the arms of God how admirably doth it set him forth in all his Attributes his eternity is the rock of ages his immutability an invariable and inconvertible Sun his righteousness like the great mountains his decrees and judgments a mighty deep his mercy a glory a mass of riches never to be told over his holiness as the pure unmixed light his justice as the devouring unquenchable fire In a word there all the glory of his Attributes pass before the believers eye such a book as this must needs be divine Secondly These marks or characters in Scripture cannot be known without supernatural light Meer reason receiveth them not like the child Samuel it hears a voice a sound of words but it knows not that it is the Lord insomuch that some have slighted the Scriptures Politianus said that he never spent time to less purpose then in reading them and Julian that there was as good stuff in Pindars Odes as in Davids Psalms Had they known the word or testimony of God in them they would not have crucified them by their wretched blasphemies But when the light of Faith comes the Scripture appears not in letters and words only but in the divine and heavenly characters and by these it bears witness to it self that it is the word of God There is a double cause of Faith an effective cause and an objective the effective cause is the holy spirit inlightning the understanding and moving the will and the objective is the Scripture it self by its own innate light and Majesty revealing its divinity to the inlightned soul Tertullian having this holy light in him adored the fullness of Scripture St. Austin seemeth to be taken to admiration with the purity of it as not admitting so much as an officious lyc Wheresoever the supernatural light comes the Scripture manifests it self to be divine Fourthly The fourth step of knowledge in order to Faith is Deus revelavit Evangelium God hath revealed a Gospel a way of salvation and eternal happiness Faith as I shall shew hereafter is not a meer belief of the divine testimony but a dependant resignation to God and Christ and to this resignation no man arrives unless he first see an overtopping superlative excellency in the Gospel outbidding the world and all the lusts thereof and verily believe that there and there only is the way of life and happiness And thus to see and believe is beyond the line of reason and all it s acquired notions The natural man in the midst of all his notions carries a false ballance in his heart which makes as if every trifling vanity did out-weigh God and Christ and heavenly things and whilest the ballance is thus he cannot resign and thus it will be till supernatural light come then and not till then doth the ballance turn by a right estimate of the Gospel and the promises thereof The spirit inlightning and not humane reason takes the things of Christ and shews them forth in their glory Joh. 16.14 And in this way God works the heart to resignation CHAP. III. Of the second part of Precious Faith the belief of the Testimony of God in the Scriptures What manner of belief it is and the consequents of it in order to an holy self-resignation THUS far of the first thing in Faith supernatural illumination I now proceed to the second A belief of the testimony of God in the Scriptures and here I need use no words to prove this belief an ingredient in Faith for faith in the Grammatical notion of it is nothing else but a belief of a Testimony and being applied to God it is a belief of his Testimony in Scripture Only I shall open two things first what manner of belief of the divine testimony in Scriptures this is and then what the consequents of it are in order to resignation First What manner of belief this is And this I shall explain in these particulars First This belief is divine and congruous to the divine testimony Such as the testimony is such must be the ratio credendi the Scriptures being a divine testimony must be believed for themselves because of the divine authority stamped upon them Thus the Thessalonians received the word not as the word of man but as it is in truth the word of God 1 Thess 2.13 they lodged the divine truth in a divine faith which was a suitable entertainment Humana omnia dicta testibus egent Dei autem sermo ipse sibi test is est saith Salvian humane words want witness but divine carry their own testimony in themselves To believe the Scriptures because God speaks in them is a divine faith but to believe them upon any other account is below their divine authority and but an humane faith For example to believe the Scriptures for the saying of the woman for the Churches testimony is but an humane faith for it stands on no higher fulciment then an humane testimony and therefore can be but an humane faith Here the subtile Jesuite would help out the Papist at a dead lift that faith saith he which is resolved into the Churches authority is neque purè divina neque purè humana sed quasi media inferioris cujusdam ordinis but what saith the learned Pemble to him Just so men use to speak when they cannot tell what to say It is Quasi and Aliquomodo and Alicujus generis it is somewhat if they could tell what thus he 'T is undoubtedly clear that that faith which calls any man Master on earth and centers on an humane testimony such as that of the Church made up of men must needs be can be no other then humane Indeed the Churches testimony may be inter motiva fidei but if the faith be divine it cannot be inter formales rationes sidei A man in the dark labyrinth of nature may be led out by the Churches lamp but when he is out he sees the Sun by its own light he believes the Scriptures for their own divinity though per ministerium Ecclesiae yet not propter authoritatem Ecclesiae Divine faith hath its Master in heaven and its record on high Secondly Which follows on the other this belief is a firm and stable thing because built on the divine authority of Scripture we believe and are sure saith Peter Joh. 6.69 Nothing on earth can so ascertain things unto us as faith in the divine testimony Julian the Apostate glorying in the Pagan learning jeered at the Christians because all their wisdom was but in that one word Credo I believe but divine faith for all his prophane taunt hath more firmness and real certainty in it then all the Sciences in the world for it sees things in lumine veritatis primae in the light of the first truth and sits even in the infallible chair so that non potest subesse falsum a lye cannot sit under it and glues the heart to the truth in that manner Eonav l. 3 disi 23. quest 4. that
the Suavities and dictates all the comfortable words in conscience is the Holy Spirit The Spirit it self beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God saith the Apostle Rom. 8.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not the Gifts or Graces but the very Spirit it self beareth witness that not only out wardly in the Word but in wardly in and with our spirit and its Testimony is That we are the children of God And the import of that Testimony over and above the title of Sonship is That our Faith which makes us his children Gal. 3.26 is true and our Love and other Graces which manifest us such are so also And what a Testimony is this To call it dubious or opinionative or conjectural is blasphemy Cornelius a Lapide as one under a necessity confesses this Testimony certain in it self but as a Salvo to the Doctrine of doubting adds That it is not certain to us But this is to forget the Apostles words That the Spirit witnesseth it in and with our spirit and withal absurdly to say That the Spirit indeed witnesseth but would not be believed or rather That it witnesseth and witnesseth not because an unheard Testimony is as none Bellarmine saith The Spirit witnesseth not by an express word but by an Experiment of internal peace and suavity which begets but a conjectural certainty I answer It 's true that it is not by an express word but as Learned Dr. Ward well observes The Question is not de modo Testandi but de Re. It is certain there is such a Testimony and that proceeding from the Spirit of Truth must be infallible and being made to our spirit must be known to us and so beget a true certainty in our hearts Nevertheless to illustrate this Point I shall a little consider the Modus of it The Spirit bears witness to ours partly by an application of the Promises to the heart partly by an irradiation of the Graces there These two make up the sealing of the Spirit of Promise given after believing Ephes 1.13 The Spirit applies the Promises to the Heart that is one part of the Seal As the spirit of bondage applies threatnings and thereby makes a kind of Hell in Conscience so the Spirit of Adoption applies Promises and by it makes a kind of Heaven there The same Spirit which endited the Promises of Pardon and put them into Scripture Seals and in a way of appropropriation puts them upon the Heart as if it should say This and that Promise is thine like that in the Prophet Speak to her heart that her iniquity is pardoned Isa 40.2 Now when the Promises come so close and pour out their sweetness into the heart the Believer may not guess only but know that true Faith and Repentance are there God and his Promise speak peace only to Saints and not a comfortable Word to impenitent sinners I have read of one who apostatized from his profession and on his sick-bed began to apply the Promises to himself but alas after a little seeming ease he cried out in despair That the Plaister would not stick God only can make it do so and he makes it do so only to penitent Believers and they may conclude the Truth of their Graces when the Gospel and its Promises come to them in the Holy Ghost and in much Assurance as the Expression is 1 Thessal 1.5 Again as another part of he Seal The Holy Spirit irradiates the Graces in the Heart The same Spirit which formed them there at first comes and owns them as its own off-spring bringing in such a Divine light and making such an efficacious representation thereof that the Believers Conscience may as the Apostle speaketh in another case Rom. 9.1 Bear witness in the Holy Ghost and say This is sound Repentance indeed and that is Love undissembled and the other is Faith unfeigned and so of other Graces in the new Creature These Graces carry in themselves a kind of heavenly light rendring them visible But when the Spirit comes it puts such a gloss and oriency on them that the Believer may know them to be freely given to him of God that this and that Grace are so given and such and such are the sure marks of the truth thereof Such a Testimony as this made learned Rivet at his dying hour break