they cannot know whether this or that man be a Brother even he himself akes upon him to judge who are the Brethren He makes a description of the Antinomians under fair and plausible expressions and then concludes These are the Brethren do ye love these men It seems if it had been condescended upon that the Antinomians are the Brethren there had been an end of his objection But is not this Popish Donatisticall Pharisaicall to appropriat to themselves the name of the Brethren the godly partie the true Church excluding many thousands of those who are truly godly and dear to Jesus Christ although different in opinion from them And what if one should fancy that the Antinomians are only the Brethren yet how should one know that this or that Antinomian is a Brother Doth not his own objection fall upon him the Brother-hood consists in being united unto Christ that is an invisible thing none can know it but God only no man can say such a one is a Brother So much of the certainty of the Object the Brethren Now to the certainty of the Act which is Love The nature of Love was described out of 1 Cor. 13. 4 5 6 7. Then to fright the soul from examining it self by this mark it was added Is there no envying at all towards the Brethren Is there no thinking evill of any of the Brethren Is there no seeking my self or my own good in my love to them c. Who is the legal Preacher now Here is a racking of the conscience with necessity of egall perfection in our sanctification and Evangelicall graces Do not themselves say that our Iustification is perfect but our Sanctification unperfect why then wil they not suffer the soul to take any comfort from the fruits of Sanctification except they be perfect When Iohn saith hereby we know that we have passed from death to Life because we love the Brethren I ask doth he mean perfect Love which is every way what it ought to be If so then they put a false sense upon the Text for there neither is now nor was then any such Love in the world Doth he mean of true unfeigned sound love although imperfect Then there is no place for their objection For a true Believer hath in himself a true love to the Brethren which Love putteth forth and exerciseth it self in a sincere and conscionable indeavour of all those duties which are reckoned forth 1 Cor 13. as effects or if you will acts of Love This soundnesse and sincerity of Love may be a sure mark to the soule although I confesse without this sincerity the very work and labour of love is no sure mark to the conscience to examine it self by for as the Apostle there teacheth us a man may give all his goods to the poore and yet not have true love O but how shall I know saith the doubting Christian that my love to the Brethren is a true sincere sound love To that I say thou mayest know it by these tokens First if thou lovest the Saints as Saints and because they are Saints not for their excellent Gifts or parts so much as for their Graces not for any relation to thy self so much as for relation to Christ. T is true repentance when we sorrow for sinne as sinne T is true love when we love the Saints as Saints that is for this cause and consideration chiefly because the Image of God appears in them Papists pretend that with one act of adoration they worship Christ and his image But we say with more truth and reason with one affection and one act of love we love both Christ himself and those who bear his Image both God and his Children I mean t is Christ himself whom we love in his Saints Secondly thy love when thou lovest all Saints Col 1. 4. epist to Philemon v. 5. And this followeth necessarily from the first mark For a quatenus ad omne If as Saints then all saints Lovest thou all the saints in general praying for them all Lovest thou all the Saints in particular whom thou knowest that is thou darest not confine or limit this love to those Saints only who are altogether of thy opinion which it appears from the objection before mentioned the Antinomians have dared to do or who have some intimacy of friendship with thee nay nor to these who never wronged thee never strovâ—…with thee who never spake evill of thee but all whom thou hast reason to judge to be saints thou lovest them wishest well to them art ready to do them good according to thy power and if thou be at variance or difference with any of them tho â—… prayest God to make them and thy self of one heart and of one minde and it is an affliction of spirit to thee to be at variance with any that are Christs Canst thou thus clear thy self in thy conscience and darest thou say these things before the searcher of hearts Then is thy love a true Love Thirdly thou art a sincere Lover of the Brethren when thou lovest them in all their different estats and conditions the Poor as well as the Rich them of low degree as well as them of high degree the persecuted as well as the prospering the reproached as well as the commended This is also a necessary consectary upon the first mark For if thou lovest saints as saints the variation or difference of their outward condition will not make thy love towards them to cease Obadiah was a sincere Lover of the Brethren and he gave this good Testimony of it he was a kinde friend to the Prophets of the Lord when they were persecuted by Ahab and Iezabel Foorthly thy Love to the Brethren is true and sincere when it puts forth it self in all thy relations when a man desires to choose a wife that fears God and a woman desires to marie none who is not godly when a Master seeks godly servants and a servant seeks a godly master when a people choose godly Ministers and godly Magistrats godly Commanders and Officers of Armies c. And again Magistrats Commanders Ministers love countenance encourage and strengthen the hands of such under their Charge as are godly when a man if he be to choose a friend to consult with yea if he were but to choose a Lodging where he is a sojourner he desires and seeks after a godly Friend a godly Family c. Fifthly Love is true and sincere when the action of Love is not without the affection of Love 1 Cor. 13. 