If any man i. e. the Man of Sin corrupt this Temple him shall God destroy with the Spirit of his Mouth 18. Let no man deceive himself If any man think himself Wise in the Wisdom of his own Spirit let him be a Fool that he may be Wise in the Spirit of God 14. Next let us observe how in a gradation the Apostle proceeds from things which best abide the Fire to them that least abide it which in an Allegory aludes to such Works built upon the Sure Foundation as will best and worst abide or live in the everlasting Fires of Hulam But not to enlarge upon the particulars of the Allegory First Because it would be too long Secondly Because Conjectures are the best Evidence I shall briefly hint at some from sundry Texts Gold which abides the Fire without any loss seemes to refer to Works wrought in Spirit and Love or rather Spirit of Love and next Faith which seeing from one manifest Text it is the bearer of that Shield which can quench all the fiery darts of Satan we may not doubt our own experience witnessing that its Work 's not unstable in the Heavenly Flames Next Silver passeth not the Fire without some loss yet looseth not by its Trial because what it fails in matter of quantity it gains in quality i. e. Purity Now Silver is that we are forbidden to give in Usury therefore must be something which we are apt to put forth to that purpose and in that seemes to agree well with Workes of Obedience according to the true Rule or Form and saith our Prophet Psal 12.7 Thy words are pure words O Lord like Silver tried seven times in a Furnace of Earth Now this Word is the true Rule and Form of sound Obedience and tho through the vanity of our Hearts such Works we are apt to abuse to Usury yet may we affirm that such Works built upon the Right Foundation in the Spirit of Love are like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver for that rare quality pure Love hath as it cannot work for Usury or Reward but only to please its Beloved David again thus Psal 66.10 Thouâ— O God hast proved us thou hast tried us as Silver is tried We came through Water and through Fire through Baptism into the Death of the Cross and through the Fiery Tryal and thou hast brought us into an overflowing place Whence appears That David and the Patriarchs also had some throws of the Fiery Trial as well as the former Warfare and that Humane Spirit as well as Arm of Flesh ought to be subdued to Christ Next Precious Stones of which I have little to say for how far they will abide the Natural Fire I find not but probably some more some less They were used as deckings in Holy Things and also the Great Harlot gloried in them so that they seem such embelishments as shine forth both in Christ and in Antichrist The Brest-plate of Judgement was adorned with them according to the twelve Tribes also the twelve Foundations of the Heavenly Jerusalem which wrought in rows became the Frontispice of the Purse where the Vrim and Thummim lay by which the High Priest received Oracles and therefore Precious Stones may refer to Prophecy Vision gift of Tongues Knowledge in Spirit as they are from God and also to these in the Spirit of Antichrist but these must be melted down and cease when Charity shall abide 2 Cor. 13.8 Wood is easily consumed but is the common fuel which rightly disposed by Men is so useful as without it Man can scarcely and neatly subsist and so ought our Sacrifices and Performances to Burn to Cherish to Vanish in Smoak and all we may hope for is that God will accept them as a sweet savour Next Hay and Stubble is most combustible and burnt or not burnt useful for nothing and may refer to works in Antichristian Pride and gross Usury 15. But some may say What is this Fire how shall I know and find it To which I answer The last Quaery is not needful for it will find thee in due season and it is enough that thou give it free course for as the Spirit so may it be quenched And for the first Quaery It is as in my dimn Glass it appears not far distant from the Spirit John's Testimony of Christ was He shall Baptize with the Holy Ghost and with Fire That is through the Holy Ghost he communicates Gifts unto Men whereby they may work and by the Fires he consumes the Chaff and Stubble which grow up with those Works and yet both as it were but one Spirit exercising two Offices and know it thou mayest thus If any thing more thee in Meekness Gentleness Love Joy c. to Duties and raiseth thee up to good performance that call thou the Holy Spirit and if any spiritual searching any trying of Heart and Reins ensue examine if thou hast done all in Integrity without Usury Pride or Hypocrisy and burns down or destroys all wrought upon that account as Chaff and Stubble and leaves such a remorse and grating in thee as will make thee afraid to offend again