forth into these words Expecto credo persevero dimoveri nequeo Dei Spiritus meo spiritui testatur me esse ex filiis suis O amorem ineffabilem I expect believe persevere and cannot be moved Gods Spirit witnesseth to mine That I am one of his Children Oh ineffable Love This anointing is truth and no lye as St. John tells us 1 Joh. 2.27 It manifests its testimony and it self together The Believer cannot doubt who the Witness is or what he speaketh both are plain and satisfactory Our Saviour Christ speaking of the Spirit of Truth tells his Disciples Ye know him for he dwelleth with you Joh. 14.17 If the Spirit do but pass by and drop in an holy motion into the heart he may be known in it much more when he dwells and witnesses there Cul. White-stone The eloquent Culverwell compares him to the Sun The Sun saith he by its glorious Beams does Paraphrase and Comment upon its own glittering Essence and the Spirit Displays himself to the Soul and gives a full Manifestation of his Presence And a man may sooner take a Glow-worm for the Sun than an experienced Christian can take a false Delusion for the Light of the Spirit We have heard the two Witnesses the Holy Spirit by an application of Promises and irradiation of Graces witnessing to the Conscience and the Conscience ecchoing and resounding that Testimony to the Believer And hence it appears That he may be assured of the truth of his Graces and so of his Pardon It remains to treat of the second thing that is That he may be assured of his perseverance in Grace and so of his Salvation He knows That his Graces are true and withal That they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things having or containing Salvation Heaven buds and Eternal Life begins in them He that believeth hath everlasting life Joh. 5.24 He hath it in the first-fruits and irrevocable earnest of it The Seed of God in him will grow up into Immortality the Well of living Water will spring up into everlasting Life Only it may be alledged That these Graces may be lost Unto which I answer Abstractively in their meer creature-essence they may but in their dependance they cannot Their Standing if on mans Will only might fail but their Foundation on the Covenant of Grace cannot The Believer may not only see his own Graces but beyond them that Eternal Election which is the great Fountain thereof Reflecting on the true Graces in his heart he may say Here is the Faith of Gods Elect and Here is the Love and Patience of Gods Elect. Spiritual Blessings are given according to Election
that it were no sin spare it not but cause it to dye as a sure Pledg that all other sins shall do so Believe it This is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the path of life or of those two lines of Holiness and Comfort If ye mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live saith the Apostle Rom. 8.13 an eternal life in Heaven and a comfortable one in the way thither Who knows but that whilst thou art mortifying thy sin God may come and speak to thee much as he did to Abraham when he was offering up his Isaac Now I know that thou repentest indeed and believest indeed seeing thou hast not withheld thy Sin thy Darling Sin from the work of Mortification Surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee Thy Comforts shall be as the Stars and as the Sand. When thou hast been a-slaying thy Lusts Jesus Christ will meet thee as Melchizedek did Abraham when he came from the slaughter of the Kings Bringing forth Bread and Wine Supportations and Divine Consolations to thy Soul Melchizedek's Bread and Wine were to Abraham Pawns of Canaan the Land of Promise and Christs Supports and Comforts shall be to thee Earnests of Heaven See what pure strains of Grace flow in the precious Promises made to the Overcomer To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden Manna and will give him a white stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he which receiveth it Rev. 2.17 O what things are here Comforts fall about the Overcomer and are preserved in his heart as the Manna fell about the Camp and was preserved in the Golden Pot. Pardon is the white stone and Adoption the new name and all these though secret to others are well known to himself But you 'l say These are promised to the Overcomer and who can say that he is such Is not the Canaanite still in the land Are there not reliques of Corruption in the best Doth not the flesh still lust against the spirit and the body of Death send out its stench and rottenness And who may call himself an Overcomer I answer The Canaanite is in the land but subdued Reliques of Sin are in thee but they do gravitare press and lye heavy as a thing out of its proper place and force thee to groan and cry out O wretched man The flesh lusts against the spirit but thou opposest might and main and if it be ready to prevail thou criest out as the forced Damosel under the Law for help against it as being too strong for thee If there be in thee a nolle peccatum a bent of heart against Sin and thou doest in purpose and endeavour fight against it and thou wouldst pursue it to death and if possible here to utter extirpation then assure thy self not withstanding the indwelling sin That thou art an Overcomer in Gods account who accepts the Will for the Deed and in the Gospels all whose Promises are made not to sinless perfection but sincerity To this purpose the Original in that famous place is remarkable It is not to him that overcometh but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to him that is overcoming to him that is praying striving wrestling fighting against Sin to him that is in an overcoming posture though the enemy be not quite out of the field to him shall those great Comforts in the Promise be given This made St. Paul maugre all the reliques of Corruption sound a Triumph to Free-Grace I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord Rom. 7.25 as being sure of compleat Victory at last Again If thou wouldst have Assurance Be much in the holy use of Ordinances These are vehicula Spiritus the Chariots in which the Holy Spirit rides Circuit to do good to Souls These are canales Gratie the Conduit-pipes whereby Graces and Comforts are derived to us There God records his Name and commands the Blessing even Life for ever-more There he meets those that work righteousness and remember him in his ways David was so sensible of this that it was his one only desire to dwell in Gods house and behold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the beauties or sweet Amenities of the Lord Psal 27.4 If ever thou meetest with the Suavities and ravishing Beauties of Free-Grace it must be in the Sanctuary of Ordinances Christ when here on Earth was very ready to give a comfortable Testimony to those that came to him and brought their Graces with them Seeing upright Nathanael he said Behold an Israelite indeed Joh. 1.47 Seing their Faith he said to the poor Paralytick Son thy sins be forgiven thee Mat. 9.2 Neither now though in Heaven is he wanting therein he hath a secret way of testifying by his Spirit unto those who in an holy manner approach to him in Ordinances Seeing thy holy fear at an Ordinance he can tell thee That thy Soul thall dwell at ease in the bosom of Mercy Seeing thy Faith there he can tell thee That as a true Believer thou hast everlasting life Whatever Grace thou bringest into his presence he can make one Promise or other drop sweetness upon it Wait on him in his own ways that he may speak Peace to thee more particularly Converse much with the sacred Word In the Gospel great things are set before us there 's a Glass of Gods Glory The more thou lookest into it the more thou wilt be transformed into the Divine Likeness there 's a Mass a Treasury of rich Grace the more thou searchest into it the more thou wilt taste how gracious the Lord is till thou come to the highest gust of it in Assurance there are the Breasts of Consolation suck on and thou shalt be satisfied as with marrow and fatness there thou hast the demonstration and ministration of the Spirit get as much as thou canst of it that thou mayst be sealed by it There the Righteousness of God is revealed from Faith to Faith from a Faith of Adherence to a Faith of Assurance There is the savour of Life unto Life of a gracious Life unto a comfortable and glorious One. Be much in reading and hearing the Word but do it in an holy manner do it attentively take heed to it till the day dawn and the day-star arise in thy heart do it desiring the Word as the Babe doth the Breast that thou mayst grow into all the measures and statures of Christ do it in faith that the Word may profit and effectually work unto all Graces and Comforts do it in love to Truth and Righteousness that the oyl of gladness which is upon Christ thy Head may run down upon thee do it obedientially hearken to the Commands that thy Peace may be as a River flowing in the joys of Faith If thus thou wilt hear and open to Christ who stands and knocks at the door of thy heart He will come in to thee and sup with thee and thou with him Revel 3.20 He will come in to