3. and when the affection of Love is not without the action of Love 1 Iohn 3 17 when love openeth both the heart and the hand both the Bowels and the bosome I do not mean that all or any of these marks can be found in any saint on earth without some mixture of the contrary corruptions for we must not look that an imperfect grace such as love to the Brethren is in this world must needs
will return to the good old way the Scripture way Christs way the Apostles way in which I shall finde rest to my soule The third point now remains viz. that there is no such inextricable difficulty darknesse or mist in this mark the love of the brethren but that the children of God may and sometimes do clearly and safely assure their hearts by this mark that they have passed from death to life Which that it may appeare I shall speak first to the Object the Brethren then to the Act which is love Touching the Object let foure things be observed First this we certainly know that there are Saints on earth we believe the holy universall Church Now all who have passed from death to life those and none but those have a true and sincere love to the saints in generall praying heartily for them sympathizing with their suffering and rejoycing at their felicity None but a Saint can say in truth and with a sincere selfe-denying affection If I forget thee O Ierusalem let my right hand forget her cunning If I do not remember thee let my tongue cleave to theroof of my mouth If I preferre not Ierusalem above my chief joy Ps. 137. 5. 6. The Apostle commends praying for all Saints Eph 6. 18. and love to all the Saints Col 1. 4. I conceive he means not only all the Saints known to us but the whole invisible Church of Saints on earth That prayer and protestation Psal. 122. 7 8. when uttered in Spirit and Truth can proceed from no other but a gracious renewed heart peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy Palaces For my brethren and companions sake I will now say peace be within thee This very love to the Saints in generall as to the excellent and precious ones of the earth is a fruit of Sanctification and a mark of a renewed and gracious estate even as contrary wise they that have no love to the Saints in their species or kind that love and esteem men only for some earthly respect and consideration the Rich the Honourable the Mighty c. or for some particular humane relation Parents Wives Children Kindred Friends Benefactors c. much more they that delight in the company and fellowship of the prophane and ungodly prove themselves to be such as have not yet passed from death to life Secondly t is neither necessary nor possible that we have a a certain and infallible knowledge of the true Saintship and regeneration of these particular persons whom we love under the notion of Brethren and Saints The Apostles themselves did once look upon and love some as Saints who were no Saints Iudas Simon Magus Ananias and Saphyra and others of that kind It is Gods own prerogative to know certainly the hearts of men To require a certain knowledge of the Saintship of others before we can say we love the Brethren doth not only strike at the mark of love but at the duty of love and makes the yoke of Christ heavy yea unsupportable and the very Evangelicall commandment of love to be most grievous yea impossible And if the Antinomian objection hold good no man on earth can performe acceptably this duety of Love except he know the hearts of those whom he loves under the notion of Saints If it be replyed that the commandement of Christ is acceptably performed when to my best knowledge and observation and according to the best tryall which one Christian is allowed by Christ to take of another they are Saints whom I love under that notion and that tiâ—… not necessary to the acceptable pâ—…rformance of the duty of love that I know infallibly such a one to be a true Saint Then it will follow by the like rule and by parity of reason that comfort and assurance may be had from this mark I love the Brethren although I cannot certainly and infallibly say these whom I love are true Saints For if I can be cleare in point of the duety and that my obedience to the new commandement of Christ love one another is acceptable to God then may I also be clear in point of the mark or signe this proposition I love the Brethren being a necessary consequent from that proposition I have through the grace of Christ so far performed the duty of Love as that it is acceptable to God in point of new obedience and this leads me to a third answer 3. Particular or individuall Saints may be so farre known by their fruits and are so farre discernable and visible as that our love to them under that notion may be known to be an acceptable service to God and so a comfortable mark or evidence to our selves Which plainly appears from what Christ saith Math 10. 