in the like kind Know that this is the heavenly Fire first nibling at the Heel and after will bruise the Head of thy lusting Spirit So marest that that gently treads upon any thing which bears the Image of thy Creator or is Meek Merciful and Humble and yet with Feet of burning Brass tramples upon Pride Usury Lustings Call it this trying Fire As for Example one for many The Spirit saith Give Alms or Pray and so thou dost but after an Examiner comes Was this in Sincerity didst thou not Give or Pray for Gain or for vain Glory Pride c. and before thine eyes spares what thou hast wrought in Gold purifies thy Silver and consumes thy Hay and Stubble this I say is the fruit of the Fire of God which thus by the sence of thy loss and after regret not only consumes thy Work but by degrees undermines those Principles from whence this Building with vain Mortar proceeds and establisheth those Works which shall live in the everlasting Fires of Hulam 16. And now these things permitted we proceed to the Critical Trial to which because the Last Days are yet far off even every one though newly Regenerated cannot set their Seals to yet for some particular Assaults may have some prospect thereof Now I say when the Spirit of Antichrist hath prevailed in any Believer building upon the Right Foundation as far as the fore-known Decree had alowed to it bounds Hitherto and no further Christ comes to re-visit his Heritage and not in the company of Fishermen as poor and despised but in great Glory and companies of Angels like Refiners Fire and calling to the Soul for an account of its Stewardship This saith he was my Promise I will be with thee and keep thee which I have performed for tho I withdrew from thee yet my Grace which
and to speak my own sense I judg this the very great and critical Point of sowing the good Seed in Sorrow which shall come again rejoicing and bringing its Sheaves with it for neither can Prayer Charity Humility or any of the practical Sisterhood in this State sow in Hypocrisie Vain-glory Merit and such Canker-worms but only in that acceptable Obedience I will do all I can and call my self the most unworthy of thy Servants my Faith is dead my Performances without life yet I will obey Rev. 14.12 Here is the Patience of the Saints here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus Christ And a Voice from Heaven saying Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their painful labours and yet their Works shall follow them Behold the Harvest vers 14. is at hand 23. But yet this Battel being thus far succesfully atchieved yet do not say thy Warfare is wholly finished only that abundantly great is thy advantage for thou hast gotten a strong City the Bulwarks whereof are Salvation but yet Christ who enrolls thee now as a free Volunteer requires thou shouldst still watch and stand upon thy Guard for so inveterate and restless an Enemy is Satan as he will never give thee rest as long as thou art in this Body and is grown so crafty that he knows both where thy weak part is and how to form fit Weapons against it And tho this is not that we shall now insist upon yet against one most desperate snare we shall briefly enter a Caution which is That as soon as thy Enemy perceives thou hast escaped all his Stratagems laid to entangle thee in the Fetters of Superstition he next seeks to make thee drunken with the pleasant Wine of Free Grace and therefore suggests that seeing Duties are of no force but Grace alone effects Salvation and Peace therefore there is no need to be longer conversant therein for they are but legal and thou art dead to the Law and consequently free from them and so to weary thy self in that which profiteth not is to spend thy time and strength for nought Now this is not a less dangerous than pleasing Temptation even a voluntary rendring back to Satan a strong City which with much labour and sorrow thou by the help of thy affecting Friend hadst forced from him for to speak freely what is upon my heart I say No Man can make right use of Duties and Spiritual Weapons until he have found the nakedness thereof namely that they cannot to any purpose offend an Enemy or defend a Friend till they receive both Edg and Temper from Free Grace for to trust in their legal Force is but a painful labouring in Tears and sowing in Sorrow a Thorn in the Flesh but having received a due temper in Grace they reap in Joy therefore it were uttermost Folly yea spiritual Madness after Wisdom hath taught the right use of Ordinances and saving Vertues to cast them off in pride of Spirit like that Husbandman who plows in the sweat of his Brows visits his Corn early and late but now when it grows white towards Harvest breaks down his Fences and lays it open to the wild Boar Beasts of the Field and Birds of