his faith eyes the soveraignty of it naturally we would be Gods to our selves and set up our wills as supream and therefore we make war upon God and his Law But when faith comes God is God and the Law a royal Law and all the commands in Power and Majesty by them saith David is thy sorvant warned or as it is in the Hebrew illustrated Psal 19.11 the command to the believer is as if a light shone from heaven and a voice came from the excellent glory saying Do this or that Gods will rides in triumph and mans falls to the earth as not able to stand before the Lord The voice of a superior if perceived puts an awe upon the inferior nature so doth the voice of man upon beasts so doth the voice of Angels upon men and which is the greatest awe because from the highest nature so doth the voice of God upon the believer After this manner doth faith yield up the soul to the command and in it to God and Christ Thus far of the fourth thing resignation for a holy government Fifthly Faith resigns up the soul for the gracious reward of eternal life And here to keep the old Method First This resignation is made to Jesus Christ the Mediator Faith cannot be satisfied with earth that 's but the Paradise of sense no nor with present graces these are but the pawns and earnest-pennies of eternal life faith aspires after heaven Oh! let me go over and see the good Land where the Mountains are all spices the Rivers pleasures the Mountains are all spices the Rivers pleasures the Air pure holiness the Eternal light God himself saith faith and for a title thereunto faith yields up the soul to Christ who as a Priest hath merited heaven for us and as a King is able to give it out to us The Plebeian saith Epictetus looks for his gain from things without the Philosopher looks for it from himself but which is a strain higher the Believer looks for his reward from Christ Evagrius the Philosopher gave as the story goes three hundred pounds to Synesius for the poor to be repaid him by Christ in another world the believer doth all at the same rate hears and reads and prays and gives alms and all to be paid in another world Worldly men wonder at his hot pursuits after grace and holiness but he knows what these will go for in another world that 's the reason he follows hard after them but in the pursuit still his eyes are upon Christ as the great purchasor and pay-master Secondly This resignation in and through the Mediator is made to God It is he that glorifieth eternal life is Gods gift our heavenly Fathers meer pleasure faith therefore yields up the soul to him for it and herein it climbs up to him by his free-grace the pure river of life flows out of the throne of God and of the Lamb Rev. 22.1 out of the regnant grace of God and merit of Christ as out of a fountain the believer expects no eternal life but what issues out from thence Thus the Reverend Soknius on his death bed expressed himself Pendeo totus à Dei miserieordiâ I wholly depend on Gods mercy Thirdly This resignation is made to the Word There is the promise of eternal life extant and there the way to eternal life is chalked out there is the promise of eternal life mapped out a mercy above all the sphear of nature Hence the antient believers were as pilgrims here Heb. 11.13 as if the world were too little for them they were altogether for the heavenly country which faith sees at a distance in the promise There also the way to eternal life is chalked out the world passes away but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever 1 Joh. 2.17 Riches and pleasures are but the way of time but holiness and righteousness are the way everlasting Psal 139.24 the good acts may pass but their record is in heaven the good men must dye but the holiness shall never see corruption the repentant tears which fall to the earth are bottled with God the charity which seems lost as bread cast on the waters will come to hand again Polycrates when he cast his ring into the sea little thought to have met it again in his fish but the believer doing good works expects to meet them again in another world sowing to the spirit he looks for a crop in eternal life Dorcas may leave her coats and garments behind her but the charity will follow her into another world the commandement is eternal life saith our Saviour Joh. 12.50 the very way to it The believer obeying may in some sense say as dying Pollio jam ingredior in vitam aeternam now I am entring into eternal life into that which will survive the world and live in glory Faith resigns to the word not only as it is the charter of eternal life in the promise but as it is the director to it in the command Thus far of the second thing for what things and purposes this resignation is made But to proceed to the third thing Thirdly What are the Adjuncts and Properties of this resignation Vnto which I shall answer in the following particulars First This resignation is made in the way of God Believers wait upon God for very great things Since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear neither hath the eye seen O God besides these what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him saith the Prophet Isa 64.4 But where do they wait for these great things where but in Gods own way Thus it follows those that remember thee in thy ways v. 5. Look in what way or method God gives out a mercy in the same way or method doth faith wait to receive it Would a man have a pardon faith waits for it in Gods way free-grace as immense a sea as it is in God doth not flow out every way upon sinners but through the bleeding wounds of Christ We are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ saith the Apostle Rom. 3.24 Mark free-grace issues out through redemption and in that way faith waits for it Thus St. Peter We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved Act. 15.11 he calls the grace of God the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ as being merited by him The believer waits for pardoning mercy but it must be the mercy of David coming through the Messiah the true David Whether God might not per potentiam suam absolutam remit sin without a satisfaction is a question may be spared Gods will is declared the Scripture is definitive there is no other name given among men but the name of Jesus no other remission but through his blood the glory of the Lord that is his free-grace comes into the Temple of the Church by the way of the East Ezek. 43.2 that
Here am I Isa 58.9 as if he were always at hand to answer the request Thirdly Adoption ushers in an Heavenly freedom whilest the Law is only without in the letter and the terrors of Sinai flash in the Conscience the man with his old heart of enmity drudges in the ways of God and brings forth all his Duties as the Bond-woman did her Son in the power of nature in a dead carnal servile manner Moses with the cords of Hell and Death drags the outward man to this and that Duty but old Adam with his lusts reigning within holds back the love and the joy and the delight from the work all renders to bondage till Adoption come and spirit him for holy things Because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts Gal. 4.6 The same Spirit which led the Humane Nature of Christ into all Sinless Obedience leads the Adopted into a true willingness to all the Ways of God that Spirit engraves a Law within answering the outward one and inspires such a Divine Love as casts out the Bond woman and her Son I mean the servile fears and services the Will is set upon the wheels of Faith and Love and the Duties are brought forth in the power of Grace and of the Promise that Promise I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes Ezek. 36.27 is sweetly experimented in every act of Obedience this glorious and almost Angelical freedom grows upon Adoption and no where else no will of man ever seemed out such a thing should any man go about to strike it out of his own power it would fare with him as it did with the person reported of by one of the Jewish Rabbies who in the night lighted his Candle and it went out lighted it again and again and still it went out at last weary of such vain labours he resolved with himself to wait for the Sun Such an one may strike and strike again to fetch such a liberty out of his own will but at last the Conclusion must be If the Son make us free we shall be free indeed Joh. 8.36 and Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty 2 Cor. 3.17 Fourthly Adoption brings us into sweet Communion with God thus the Apostle I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people 2 Cor. 6.16 I will dwell in them and walk in them who can express it In the Sons of God there is an Ark with the Tables of the Law in it and a Sanctuary with the Shechinah or Divine Majestly in it Gods gracious presence is Spiritual shew-bread and his Love burns upon the heart as the fire that came down from Heaven upon the Altar when they are sacrificing in holy Duties God doth wonderfully by his quickening and elevating influences and when they are suffering in the briers and flames of affliction God is in the Bush supporting and preserving them if Conscience breaths sweetness and peace God is in the still voice if their Graces be set forth God is a supping with them nay if there be but a poor spirit and weak desires God will sup with these the holy light and integrity in their heart is a kind of Vrim and Thummim to direct them and the Heavenly motions and inspirations are as it were a Bath Kol a voice from Heaven for their instruction in a word all the appearances of God in the worldly Sanctuary and outward Symbols of Glory under the Old Testament are spiritually accomplished under the New in the Adopted who are an habitation of God through the Spirit Fifthly Adoption assures protection and provision Israel Gods own People had a Pillar of Cloud and a Pillar of Fire to defend them and these Pillars are still in the Church though not always visible God hath said it That he will create upon her a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night upon all the glory shall be a defence Isa 4.5 Rather than his Adopted ones who carry his Glory about them shall want a defence he will put forth an act of Creation Israel when in the Wilderness had Bread from Heaven and Water out of the Rock and to the upright God saith Their Bread shall be given them and their Waters shall be sure Isa 33.16 Rather than fail He will make rivers in the desert to give drink to his People Isa 43.20 When there 's a pinch in the Kingdom of Nature his own Family and Houshold shall be provided for The young Linons may lack and suffer hunger but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing Psal 34.10 That Distich Est Deus in coelo qui providus omnia curat Credentes nusquam deseruisse potest Was a Cordial to Musculus in his streights Faith fears no Famine neither shall the Adopted feel any Sixthly Adoption carries with it Perseverance Once a Son of God by Adoption and ever so One of the Jewish Doctors Commenting on that excellent passage With thee is the fountain of life in thy light shall we see light Psal 36. saith That the Israelites were made free by Moses and then brought into bondage again and made free by Barak and divers others and yet brought into bondage again at last they shall be saved by the Lord their God with an eternal Salvation that is by the Messiah If meer notions make us free we shall be in bondage again if Church-priviledges make us free we shall be in bondage again but if Adopting Grace make us free we shall ever be so God hath said nay sworn to Jesus Christ His seed and such are all the Adopted shall endure for ever and his throne part whereof is in their hearts as the Sun before me Psal 89.36 and to make them endure the holy Spirit is in them a well of water springing up to everlasting life Joh. 4.14 and to secure the abode of the Spirit with them Christ is a Priest after the power of an endless life Heb. 7.16 Nay though they break his statutes and thereby bring the rod upon their backs yet God hath promised Not to take away his loving kindness nor suffer his faithfulness to fail Psal 89.33 Upon such unshaken foundations do the Sons of God stand Seventhly Adoption makes them heirs of Heaven Though they may lye among the pots and in the eyes of the World be the refuse and off-scouring of all things yet are they heirs of Glory thus the Apostle If children then heirs heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ Rom. 8.17 That Glory which Christ hath purchased shall they be brought into that Heavenly Inheritance which is sealed without in the Promise is inwardly assured to them by the Seal of the Spirit which by holy impresses marks them out for Heaven and is a sure earnest in their hearts that the whole sum of glory shall be paid to them above each of them
