the Testimony of the Spirit of God witnessing with their Spirits that they are his And here now is the Kingdom of God set up God ruling by his holy Spirit in our Hearts and Man obeying and walking humbly with him in Obedience and so enjoying his Comfortable Presence and Witness of his Holy Spirit as it was promised 2 Cor. 6.16 That he would dwellin his holy People and walk in them And thus the Kingdom of God is set up in his People For saith Christ Jesus The Kingdom of God is within you Luke 17.21 Now the way to this Kingdom is to be minded and entred into if Men would come into it For strait is the Gate and narrow is the Way that leads to it and so to Life and few find it saith Christ Jesus And on the other hand Broad is the Way and wide is the Gate that leadeth to Destruction and many there be which go in thereat And here many fall short of the Kingdom because they take the broad and easie way and forsake the strait and narrow way that leads to Life Mat. 7.13 14. But they that do humble themselves before the Lord and seek with their whole Heart to enter into the Kingdom of God to them God will open a way for them to find what their Souls long for For saith Christ Jesus Ask and ye shall receive seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you Mat. 7.7 There be many that mind not their future Condition what will become of them They mind not another World to come and therefore they run on as it were hoodwinkt and mind not the way that leads to Eternal Happiness and so remain Strangers to God in their Spirits not considering the true state of Christianity now under the Gospel which is this namely To know the Lord and to walk in Fellowship with him in Spirit Heb. 8.11 and 1 John 1.3 6. But they think if they keep on in their Form all shall be well with them not condering that a Form of Godliness without the Life and Power of Godliness which consists in Living in the Spirit and Fruits thereof will not be sufficient For some had a Form of Godliness in the Apostles Days but yet without the Spirit and Power of Godliness from such saith he turn away 2 Tim. 3.5 Now lest any tender Spirits should be discouraged and think with themselves that they are far from this happy state of being the Children of God because they find themselves loaden and burthened with Corruption and with many Frailties and Infirmities which they are often overtaken with let them consider how low the Lord hath condescended to Mankind in order to bring us to Happiness He hath not spared his Beloved Son but hath freely given him up to become a Sacrifice for us that we might have boldness through him to draw near unto God And so far doth the Lord condescend to Mankind that he despises not the least faithful Drawings of Man's Heart towards him He will not quench the smoaking Flax nor break the bruised Reed The least true motions that are in the Heart of Man towards him he doth not despise but nourishes them and cherishes them that Men may grow up in his Holy Spirit which begets those holy Motions and Inclinations in them and Breathings after the Lord. Therefore let none think the Lord a hard Master to serve For he hath said and affirmed that he delights not in the Death of a Sinner but that he should turn from his Iniquities and live But the great difficulty lies here Men are so glewed to their sinful Courses that they will not be separated from them and so put the Lord from them afar off For he will have no Fellowship with Iniquity For what Communion can Light have with Darkness Or Righteousness with Vnrighteousness But he will draw near to them that draw near to him Jam. 4.8 And he will acquaint them with the true Paths and Teachings and Leadings of his Holy Spirit and will give them a Discerning to see a difference between the true Spirit and false Spirits And without all doubt this was one reason of giving forth the several parts of the New Testament that false and Erroneous Doctrines and Spirits might thereby with the Spirit of Christ opening them be detected and made known And therefore they that judge aright of Doctrines and Practices they judge according to the Holy Scriptures and not by Tradition or common Practice as too many do I may safely say That the Holy Spirit is the Standard of the Gospel and new Covenant and to that we must repair if we would come under the protection of the New Covenant For therein namely in the Spirit of Christ is the Sonship or Adoption established as is manifest from Rom. 8.9 14 15. For further Confirmation of this that our Happiness lyes in having Fellowship with God in our Spirits and in being led by his Spirit let these Scriptures following be well minded Rom. 8.1 There is therefore now no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit This Chapter ought carefully to be minded especially the former part of it which speaks of being led by the Spirit of God unto Ver. 18. to which you may add Ver. 26 27. whereby you may see that the truly happy state of a Christian lies in being led by the Spirit of God and in having Fellowship with God therein Another Scripture to this purpose is this 1 Cor. 3.16 17. Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God And that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you If any Man defile the Temple of God him shall God destroy for the Temple of God is holy which Temple ye are Add to this the 19th and 20th Verses of the sixth Chapter where the words are these What know ye not that your Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit which is in you which ye have of God And ye are not your own For ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your Body and in your Spirit which are God's Again 2 Cor. 1.22 and Chap. 5. Ver. 5. It 's there expressed that the Spirit is the Seal and the Earnest of our Inheritance that is of our Heavenly Inheritance Now an Earnest is the ensuring of a thing to one and so is a Seal And Men are very careful to keep their Seal entire and safe tho' it be but for an Earthly Inheritance how much more ought we to be very careful to keep abiding in the Spirit which is our Seal and Earnest for an Eternal Inheritance Again let these words be well minded Gal. 4.6 And because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your Hearts crying Abba Father And again Gal. 6.8 it 's there said He that soweth to the Flesh shall of the Flesh reap Corruption but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap
Prophets among them to raise their Minds and Hearts a little higher after a more Spiritual Walking with him Then after that he sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for greater things which were to follow For the Kingdom of Heaven was then at hand And thus way was made gradually for the coming of Christ Jesus that Men might believe on him when he came Thus the Lord carried on his publick Work gradually and thus also he frequently carries on his Work in particular Persons from step to step And it is well for them that follow him in his Leadings and Drawings and take not up their Rest or stop in the Way but hold on to follow the Lord. For he doth not usually communicate all at once to his People altho' he may give much Comfort sometimes at the first turning of Man's Heart faithfully to him But he communicates by degrees to them that truly follow him and as they are capable to receive and able to bear To his Disciples Christ said I have many things to say unto you but you cannot bear them now John 16.12 so he communicated to them as they could bear And so he did to Paul Acts 26.16 he did not make him a Minister and a Witness of all at once but appeared to him to make him a Minister and a Witness of those things which he had seen and of those things in the which he would afterwards appear to him Thus the Lord doth condescend to take us by the Hand as it were to lead us on from one degree to another where there is a willing Heart to follow him And there may be still a going forward and growing up in the Lord while we are in this Life Paul that Eminent Servant of the Lord after all his Visions and great Attainments and Perfections still saith I press forward Phil. 3.14 15. And thus the Ministry of Christ was and is to lead us forward by degrees Not only to bring us on thorough the Ministration of the Law or of the Letter as it 's called but to bring us under the Ministration of the Spirit so as to be led thereby and to grow up therein and so to establish us in the Sonship or Adoption Thus under the Ministration of the Gospel the Work is cut short in Righteousness namely in subjecting the Heart of Man to the Spirit of God which works all Righteousness in us gradually if we be faithful thereunto And it will admit of no Iniquity if we faithfully follow the guidance thereof For God hath comprehended all Righteousness in the Spirit and in the Fruits thereof It is the Spirit that leads into all Truth This is the great Dispensation of the Lord under the Gospel This Satan knows and therefore was he and yet is so busie to suggest other Spirits whereby to divert Men and turn them aside from the true Spirit by appearances of other Spirits and with some resemblance of the true This he did very early in the Apostles Days as we may observe by the Writings or Epistles of the Apostle Paul in which we may see how he was constrained to vindicate himself and his Ministry against those false Teachers who desired occasion against him 2 Cor. 11.12 False Apostles may despise and vilifie them that are in the Truth and may transform themselves as the Apostles of Christ Satan himself can transform himself into an Angel of Light therefore it is no great thing if his Ministers also be transformed as the Ministers of Righteousness 2 Cor. 11.12 13 14 15. I do not speak this to vilifie any faithful Ministers but to shew the great subtilty of Satan And for this end that we may be all careful to keep close to our true Guide the Spirit of God which leads into all Righteousness and out of all false Appearances and gives the comfortable Testimony of his presence in the Hearts of those that faithfully obey him and walk humbly with him But some perhaps may say How shall we know these deceitful Workers these false Spirits I Answer I write not this so much to discover any such but that every one may be careful to examine themselves and be stirred up to beware of Satan's Wiles It is a hard matter to know deceitful Workers by their good Words or fair Speeches or Ministerial Gifts and Parts which they once had given them It 's said That Gifts shall be given also even to the Rebellious Psal 68.18 Thou hast ascended on high thou hast led Captivity Captive thou hast received Gifts for Men yea for the Rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell among them And some will so rest upon their Ministerial Gifts and not upon the Giver that they will make them a plea for themselves when the Lord comes to judge as hath been shewed before from Mat. 7.22 But the Excellency of Ministerial Gifts will not shelter Workers of Iniquity altho ' such Gifts be very serviceable and worthy to be desired And it is the Apostle's Exhortation 1 Cor. 12.31 to covet earnestly the best Gifts But yet saith he I shew unto you a more excellent way and that more excellent way he expresses at large in the whole Chapter following that is in Chap. 13. where he saith thus Though I speak with the Tongue of Men and of Angels and have not love for so it may and ought to be Translated from the Greek words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and have not Love I am become as sounding Brass or a tinkling Cymbal That that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ought to be Translated Love in this Chapter I shall shew by and by with Reasons for it If any insist still upon that Query before mentioned and say How shall we know these false Spirits these deceitful Workers that have been spoken of We would fain know them I Answer still Where it may be a hard matter for us to distinguish aright of others Our best course is to approve our own Hearts to the Lord and to walk so that we may have the Testimony of a good Conscience in our selves that we are approved of the Lord Then shall we have rejoicing in our own Bosoms from the comfortable Witness of the Spirit of God For the Spirit will witness with our Spirits if we walk in Obedience that we are the Children of God Rom. 8.16 As for others it will be a hard matter to distinguish aright between Tares and Wheat They may take Tares for good Wheat or good Wheat for Tares if they keep not to the Holy Spirit True it is that some Mens Sins are open beforehand and go before unto Judgment and some Mens they follow after 1 Tim. 5.24 Some are so openly and manifestly wicked that they are judged of all Men but others they follow after I come now to shew that the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mentioned before ought to be Translated thus in my Judgment viz. And have not love And in the first place I shall shew that the word
