eate this bread be shall live for ever and the bread thâ I will give is my flesh which I will give for tââ life of the world vers 50 51. And this breaâ hee giveth to all freely And this is that thaâ will feede and nourish your soules thereforâ feede upon this and doe not spend your labour in vaine thinking to get a righteousneââ of your owne which is not the righteousnesâ of Jesus Christ that thou mightst feede upon that and be satisfied with it but that cannot satisfie thee if thou goest to feede upon it ãâã will choak thee but hearken diligently to me and eate that which is good and let your soule delight it selfe in his fatnesse What he hath donâ for thee and what he hath obtained for thee and come unto me heare and your soul shal live So heare that yee really believe what Christ hath done for you and your soule shall live And I will make an everlasting Covenant with you âven the sure mercies of David For this is the Covenant that I will make with them After those dayes saith the Lord I will put my lawes into their hearts and I will be to them a God and âhey shall be to mee a people And they shall not âeach every man his brother saying know the Lord for all shall know me from the least to the greatest For I will be mercifull to their unrighteousnesse and their sinnes and iniquities will I remember no more Heb. 8.10 11 12. And it is a sure Covenant for it was established upon better promises than the old Covenant was and God is unchangeable I am God I change not therefore ye sonnes of Jacob are not consumed And the Spirit and the Bride sayes âome and let him that heareth say come and set him that is athirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely Rev. 22.17 Wisedome hath builded her house she hath killed âer beasts shee hath mingled her wine shee hath also furnished her table She hath sent forth her Maidens shee cryeth upon the highest places of the City Whose is simple let him turne in hither as for him that wanteth understanding she saith to him Come eate of my bread and drinke of the wine that I have mingled Prov. 9.1 2 3 4 5. This wisdome is Christ and it was he thâ was killed for the sinnes of the world This the fatted Calfe that was killed Luke 15 2â And the Lamb slain from the beginning of tââ world Matth. 22. Behold I have prepared ãâã dinner my oxen and fatlings are killed and ãâã things are ready come unto the marriage It is Christ alone that hath prepared ãâã things for this spirituall marriage betwiââ himselfe and his people There is nothing ãâã be done but all things are already preparâ for this spirituall feast there is nothing fââ us to doe but to come and eate and drink freely of those things that are prepared for us And hee sends forth his servants for to crye ãâã the highest places of the Citie and to crye ãâã loud Spare not lift up their voyce like a Truââ pet Isa 58.1 That all may hear and come that those that are simple may learne true wiâdome of him CHAP. VI. How wee should come to Christ and have thâ things that he hath prepared for all THere is no other way to come to Chriâââ but by believing what hee hath done foâ them in particular and to apply it to themselves These things are written that ye might beâieve that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and âhat in believing ye might have life through his âame John 20.31 He that believeth in the Son âf God hath the witnesse in himselfe he that belieâeth not God hath made him a lyar because hee âelieved not the record that God witnessed of his âon And this is the record that God hath given ânto us eternall life and this life is in his Sonne He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath âot the Sonne hath not life These things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternall life and that ye may believe in the name of the Son âf God 1 John 5.10 11 12 13. For God so loâed the world that he gave his only begotten Son âhat whosoever believeth in him should not perish âut have everlasting life John 3.16 And this is âife eternall that they know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent John â7 3 Let not your hearts be troubled ye believe ân God believe also in me John 14.1 For I am âome a light into the world whosoever believeth in ââe shall not abide in darkenesse Joh. 12.40 And âhis is the worke of God that yee believe in him whom he hath sent John 6.29 Hee that belieâeth in me as saith the Scripture out of his belly shall flow rivers of water of life John 7.38 He that believeth in me hath everlasting life Johâ 6.47 And Jesus said unto them I am the breâ of life he that commeth to me shall not hunger ãâã hee that believeth in me shall never thirst Aââ this is the will of him that sent me that every ãâã which seeth the Son and believeth in him shoââ have everlasting life and I will raise him up the last day John 6.35.40 He that doth believe Christ doth knoâ Christ and doth know the Father also ãâã Christ and his Father are one and hee doââ know that Christ hath pardoned his sins having made full satisfaction for them to his Father and that God is as well pleased with hiâ in his Sonne as he is with his Son and doâ not only believe this because it is in the Scripture but because the Spirit of God witnesseâ it to them by the enjoyment of it though sometimes they have not the comfort of ãâã Believing and faith is all one and we are justâfied by faith and not by workes and therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the workes of the Law Rom. 3 2â By the works of ehe law shall no flesh be justified ãâã his fight For by the Law cometh the knowledge of sin ãâã now is the righteousnesse of God made manifeââ without the Law bearing witnesse of the Law anâ the Prophets to wit the righteousnesse of God ãâã the faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all that beleeve for there is no difference for all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God hath set forth to be a reconciliation through faith in his blood to declate his righteousnesse by the forgivenesse of the sins that are passed through the patience of God Rom. 3.20 21 22 23 24 25. If Abraham were justified by works he hath wherein to rejoyce but not with God but what saith the Scripture Abraham beleeved God and it was counted