the Air not foreseeing Winter and Want shall break in upon him as an armed Man or like a Man unskilful yet at his Weapon but will seek out and provoke a strong and subtil Enemy tho often buffeted for his pains and sometimes through want of skill woundeth himself but being come so expert and redoubted at Arms as his Foe dares not openly withstand him but by subtilty seeks to entrap him casts away his approved Weapons and falls asleep in full security giving his Enemy the advantage he desired namely to bind him fast and imprison him in the Darkness of Egypt and Fetters of Sensuality where he may wallow for ever if his affecting Friend do not in tender mercy drive him forth as he did Lot out of Sodom and indeed so bountiful is our Captain as he will not willingly lose one Hoof that hath followed him throughout the warfare of his Cross but will save at least some of these by Fire 1 Cor. 13.15 He shall suffer loss but himself shall be saved yet so as by Fire of which more hereafter But I fear some may have ran beyond the limits of Compassion for but to have nibled at the Bait is of great loss and doubtless to swallow it greedily without remorse is as great a desolation as a Son of Adam can pull upon himself even utmost licentiousness full-summ'd prophaneness and boldness in Sin beyond what nature in a natural way dare perpetrate whom I take it the Apostle defines thus For many walk of whom I have often told you and now weeping They are Enemies of the Cross of Christ whose End is destruction whose God is their belly and whose Glory is their shame who mind earthly things Phil. 3.18 Again Jude 18. They the Apostles told you there should be Mockers in the last times who should walk after their own Lusts these be they who separate themselves not having the Spirit But ye Beloved build upon Faith and pray in the Holy Ghost love God look for Mercy through Christ and of some have compassion making a difference and others save with fear pulling them out of the Fire Now these are them Paul speaks of in the former Texts and again another thus 2 Pet. 2.17 Wells without Water Clouds carried in a Tempest to whom the Mist of Darkness is reserved for ever for when they speak great vanity they allure through the Lust of the Flesh through great wantonness those escaped them conversant in Error whom whilst they promise Liberty are themselves slaves to Corruption and their latter end worse than their beginning For better had it bin for them not to have known God or Christ or an Ordinance than after having tasted the Heavenly Gift and bin made partakers of the Holy Ghost to fall back to such bold prophaneness or sensuality as is not known or heard of among Heathens Trees twice pluckt up by the Roots Brands in the Fire scarce capable to be plucked forth therefore I say watch and be sober be not high-minded but fear cast not away thy Soul 's fair hopes in Ordinances but hating the Garment spotted with the Flesh always take part with the Law of the Conscience in its Warfare against the Law of the Members But of this more anon Now it even of course falls out that the Soul which in the former Warfare was most rebellious and yet is at length subdued should be most subject to this Temptation for Man by nature is apt being convict of one extream to run out unto the other and besides as a Man soweth so shall he reap And hence as Experience confirms as a Man begins his Warfare so oft-times he finisheth it that is
hoped by this time to have been an Apostle or Prophet and to have fed upon the choice Mysteries of salvation and no secret too deep for me but these dry Ordinances are all my Food and therefore the Lord was sore displeased and the Fire of the Lord burnt amongst them and consumed the out-skirts of the Camp which yet at Moses his Prayer was quenched and the Place called Taberati i. e. the burning or brutish because the fire of the Lord burnt up their brutish lustings But for our teaching it's further observable that at Moses his Prayer though in his displeasure God to prove them gave them flesh dainty food as they lusted namely Quails by Interpretation Tranquility or ease which they receiving as due and still lusting as David reports it So they did eat and were filled for he gave them their Hearts desire but they were not estranged from their lusts the wrath of God came upon them and slew the wealthiest of them and smote the Chosen of Israel so as this was the soarer Evil for the former the fire only burnt the outcasts Hay and Stubble but this fell upon the choicest and the Place was called the Grave of lusts Whence it is again observable that to weeping though even murmuring Soules God somtime gives or as I may say humours with pleasant Gifts such as they lusted after more then their dayly bread which if they thankfully