is said in 2 Cor. 10.5 Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringing into Captivity every thought to the Obedience of Christ If we so do then Christ will impute his perfect Righteousness to us And so as it is said in Col. 2.10 We shall be compleat in him And if so then perfect in Christ Jesus through his righteousness put upon us And whereas St. Paul saith in Phil. 3.8,9,10 Yea doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ And be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by Faith That I may know him and the power of his Resurrection and the fellowship of his Sufferings being made conformable unto his death By which we see if we are made partakers of the Righteousness of Christ we must be brought into a holy Conformity to Christ as being dead to the sinful Pleasures of this World that we might live to him that died for us And St. Paul in Phil. 3.11,12 tells us wherefore he was thus conformable which was If by any means I might attain unto the Resurrection of the dead Not as though I had already attained either were already perfect But I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus Now by what is here said we may clearly understand that though Paul was regenerated and born again yet he saith he was not come to the Resurrection of the dead And whereas he saith Not as though I had already attained either were already perfect Now he had those Qualifications whereby the Saints are made partakers of the imputed Righteousness of Christ so as to be accounted perfect or compleat in him Yet he here saith he was not perfect Therefore the Righteousness he here speaks of was not of an Imputed Perfect Righteousness but of an Inherent Perfect Righteousness which is only attainable for the Righteous at the Resurrection from the Dead and then it is that he shall fully apprehend that Infinite Love and Mercy by which he was apprehended of Christ Jesus And whereas he saith Phil. 3.14,15 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded Here he speaks of the perfection of the Will in which consists their sincere Obedience to Christ by which they become partakers of the perfect Righteousness purchased by Christ And whereas he saith in the latter part of the same verse If in any thing ye be otherwise minded God shall reveal this unto you This he said to them that were perfect in sincerity in their obedience to Christ that if they had not attained to that clear knowledg of God in their mind as he had yet God would Reveal the same unto them by enlightning their understanding in what he had taught them ALL THE CHIEF POINTS Contained in the CHRISTIAN Religion And those GREAT TRUTHS in the word which we have not had a Right Apprehension of for almost Thirteen Hundred Years never since the Rise of the Beast Are now discovered by the FINGER of GOD. The whole here Collected into Short Heads that thereby they might the better sink down into the Understanding and be Registred in our Memories which Truths are now proved and Published By M. M. LONDON Printed and are to be Sold by J. Clark at the Bible in the Old Change at the upper end of Cheapside E. Whitlock in Stationers-Court in Amen-Corner and W. Reddish ni Griffiths Buildings near the Royal Cook-pit Westminster 1697. The Scriptures being now Rightly Understood are made to agree in a Holy Harmony so as Justice Mercy and Truth go hand in hand together which before we came to have a right Underderstanding in the Word we made to contradict it self which has caus'd so much Dissention amonst us Some there are that term the word a dead letter but all them that believe the scriptures to be the word of God and take to the way directed therein such the scriptures are able to make wise unto salvation 2. Tim. 3.15,16 18. for by them we come to have faith in Christ Jesus as to believe that he will perform his promise according to the condition he hath made in the word Mat. 11.29 And therefore Christ is said to be the Author and Finisher of Faith because he will give the hoped for promised Reward to them that are found in their Obedience for the word our is not in the Hebrew Tongue And in the Scriptures is the Wisdom of God and the power of God and such as walk according to that Holy rule blessed are they Gal. 6.10 2. Cor. 4.4 And the word being Rightly understood God doth not swear and declare to do one thing and absolutely decree to do quite the contrary for all the scriptures agree in one the same thing And they that speak not according to the Law and to the Testimony it is because there is no Light in them Isa 8.20 Isa 62.8 Ezek. 33.11 And if we take to the way therein directed God hath promised his assistance and by so doing we shall be brought off from the World and so born again by having a complying frame of Spirit to the will of God if we are to the utmost of our power sincere in our endeavour GREAT TRUTHS in the Word are now Discovered by the Finger of GOD c. THE Mighty God according to his Promise that at Evening time it should be Light Zech. 14.7 hath now at the appointed time discovered the true meaning of his word the which we lost the right apprehension of by our Predecessors who were involv'd in darkness of Popery whereby we are now in great mistakes The Truths which have not been rightly understood are these that follow I. That the Eternal Purpose only reacheth forward to the Eternity that lies before us as is proved like as Christ in time became the Author of Eternal Salvation and as God in time promised Eternal Life II. That after Adam fell the decree was made for the entrance into Life to be made strait and how that straitness doth consist is proved III. That being of old ordained to this condemnation hath another meaning than what we have hitherto apprehended IV. In Scripture there is mention made of Three Worlds and therefore Three Foundations whereby it is clearly proved there was none chosen before or at the Foundation of the Material Heavens and Earth and that these Three Worlds spoken of in Scripture are Three Worlds of People First