to him for righteousnesse For the promise that he should be the heire of the world was not given to Abraham or to his seed through the Law or his righteousnesse that hee had obtained by the workes of the Law but through the righteousnesse of faith for if they that are of the Law be heires faith is made voyd and the promise is made of no effect for the law causeth wrath because we cannot keep it for where no Law is there is no transgression it is the Law that discovers sinne unto us Romans 7.7 therefore it is by faith that it might come by grace Rom. 3.23 13 14 15.16 For by faith the righteousnes of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written The just shall live by faith Rom. 1.17 Know that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ even we I say have beleeved in Iesus Christ that wo might be justified by the faith of Christ and noâ by âhe works of the Law because that by the workâ of the Law no flesh shall be justifie Galat. 2.16 If there had been a law given which could have given life surely righteousnesse should have been bâ the Law but the Scripture hath concluded all under sinne that the promise by the faith of Iesus Christ should be given to them that beleeve but before faith came we were kept under the Law anâ shut up unto the faith which should afterwards ãâã revealed wherefore the Law was our Schoolmastââ to bring us to Christ that we might be made rigâteous by faith but that after faith is come we ãâã no longer under a Schoolmaster Galat. 3.21 22 23 24 25. Now the Law is not our School master to bring us to Christ for Christâcome and the Ministers ought to preach tâ aâl people what Christ hath done for then that they might beleeve and how can they beleeââ in him of whom they have not heard Rom. 1â 14. They must fiâst heare what he hath doââ for them before they can beleeve and Chriââ hath commanded his Apostles and Disciplââ to preach the Gospel to all Matth. 28 1â and what is the Gospel but glad tidings ãâã peace and good things Rom. 10.15 How beautifull upon the mountaines are the feet him that declareth and publisheth peace thâ declareth good tidings and publisheth salâtion saying to Sion Thy God reigneth Isai 5â They are to publish and make knowne to all âorts of people what Christ hath done for âhem how he hath made peace with God for âhem in taking upon him all their sinnes and making full satisfaction for them and hath wrought a perfect salvation for them and ãâã perfect righteousnes for them and all things âs already finished for them Iohn 19.30 and âll things are ready come to the marriage Matth. 22.4 that Christ hath made all âhings ready for us there is nothing to be âone by us for our salvation but for us to âome to him and he will give us all things âreely and he will teach us all things and âead us in the way that we should walk in for ãâã am the Way saith Christ the Truth and the Life no man cometh to the Father but by me Iohn â46 As soon as Christ was born there was an Angel came and declared to the Shepheards in âhe field and said to them Be not afrayd for ââbold I bring you glad tidings of great joy that âhall be to all people that is that unto you is born ãâã Saviour which is Christ the Lord Luke 2.10 â1 God sent his Angell to declare this to the âhepheards that they should declare it to others And this shewes unto us that those âhat God hath made known his love unto by âheir enjoyment of it they must make it ânown to others that they also may be partakers of it and the Angel fell a praising God aying Glory be to God in the high heavens anâ peace in earth and good will towards men at thâ 14. verse Christ being born into the world was ââceeding to Gods glory and by his comiââ he hath made it known to us that he is glorified and he hath made our peace with God and hath made known to us that he is at peaâ with us what love and good will God had to us in Christ and the Angel could doe nâ other but declare this that all might knoâ this and beleeve And this is the Gospel thâ Christ hath commanded should be preacheâ and his Apostles did preach it and Paul saith there is a constraint laid on me woe be to ãâã if I preach not the Gospel I am not ashamedâ the Gospel of Iesus Christ for it is the power ãâã God to salvation to every one that beleeveth Tââ comes with power and overcomes the chiefeâ sinners as it did Paul to heare of the love ãâã God to them and what Christ hath done aââ suffered for them and hath obtained a pardoâ of his Father for them and calls every one tâ come to him and receive their pardon of hiâ This will worke more upon them then ãâã preach the law and judgements to them aâ tell them that God is angry with them thâ drives them from Christ and the messengeâ of Christ must doe the message of Christ and not any thing to drive them from Christ but to set them on beleeving in Christ So now ye may see that the Law is not now our Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ now Christ is come the law must not be preached to us except it be to tell us how Christ hath fulfilled it for us but to tell us that we must doe thus and thus or else God will not doe thus and thus for us what is this but to be justified by the workes of the law and in so doing they make God a liar and take the honour from God and give it to themselves for we are wholly justified by faith alone and not by works and it is not our faith that justifies us but it is the faith of Jesus Christ Know that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ even we have beleeved in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ Galat. 2.16 and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Sonne of God Gal. 2.20 By grace are âe saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of Gad not of workes lest any man should boast Ephes 2.8 9. It is not our faith that can justifie us if it could then should we boast that we are justified by our faith and âo make our workes the cause of our justification but here Paul tels us that by grace we are saved that is by the grace of Christ for ãâã hath justified us freely by his grace througâ the redemption that is in Iesus Christ so it ãâã alone by Christ that we are redeemed saw and justified
nothing in us that moved Goââ to bestow his Sonne upon us to be crucisied fââ us but it was his free love Herein is love ãâã that we loved God but that he loved us and seââ his Son to be the propitiatin for our sins 1 Johâ 4.10 Hereby perceive we the love of God becaââ he laid downe his life for us 1 John 3.16 Aâââ while we were yet sinners Christ died for us eâ when we were dead in sins Ephes 2.5 For so loved the world that hee gave his only begotten Sonne that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved John 3.16 17. For I came not to judge the world but to save the world John 12.47 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay downe his life for his friend John 15.13 That is the greatest love that friends can shew one to another but Christ hath loved us with a greater love for while wee were his enemies he dyed for us to reconcile us to God and to make us his friend hee takes occasion by our sins to shew us merie The Lord complains of the spirituall Idolatry of his people in Hosea 2. which of all sins that is partly the greatest to forsake God and cleave to Idols and to give that to them that belongs only to God for they made their Idols their God gave honour and glory to them but the Lord saith I will not give my honour to another nor my glory to graven Images Hos 2.13 14. Shee decked her selfe with her ear-rings and her jewels and she followed her Lovers and forgate me saith the Lord. Therefore behold I will allure her and bring her into the wildernesse aad speake comfortably to her Hos 11.7 My people are bent