A Short WORK But of Greatest CONCERN By William Tomlinson Rom. IX 28. For he will finish the Work and cut it short in Righteousness because a short Work will the Lord make upon the Earth London Printed and Sold by T. Sowle in White-Hart-Court in Gracious-Street 1696. A Short Work but of Greatest Concern The Lord will cut his Work short in Righteousness TIme hath been wherein there have been many Precepts Precept upon Precept Line upon Line under the Ministration of the Law Isa 28.13 But under the Gospel the Lord doth contract them and bring them under one Head and that is the Spirit of God to be led and guided thereby And he shall lead into all Righteousness and Truth John 16.13 and out of the Lusts of the Flesh Gal. 5.16 This I say then Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the Lust of the Flesh And this Guide and Leader is promised to abide with the true Servants of God for ever John 14.16 17. So that if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8.9 The time cometh and draws near at hand wherein People shall not be look'd upon as the People of God because they are of such or such an Opinion or because they are in such or such a Society or belong to such a sort of People and walk with them let it be under whatsoever Name is extant whether Papist or Protestant or any other Name Nor shall Eminent Gifts and Parts shelter any Man Many will say Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy Name And in thy Name have cast out Devils And in thy Name done many wonderful works But what 's the Answer to them that can plead thus from the Ability of Gifts and live not Righteously The Answer is this I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity Mat. 7.22 23. Iniquity dashes all Excellent Abilities and puts one out of God's Acknowledgment of their Persons Whereby we may observe That it is not Eminent Gifts and Parts that states a Man in a happy Condition although these are good and to be prized Query Some may say then perhaps What is it then that makes us happy if such Eminent Gifts and Parts do not Answer I answer It is humble walking with the Lord as a Child in his holy Spirit Mat. 18.3 Verily I say unto you Except ye be Converted and become as little Children ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven This is also plainly exprest in other words before-named where the Apostle saith expresly If any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8.9 But on the contraty As many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God So then it 's plain That our Sonship is established in the Spirit If we be led by the Spirit of God we are in the Sonship but if we be not in some measure led by that we are not in the Sonship but remain Strangers to God in our Spirits But if we be led by the Spirit of God the Spirit it self will bear witness with our Spirit that we are the Children of God Rom. 8.16 And here now is the Work cut short in Righteousness And hereby it is plainly manifest That our Happiness lyes herein namely in being led by the Spirit of God and walking humbly with him therein And this is the chief tendency and the very substance of the New Covenant and of the New Testament which testifies of it to bring us to this and build us up in this namely to bring us into subjection to the Spirit of God and to build us up therein that so we may come to walk in Fellowship with our God 1 Joh. 1.3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye may have Fellowship with us and truly our Fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And the words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ are very agreeable hereunto John 14.23 where he saith If a Man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him O happy State and Condition to have Fellowship with our God! This makes happy both here and hereafter And this the true Sons of God enjoy who walk humbly with him in Spirit And in this short work now in walking with him in the Spirit and having Fellowship with him in the Spirit all Iniquity is cut off and all Righteousness is comprehended and established for he leads into all Truth I say all Iniquity is cut off So that he that walks in the Spirit gives no real occasion of stumbling Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the Lusts of the Flesh Gal. 5.16 And so hereby that which gives real offence is cut off It 's possible some may take offence where none is given as the Jews did against Christ So some may do now in these Days who are wedded to Tradition They may take offence at the Truth when their Traditions in which they are rooted and grounded are discovered reproved or contradicted thereby But this is not Truth that gives the offence but their Errour that take offence where none is really given as the Jews did take offence against Christ without just cause And as walking in the Spirit of Truth cuts off all Iniquity and all corrupt Lusts of the Flesh so it establishes the Obedient in all Righteousness For the Spirit leads into all Righteousness where he is faithfully followed and obeyed He will guide you or lead you into all Truth John 16.13 That is by degrees as he is obeyed There be many false Spirits gone forth into the World but the Spirit of Truth will discover them and by their Fruits they shall be discovered For saith Christ Jesus By their Fruits ye shall know them Mat. 7.16 to Ver. 20. A good Tree cannot bring forth evil Fruit neither can a corrupt Tree bring forth good Fruit therefore their Fruits shall discover them for God hath so appointed it Now then what are the Fruits of the true Spirit that thereby in some measure we may be able to discover false Spirits and may discern a difference For Christ Jesus tells us By their Fruits ye shall know them I answer with the Apostle's words Gal. 5.22 The Fruit of the Spirit is Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance against such saith he there is no Law The Affections and Lusts of the Flesh they are hereby cut off as the next Verse expresses viz. Ver. 24. in these words And they that are Christ's have Crucified the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts This is the happy state of the true Children of God who walk humbly with him in his Holy Spirit and grow up therein to the stature of a perfect Man in Christ Jesus They are led by the Spirit of God in these true Fruits of the Spirit And they have