not of God condemns the Marâ—ionites as much as if they had been named That 1 Tim. 4.3 forbidding to marry condemns the Eustathians as much as if they had been named That Threatning Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things being general speaks Wrath to every Transgressor as soon as he is such And so that Promise Whosoever believeth shall not perish but have eternal life being general speaks Pardon and Salvation to every Believer as soon as he is such All that believe are justified Act. 13.39 No sooner doth this or that man believe but the Promise speaks to him Thy sins are forgiven thee God saith to him I am thy salvation It may be he doth not understand it at first However here is a sure ground-work for him to believe that it is so and so accordingly he doth as soon as Assurance comes in to him Moreover the Romanists urge That the Doctrine of Assurance puffs up Pride and opens a gap to Licentiousness Unto which my answer is a flat Denial If our Saviour had thought that Assurance would make men like Devils in Pride or Beasts in Licentiousness he would never have said as he did to the Paralytick Thy sins be forgiven thee Mat. 9.2 Had they told us That such a Worm as Pride would breed out of the Doctrines of Merit and Supererogatory Works it might easily have been believed but that it should drop from such an Honeycomb of Free-Grace as the Doctrine of Assurance is is not reasonably to be imagined Here 's nothing of Merit nothing of our own all is pure meer Grace the Believers Faith and Repentance is of Grace and the Assurance of Pardon and Salvation is Grace upon Grace Sealing-Grace upon Sanctifying And whatever perverse abuse may be made of these the natural tendency thereof is not to Pride for a man after such Graces to forget the great Fountain and set up an Idol of Self-excellency is extreamly unreasonable Just as if he should say Now I am in the bosom of Grace but I would be cast out and be held afar off Now I have the warm Beams of Gods Favour but I would fain be in the Dark again Who would argue thus Will it not be much more proper in an humble admiration to say as David did Who am I and what is my house that thou hast brought me hitherto 2 Sam. 7.18 Thy Love O God first made me a Vessel of Faith and then filled me with the Oyl of Holy Joy What am I to be such a Receiver All that I am is too small a return nothing of self may remain for an Idol Had they said That Licentiousness might have been fathered on the Sale of Pardons and Indulgences it had been veryright These made Germany and other parts groan with all manner of wickedness But to lay it at the door of Assurance is abominable Machiavel was out in his Politicks when he would have Princes Rule by Fear but he advised so because he knew well enough That following his Rules they could not be Loved and therefore he would perswade them that it was better to be feared The true Obedience for I look not on that which a man is haled unto as such springs out of Love for that fulfils the Law and our Love springs out of Gods for We love him because he first loved us 1 Job 4.19 And the more his Love is revealed the more ours is inflamed towards Obedience In Heaven the blessed Angels who see Gods Face in Glory are most intent upon the doing of his Will on Earth holy men who taste of his favour walk the more accurately for it The joyful sound of Pardon being in the Conscience makes the holy Walk easie and a fair prospect of Heaven sweetens every step Obedience stands no-where so sure as in the Circle of Love which from Gods Love as the first Point is drawn through ours round about into it self Gods Love coming down in Assurance and ours returning in Obedience his being inflammative to ours and ours resignative to him in such circulations of Love their is no room for Licentiousness It 's true Saints after such Pleonasmes of Love may fall foully but do they fall because assured Do they turn Enemies to God because they know themselves Friends Can the Light of Gods Countenance dispose them to Works of Darkness May the choice Influences of Heaven make them earthly and sensual Will the Prodigal once returned run away the sooner from his Fathers House because of the Kiss and Robe and Ring and Fatted Calf freely bestowed upon him Such things as these do involve many Paradoxes and Repugnancies in them and withal cast dirt upon Heaven and blaspheme the Witnessing Spirit and therefore are justly abominable to the Saints who experience the contrary in their own Hearts Having thus far gone through the Enemies Camp I come now to lay down my Thesis to be proved viz. That a Believer may be certainly and infallibly assured of his Pardon and Salvation I say a Believer may be assured an Unbeliever while such is not a subject capable of Assurance he hath Plague-Sores and Tokens of Wrath upon him but as yet never a Beam of Grace or Love the Justice and Holiness of God cannot suffer him to be shined on none of the Promises can speak kindly or comfortably to him his stony Heart cannot receive the Seal and Impress of the Holy Spirit Hence the Apostle saith After ye believed ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise Ephes 1.13 after and not before First there must be a new Creature and then a new Name First Gods Image is printed on the Heart and then his Love I say a Believer may be assured but not that all Believers are so A man may be a Babe in Christ and not know it a Child of Light and yet walking in darkness A Believer may live in crepusculo in the twilight or mixt condition of Hope and Fear and so though sure of Heaven not in his own sense assured of it I mean not that he may be assured by an Angel or Voice from Heaven or extraordinary Revelation This the Adversaries will admit but in an ordinary way in the diligent use of such Helps and Means as are common to all Believers Thus the Apostle speaks in common to them all These things have I written to you that believe that ye may know that ye have eternal Life 1 John 5.13 He doth not say some may know it in an extraordinary way but speaks of it as knowable by Believers in common I mean not that he hath this Assurance always or in every point of time perpetual Serenity is not here below Earth is not as Heaven the Sun may be eclipsed the Seal of the Spirit may be clouded Evidences may be blurred and hardly legible It may be God in Sovereignty withdraws or Satan in envy buffets or the Believer lets down his Spiritual Watch or a due estimate is not set on Heavenly Comforts or there
is some great Trausgression which as an accursed thing causes the Lord to depart In such cases though there be no intercision of Justification yet there is an interruption of Consolation These Things premised I proceed to prove the Point viz. That a Believer may attain Assurance of Pardon and Salvation In the first Place the Names and Titles given unto Faith in Scripture are remarkable 'T is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The subsistence of things hoped for Glory and Salvation are hoped for by us but Faith maks them as certain as if they were present to us The Hebrews have a Van conversivum which turns the Future into the Preter-tense such a thing is Faith which presentiates future Things to the Believer That ye may know that ye have eternal life saith John It is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye shall have it but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye have it in praesenti it already subsists in your Faith 'T is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the evidence of things not seen Eternal Life cannot be seen by corruptible Eyes but Faith doth so point out and demonstrate it as if it were visible or sensible We know that we have passed from Death to Life 1 John 3.14 As if the Apostle had said We are indeed in the very Borders of Heaven and we know it as it were sensibly as we do our passage from one Place to another 'T is set out by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a strong perswasion or considence and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a liberty or holy boldness with God The Apostle mentions both In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the Faith of him Ephes 3.12 Access to God imports that we are reconciled to him but access with boldness and confidence imports that we know it also Otherwise it would not be Faith as the Apostle stiles it but meer rashness and presumption if we should do so upon Peradventures Esther-like not knowing whether the golden Scepter would be held out to us or not Nay 't is stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a full Assurance carrying out the Soul with full Sails to the good things in the Promise It is well observed by the acute Dr. Arrowsmith That in Scripture mention is made of a triple Plerophory a Plerophory of Knowledg Col. 2.2 a Plerophory of Faith Heb. 10.22 and a Plerophory of Hope Heb. 6.11 The Genius of each shews forth it self in the Believers Practical Syllogism Whosoever believeth shall be saved But I believe Ergo I shall be saved In the Major we have a Plerophory of Knowledg In the Minor a Plerophory of Faith And in the Conclusion flowing from the Premises a Plerophory of Hope In the next place some Commands in the Gospel clearly import that Assurance is attainable there God would have us To work out our Salvation Phil. 2.12 To make our calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 To add to our Faith virtue one Grace upon another and one degree of Grace upon another That we may have an abundant entrance into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ 2 Pet. 1.5 11. To walk by the Rule of the New Creature that peace may be upon us Galat. 