41. 42. He that receiveth a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall receive a Prophets reward And he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous mans reward And whoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water onely in the name of a Disciple verily I say unto you he shall in no wise lose his reward Before verse 11. Into whatsoever City or Town ye shall enter enquire who in it is worthy and there abide till ye goe thence Heb 6. 20. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of Love which ye have shewed towards his name in that ye have ministred to the Saints and do minister These believing Hebrews did not infallibly know that they were Saints to whom they ministred yet the Apostle tels them their worke was acceptable to God and made himself to be perswaded of them things that accompany Salvation They to whom he writes being conscious to themselves of the truth and sincerity of their love might much more be perswaded of themselves things that accompany Salvation from this mark of Love although they could not know infallibly the hearts of those whom they loved as Saints We may without either revelation or infallibility of judgement by the marks which the word gives us for judging and discerning of others so farre be perswaded in a judgement of Charity that this or that person is a Saint a Brother a Sister one in Christ as that our love to the person under that notion is according to the rules of Christ flowes from faith which worketh by love and is acceptable to God as a part of our new obedience If it were not so this absurdity would also follow there could be no communion of Saints one with another at least no such thing done in faith Do not Believers act in Faith and not doubtingly when they have communion one with another when they exhort and comfort one another when they pray one with another when they sympathize one with another If they do not act these things in Faith they sinne for whatsoever is not of Faith is sin 4. It is to be observed that he who objects to others
be proved by such marks as have no imperfection in them If the marks be true then is the grace true and that is enough to the point which I now assert But as the grace is not perfect no more are the marks of it perfect And as there is no faith here without some unbelief no repentance without some impenitency no watchfulnesse without some security no contrition without some hardnesse no self-denyall without some self-seeking So no love to the Brethren without some want of Love to the Brethren no marks of true Love without some imperfection and falling short and no marvell because no spirit without flesh no grace without corruption Feelest thou then those contrary corruptions those roots of bitternesse in thy heart if thou warrest against them through the strength of Jesus Christ and endeavourest to have thy love every way such as hath been described then God looks upon thee and would have thee to look upon thy selfe as a lover of the Brethren As long as thou art in this world thou shalt have cause to walk humbly with thy God because of the great imperfection of all thy graces and of thy love to the Brethren among the rest and still thou shall have flesh and corruption to war against all the powers parts acts of thy inward man Let there be but a reciprocall warring of the spirit against the flesh Gal. 5. 17 so shall thou passe in Christs account for a spiritual not for a carnall person Neither do I say that thou must alwayes finde a perpetuall conflict or battell between the flesh and the spirit or otherwise no ground of assurance The Apostle speaks of warring not of conflicting or fighting there is alwaies belluÌ„ though not alwaies praeliuÌ„ between the flesh the spirit The new man dare not make peace with the old man nay nor agree to a cessation of Armes with him dare not allow or approve corruption nor allow the neglect of means and endeavours Yet the new man is sometimes taken napping and sleeping sometime assaulted and spoiled and bound hand and foot he may be carried away as a poor prisoner but Christ will again relieve his own prisoner and set him in a fresh military posture against Sathan and sin I hope I have now so far scattered those mists clouds cast by Antinomians and so farre extricated a poore soul out of those doubtings into which they would drive it as that a Beleever may knowingly and confidently say I love the Brethren sincerly and unfeignedly and hereby I know that I have passed from death to life which is a good and sure argument whether we consult scripture or the experience of Saints CHAP. XXII Of the true reall and safe Grounds of enâ—…uragement to believe in Iesus Christ. OR Vpon what warrants a sinner may adventure to rest and rely upon Christ for Salvation THere are some Divines abroad who condemning Arminianisme and much more Pelagianisme yet have not adhered to the orthodox Doctrine asserted by the most approved Protestants writers and received by the best reformed Churches against the Arminians in the article concerning the death of Christ. These have found out a midle and a singular way of their owne that Christ died for all men conditionally viz if they shall believe in him that he hath redeemed all