to rebellion against me though they called them to the most High yet none at all would exalt him Yet this did not turne the love of the Lord from them for in the 8. and 9. verses he saith How shall I give thee up Ephraim how shall I delive thee Israel how shall I make thee as Admah how shall I set thee as Zeboim Mine heart is turned within me my repentings are rouled together I will not execute the fiercenesse of my wrath I will not return to destroy Ephraim for I am God and not man the holy One in the midst of thee Ezek 20.44 And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have respect unto you for my Names sake and not after your wicked wayes nor according to your corrupt workes O ye house of Israel saith thââ Lord Isa 43.25 I even I am hee that putteth away thine iniquities for mine owne sake and wilâ not remember thy sins Isa 44.22 I have put away thy transgressions like a cloud and thy sinner as a mist turn unto me for I have redeemed thee Jer. 33.8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity whereby they have sinned against me I will pardon all their iniquities wherby they have sinned against me and whereby they have transgressed against me Jer. 50.20 And in those dayes and at that time saith the Lord the iniquitieâ of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none and for the sinnes of Judah and they shall not be found for I will be mercifull unto them Here is the free mercie of God and riches of his love belonging to all man-kinde that ever was is or shall be there is not any one excluded from his love for there is nothing can keep us from God but our sins and that Christ hath dyed for and hath made full satisfaction to his Father and hath obtained of his Father a full pardon for all the sinne of all man-kinde although they be never so great 1 Tim. 1.15 This is a faithfull saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chiefe He was a persecuter and a blasphemer and an injurious person yee saith he I obtained mercy The Lord is no respecter of persons He shed his dearest heart-blood for all sinners as well for the chiefe of sinners as any other for without blood-shedding there can be no remission of any one sinne though never so small in our apprehension but by the blood of Christ being shed for us the greatest sins are pardoned as well as any For the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all unrighteousnesse And this gift of God in giving his Sonne is a free gift of God given to all to redeeme all from sinne hell and the Devill Hes 13.9 O Israel one hath destroyed thee but in me is thy helpe The Devill having overcome man by his tempting the woman and they yielding to him wee were all destroyed by the Devill but in Christ is our helpe against him Jer. 31.11 The Lorâ hath redeemed Jacob and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he All man-kinde fell by and in the fall of Adam from that glorious condition that thââ were in before they sinned So we all fell froâ that glorious condition with him into a staââ of condemnation sin and the wrath of Goâ both spirituall and temporall and hell anâ damnation and as we all fell in Adam so we are all raised by and in Christ not to thaâ condition that Adam fell from but from thaâ condition that he fell into and as we all dyeâ in Adam so wee are all made alive in Chriââ Adam was a publique person for man-kind so was Christ therefore he is called the seconâ Adam Therefore as by the offences of one which was Adam judgement came upon all men to cââ demnation even so by the righteousnesse of ouâ which is Christ the free gift came upon all mââ unto justification of life For as by one mans disââ bedience many were made sinners so by the obeââence of one shall many be made righteous Rom. ââ 18 19. All were made sinnners in Adam so all aââ made righteous by Christ Quest How are all made righteous ãâã Christ Answ He being made a publique person so all man-kinde he undertook to make full satisfaction for our sins which he did comit so he redeemed us from that condemnation that came upon all the world by the fall of Adam so that for those sinnes wee shall never be condemned Hee hath redeemed the whole world from the Devill and sin to himselfe that we should serve him in all love so the Devill and sinne cannot keepe the world out of heaven they can doe us no harme yea those that are very great sinnes cannot nothing but unbeliefe can keepe us out There was nothing that kept the children of Israel out of the Land of Canaan but unbeliefe We see they could not enter in because of unbeliefe Heb. 3.19 They had committed many sins and those that were very great ones and God complained of their sins in
way to life eternall but they continue refusing and loving their own darknesse better then the light or Jesus Christ and hate him in his waves and persecute him in his members and make a mock of godliness and thinke to get a righteousnesse of their own that shall carry them to heaven and so they undervalue the righteousnesse of Christ and tread under foote the Sonne of God and count the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified and unholy thing they doe not regard it but slight it and doe not really believe him And hee that doth not believe the Sonne shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him John 3.36 He that believeth not God hath made him a lyar because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Sonne 1 John 5.10 It is the free mercie and love of God thaâ is offered to all it is that that shall condemâââ all those that continue alwayes in unbeliefe Christ came neare Jerusalem and wept oââ it and said O Jerusalem Jerusalem that killest the Prophets and stonest them that are sent ââto thee how often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen doth gather her brood ââder wings and ye would not Luke 13.34 Mat. 23.37 And in Mat. 23.31 there we may sââ what children these were that hee would haââ gathered to him Ye be witnes unto your selvââ that ye are the children of them that killed the Prophets and they commit the same sin as their Fathers did In the 34. and 35. verse of this chapter Behold I send unto you Prophets and wise men and Scribes and some of them yeâ shall kill and crucifie and some of them shall yeâ scourge in your Synagogues and persecute theâ from Citie to Citie That upon you may come alââ the righteous blood shed upon the earth from thâ blood of righteous Abel unto the bloud of Zacharias sonne of Barachias whom ye slew between the Temple and the Alter These are the children that Christ would have gathered to him and his bowels of compassion yearns to them Hee wept over them to think what a miserable condition they were in and hee would have preserved them from it but they would not And thus hee offers himselfe still to all even the chiefest of sinners 2 Chron. 