6.16 To prove our own state whether we be in the Faith whether Christ be in us or not 2 Corinth 13.5 To prove our own work that we may have rejoycing in our selves and not in another Gal. 6.4 If these things may be done Assurance is attainable if they cannot to what purpose are these Precepts how vain and impossible are they In that question Whether we may perfectly fulfil the Moral Law the Pontificians urge thus for the Affirmative If we cannot fulfil it the Law is impossible and void De Justif lib. 4. cap. 13. Si praecepta essent impossibilia neminem obligarent ac per hoc praecepta non essent praecepta saith Bellarmine If the Commands were impossible they would oblige none and so would become no Commands But in the Point of Assurance we may with much better reason say if we cannot fulfill the Commands concerning it they are then impossible and vain the Law is an exact Rule of Righteousness a Copy of the pure Law engraven on Mans Heart at first in the state of Innecency unto which it was attemperated It was not at all impossible and that it is so now is only from Mans Apostacy And withal the very 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the impossibility of the Law is admirably useful to drive us in a deep sence of our Impotence to Christ the Complement of it that through his holy Spirit we may in a way of sincere though imperfect Obedience at last arrive at perfect Sanctity in Heaven But if such Commands as are purely Evangelical be impossible what can be said to it what tolerable answer made Were these at all accommodated to a state of Innocency Was not their Original scope to raise up fallen Man to Salvation If the Commands of believing and repenting were impossible what room would there be for Salvation And if the Commands of proving and ensuring our state of Grace be impossible what room is left for the Joys of Faith or the Sealings of the holy Spirit or the Suavities of a good Conscience And there being no second Christ or Gospel to fly to whither doth this Impossibility drive but into the black gulf of Despair Wherefore as we would avoid such doleful consequences we must conclude those Precepts practicable and so Assurance possible And as a sure seal thereof we have the sweet experience of Saints in all Ages Holy Job though God multiplied his Wounds and his Friends raked in them by a very sharp charge of Hypocrisie knew his own Integrity and would not let it go Job 27.5 And which reacheth beyond his present state of Grace as sure of future Glory he breaks out I know that my Redeemer liveth and maugre all the destructive worms In my flesh and with these very eyes I shall see God Job 19.25 26. O how certain was his Faith I know How appropriative My Redeemer liveth and how sharp-sighted he could look through the dust to Immortality David knew the truth of his Grace and proved it to himself by infallible Marks I have kept the ways of the Lord I have not wickedly departed from my God I did not put away his statutes from me I kept my self from mine iniquity Psal 18.21 22 23. ver And for future Happiness he saith without scruple That at his waking in the Resurrection he should be satisfied with Gods likeness Psal 17.15 St. Paul speaks as one full sure of his present state and future hope I have fought a good sight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness 2 Tim. 4.7 8. The Martyr Agatha having her Breasts cruelly cut off for Religion told the Persecutor That yet she had two Breasts remaining such as he could not touch the one of Faith and the
as the Schoolman hath it true believers nec per argumenta nec per tormenta nec per blandimenta inclinari possunt ut veritatem saltem ore tenus negent nothing could turn them away from the truth So strong a thing is faith when it is set upon the rock the testimony of God but if it have an humane bottom only such as the Churches authority it is weak and wavering more like a fluctuating opinion then a faith Durandus asserts that Science is more certain than faith and to that strong objection that the divine authority by which we believe is more certain then any humane reason by which we know he answers thus Divina autoritas propter quam credimus licet sit certissima in se non tamen nobis qualitèr enim certi simus L. 3. dist 23. quest 7. quod Deus dicat ea quae credimus non nisi quia sic tenet Ecclesia Observe how this great Scholar abates the certainty of faith because he takes up the divinity of Scriptures upon trust from the saying of the Church those who build their faith purely on the divine word speak after another rate Junius reading the first chapter of St. John cried out in a kind of amazement Divinitatem argumenti authoritatem sentio and Reverend Calvin putting the question how we shall be perswaded that the Scriptures did flow forth from God answers as roundly as a man doth touching that which is obvious and before his senses Instit l. 1. c. 7. perinde est saith he ac si quis roget unde discemus lucem discernere à tenebris the Scripture reveals it self as the light doth and to the pure eye of faith it appears divine from its own innate excellency and so establishes the heart in its holy truth To conclude this point faith is a stable and firm thing but by the estimates and lives of men there seems to be but a very little of it in the world Did men as they profess firmly believe the Scriptures could they vilifie the commands of the great God as they do The injunctions of earthly Princes are not served so Would they slight that wonderful charter of grace and glory in the Gospel a Patent of petty dignities and possessions here below will be highly valued by them durst they sin as they do in the face of hell and wrath flashing out of the divine threatnings a Princes sword or Gibbet would cast them into a fit of trembling O how soon would the things of God cast the ballance in the heart and outweigh all the world if the Scriptures were indeed believed but there being in men only levis opinatio a light opinion rather then a solid faith touching the same there necessarily ensues a monstrous disproportion between their faith and their life Thirdly This belief must be explicite as to the fundamentals of Religion A meer implicite faith as to believe in the lump that all things contained in the holy Scriptures are true will not serve the turn In Coloss 2. v. 2. Non est divina sed belluina fides quae nuliam habet conceptionem five comprehensionem illarum rerum quae creduntur saith the excellent Davenant A meer implicite faith without understanding is a bruitish thing an explicite faith as to fundamentals is required this will appear by these ensuing considerations First A meer implicite faith if at any time might have passed for currant in the days before Christs Incarnation whilest religion was wrapt up in vails and shadows but even then faith in holy men was explicite according to the measure of divine light imparted unto them all along they looked to the Messiah the promised seed and probably in an obscure manner to his future sufferings Whilest Adam was in Innocency there was no promise of a Messiah no footstep of a sacrifice but as soon as man was fallen out came that first Gospel the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpents head Gen. 3.15 and sacrifices were set up without doubt not without Gods appointment for God had respect to Abels sacrifice which had it been a piece of will-worship could not have been and Abol offered it up by faith Heb. 11.4 which without a divine word moves not in the least measure These sacrifices were as it were visible Commentaries on that first Gospel and types of a suffering Messiah And if so and so by Gods own institution it is not at all probable that God should hide the sacred meaning thereof totally from the faith of the first believers Adam then as I conceive by the eyes of Faith saw the Messiah in that first Gospel and withall some glimmering of his sufferings in the sacrifices And if he saw it no doubt he did preach and reveal it to others Schola saerif Disp. 4 and probably as Franzius conceives in a solemn manner at the sacrifices Abel saith the Apostle by faith offered up a sacrifice to God not only by such a faith as did it in obedience to Gods command but by such a faith as through his own sacrifice did pierce to the antitype the great sacrifice of the Messiah De satisfact Christi l. 1. sect 5. Thus the learned Essenius cum sacrificia Veteris Testamenti fuerint typi sacrificii Christi ea sides intelligenda est quâ sacrificium illud refertur ad suum antitypum such a faith was proper to his sacrifice In Noahs sacrifice the Lord smelled a sweet savour or a savour of rest such as did saith one of the Rabbins make him ab irâ suâ quiescere rest from his anger Gen. 8.21 and therefore surely there was more in it then meer beasts and fowls Noahs faith fetched in him who was to give himself an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour Abraham saw Christs day that is his coming and suffering in the flesh John 8.56 a very great sight at that distance and no doubt the faithful Seer did not conceal it but tell his children and servants thereof for the glory of the Messiah his joy was too great to hold it in privately to himself and his zeal too hot to hide so much of heavenly glory Under the Levitical Law the Israelites were to lay their hands on the head of the sacrifice as it were to disburden themselves of sin and lay it off upon the sacrifice and by the offering up thereof they were to make an atonement or expiation The unbelievers among them understood the outward rite of the sacrifice and did the faithful ones see no more in it Could or did they imagine that a poor silly beast could stand under the weight of sin or that the blood of bulls or goats could take it away No surely their faith looked through the outward sacrifice to the Messiah for atonement and reconciliation In David the Evangelical day broke out more clearly O how much of Christ is there in the 110th Psalm there 's his kingdom and eternal priesthood there 's