recieve and cease from Vsury and Murmuring it may go well with them but if they still lust God will bring their lustings to the Graves and Smite them in the choisest Gifts Secondly Though to covet the Golden Wedg is a great Sin yet it is much more displeasing when God condiscends to give Wisdom Knowledg Experience and you to abuse it to lust 22. But neither is this the utmost Tragedy which happens in this Trial for some loose all their Works and themselves though Saved yet throught Fire and sharp Trials some perish utterly for here abouts the Sin against the Holy Ghost seems to lie which are described 2 Tim. 3.1 more full 2 Pet. 3. and lastly Jude 17. which is thus Beloved remember the Words of the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ that they told you that in the last Time should be Mockers who should walk after their own ungodly lusts these be they who seperate themselves Sensual not having the Spirit which is of God but ye beloved by building up your selves on the most holy Faith praying in the Holy Ghost keep ye your selves in the love of God looking for the Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto Eternal Life and of some have compassion making a difference and others save by feare pulling them out of the Fire Thus Lot was plucked out of Sodom but surely after a sheep hath followed Christ into regeneration though in great infirmity he will not willingly leave it behind him 23. But leaving the bitter part let us enquire after the End of the Lord as James calls it and as it is most fully represented in Job who meek and patient as he was yet was not by all his affliction from God and stripes from his Friends sufficiently humbled nor vile in his own Eyes until God spake to him and reproved him Job 28.2.40.2 And lastly until by the Eye of the Mind he perceived him 42.1 Then Job answered the Lord and said I know thou canst do all things no thought hid from thee Hear I pray thee and I will speak I will ask and do thou make me know by the hearing of the Ear I have heard thee and now my Eye seeth thee therefore I contemn my self and repent in Dust and Ashes And now as after this humiliation and ascription of all Glory to God his sorrows ended and after he had prayed for his Friends for Charity is never out of Date his Peace and Riches were doubled so shall it be to all them who with him thus close up this Trial no more rumours of War only some such Sicknesses and Ridintigrations of Love as for the absence of her beloved as the Song of Sons Celebrates 24. And now I say this Tryal burning up our Spiritual lustings is not only matter of Joy profitable but upon the tenure of our Lords promise and our yea yea nay nay is necessary for on his part it is I will be with thee and bless thee and on ours thou vouchsafing so to do we will be thine and have no God but thee And forasmuch as God will not lead them to whom he hath not given Power to follow nor none have Power given to follow him who have enslaved their own Minds and Affections to their own by mistaking the Guid taking their own Spirits in which the Spirit of Antichrist is begun to Work for the Spirit of Truth therefore a necesssary Fundamental on God's part is that he consume the tincture from Antichrist and subdue our Wisdom to his and that we in the Strenght he affords cheerfully resign them to him and therefore as long as our Hearts by dayly and full experience convince us that our own Counsels are the Compass by which we steer our Course and our vild affections the Loadstone at which our Compass points it is necessary that God in his fit and long before seen opportunity visit us with such corrasives as his Wisdom hath predestinated to cousume the wicked one and subduing the will and all other affections that stood in the Gap of that performance of our mutual Stipulations which is the heavenly fire and brightness of his comming 25. And now seeing the subduing and consuming of what is to be consumed and subdued is necessary it is not fit to question whither it shall be done in our way or Gods and yet assuredly the great Remora is that Man perâ—mtorily persists to have it in his own way that is to have it speeily easily and by Usury and Merit as the Sons of Zebedee who but now warmed under the Wings of Christ ask Master we would that thou wouldst do whatsoever for us we desire i. e. that we pray for and perhaps the first desire would have been a Serpent for a Fish Wisdom Prophesy Revelation Healing Miracles all which were prepared for them in the set time and what else might puff them up make them glorious in the eyes of men so boundless is self-love opinion of self-merit not considering how these would inflame that pride which was already too strong for them for surely as our Lord answered these petitioners we should ask we know not what as after James reproving himself saith Ye ask and have not because ye ask that ye might bestow it upon your own lusts And now God's way is that first this lustings might be burnt up our wills conformed to his and the Spirit of Anti-Christ consumed which cannot be if asking for our lusts we obtain and working in Usury we gain the Hire 26. And here is another sore Evil we all even the most perfect presume we