26.15 16. And the Lord God of their Fathers sent to them by his messengers rising up betimes and sending because hee had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place But they mocked the messengers of God and despised his words and misused his Prophets untill the wrath of the Lord rose against his people till there was no remedie Prov. 1.24 to the 31. Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded But ye have set at nought all my counsell and would none of my reproofe I also will laugh at your calamity I will mocke when your feare commeth When your feare commeth as desolation and your destruction commeth as a whirle-winde when distresse and anguish commeth upon you Then shall they call upon mee but I will not answer they shall seeke me early but they shall not find me For that they hated knowledge and did not chuse the feare of the Lord. They would none of my counsell they despised all my reproofe Therefore shall they eate of the fruit of their owne way and be filled with their own deviecs Thus he strives with them till there is no remedie and then hee giveth them over And when they have thus hardned their own hearts that they refuse all instruction and shut their eyes that they will not see then God hardened their hearts as he did Pharaoh's Exod. 10.1 and blind their eyes Mat. 13.14 15. By hearing ye shall heare and not understand and seeing ye shall see and not perceive For this peoples heart is waxed grosse and their eares are duââ of hearing and their eyes they have closed lest at any time they should see with their eyes and heartâ with their eares and should understand with their hearts and should be converted and I should heââ them And therefore he spake to them in parables that seeing they might not see and hearing they might not understand Luke 8.10 Isa 6.9 Mark 4.12 God hath given them thââ spirit of slumber eyes that they should not see anâ eares that they should not heare Rom. 11.8 Sââ the fault is in the creature and not in God for this good seede is sowne in all sorts of ground in good ground and in that which is stonie and that which is thorny and by the way side so it is sowed in all and the fault is not in the seede for the seede is all alike That seede is the word of God Luk. 8.11 which is sowne in all man-kind He that was the unprofitable servant had received a talent of his Lord as well as the profitable servants So God hath justified himself and left the world without excuse that they shall have nothing to say for themselves at the day of judgment and this is that that will be their greater condemnation Those mine enemies that would not that I bould reigne over them bring them and slay them âefore my face Lu. 19.27 Not to have Christ âeigne over them is that which condemnes âhem CHAP. VIII How God doth compell those that are his children to come in to him GOd hath chosen and elected some before the world began to bee the children of God in Christ and to reveale himselfe unto âhem and to give unto them eternall life âaving predestinated us unto the adoption of âhildren by Jesus Christ to himself according âo the good pleasure of his will to the praise of âhe glory of his grace wherein he hath made âs accepted in the beloved Eph. 1.5 6 According to the eternall purpose which he hath purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord Ephes 3.11 Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling not according to our workes but according to his owne purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gosââ 2 Tim. 1.9 10. God did not see any thing in us where to love us but he loves us in his Sonne freââ for his Sonnes sake Christ hath obtained ãâã things of his Father both in heaven and earâ for us and there is not any thing that ãâã keepe them from us and at the time appoiâted of the Father they shall be revealed to ãâã But the heir as long as he is a childe differeth ãâã thing from a servant though hee he Lord of ãâã Gal. 4.1 Before we be called with that hoââ call which is that new work wrought in ãâã which is alone the worke of the spirit to ãâã borne againe not of corruptible seede but of inââruptible by the word of God which liveth and
ââbideth for ever 1 Pet. 1.23 Except a man borne of water and of the spirit hee cannot eââ into the kingdome of God John 3.5 Before we be thus called we differ nothinâ from those that are but servants but when ãâã are called by this new worke wrought inââ which is the time appointed of the Father then he will make known to us what hee haââ prepared for us before the world began ãâã were heirs to it when we were dead in sins aâ trespasses but did not then make it known ãâã us and to all these hee will give eternall liââ I give unto them eternall life and they shall neââ perish neither shall any man plucke them out of my hand My Father which gave them me is greater then all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand John 10.28 29. Feare not little flocke it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdome Thou hast given him power over them that he should give eternall life to as many as thou hast given him And this is life eternall that they might know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent John 17.23 And it is hee alone that doth bring us to the knowledge of himselfe Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life no man commeth to the Father but by me John 14.6 I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit which leadeth thee the way that thou shouldst goe Isa 48.17 And thine eare shall heare a word behind thee saying This is the way walk in it Isa 30.21 And these that are his children he will overpower them with his Spirit and make them come unto him Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power Psal 110.3 Wee are unwilling by nature to come to God but when hee commeth with his power he will make us willing to doe what he would have us Mat. 22. Goe yee therefore out into the high wayes and as many as ye find compell them to come to the marriage This was a spirituall compulsion for noâ hath the power to make them willing but tââ Spirit The Magistrate doth compell to aââ outward conformitie but that cannot maââ them willing it is only the worke of the spirit and hee will compell all his children ãâã come to this marriage and make them williââ to come CHAP. IX It is the Spirit alone in us that doth ãâã in all PAul saith I desire not to know any thing âmong you save Jesus Christ and him craâââed 1 Cor. 1.2 For by him he being crucifiââ for us he hath obtained al things for us aââ we cannot know that Christ was crucified ãâã us nor any thing what he hath done for ãâã but by the Spirit of God we may believe maââ things to be truth because it is writ in thâ Scripture and because many say it is truââ but this is but the hearing of the eare noâ knows it to be truth by the hearing of the eaââ as the truth is in Jesus but by the Spiritâ God alone For what man knoweth the things a man save the spirit of man which is in him Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 2.11 This spirit of man must be one with man or else it cannot understand the things of man as the thoughts and