it the root of the matter is in the weakest of them though not the same verdure of notions or expressions the substance or holy seed of true resignation may be latent in a bruised reed or smoaking flax in a poor spirit or the pulse of a desire I have read of a Noble person in Spain who being as was supposed absolutely dead Melch Adanum 〈◊〉 Vesalâ—â— was diffected and upon the opening of his breast they found to their great amazement his heart beating some weak believers may seem totally dead in whom yet before God to whom all things are naked and open as in an Anatomy there is found a vital pulse of faith secretly working God saith a Reverend Divine brings not scales to weigh but a touch-stone to try our graces If there be but the least dram of gold but the least smoke or weik in the socket as the expression is Matth. 12.20 God accepts it neither do I mean that this resignation is acted perpetually but with many sad pauses and interruptions which happen partly by the blasts of Satans temptations making the believer walk like Peter upon the water now a good step and then ready to sink when the wind grows boisterous till his faith buoy him up again with a Lord save me partly by the allurements and entanglements of the world which are to him as the stone and the string were to Anselms bird now up in ascensions of soul to God and Christ and then down again to the earth and earthly things and partly from the indwelling sin which make him live as his Saviour did on earth a meer conflicting life Christ endured the contradiction of sinners and he the contradiction of sins the indwelling corruption makes his soul like a palsey hand with contrary motions Lord I believe help my unbelief whilest faith moves forward unbelief draws back after he hath in a princely manner wrestled with God he goes off Jacob-like halting in one infirmity or other CHAP. V. Reasons proving the Essential nature of Faith as the condition of the Gospel to consist in an holy thorough dependant Self-resignation THUS far of the nature of this Resignation as to its Objects Ends and Adjuncts It remains that I lay down my reasons why I place the vitality and essential nature of faith as it is the condition of the Gospel in such a resignation as is before described And for this First That precious faith which is the Evangelical condition is more then a bare naked assent to the Gospel-truth and less then an assurance of love and pardon from God wherefore it must needs be some middle thing between both such as Resignation is I shall endeavour to make good both propositions First Pretious faith is more then a bare naked assent to the Gospel-truth This will be clear by the ensuing considerations First A naked assent is but credere Deo a believing Scriptural axiomes to be true but pretious faith is a far nobler thing and therefore very emphatically painted out in Scripture in the Old Testament 't is credere in Deum a believing in Jehovah Gen. 15.6 importing a fiducial act 't is a trusting in the Lord Psal 2.12 where the Hebrew word imports a flying for refuge a running under the wings of free-grace as chickens do under the hen 't is a leaning upon God Isa 50.10 as not able to stand alone without a recumbency on mercy 't is a rolling our selves upon God Psal 37.5 as weary and without rest till we come to lodg in goodness in the New Testament 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a believing into Christ very frequent in the Gospel of St. John a phrase wholly the holy spirits never found in any Greek Author a bare assenter may believe about Christ but the true believer believes into Christ so as to be in neer union with him 't is a putting on of Christ Rom. 13.14 the believer strips himself of his lusts nay and of his own righteousness to be invested with Christ 't is a receiving of Christ Joh. 1.12 all Christ merit and spirit cross and crown together 't is a faith which hath its being in God as its ultimate center 1 Pet. 1.21 Scripture is but a medium the ultimate object is God himself All which imports of precious faith are much above the sphear of a meer assent Secondly Precious faith is the very condition of the Gospel God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Joh. 3.16 but a naked assent is not such that is required not only in the Gospel but in the moral Law too and found not only in godly but wicked men nay and in devils themselves who believe and tremble It is true some Scriptures seem to lay much upon assent thus we find If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved Rom. 10.9 And whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God 1 Joh. 5.1 And these things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing you might have life through his name Joh. 20.31 But these places import not as if a naked assent were the sull condition of Gospel-grace for then a man might be saved in his sins a man in arms against his maker might stand Gods grace might embrace him whom his holiness abhors and Christ might sive him who will not have him reign over him light might be in communion with darkness and Christ might have concord with Belial all which are impossibles in themselves and incompossibles with the design of the Gospel but they intend such an assent as is in conjunction with a true resignation of the heart to the terms of the Gospel Corde credere quad Deus eum excitaverit est non mode assentiri historiae de excitato Jesu sed certâ—â— cordis siducist beneficial mortis resurrectionis Christi amplecti saith Reverend Parent on Rom. 10.9 whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ namely with such a faith as is accompanied with all that which belongeth to a true faith is born of God so the Dutch Annotators on 1 Joh. 5.1 intelligendum est de side non qualicunque sed actuosa saith Grotius on Joh. 20.31 The Learned Bishop Downame saith Covenant of Grace P. 91. that assent is the very condition required in the promise of the Gospel but what an one is it a true willing lively effectual assent such an one as by which we receive Christ not only in our judgments but in our hearts and wills acknowledging him for our Saviour and resting on him for salvation Such an assent as this is no other then precious faith but a naked assent is much below it Thirdly Precious faith doth unite us unto Christ and gives us a being in him A believer from the first
in judgment Psal 25.9 And for a pure Comfort They shall have joy in the Lord and be every day increasing it Isa 29.19 Their meek and quiet spirit makes them beautiful in the eyes of God and Man so rich a jewel proves them to be the elect of God Col. 3.12 Such Promises as these are able to meeken us under any Injuries Cicero saying Justitiae primum munus est ut ne cui noceat and adding as a salvo nisi lacessitus Lactantius cried out O quam simplicem sententiam duorum verborum adjectione corrupit What a dainty sentence did he spoil with those two words A Believer fixing his eyes on the Promises will not let go his Meekness no not for all the provocations in the World the loss of such a Jewel would be more to him than all other sufferings Another Grace actuated by Faith is Obedience Two things in the Spouse did ravish the heart of Christ her single eye of Faith and the neck-chain of Obedience Cant. 4.9 Obedience as Samuel said is better than Sacrisice And as Luther More eligible than doing Miracles Faith receiving Christ the Lord is in it self Virtual Obedience to the Commands of God and as an effect it produces actual To this end it believes the Commands to be as they are looking on the stamps of Majesty Purity Equity Righteousness therein it falls down and confesses that God is there of a truth this and that is the very Will of God and must be done primo intuitu without dispute and by all persons even the greatest on Earth Princes here are Subjects Constantine and Theodosius though Emperors stiled themselves Vassals of Christ Zedekiab the King should have humbled himself before Jeremy the Prophet 2 Chron. 36.12 Nay the Kingdom of God which is in every Command must be humbly received though coming in the hand of a child or a servant as a good Divine noteth Here all men and all in men even the Princely powers of Reason and Will with all the progeny of Thoughts and Affections must bow down before God A famous instance of which we have in the Noble Andelot in France who being questioned for a Protestant by his Soveraign Henry the second bravely professed That his Body Estate and Dignity was in his Majesty's power but his Soul was only subject to God From such a Supream Authority in the Command Faith presses strongly to Obedience and for a sweet Principle thereunto it draws a free Spirit from Christ Faith translates us into the Kingdom of Christ and there by a singular Priviledg above other Kingdom all the Subjects are ready to do the Commands of their Lord. Faith converses much about the Wounds and precious Sacrifice of Christ and there the free Spirit dwells as the free bird in the Altar Ps 84.3 And being received by Faith brings forth a numerous off-spring in acts of Obedience Faith makes us parts and pieces of Christ and so we are anointed with the Holy Ghost in some measure as his Humane Nature was in a transcendent way Faith dwells in the holy Truth and that makes us free indeed Whilest Precepts give the Rule Promises afford the Power such a Promise as that I will cause you to walk in my statutes Ezek. 36.27 being mixed with Faith will impower us to all Obedience Hence the Service of God becomes a freedom and Obedience easie and natural moving upon the wheels of Love and wings of the Spirit which must needs be a very strong incentive to Obedience and the rather because Faith ensures the acceptance thereof Were we to obey under the Covenant of Works which will bate nothing of pure sinless Perfection our Obedience might be bootless and heartless because every act of it would vanish and come to nothing by the adherent Corruption which made Calvin say That if a man did cull out the most excellent work of all his life he would find some corrupt flesh or other in it And St. Austin Vae vite landabili Wo to a laudable life without mercy But we are to obey under the Covenant of Grace whence Sincerity is accepted and frailty covered God gives a Tostimonial of Righteousness to Noah not withstanding his Infirmities and of Perfectness to Asa notwithstanding the high Places Uprightness passes for absolute Perfection and the main of the Heart for all of it insomuch that it is said of Josiah That he turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might according to all the Law of Moses 2 King 23.25 his Sincerity was taken as if all had been fulfilled Retract lib. 1. c. 19. according to that of St. Austin Omnia mandata facta deputantur quando quicquid non sit ignoscitur There are Pardons ready sealed in Heaven for Believers Insirmities God forgives what is ours in a duty and accepts what is his own Our Duties are taken into the hand of Christ the Mediator and there perfumed with his sweet Merits and though as they are in our hands they have dross and soil in them yet as they are in his they are glorified Duties and as sweet Odours to God And upon such terms as these who would not obey Every act of Obedience shall be accepted and the light of Gods Countenance will irradiate our Duties And to give a further advance to this Grace Faith looks within the Veil to the great recompence in Heaven there are Crowns of Life rivers of Pleasures and plenitudes of Joy for ever there holy Souls see all Truths in their Original drink all Good out of the Fountain and have God for their All in All and all this is the reward of our poor imperfect Obedience And as such is outwardly secured in the Promises and inwardly realized by Faith and therefore must needs move the Believer strongly to Obedience no wonder if he burn in Devotions or melt in Charity or labour in other acts of Obedience all these being but a sowing to the Spirit will come up in a crop of Eternal Life his Prayers will be turned into Hallelujahs his Alms repaid in Everlasting Love and all his good Works which follow him into another World shall be woven into a Crown of Immortality And upon such an account who would not obey and live in perpetual resignation as he did who as the story goes always concluded his Prayers thus Domine quid me vis facere Lord what wilt thou have me to do And lived in such holy joys as if he had been in Heaven already Another Grace actuated by Faith is Patience This is Meekness towards God as Meekness is Patience towards Man and respecteth Gods Disposing Will as Obedience doth his Commanding This is a Subjection to God a Possession of our Selves and an Admiration to Others Hence the Constancy of Annas Burgus a Senator of Paris suffering for the Protestant Cause made many curious to know what Religion that was for which he so patiently endured death To promote this Grace Faith in