upon condition of Faith One of their arguments is because otherwise we cannot encourage sinners to believe nor satisfie a troubled conscience nor keep it from desparing Upon the like ground that all may be comforted every man being assured that Christ died for all men and so for himself Mr Moore hath written a tractat of the universalitie of Gods grace and of Christ dying for all men as himself expresseth in the title of his Book T is also one of Mr Saltmaâ—…sh his encouragements which he gives to sinners that Christ died for sinners as sinners as hee speaks whereupon it followeth according to the rule à quatenus ad omne that he died for all sinners Surely this is not the way as is pretended to ease and encourage the troubled and terrified conscience Neither can they by their principles minister solid comfort to a sinner tempted to despair of mércy All the scrupulosity and unsatisfaction of conscience which they object against our Doctrine that Christ died not for all but for the Elect only whom the Father gave him followeth as much yea more as I shall shew afterwards upon their own way First of all when they give comfort and encouragement to sinners upon this ground that Christ hath dyed for all upon condition of faith t is to be remembred that conditio nihil ponit in re the generality of men can draw no result from the death of Christ as it is set forth by their Doctrine but that Christ hath by his death made sure this proposition that whoever believes on him shall be saved or that all men shall be saved if all men believe Now a conditionall proposition is true in the connexion of one thing to another if this be that shall be although neither the one nor the other shall ever have an actuall existence If Sathan and wicked men get their will Christ shall have no Church on earth if the Elect fall away from faith and obedience they shall perish If the damned in hell had place and grace to repent and to believe in Christ they should be saved or the like So what solid comfort can the soul have from that conditionall proposition which is all the encouragement they do or dare give from the death of Christ to all men all men shall be saved by Christ if they believe on him Is it not as true and as certain may a sinner think with himself that no man on earth shall be saved if no man on earth believe and for my part if I believe not I shall be damned If all this hang upon the condition of my believing saith the troubled conscience why then hath not Christ merited to mâ—…e and will hee not give me the grace of believing That new Doctrine answereth that Christ hath merited faith and gives the grace of believing not to all but to the Elect only that God hath in his eternall decree inâ—…ended to passe by in the dispensation of his grace the greatest part of mankinde and to keep back from them that grace without which he knowes they cannot believe on Jesus Christ That though Christ meant that all men should have some sort of call to believe on him and should be saved upon condition of their believing yet he had no thought nor intention by his death to procure unto all men that grace without which they cannot believe This doctrine of theirs while it undertaketh to comfort all men and to encourage all to believe it tels them withall upon the matter that all cannot be saved because all cannot believe that God will not give faith and so not salvation either unto millions of sinners What comfort is
it then to know that all shall be saved if all believe when men are told withall that all shall not cannot believe and so shall not be saved This latter they hold as well as we therefore their universall comfort taken from Christs dying for all men upon condition of Faith amounts to as much as nothing The true and safe grounds of encouragement to faith in Christ are these First Christs all-sufficiency if he will he can He is able to save to the uttermost Heb 7. 25. art thou a sinner to the uttermost his plaister is broad enough to cover the broadest sore As Gods mercy so Christs merit is infinite and the reason is because the blood is the blood of God as well as of man Act 20. 28. This is a good strong foundation of comfort if a soule convinced of its own sinfull estate and of the vanity of creature comforts doth so farre settle its thoughts upon Christ that as he is the only Saviour so an alsufficient Saviour Then is the sinner so far encouraged which is no smal encouragement as to resolve there is vertue enough in the blood of Christ to cleanse my crimson sins even mine There is no help for me out of Christ but in him there is help for all that come unto God by him T is a great part of true faith to believe that Christ is able and all-sufficient Therefore he himself said to the blind men Mat. 9. 28 29. Believe ye that I am able to do this They said unto him ye a Lord then touched he their eyes saying according to your faith be it unto you He that said Lord if thou wilâ—… thou canst make me clean was not rejected by Christ as an unbeliever but he got from him a good answer I will be thou clean Mat 8. 