mind and will and desires of man which is one and the same with man so the Spirit of God is one and the same with God or else it could not know the things of God But this spirit knows all things of God For the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deepe things of God 1 Cor. 1.10 And this Spirit God hath given unto us Now we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God And vers 12. of this Chap. God hath revealed âhem to us by his Spirit And vers 10. So Christ hath done all things for us and hath obtained all things for us and wee cannot know âhis without his Spirit and therefore he hath and will give us his Spirit that we may know ât and have the enjoyment of it Man as man âs not able to understand the things of God because man is carnall and the things of God âre spiritual and a carnall apprehension cannot apprehend spirituall things The naturall man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishnesse unto him neither can hee know them because they are spiritually discerned 1 Cor. 2.14 As wee are naturall we cannot know the things of the Spirit wee are not able to discerne them The eye of man hath not seen nor thâ eare of man heard neither hath it entered into thâ heart of man the things which God hath preparââ for them that love him 1 Cor. 2.9 All the excellencies of man cannot bring us to know anâ thing of the mysterie of God for every man iâ beast by his owne knowledge Jer. 10.14 Jer. 51 17. I understood as a beast saith David How ãâã that according to a carnall apprehension anâ a carnall imagination for the highest moââ excellent thoughts that wee as we are men ãâã have of God is but according to our carnal imagination All the wisdome of man is bââ foolishnesse with God 1 Cor. 2.20 Therefoââ his wisedome cannot bring him to know thâ things of God nor humane learning cannââ doe it for then the Scribes and Pharisees anâ the high Priests and Elders would have knowâ Christ but they said Which of us hath beââved him at any time And Paul had a great dââ of humane learning yet that did not briââ him to know God for hee was a persecuter ãâã the Church of God Gal. 1.13 Yet none ãâã the Apostles had so much humane learning ãâã he yet he did not come to know the minde ãâã God the things of God by the teachings of man Now I certifie you brethren that the Gospel which was preached of me was not after man For neither received I it of man neither was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ Gal. 1.11 12. So it was by the Spirit of God revealed in him that brought him to know the things of God For ye see your calling brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and God hath chosen the weake things of the world to confound the mighty things And vile things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen yea and things which are not to bring to nought things that are That no flesh should glory in his presence 1 Cor. 1.26 27 28 29. God strips us of all the excellence of the flesh lest wee should thinke by any thing that is of us brings us to the knowledge of God and so wee
not away the Comforter will not come but depart I will send him unto you John 16. â So when hee departed from them in the ââdy hee did send his Spirit to them and only to them but to all his children to and of the world He shall abide with you ââver I will not leave you comfortlesse I will to you John 14.18 So he departed from them in flesh and ãâã ânto them in Spirit and remaineth with his Church for ever and is a greater Comforter âo his Church in Spirit than hee was to his Disciples in his flesh when he was with them âo Christ hath given us his spirit freely that we âay see the things that are freely given to us âf God So in thy light saith David we see light Though wee as wee are men cannot see the âhings of God but as we are Saints and have âhe Spirit of God so we come to see the things of God for the Spirit of God in us seeth the âhings of God and so far as hee revealeth the âhings of God to us so far wee see them with his s pirituall eye of himselfe The Lord is my âight Psalm 27.1 So in this light we see God who is light For ye were sometime darkenesse âut now are yee light in the Lord Ephes 5.8 For thou art my lamp O Lord and the Lord will âighten my darknesse 2 Sam. 22.29 So farre as God hath revealed himselfe to ân so farre we have seen him with the light of himselfe And so farre as we have not seene him with the light of himselfe so farre we are ân darknesse still and so farre as hee hath revealed himselfe to us hee teacheth us all things and brings all things to our remembrance For therefore hee was sent unto us to teach us to know what Christ hath done for us and to know the things that are freely given to us of God and to be our Comforter There is ãâã Comforter like this for he is alwayes in ãâã and knows our trouble there is not any thiâ hid from him for we have not an high Prâââ which cannot be touched with the failing ãâã our infirmities but was in all points tempââ like as we and yet without sin Heb. 4 1â For in that he himselfe hath suffered being templâ he is able to succour them that are tempted Hââ 2.18 Christ hath suffered in all manner of afflicâââons both spirituall and temporall thereforâ his Spirit is a sufficient Comforter to comfoââ us in all our troubles with the love of himselâ and in upholding us in it and to bring us ãâã of them when he sees it is for his glory and ãâã good Thus the Spirit seeth the things ãâã God For the 2d. It is the Spirit alone that hearâ the things of God He that hath an eare to heaâ let him beare Mat. 13.9 Mâr. 4.9 He that haââ an ear let him beare what the Spirit saith unto tââ Churches Rev. 2.7 It must be such an eare as can heare what thâ Spirit faith It is only the Spirit that can heââ the Spirit speak that knows the languageâ the Spirit and none else man may or can hââ what man speaketh and of the minde of Goâ as it is writ in Scripture and to heare it in thâ letter as it is in the letter but to hear it so as to understand know what it is in the truth of it as the truth is in Jesus none knowes it but the Spirit of God for it is spirituall The word that I spake unto you is Spirit and life and this word is Christ And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory ãâã of the only begotten of the Father ful of grace truth Joh. 1.14 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God John 1.1 So this word is spirituall for God is a Spirit John 4.24 And none can hear this word but that which is one and the same with it and therefore it is onely the Spirit of God which is one and the same with God which hath that hearing eare to hear what the Spirit saith and this Spirit of God heares all the mind of God yea all the secrets of God He doth heare what things they are that God hath prepared for them that love him and those things the eare of man as man cannot heare what they be for they are spirituall and heavenly glorious things and man is carnall and cannot heare them so as to understand it