in yea yea to perform his determinate purpose And in the resisting of evil he ought to behave himself in the like manner only this distinction admitted if he have resisted evil sin calamities c. And hath not obtained he ought to say with Job Shall we receive Good at the hand of God and not Evil and yet to mourn with them and bear a share of their grief upon whom the Calamity fal's and yet so to mourn as not mourning knowing that his Resistance his not Succeeding his Mourning and Calamity work all together for the accomplishing the Counsels of God 29. Whence I say as far as this heavenly Fire hath consumed our lusts and subdued our wills to the will of God so far have we Peace and Rule as Kings with God and what is short retain's a Leaven which may produce bitterness and though few or none have attained yet no one which ought not to press hard after this mark as Paul Phil. 3.14 First despising Legal Righteousness touching which he was blameless He next rejoyceth in the Cross of Christ being made conformable to his Death And 3dly Speaks of a third state of perfection which he laboured after and had not attained which I suppose was that we now speak of For say's he If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead not as if I had already attain'd or were perfest but I follow after that I may apprehend that for which Christ apprehended me Bretheren I count not my self to have apprehended but this one thing forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to the things that are before I press towards the mark for the prize of the high Calling of Christ Now these things manifestly refer to things of a sublime matter not yet attain'd by Paul but were attainable The first is To attain to the Resurrection of the dead Which by comparing 1 Cor. 15.51 52. We shall not all sleep but we shall he changed with 1 Thes 4.15 We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep Whence I take this that Paul press'd after to be the perfection the dead in Christ shall arise in or that those which remains alive at his coming shall in this Life have attain'd namely that Innocency which in a moment may be changed into Incorruption And the second to apprehend that for which I am apprehended c. is much the same thing as by comparing these with 1 Thes 5.10 Who died for us that is apprehended us that whether we awake to the last or in the interim fall asleep we should live together with him And the third The prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ is the Close and Crown of all as in another place I have fought the good Fight I have finish'd my Course I have kept the Faith henceforth a Crown of Righteousness the Prize of the high Calling is laid up for me And now I say the burnings up of the lusting of the humane Spirit is the Threshold of this Resignation and it of these three attainments Paul pressed after for it consumates Perfection in Soul in Body and Spirit also it works in Gold in the Spirit of Love Faith Patience for greater Love on the part of mortals cannot be than to give up himself and all his to his Beloved nor greater Faith than in full ease and assurance to trust him withal nor greater Patience than to be sick of Love and yet to charge the Solliciters of her Nuptials by the Hinds and the Roes not to awake her Beloved until he please And surely this Resignation signed there remains nothing save such like Love passages until the day of Espousals come 30. Not taking a or the Reward upon Innocency or upon the Innocent for so all read and in both senses it may pass as of so necessary a performance as they that transgress cannot attain the immoveable State for a whole current of Scripture requires all men the Magistrate especially to defend the cause of the Innocent Widdow Fatherless and Oppressed recording it as a principle part of that Religion which is pure and undefilled in the sight of God And whereas the Scripture describes Justicers to bear to the Image of God the just Judge af the whole Earth above other high Callings among the Sons of men and placeth Justice upon two Pillars bringing the wicked to just punishment and rescuing the Innocent from oppression it rather gives the right hand of fellowship to this second part and to say all in one word God ownes it among the lofty Attributes ascribed to himself And our Lord among these weighty matters