2 3. So every poor sinner that comes unto Christ alsufficient and believing that Christ and Christ only can purge him from all sin and save his soul hath a true though imperfect faith and is in a faire way for Salvation There is many a true believer whose faith cannot as yet rise so high as to stay and rest upon the good will and love of Jesus Christ to him in particular But the soul believes the alsufficiency of Christ and that he only is the Saviour and so cometh and draweth near unto God by and in Christ as the summum bonum which he values above all things and this his faith although it hath not yet attained to a particular recumbency on the love of Christ to him is a true faith which Christ will not despise Secondly Christs intention to die for all men and for the whole world that is for all sorts of sinners in the world and so for sinners of my kind may every poor sinner in particular think with himself Here is an universall encouragement unto all from a true and real ground and drawn from the will and intention as well as from the power and alsufficiency of Christ which I shall make good from Scripture for he hath died for all sorts of persons there is no condition excluded For this I take the 1 Tim 2. 6. Who gave himself a ransome for all so ver 4. who will have all men to be saved The meaning must needs be of all sorts not of all persons For besides that the Apostles all can be no more then Christs many Mat. 20. 28. the Sonne of man came to give his life a ransome for many this very Text hath aboundance of light to give it self if we look to the context either before or behind before there is an exhortation to pray for all men vers 1. which although the Arminians make an argument that all men is meant of all persons and not only of all sorts both in that verse and vers 4. 6. because say they we ought to pray for all men universally pro singulis generuÌ„ not only for all sorts yet t is indeed an argument for the contrary For to pray for all men without exception of any person is not commanded but we find the contrarie commanded Ieremiah was forbidden to pray or make intercession for the obstinat incorrigible Jews Ier 7. 16. 11. 14. 14. 11. God would not have Samuel to mourn for Saul after he was rejected of the Lord 1 Sam 16. 1. and we ought not to pray for such as sinne unto death i. e. the sin of blâ—…sphemy against the holy Ghost 1 Io 5. 16. Paul is so far from praying for Alexander the copper-smith that he imprecats the vengeance of God upon him 2 Tim 4. 14. wee may not pray for the Pope who is the great Antichrist and sonne of perdition neither may we pray for but against Babylon especially after the people of God are out of her We are bidden pray for our enemies but not for the malicious incorrigible enemies of Christ. Whâ—…refore when the Apostle bids us pray for all men His meaning is that we should exclud no degree nor kind of â—…en great oâ—… smal Jew or Gentile bound or free c. and so he doth upon the mater explain himself in the very next words for Kings and for all that are in authority he saith not for all Kings but he will not have us exclude Kings nor Queens as such from our prayers nor any other subordinat Rulers When he saith all that are in authority he means any kind of lawfull authority for we may not pray for those who are in any unlawfull or usurped authority in the Church Archbishops Bishops Deans Archdeacons c. which prayer were an approbation of their unlawfull callings in the Church I doe not say that we may not pray for the persons of any Archbishops Bishops c. but we may not pray for them as clothed with such an office or authority as we are there bid pray for Kings quatenus Kings that we may live under them a quiet and peaceable life in all godlines and honesty so that a King or Emperour as he is clothed with such authority may not be excluded from our prayers But if we look upon all Kings and Emperours personally individually or numâ—…cally so it cannot hold true that we ought to pray for all that are in Authority otherwise the ancient Church had been bound to pray for Iulian the apostate Again if we look to that which there followes after we find vers 8. I will therefore that men pray every where or in every place lifting up holy hands What means he by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He means not in every individuall place without exceptiâ—…n for this were neither possible because there are many places in which there are not neither can be any to pray nor fit because we ought not to pray with lifted up hands in the streets or in the mercat places there are fit places both for publick and privat prayer and there are also unfit places either for privat or publick prayer The meaning therefore is that the worship
changeth the heart it maketh not a new man but leaveth him in the vanity of his former opinion and conversation Whence I infâ—…r that he who wil throughly rightly examine himself in this particular have I true faith yea or no Must needs before he have a solid resolution be put upon this further inquiry is there any heart-renewing or heart-changing work in me or am I still in the vanity of my former opinion and conversation yea or no I shall now after all this appeall to any tender conscience which is sadly and seriously searching it self whether it be in the faith whether Christ be in the soul and the soul in Christ let any poor wearied soul which is longing and seeking after rest refreshment ease peace comfort and assurance judge and say whether it can possibly or dare sit down satisfied with the Antinomian way of assurance before largely declared which yet hath been held foorth by those of that stamp as the only way to satisfie and assure the