It is a strange language to him hee doth not know the meaning of it therefore he hath declared all things to his Spirit and hath given us his Spirit and so this Spirit of God in us doth heare the Spirit speake it speakes nothing but peace and love and mercy and goââ will to us and what he hath done for us ãâã what he is in us and to us and what we are ãâã him and to him as we are Saints and ãâã Spirit will declare it to us by degrees that ãâã we are Saints wee shall know them for theââfore the Spirit was sent to us that throââ him we may hear what God hath done for ãâã Thus have I shewed you in some measââ that it is alone the Spirit of God that hearââ the things of God for us For the 3d. It is the Spirit of God aloââ that understands the things of God for mâââ as man cannot understand the things of Goâ because they are spiritually discerned 1 Gââ 2.24 And man is altogether earnall Mat. 1â 13 They seeing see not and hearing bear nââ neither doe they understand Isa 6.9 Mark 4 1â John 12.40 Acts 28.26 How can they uââderstand that which they can neither see nââ heare When Christ told his Apostles that he mââ goe to Jerusalem and all things that are writâ by the Prophets concerning the Sonne of Mân fââ be accomplished For he shall be delivered unto ãâã Gentiles and shall be mocked and spightfully ãâã treated and spit on And they shall scourge ãâã and put him to death and the third day hee shââ rise againe And they understood none of thing and this saying was hid from them neither ânew they these things that were spoken Luke 18. â1 32 33 34. They were the Apostles of Jesus Christ and ââe chose them among his Disciples to goe and ââreach the Gospel to all the world yet they ãâã they were men they understood not those ââings in the mysterie what should be brought ãâã passe by those things They could not chuse ãâã know what those things meant outwardây when he told them so plainly what things âe must suffer for they could do no other but ânow those things outwardly but those sayââgs spirituall were kept from them that they ââderstood them not For man as man canâot understand any thing but that which is of âân For the things of God knowes no man Hee âay hear much with the eare and speak much ãâã that which hee
hast given mee bee with mee where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me for thou lovedst mee before the foundation of the world His love is so great to us that he must have us with him wheresoever he is so he carrieth us in his bosome upon his heart and he is gone into heaven and we are there with him though we see it not and we are glorified with him And the glory which thou hast given mee I have given them that they may be one even as we are one I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thoâ hast loved me John 17.22 23. There is not any thing that Christ thinke too deare or too good for us hee bestows alââ his excellent things upon us hee loves us ãâã dearly he cannot keep them from us His lovâ to us passeth the love of women to their chilâdren yea the greatest love that they can beââ to them Isa 49.15 16. Can a woman forgâââber sucking childe that she should not have ãâã passion on the sonne of her womb yea they ãâã forget yet will I not forget thee Behold I haââ graven thee upon the palms of my hands and thy wayes are continually before me He would have us to take notice of his love Behold I have graven thee upon the palmes of my hands he hath done it and wee must behold it and take good notice of it it is done already it is not to be done by us but God saith I have done it And there is not any thing in us that can hinder his love to us I have loved you with an everlasting love therefore with loving kindnesse have I drawne thee These are expressions of God to us that we are set upon his heart and arme and hand is to shew us how neare we are to him and hee would have us to know it therefore he comes himself and declares it to us by his Spirit Fear not for I am with thee be not affraid for I am thy God Isa 41.10 Man naturally is affraid of God and it is because of our sins and ever since Adam fell wee have beene affraid of him some affraid of his anger and some affraid of punishment Gen. 3.9 10. And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him where art thou And be said I heard thy voyce in the garden and I was affraid because I was naked and I hid my selfe The righteousnesse of God which Adam had before his fall did cloath him he saw no nakednesse he was not ashamed of the nakednesse of his bodie that was nothing he could see nothing but what was of God and he was cloathed with him and there was a sweete communion betweene God and him hee was not affraid of God and there was no cause of fearing any thing else for all things below God were under Adam they had no power to doe him any harm But after Adam fell his falling stripped him of the righteousnesse of God and so he became naked and then hee was affraid of God And thus by nature wee are naked and are affraid of God and it is our nakednesse that causeth our feare and makes us affraid of every thing below God as well as of God and there is not any covering that can cover our nakednesse and so take away the cause of our fear for Adam did what he could to hide his nakednesse Gen. 3 7. And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig-leaves together and made themselves aprons They saw but some part of their nakednesse and so far as they saw it they made a covering to hide it and it was of the leaves of a fig-tree faire great leaves and that tree grew in the Garden of Eden where Adam was put and that was the best covering they could get yet they were affraid and hid themselves from God for all that covering This Garden of Eden was a type of the âhurch of God which is the Spouse of Christ ââât 4.12 15. and chap. 5.1 6.2 And this Garden in the midst of it is the tree âlife which is Christ Rev. 2.7 To him that ââreommeth will I give to eate of the tree of life ââich is in the midst of the Paradise of God Joel ãâã 27. And ye shall know that I am in the midst Israel and that I am the Lord your God and âe else and my people shall never be ashamed ââd he is that water of life that runneth in the âidst of the garden Revel 22.1 Whosoever âânketh of the water that I shall give him shall ââer thirst But the water that I shall give him ââll be in him a well of water springing up into eâlasting life John 4.14 Jesus stood and cryââ saying If any man thirst let him come unto ãâã and drinke He that believeth on me as the ââipture saith out of his belly shall flow rivers of ââing water John 7.37 38. And this is that ââe of life that whosoever eates thereof they âall live for ever And this the Saints feed upââ but Adam did not eate of this And out of ãâã ground made the Lord God to grow every tree ãâã is pleasant to the sight and good for food ââen 2.9 So in the garden the Church of God out ãâã the ground of the love of God for he is the âound of all our happinesse hee causeth to grow every tree