Sea-shore or as the Stars in Heaven then the same Spirit of Christ strived with their spirits also in the succeeding generations to preserve and increase the one and to depress the other to bring them into the said posture in which they might receive the said gift of life as saith Nehemiah unto God Neh. 9.20 30. Thou gavest them thy good Spirit to instruct them Hagg. 2.5 and saith God to them According to my Covenant with you when I came out of Egypt so my Spirit remaineth with you And Nehemiah saith also Yea many years didest thou bear with them and testifiedst against them by thy Spirit in thy Prophets but for their gain saying this Spirit so striving with them all the day-long in their generations God put a period to this striving of Christs Spirit so denying them the gift of faith to believe that they might not receive his said gift of eternal life and therefore saith the Text excepting to some few of them Behold ye despisers and wonder and perish for I work a work in your daies Esa 49.6 Luke 19.41 42 Hab. 1.5 Acts 13.41 which ye shall in no wise believe although a man declare it unto you Hence it is our Saviour said If thou hadst known even thou in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace but now they are hidden from thine eyes Again under the Gospel now it is unvailed of Moses vail and that the visible Churches of Christ stand constituted not as Family-Churches only as to the daies of Moses nor constituted a visible Church as was that one Nation a part of Humane Nature as such were they good or bad but now under the Gospel constituted of Believers as such according to the judgement of harity And thus the Spirit of Christ also strived with the spirits of men in the visible Churches as well as unto the men of the world to cherish and increase one and to depress the other to keep them in the said posture in a right reception of the gift of life Hence saith the Spirit of Christ to the Church of Smerna Be thou faithfull unto the death and I will give thee the Crown of Life Thus the Spirit of Christ strived with the spirits of men in the Church of Sardis Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent If thou therefore wilt not watch Rev. 2.10 I will come on thee as a thief and thou shalt not know the hour when I will come upon thee Rev. 3.11 And so likewise to the Church of Philadelphia Christs Spirit striveth with their spirits Rev. 1.4 Behold I come shortly hold that which thou hast let no man take away thy Crown And this Point is apparent for the seven Epistles were sent to the seven Churches So much for the Spirit of Christ striving with the spirits of men in the visible Churches under the Gospel Again Not only with the visible but the same Spirit strives with the spirits of the invisible Members of Christ's mystical body to preserve and increase their internal and spiritual graces and to depress the power of original sin in them as in others to keep them in the said posture and right reception of the said gift of eternal life for saith the Text to the said visible Churches Let him that hath an ear hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches these words four times repeated implies That in these visible Churches there were some whose spirits did hear and understand what the Spirit spake And thus the Spirit of Christ strived with the spirits of the eleven Apostles Mark 16.14 which were invisible Members Judas being dead for the Text saith He appeared unto the eleven and upbraided them with their unbelief at another time Thus strives his Spirit with theirs saying As the Father hath loved me so have I loved you continue in my love John 15.9 10. if ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my love Another time thus the Spirit strived with theirs Oh faithless and perverse generation Mark 17.17 how long shall I be with you how long shall I suffer you At another time thus the Spirit strived with the spirit of Nathaniel to establish him Because I said I saw thee under the Figg-Tree John 1.50 Believest thou Thou shalt see greater things then these Is is so that Christs Spirit thus strives with the spirits of all sorts of men in the world Hence observe That all those who have not yet received the gift of Faith nor the gift of eternal Life and so do fall into eternal death shall be left without excuse in their own consciences to eternity because it will witness to them that God would have given them both but they refused and if they had received it then their salvation was of God because attained by his Son given by himself As also Christ's Spirit thus striving with their spirits and therefore it will also witness that their destruction is of themselves and so Gods most sweet righteousness in this administration will shine to his glory in their ruine to eternity Again Is it so that Christ's Spirit thus strives with all men to cherish and increase the said light of Christ in them and to depress the seed of the Serpent in them and that they are thus internally meetly disposed towards the said posture Hence observe it must needs follow that all men which become totally dead in sins and in trespasses to that posture so as that they cannot change or alter their operations thereunto no more then the Black Moor can change his skin or the Leopard his spots I say Hence observe That all men that are thus dead in sins and in trespasses in the world it ariseth not from the seed of original sin but as an occasion and only from their custom in sin and wickedness unto the acquired habits therein as the cause for it is custom in any thing that brings another nature Again Is it so that the Spirit of Christ strives with the spirits of all men to preserve and repress as is proved Hence observe That when God by Christs Spirit is pleas'd to inliven the spirits of some men to the said posture which were dead in sin and in trespasses and leaves other some in the same condition so to perish I say hence observe That God in this case neither inlivens the one nor leaves the other from love or hatred to either of them personally considered but out of love to himself in pursuance of his final end for thus he took up the Jews when they lay polluted in their bloud being Terah's Idolatrous brood and said they should live that is in this posture that they might receive his gift of life and that not for their sakes but for his own names sake and thus he had mercy upon some of the Gentiles in the fulness of time that were dead in sins and in trespasses that they might live in this