Barbara St. Dorothy St. Margaret to these came the Foolish for Oyl that is as the Actor interpreted it That they would intercede with God for their admission into Heaven They knocked and wept and instantly prayed but the Wise denied and bid them be gone At this sight the Nobleman was astonished crying out What is the Christian Religion if none of the Saints will hear and intercede for us And soon after he died of an Apoplexy 'T is sad being shut out from the presence of God The Believer is as they say of the Rhodians in sole positus He is nigh unto God and hath his Religion proved to him in that he hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 access or manuduction unto God The way into the Holy of Holies is open through the veil of Christs flesh and the Holy Spirit doth conduct him in thither He may come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with boldness unto the throne of Grace and there utter all his mind as a Child doth to his Father David in the 13th Psalm begins as if God were totally absent How long wilt thou forget me O Lord for ever How long wilt thou hide thy face from me But a little after we have him in the joy and triumph of Faith I have trusted in thy mercy my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation saith he ver 5. The door of Mercy which for a little time was shut up soon opened again and gave him a free access unto God Thirdly He experiments it in the returns of Prayer the Promises by which God binds his own bowels above are let down here below in the Gospel And as the Believer takes hold of them by Prayer so God is touched with a compassionate feeling thereof Whilst Ephraim was bemoaning himself in his Supplication Gods bowels are troubled and fall a-sounding at it Jer. 31.18 20. Coelum tundimus misericordiam extorquemus saith Tertullian We knock at Heaven and fetch down mercy from God Prayer hath done Wonders in the world At Abrahams Prayer God stoops to such low terms that he would have saved Sodom for ten righteous persons Jacob by Prayer wrestles and becomes a Prince with God which is more than to have all the Monarchies of the World Moses by it binds as it were the Almighty and will not let him alone to consume Israel Joshua stopt the Chariot of the Sun and so made a long day for the improvement of his Victory Elias locked up Heaven and till he turned the Key of Prayer the contrary way there was no rain upon the Earth In the time of Marcus Antoninus the Philosopher the Christian Legion by their Prayers procured Water for the Roman Army and a scattering Tempest against their Enemies and were therefore called Legio fulminatrix The thundring Legion Prayer hath a kind of Omnipotence in it and can do every thing Sometimes the Prayer is returned in Specie in the very thing desired as Hannah's was in a Son whom therefore she called Samuel that is Asked of God In this case the Believer hath a double Blessing in one over and above the common Providence he hath a pregnant proof of his Prayer in it A Blessing which is a meer Providence comes up as the Corn doth with the husk or chaff of one vanity or other as a Memento of that blast which Sin brought upon the World But that which is a Fruit of Prayer is as Manna from Heaven pure and unmixt a Blessing and no sorrow added to it as being the Birth of the Promise and Covenant The Blessings of the former sort are gathered up by Men as Acorns are by Swine without looking up to that Grace which as a Tree of Life bears all the good Fruit But the latter raises up the Heart in the admirations and high-praises of the great Donor as we see in Hannah who returned back her Son assoon as received unto God in Praise and Dedicacation Criticks have observed an elegant Paranomasia in those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therefore I have lent him to the Lord 1 Sam. 1.28 Samuel was first Shaiil meel Asked of God and then Shaiil leel lent or returned to God Those Blessings which are drawn down by Prayer lie not dead here below but are sent back again in Praise Sometimes the Prayer returns another way though it be not heard ad voluntatem it is ad utilitatem The answer is in some thing that profits us though not to the express desire of our Hearts it may be it is in the sweet composure of the Heart Upon Prayer God comes in and rebukes the Winds and Seas of Passion and there is a calm and Divine serenity in the Soul Hannab before Prayer was a Woman of a sorrowful spirit but her Soul being poured out unto God returned with a Divine sweetness Her countenance was no more sad 1 Sam. 1.18 It may be there is an inward support which is tantamount to the Blessing desired Our Saviours Prayer against the Cup of Wrath was heard in that he was enabled to drink and overcome it And St. Paul's against the Thorn in the Flesh in that he had sufficient Grace to withstand it Preclarè nobiscum agitur dum adest Dei Gratia quae nobis subveniat saith Reverend Calvin In the Supports of Grace there is a signal answer of Prayer it may be over and above the Support the Beams of Gods Love break in upon the heart This is a little Heaven here below and richly transcends all this world Bellarmin tells us a Story of an old Man who used to rise from Duty with these words Claudimini Oculi mei claudimini nihil enim pulchrius jam videbitis Be shut O my Eyes be shut for I shall never behold a fairer Object than Gods Face which I have now beheld The Love of God irradiating a Prayer is a ravishing sight far better than life and all its comforts It may be there is a transmutation of the Blessing into another such as God who improves the stock of Prayer to the best advantage knows to be better for us David prayed earnestly for his sick Child and the return of it was in a Solomon a Jedidiah beloved of God One way or other the Believers Prayer returns into his bosom being answered at least secundum cardinem according to the main hinge and scope of it which is Gods glory and Mans comfort or happiness Thus Moses's Prayer to go into Canaan was answered according to the ground of it Instead of the type God takes him up to Heaven the true Canaan which was most for Mases's comfort And instead of Moses a type of the Law Joshua a type of Christ leads the people into Canaan which was most for Gods Glory Which way soever the Prayer returns to the Believer it seals up the Ordinance for Divine In the last Place I come to the Ordinance of the Lord Supper The outward Elements of this Sacrament our Lord Christ took as Learned Men conceive from a custom observed among the
my Glory manifested For the right understanding of these we must note Christ did not come only or chiefly to cure the Bodies of Men no those Miracles which in transitu cured their Bodies Miracula christi corporaliter facta Spiritaliter intelligenda snut were ultimately levelled at their Souls that by Outward Cures they might be led to seek Inward ones from Christ Neither did he do all his Miracles on Earth no being Ascended and Sitting at the Right Hand of Majesty in Heaven he works 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those Spiritual Miracles on the Souls of Men which are incomparably greater than those on their Bodies How many blind Hearts and those worse than blind Eyes hath he cured by a Touch as he passed by them in the Ordinances causing them to see himself the True light and Sun of Righteousness together with all the Heavenly Mysteries which stream as so many Beams or Rayes from him How many deaf Souls have upon his Divine Ephatha been obedientially opened to the Commands of God and though lame before have Rose up walked holily and praised God what Spiritual Lepers hath he by a Touch of his Spirit and Word cleansed Quae enim immunditia quae incredulitas quae duritia quod peccatum ad hunc contactum Christi consistere poterit saith Ferus No uncleanness unbelief hardness sinfulness can stand against the Touch of Christ What Sinners of all forts dead in Sins and Trespasses hath he raised up to a Divine Life Saint Austin reciting that Christ had raised up three Persons viz. The Maid in her Fathers House the Young-Man carried out upon the Bier and Lazarus four days dead and stinking in the Grave adds Ista tria genera mortuorum sunt tria genera peccatorum quos suscitat Christus these three dead ones are three sorts of Sinners raised up by Christ As the Maid in the house so is the secret Sinner raised up intra latebras conscientiae within the doors of his own Heart As the young Man carried out upon the Bier so is the open Sinner raised up out of known Sins And as Lazarus dead and stinking in the grave so is the customary Sinner raised up out of his old putrified Sins At the voice of Christ the strongest bonds of custom are broken and the poor Sinner comes forth into an holy life These things being so it appears That the Believer may experiment the Spiritual Miracles of Christ and from thence gather a proof in his own Heart That the very same hand wrought the Corporal ones especially seeing these latter are but types and shadows of the other which he finds verified in himself Thus much touching this Fundamental Experiment of the Scriptures A Believer may experiment the Laws Promises Threatnings Supernatural Truths Sacred Ordinances and Great Works in Scripture to be Divine and so