that is pleasant to the eââ and good for food which is a comfortaââ enjoyment of all temporall things and gooânesse hath a promise of all things in this ãâã for temporall things so far as it is for Goâ glory and for our good and for things come which is spirituall but the trees of ãâã ward mercies doe grow by the high wayâ ãâã all sorts of people to eate of as well as the chââdren of God But this is but by the way ãâã shew you that wee have the enjoyment of oââ ward things by the enjoyment of spiritual ãâã in the garden of God so farre as Christ ãâã peareth in it it brings forth good fruits sââble to him for hee is a Spirit and the frââ that grow in this garden are spirituall and have not this fruit by nature for except ãâã are in the Vine we cannot bring forth frââ sutable to God and we by nature are nakeâ and we seeing our selves naked and knowâ there is no appearing before God so we taââ of the broadest and fairest leaves of the shew godlinesse that we can get and sew them handsomely together as wee can and coââ that part that we see naked but there is a gââ deale of our nakednesse that we doe not ãâã and that wee cannot cover yet God sees our nakednesse both that as we cover ãâã as we doe not cover When God doth appâââ ãâã we are affraid of his seeing us
in the booke of the Law to them Gal. 3.10 Deut. 27.26 Exod. 20. ãâã the Lord thy God am a jealous God visiting tââ niquity of the Fathers upon the children unto third and fourth generation of them that hate And the Lord hath too pure an eye to behâ iniquity there is not any thing that is anâ my to God but the Devill and sin 1 Job He that committeth sin is of the Devill for Devill sinneth from the beginning And as lââ as ye commit sinne the Devill is your Fat John 8.44 Ye are of your Father the Deââ and the lusts of your father you will doe and thou art the servant to the Devill Rom. 6. Know ye not to whom ye yeild your selves servâ to obey his servants ye are to whom you obey ãâã ther of sin unto death or of obedience unto riââ âesse And vers 20. When ye were the servants âân ye were free from righteousnesse Vers 23. ãâã wages of sinne is death And if thou enterâe sinne in thy heart the Lord will not hear ãâã prayer The Lord is the searcher of hearts âd hee knowes the wickednesse of thy heart âd thou must give account for every idle âught therefore you must search and exaââe you throughly of all your sinnes and ãâã truly humbled for every sinne But many âen God shewes them their sins it is too teâus to them they cannot beare it they âuld fain have comfort administred to them ât we have no such warrant from God till we ãâã you throughly humbled for your sins wee ââst not daube you up with untemper'd morââ but doe to you as a skilfull Surgeon doth âa dangerous wound search it to the quick ââd you must endanger it if you meane to be âred For if we tell you of mercy before you âe throughly humbled this will heale your âunds without but they will ranckle withâââ and that is the reason your comforts so be and flow We are Christs Embassadours and we must âe the message of Christ which is the deliââring the Doctrine of Christ and ye shall find at we preached the Law and Judgement to âing them in to repent Mat. 11.21 22 23 24. Then hee began to upbraid the Cities wherâ most of his mighty workes were done because ãâã repented not Woe unto thee Chorazin ãâã unto thee Bethsaida for if the mighty worâ which have been done in you had been done in Tââ and Sidon they would have repented long ãâã in sack-cloath and ashes But I say unto you shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at day of judgement than for you And thou ãâã pernaum which art exalted unto heaven shâ be brought downe to hell For if the mighty worâ which have beene done in thee had beene done Sodome it would have remained untill this dââ But I say unto you that it shall be more toleraâ for the land of Sodome in the day of judgemâââ than for thee Luke 13.3 Except yee repent ãâã shall all likewise perish And when you are thus throughly humble then there is mercie offered you Mat. 11.2 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy ãâã den and I will give you rest Take my yoke up you and learne of mee for I am meeke and loââ in heart and ye shall find rest for your soules ãâã my yoke is easie and my burthen is light Jer. 2â 11 12 13. For I know the thoughts that I thiâ towards you saith the Lord thoughts of peace aâ not of evill to give you an expected end Thâ shall ye call upon me and ye shall goe and pray unâ me and I will hearken unto you And ye shââ ââeke me and finde me when ye shall search for âe with all your heart Jer. 33.8 And I will canse them from all their iniquity whereby they ââve sinned against mee and whereby they have âansgressed against me Psalm 103.8 9. 111. ãâã 13. The Lord is mercifull and gracious slow anger and plenteous in mercy He will not ââwayes chide neither will he keepe his anger for âer He hath not dealt with us after our sinnes âr rewarded us according to our iniquities For ãâã the heaven is high above the earth so great is âs mercie to them that feare him As farre as the âast is from the West so far hath he removed our âansgressions from us Like as a Father pittieth ãâã children so the Lord pittieth them that feare âim And vers 3. He forgiveth all thine iniquiââes hee healeth all thy diseases Amoâ 5.4 Thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel Seeke ãâã me and ye shall live And many other plaâes of Scripture to this purpose might be cited âut these places are sufficient to shew you what sad condition you are in so long as you conâânue in your sins and how mercifull the Lord ãâã if you returne unto him with all your heart ând be truly humbled and walke in a new ourse of life Exod. 20.6 Shewing mercy unto âhousands of them that love me and keep my Comâandements Thus they are able to lay open thy wounds and make them bigger and in stead of pâring in the precious balsome of the Church Christ which will cure thy wounds tâ powre in brine to terrifie thee and they thee upon duties and tell thee thou must thus and thus qualified before thou commeâ Christ but they will not nor cannot thee how thou must come to be thus qualifiââ for they will tell thee all thy righteousnesse iâ filthy rags When thou hearest these things thou aââ great deal more troubled then ever thou waâ thou art now at thy wits end and even reaââ to despair thou canst see nothing but sin aââ if thou couldst repent and walke in a nâââ course of life then there was hopes of merââ but thou findest thou canst not doe it theâfore thou conciudest there is no mercy ãâã thee therefore thou art sore troubled aââ knowst not what to doe Thou seest the Loââ angry with thee for thy sins and thinkst thââ all the afflictions that comes upon thee is ãâã judgement of the Lord for thy sinnes the thinkest thy selfe to be a damned reprobaâââ quite empty of all goodnesse and expectââ daily some fearefull judgement to fall upââ thee for thy sinnes Oh thinkst thou if ãâã wrath of God lay so heavy upon Christ thâ made him to cry out My God my God why bââââ ãâã forsaken me and he having no sin Matth. ãâã 46. For if they doe these things in a greene ãâã what shall be done in a dry tree Luke 23. And if the righteous scarcely be saved where all the sinner and ungodly appeare 1 Pet. 4.18 âen thou thinkest I shall surely be damned ââen the Devill tempts thee to lay violent âânds on thy selfe and many times thou art âdy to doe it but that the Lord prevents it ââd the Ministers sees thee in such a despairing âândition they tell thee thou must believe ââat the Lord hath done these and these things ãâã thee And if thou wilt lay hold