conscience and to put an end to all objections I begin to hear as it were sounding in mine ears the sad lamentation of a poor soule which hath gone along with their way of comfort and assurance and hath followed it to the utmost as far as it will go Oh saith the soul I have applyed my self to search and find out and to be clearly resolved in this great and tender point whether I bee in Christ or not whether I have passed from death to life from the state of nature into the state of grace or not whether I be acquit from the curse and condemnation of the Law and my sins pardoned or not when O when shall I be truly clearly and certainly resolved in this thing T is as darknesse and death to me to be unresolved and unsatisfied in it I refused to be comforted without this comfort Is id go to now and prove see this Antinomian way and when I had proved it I communed with mine own heart and my spirit made diligent search Then said I of it thou art madnesse and folly Their doctrine pretendeth to drop as the honey comb yet at the last it byteth like a serpent and stingeth like an Adder I find their words at first to be soft as oyle and butter yet I find them at last as swords and spears to my perplexed heart I am forbidden to try my spirituall condition or to seek after assurance of my interest in Christ by any mark or fruit of sanctification be it sincerity of heart hatred of sin love to the Brethren or be what it will be I am told it is unsafe and dangerous for me to adventure upon any such marks I do not mean as causes conditions or any way instrumentall in my justification for in that consideration I have ever disclaimed my graces nay I do not mean of any comfort or assurance by my sanctification otherwise then as it flowes from Christ who is made unto me of God sanctification al 's well as righteousnes But I am told by these Antinomians that even in the point of consolation and assurance t is not safe for me to reason and conclud from the fruit to the tree from the light to the sun from the heat to the fire from the effect to the cause I love the brethren with true and unfeigned love therefore I have passed from death to life They say I dare not I cannot have any true comfort or assurance grounded upon this or any such mark They promised me a shorter an easier a surer a sweeter way to come by the assurance which I so much long after They put me upon the revealing evidence or Testimony of the holy Ghost which I know indeed to be so necessary that without it all my marks will leave me in the dark But as they open and explain it unto me I must not try by the written word whether the voice or Testimony that speaks in my heart be indeed the voice of the Spirit of the Lord yet they themselves tell me that every voice in man which speaketh peace to him and speaketh not according to the word of grace is a spirit of delusion Again they tel me this Testimony of the Spirit of the Lord will put an end to all objections and is that beyond which there must be no inquiry yet by and by they tell mee there must there must be more then this there must be a receiving evidence of faith and till I believe I do not possesse Christ or his benefits neither can sit down satisfied and assured Oh then said I how shall I know that I have true faith Shall I try faith by the fruits of faith No say they by no means but try it by the eccho in the heart which answers the voice of the spirit as face answers to face in water But what if there be no such Eccho in my heart What if I cannot say with assurance my sins are forgiven me must I then conclude I have no faith And what if there be such an Eccho in mine heart how shall I know whether it be the voice of a true faith or whether it be a delusion Hath every one a true faith whose heart suggesteth and singeth my sins are forgiven me But where there is a receiving and believing said they there cannot be a dead faith Alas said I they leave me where I was How shall I know whether there be a believing or receiving Doe not themselves tell me there is a great difference between a true faith and a counterfeit faith are not these miserable comforteâ—…s who tell mee that true faith hath fruits and yet will not give me leave to try it by its fruits They teach me that Iustification is like the fire so that he that is not Zealous in holynes and righteousnes by Sanctification t is to be feared that he never had the fire of Iustification Another of them sâ—…ith doth not love manifested as truly and infallibly kindle love again a fire kindleth fire Sure then if I doe not love God and his children the Eccho in my heart which saith my sinnes are forgiven me is but a delusion Oh how have these men been charming and cheating me out of the right way They have unsetled mee and frighted me out of all my marks of grace or fruits of faith and when they have promised me a clear resolution behold they leave me much more unsatisfied They have deceived me and I was deceived When all comes to all in their way I must either conclude which I dare not that I have true faith because my heart suggesteth and saith my sins are forgiven mee without any tryall of faith by the fruits thereof or otherwise I am left in a labyrinth believe I must and they will allow me no markes to know whether I believe or not Wherefore I will not come into their secret I will come out of their paths which lead downe to the Chambers of death I