he hath done whether it be good or bad and in reference to this point saith God himself When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness and committeth iniquity and dieth in them for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die 2 Cor. 5.9 10. and therefore saith God unto the Prophet Thou Son of man say unto the children of thy people The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression and for the wickedness of the wicked he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth Ezek. 18.26 And in reference to this point to these invisible members Ezek. 33.12 the Apostle saith Know ye not that ye are the Temples of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you if any man destroy the Temple of God him shall God destroy for the Temple of God is holy which Temple ye are let no man deceive himself and so forth Again in reference to this Point the Lord Christ himself speaks to his eleven Apostles which were invisible members also for John 13.10 11. when he had said Ye are clean but not all for he knew who should betray him therefore he said saith the Text Ye are not all clean but when Iudas was gon forth from them verse 30. then in the fifteenth Chapter and third verse Now saith he unto them ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you that is your hearts are purified by belief and love to me thereupon saith he Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of it self except it abide in the vine no more can ye except ye abide in me Joh. 13.10 11.30 Joh. 15.3 4 5 6 7 8 10. And saith he I am the Vine he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit and yet in the next words he tels them Their evil works will bring them to be vessels of dishonour for ever saying If a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burnt implying And so shall you if ye abide not in me But on the contrary If they rightly operate in the said posture they shall be vessels of honour for ever saying If ye abide in me and my words abide in you ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you herein is my Father glorified that ye bring forth much fruit so shall ye be my Disciples that is ye shall continue so for ever for they were his Disciples before And saith he If ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my love even as I have kept my Fathers Commandments and abide in his love that as I abide for ever in his love so shall you if ye keep my Commandments or otherwise not for that is implyed Thus we see that God executes his final end upon the invisible members of Christ some to honour and some to dishonour as to all men else Again That the full consummation and final execution of this final end shall fall in at the great day Jude 6. Joh. 11.24 as Iude cals it and the day of the resurrection as Marcha cals it And then the Sea and the Grave shall render up their dead and then shall every man saith the Text Rev. 20.13 John 5.19 be judged according to his works and shall come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation and before him shall be gathered all Nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd his sheep from the goats and he shal set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on his left then shall the King say unto them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father Mat. 25.33 34 41 46. inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundations of the world then shall he say also unto them on his left hand Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels and these shal go into everlasting punishment but the righterous into life everlasting So upon this last and final execution of Gods final end then cometh the end when Christ shal have delivered up the Kingdom to God even the Father when he shal have put down all Rule and all Authority and Power that is all Authority Rule and Power raised in a world of ungodly men by the Apostate Angels delusive lies and temptations against the truth of Gods said final end in the foresaid particular branch for till then Christ must reigne 1 Cor. 15.24 25 28. as it is in the next words untill he hath put down all enemies under his feet implying and no longer in this Government by his Spirit striving in the Gospel and its Tenor a just and merciful Rule as is implyed in the 28 verse when all things shal be subdued unto him then shal the Son himself be subject unto him that did put all things under him yet it is one thing that this Administration Heb. 1.6 Psal 45.6 as such shal cease for ever as we see it shal and another thing that the personal union in Christ God-Man shal cease for that shal never be for so he is and ever shal be above the Angels and they shal worship him for ever as it is written Thy Throne is for ever O God and so forth and let all the Angels of God worship him and so shal he be worshiped of all the glorified Saints for ever for if by the Angels much more by them notwithstanding he is their head and they members of his triumphant body yet he as head and members shal as is said before be subject to God the Father in this respect for as there was a time when Christ should have the preheminence in all things for the prosecution of his Fathers final end so now that end being attained and time shal be no more Now God must have the preheminency to all eteruity CHAP. XIII In which is proved how God ordained and executed his final end upon all the Angels to their final ends for ever according to their works some to honour some to dishonour IN the prosecution of this Point I will briefly touch these six particulars First That some of them God elected secondly That some of them he rejected Thirdly lay down the ground of that rejection Fourthly That they transgressed Gods Law Fifthly lay down what that Law was Sixthly I will lay down the ground why God elected the other Angels and to what they were elected more then they had together with the rest before any fel of these in their order First The Text affirms that some of them are elected 1 Tim. 5.21 as appears by Pauls charging