on him by ââth hee will give thee grace to walke in a ââw course of life and yet still they offer thee âhrist upon condition and thou art exceeâângly terrified with hearing mercies because âou dost not see they belong to thee because âou canst not believe Thus thou seest beloved what a spirituall âândage thou art in with sinne and the Devill ââd false Teachers like the children of Israel ãâã Aegypt what sore bon dage they were in ãâã temporall things so ar t thou now in spiâââuall And thou knowest not what to doe ââât cry unto the Lord as they did and the âord sent them word that they should be ââought out of the Land of Aegypt and that âondage to serve him in another Land so he will doe by thee thou art in such a spiritâ bondage in this spirituall Aegypt that thââ canst not serve the Lord here therefore ãâã Lord comes to bring thee out which he dââ by declaring unto thee that this is not ãâã way of God and hee would not have ãâã walke in it nor heare these false Teacherâny more for thou art more and more woâded by them Oh thinkst thou to thy selfe will goe hear them that they call Independeââ I see they grow exceedingly in grace and hâââ aboundance of joy and walke very comâââtably with God and Paul bids us try all thinâ So I will see whether they can tell me tidiââ of my Beloved So when thou art thus a âââing out of this spirituall Aegypt then conâspirtuall Pharaoh the Devill with his Armie ââter thee of reproaches and scandals and âtream displeasure of those that are of near ââlation to thee for thy going in these stranââ wayes as they say calling thee Heretiqââ and threatning thee that if thou wilt not leaâ off these wayes they will never doe any thââ for thee but will doe thus and thus again thee then thou art in aboundance of slaw feares and the red sea of persecution befoââ thee If the Clergie could but get power ãâã the Magistrate which they have done the good will to get it in the meane timethey wpersecute you in words and raile on you in heir pulpits and call you Hereticks and say âis pitty you should live you are the disturâers of the peace and if they let you alone âou will be the ruine of the Kingdome And âhis they doe against thee because thou wilt âot heare them any more for thou art so âounded with their Sermons that thou canst ââot heare them any longer Yet they tell thee âhou must wait upon them till the Lord make ânown his mind to them and it is a question whether ever he will make known his minde âo them or no Mat. 23.13 But woe unto you âcribes and Pharisees hypocrites for ye shut up the Kingdom of heaven against men for ye neither goe ââyour selves neither suffer ye them that are entring âo goe in But they are blind leaders of the blinde ând both shall fall into the pits Thus thou seest what a streight thou art in âetwixt Pharoah's Armie and the red Sea and âhou cryest to the Lord as the children of Israââ did and what did Moses say which was a âype of Christ Exod. 14.13 14. Moses said ânto the people feare ye not stand still and see âe salvation of the Lord the Lord shall fight for ââu and you shall hold your peace First I shall shew you that yet thou hast âot seen the salvation of the Lord. Secondly Thou must stand still and thou shalt see the salvation of the Lord for thee 1. I will not deny but that thou art ãâã child of God for that good seed spoken of Mat. 13. is sowne in thee which seed is ãâã Word in vers 19. of this Chapter and ãâã Word is Christ John 1. Which seede is Chriâââ Gal. 3.16 Know ye not that Christ is in you ââcept you be reprobates but I trust you shall knâââ you are not reprobates 2 Cor. 13. 5 6. For Gâââ hath made knowne to thee that this seed is thee for thou findest that there is a new woââ wrought in thee for now thou hatest sintâ and hast a desire after goodnesse and it is thââ seede in thee which makes thee so For whââ thou wast in thy naturall condition thââ hadst no such inclination to good thouââ sometimes thou art ready to deny this throuââ the Devills temptation and thy owne corruâtions But yet thou dost not know the true way Jesus Christ The Sonne of righteousnesse not risen in thee to lighten thee in his truth as the truth is in Jesus Christ saith I am ãâã way the truth and the life no man commeth the Father but by me John 14.6 And while the Lord doth come and lighten thee in ãâã wayes thou canst not find it out but thou a in the darke and one that is in the dark caââ not doe any thing well and is ready to stuââ âe at all things and yet would faine doe âomething Thus thou goest along in thy own strength ãâã perform duties but all thy duties and righousnesse is as filthy rags and that the Devill âill tell thee and he will overcome thee with is temptations for all thy righteousnesse This not a sufficient armour to stand against him ãâã will wound thee for all this For except ââur righteousnesse exceeds the righteousnesse of the âribes and Pharisees you shall in no wise enter to the Kingdome of heaven Which as yet thou ââmmest short of that righteousnesse of the âribes and Pharisees for they were wonderââll strict in their wayes for they lookt to be âstified by the workes of the Law They did âât know any other way therefore they walâd in that way they were in the dark and ãâã they worked according So it is with thee âou lookest to be justified by the works of the ââaw for thou seest no other way nor hast âen taught any other way although in words ââth thou and they that taught thee are ready ãâã deny it But doe you not say that except ye do thus ââd thus God will not doe thus and thus for ââou What is this but to be justified by your ââwne righteousnesse but thou dost as the ââouse did in Cant. 3.1 By night on my bed I sought him whom my soule loved I sought him bâ I found him not What was this night but the time of hâ darke condition and what is darknesse but want of light And in this night on her beâ what was this bed A bed is to take their nâ upon which was her owne performances a righteousnesse But she sought him but she câânot find him upon her bed for thy bed is tâ short for thee to stretch thy self upon tâ covering too narrow to wrap thy self withaâ before the Lord had shewed her the light his owne selfe to leade her where shee shou finde him Shee looked for him upon her bââ of her owne performances but it is too shoââ to reach to heaven and this covering of hâ