have a Practical proof that the Scripture is of God CHAP. XIII Of the top and highest stature of Faith the Believers Assurance of his good estate of Pardon and Salvation That this Assurance is attainable many ways demonstrated HAving passed over the Believers Experiment touching the Scripture I shall now proceed to another touching his own Estate He may certainly know 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Dionysius speaks That it is well with him That he is in a good state of Pardon and Salvation This is apex fidei the top and highest stature of Faith a Priviledg which transcends Earth and antedates Heaven to us Here are those three things Lumen Laetitia Pax Light Joy and Peace which as the Schoolman Halensis saith render the experiment of Grace in the Soul truly certain Here are Coelestial Beams unspeakable Joys admirable Serenities Sabbaths of Rest Seas of Sweetness and Beatitudes too great for the tongue of Men and Angels to express Before the Believer walked only with the single staff of Recumbency and Resignation but now he hath bands and troops of Comfort following after him from the Promises His darling Soul is now richly provided for to all Eternity Eternal Beanty is in his Eye Infinite Goodness at hand for his Embraces the lines are fallen in a kind of Paradise his Portion is no less than God himself all his Blessings are dipt in Love The World may brand him but the Spirit seals In the midst of sweeping Judgments he is still one of Gods Jewels and as soon as Death dissolves him Heaven receives him Touching this great Experiment I shall first prove That it is attainable by a Believer and then shew in what ways it is to be attained The Romanists hold That no Man without special Revelation can be certain of his Pardon and Salvation not with a certainty of Faith Bellar. de Juslif lib. 3. which is infallible but only with a certainty of Hope which is conjectural The Promises indeed are sure say they but our Dispositions are uncertain The Promises run Conditionally If they return to thee with all their heart 2 Chron. 6.38 and who can be sure that he doth so Who can say I have made my heart clean saith the Wise-man Prov. 20.9 Who can understand his errors saith David Psal 19.12 Some Scriptures put a peradventure upon Remission Who can tell if God will turn and repent Jon. 3.9 Repent if perhaps the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee Act. 8.22 And the reason is because of the uncertainty of our Dispositions Faith is not Faith unless it lean on the Divine Word and no Word saith Such or such an one hath true Faith and Repentance or is truly pardoned Happy is the man that feareth always Prov. 28.14 The heart of man is deceitful above all things who can know it Jer. 17.9 Assurance if vouchsafed would but puss up Pride and open a door to Licentiousness Thus the Pontisicians Their Divinity in this great Point is much like the Philosophy of the old Scepticks those Patrons of all Uncertainty who used to say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reason against Reason puts all Propositions in aequilibrio the Balance hangs even without Declension this or that way after all debates imaginable still 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 perhaps it is so perhaps not It may be they do see and hear it may be not at least they doubt whether they do it distinctly or no. After the same sort the Romanists do what they can to perswade Believers out of their Spiritual sense out of which Assurance ariseth It may be will they say thou repentest and believest it may be not or if thou dost them it may be not sicut oportet in such a manner as they ought to be done Hence the Council of Trent Can. 9â—â— calls the certainty of Remission vain and remote from all Piety This is that Doctrine of theirs which Luther calls Monstrum dubitationis the monster of doubting and withal asserts That if they erred only in this it were a just eause for us to separate from such an Infidel-Church Learned Pareus stiles it Desperationis ossicina the shop of
here I recommend three things to thee To walk as in Gods presence To have an universal respect to his Commands and To carry a pure intention towards his Glory All these have a great tendency to Assurance Walk as in Gods Presence Remember that he is every-where Thou needest not a Vision or Jacobs Ladder where-ever thou art thy Faith can tell thee that God is in the place and it is too dreadful to sin in His Presence besets thee behind and before and thou canst not break away from it thy ways are all before him nay thy very heart He knows the make of it and stands by the inward Frame and secret Springs thereof seeing what is a forming there upon the Wheel and what thoughts are taking their flight from thence All is naked and open as in an Anatomy before his Face He is intimior intimo tuo nearer to thee than thou art to thy self Walk as in his Presence Live as under his all-seeing Eye Seneca would have us set a Cato or a Laelius before our eyes and to compose our Lives as in their Presence Magna pars peccatorum tollitur si peccaturis testis assistat saith he A present witness would prevent a great deal of sin Think thus with thy self Cave Spectat Deus Take heed God seeth Keep fresh apprehensions of him in thy thoughts Think purpose speak act do every thing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 worthy of and in an holy congruity to his Presence Walk with him that thou mayst be translated though not as Enoch corporally into Heaven yet as a sincere Believer mentally into the Suburbs of it in the Manifestations of Gods Favour Look stedfastly constantly unto him that thou mayst have sweet Aspects and Love-glances from him Thou mayst have his Favourable Presence whilst thou livest under his Awful one The upright shall dwell in thy presence Psal 140 that is in thy gracious Presence They set him before them and he causes his Grace and Love to pass before them In the next place Have an universal respect to his Commands It is a vulgar Rule among the Jewish Doctors That men should single out some one Command out of the Law and exercise themselves therein that God may be their Frsend and bear with them other things But this is to Indent and Article with God upon our own Terms The Hypocrite as one elegantly expresses it like a globous body touches the Law in some one point in some particular Command but the Upright at least in desire and endeavour lies close and level to all the Will of God The Pharisees seemed to be very much for the First Table but after all their Fasting and Prayer they could swallow down Widows Houses and so give the lye to all their Devotions The Moralist seems to be as much for the Second Table but as fair as his Life is towards Man he is very unjust to God stealing away that heart which is infinitely more due to him than the justest of Debts can be to our Neighbour If thou wouldst be assured thou must have an universal respect to his Command do not pick and chuse among them but as David be for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all the Wills of God as Zachary and Elizabeth walk in all his Commandments Wherever the Divine stamp is there let thy Obedience be that thou mayst have a great Reward Light is sown for the Righteous and gladness for the upright in heart Psal 97.11 Upon sincere Obedience a crop of Comfort comes up and because by Promise much surer than that of the Husbandman which is under Providence only The righteous Lord loveth righteousness his countenance doth behold the upright Psal 11.7 In the Original it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Their faces behold the upright the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Three Persons in the Sacred Trinity do all look with a loving Aspect upon such an one Our Saviour hath told us as much If a man sincerely keep the holy Words The Father and the Son will come to him and make their abode with him John 14.23 And a little after follows a Promise of the Holy Spirit as a Comforter verse 26. Walk uprightly and thou art in a posture to receive sweet manifestations of Love from the whole Sacred Trinity In the last place carry a pure Intention towards Gods Glory This is the single eye in the Body of Duties all our good Works lie in the dark without it the want of this was as a black line drawn over Amaziah's vertue He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord but not with a perfect heart 2 Chron. 25.2 Jehu was anointed and appointed by God to destroy Ahabs House and yet for want of a pure Intention was reckoned as a Murderer for doing so Hos 1.4 That which is true Prayer when it comes from Zeal may be but howling when it comes from Lust Hos 7.14 Those Moral Vertues which are very glossie in the Matter may in the End be no better than splendid sins The End is the purest off-spring of a rational Spirit and a cardinal circumstance in every Action The Soul conceives all its Thoughts before the End as Labans Ewes did their young before the Rods. As the End is earthly or heavenly so is the Man and his Acting Remember O Believer that thou wast not made a Man or a Saint Thy Lamp of Reason was not set up at first or new-lighted afterwards by Grace that thou shouldst center on any thing less than God himself or take thy aim lower than his Glory Set thy heart on that great End look right on it with a single eye whether thou eatest or drinkest or prayest or hearest or whatever good work thou art about carry on the great Design That God in all may be glorified How taking this is with Christ He himself hath told us Thou hast ravished my heart my Sister my Spouse thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes with one chain of thy neck faith he to his Church Cant. 4.9 A pure Intention is that single eye and Obedience that chain of the neck which in Believers doth excordiate and ravish the heart of Christ himself And what sweet returns will he make upon such taking Graces Their Graces ravish his Heart and his Comforts will ravish theirs Their thoughts are upon Gods Glory and Gods are upon their Peace With the upright he will shew himself upright with the pure he will shew himself pure They are upright in Duties and he will be upright in Promises They give him pure Intention and he will give them pure Mercy such as is the sealing of his Love upon their Hearts The pure in heart shall see him not in the bliss-making Vision only but before in those Love-glances which are the First-fruits of Heaven here below Again If thou wouldst be assured be much in charity and doing good As the Elect of God put on bowels of Mercy Open thy heart to the poor in Pity and thy hand