posture and thus the Jews which have been dead in sins and in trespasses this sixteen hundred years this Spirit of Christ will inliven their dead spirits that so they shall or may receive the said gift of life again for in this sense the gifts and callings of God to mankind are without repentance that is to call men and thus to give them as is said in pursuance of his said final end Again Is it so that the Spirit of Christ strives with the spirits of all sorts of men in the world to preserve and increase the one and to suppress the other as is proved Hence observe That all men which as yet have not the gift of faith are to be carefull that they are faithfull in that little they have received but especially not to resist this Spirit striving with their spirits as we see did Cain the old world Noah's posterity at Babel as did Shems in Terah's and Israel Gods Elect the offspring of Abraham lest God denying them the gift of faith and so his gift of life For then in seeing they shall not see and in understanding they shall not understand and shall never truely nor rightly be able to see the things which do belong to their eternal peace Again Is it so That this Spirit of Christs thus strives with all men of the world and also with all men in the visible Churches of Christ and also with the invisible Members as is proved then let them which think they have the true Spirit of faith in God and love to God and their neighbour kindled in their breasts by this Spirit of Christs beware they quench not the Spirits flame of love and firm faith by inordinate cares and love of this worlds profits or pleasurable lusts lest they having begun in the Spirit doe end in the flesh and reap corruption Again Is it so that the Spirit of Christ thus strives and effects in the hearts of the invisible Members of Christs true faith and love and other graces Then hence observe That although in attaining eternal life they can do nothing but in that Christ alone doth all and also that in the gift of internal light of Christ and in the gift of faith and in the gift of other graces and in the increase and grouth of them the invisible members of Christ are meerly passive in all this yet hence observe That by the same spirit of faith and love they are inabled to keep their hearts with care and diligence so that no man or power shall take away their Crown of comfort and hope of glory First because in the said gifts they have received the spirit of love of power and of a sound mind in some degree therefore they are able so to doe A second Reason is this The Spirit of Christ is at hand when they so put forth that power they have not only to assist them to keep their hearts in these endeavours but also to add that wherein they are meerly passive as I said before namely to add the increase of all these graces they have and so they grow from strength to strength in Sion and therefore they may and are able to keep their hearts as is said And therefore saith our Lord As I say unto all men so I say unto you Watch lest ye enter into temptation The Reason why I call the third in the one God or the third Person in Trinity the Spirit of Christ is this Because that as all that the Father hath is Christ's in pursuance of this said final end so Christ by the third in the one Iehovah in Gods mercifull voice in the Creation and most eminently and most properly by the voice of the Gospel in the tongue of man to man by the Ministry of this Spirit doth strive with the spirits of all men to depress the mind of the Devil in them and to implant the similitude of the mind of Christ in them which is mans sanctification in order to the Fathers will to a right receiving of his said righteousness imputed to their eternal life or to be either as is proved CHAP. IX In which is handled the fifth branch of the manifold wisdom of God precedently propounded and the last ingredients which makes up the said posture namely that God by the seed of the woman immediately after the fall gave a rule suitable to all men to work or operate by in reference to his said final end THis Point divides it self into three parts two whereof are handled in this Chapter the third in the next The first declares unto all men who it is that Governs them by this Rule for a Governor is imployed The second is to let all men see what this Rule is The third is that all men may see how suitable this rule is unto them Of these in their order As for the first Certainly he that restoreth all mankind out of the falne mass of death into the said posture to receive the said gift of life he it is that governs man by his own Rule and therefore saith man believing truth To us a Child is born and to us a Son is given and the Government shall be laid upon his shoulders and his name shall be called Wonderfull Councellor and the mighty God and so forth And saith the Lord himself Esa 9.6 All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth and then goes on governing all men in this Government by his Apostles by the said suitable rule Mat. 28.18 19. For he commanded them saying Mar. 16.16 Goe ye therefore into all the world and Preach the Gospel to every creature He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that will not believe shall be damned From this ground it is that the Father judgeth no man because he committeth all judgement to the Son John 5.22 So much for the first Point Secondly That all men may see what this Rule is And in a word it is no more but this namely The Tenor of the Gospel and that is a Rule of Justice and Mercy for the Gospel it self is one thing and its Tenor is another and the Gospel it self is no more but this Gods highest mercy manifested by Christ to man to relieve him out of his deepest misery First implyed immediately upon the fall Gen. 3.15 Luke 2.10 11. when God said unto the Serpent The seed of the woman shall bruise thy head Secondly In the fulness of time when the Angel said Behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy that shall be unto all people that is That unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord and the Gospels Tenor is no more but this as is said A Rule of Justice and Mercy for all men to work by and not a Rule of Justice only as was that to Adam in his innocency before the fall in pursuance of Gods said final end For proof of this Point the Oracles