the Father required him to execute in the Earth Art thou a Magistrate surely then thou hast a Gift in thy hand which may promote thee to great honour in Heaven and in Earth but beware that thou abuse it not for to justify the Wicked and condemn the Innocent will make thee stink on Earth and gnash thy teeth in Hell 31. But yet this hath a further and more Spiritual meaning namely That man being emptied of all his fleshly confidence and spiritual Pride and drawn near to that Innocency capable to be attained by mortals This Precept the last Link of this golden chain teacheth him how to receive the reward that is not upon the account of his Innocency but still as the free gift of Grace Isai 33. hath it thus who shaketh off his hands from being supported in the reward that is not serving as a Hireling or expecting the reward as having obeyed but leaves all to the bounty of his Master whose Love he hath so often proved Now therefore the tenour of this Precept is that though a man have obtained all that perfection and innocency that Tammin the Cross and Resignation the Fire of God can give yea all that perfection Paul pressed after yet may he not upon this account stretch forth his hand to receive the reward but take it upon naked and free Grace from one that owes him nothing and that verily all his Perfection and Innocency only makes him capable of receiving what Grace offers 32. For the better understanding of this it behoveth that we first enquire what Innocency is and upon what it stand's for it remarkably differs from the rest of the Sisterhood of Gifts and Vertues First in its Original for of all it was first born before man even with the first void and empty Earth next in the Light Air Water Earth and first Elements of things so as it most especially before it was in Act In-bread and not acquired which is rare in other Vertues for Love is not Love until it doth Love nor is Patience until it suffer patiently c. Again of all other it is neat curious and gentle serene as Chrystal but tender as a bubble of Water in some respect and strong as Iron in another for from without itself no Enemy can harm it though Sin
Iniquities not imputed 12. Who shall dwell in thy holy Mountain This is the second Clause of the Question and doubtless Symbolical as in Scripture it frequently is upon which now to insist would draw forth a too long Discourse But briefly we observe God had many Mountains First Horeb Exod. 3.2 upon which the Worship of the first Patriarchs gave up its Scepter to the Tabernacle as after upon Mount Calvarie the Tabernacle resigned to the Gospel but Horeb is not that we seek because in Allegory it answers for Sinai and it are one to Hagar the Bond-woman and gendreth unto Bondage So also we find Tabor Herman Basan ascribed in peculiar to God also Carmel Lebanon Paran Moriah c. celebrated in Scripture for many great works But above all or at least most frequently Mount Sion comes under lofty Characters into remembrance where I say the Mountain in Allegory refers to a sacred Worship not standing so much in Types and Ceremonies as in the more weighty and fundamental parts of Piety And therefore seeing it must refer to some known Worship which was or had been and yet was not the then Tabernacle it necessarily points at the Worship of the old Patriarchs Noe Melchisedec Abraham Jacob Job c. And besides it is manifest from Scripture that in that Age the Fathers did worship upon Mountains in Faith Reverence Love and the rest consisted more in contemplation upon the high Attributes of God than Ceremonial Duties also without a Law that of Blood and Murder Gen. 9.4 excepted save that writ in the Heart by Nature which yet had then a condemning force for seeing no Law no Sin and no Sin no Death and yet Death reigned from Adam to Moses therefore then both Sin and Death were in Act and consequently a Law Also hence it appears that this Mountain-Institution was established in the Wisdom of the natural Mind yet not perverted by its own reasoning but purged from such in the sweeping Judgment of the Flood and illuminated by God to perceive what was best pleasing to him in the main Fundamentals And the Mind thus inspired was left to it self in point of order to present her best fruits in her best manner for even half debauched Nature knows that its Maker ought to be served out of the first and best stores which consisted more in Reverence Knowledge Prayer contemplative Holiness and Faith than practice of Ordinances in Moses's way For of Noah it is said He walked with God Gen. 6.9 That he was moved with Fear Heb. 11.7 And that he was a Preacher of Righteousness 2 Pet. 2.5 Which shews him to have bin acceptable for his Fear Wisdom Preaching and Contemplation in Doctrinal Holiness And Abraham through the whole Scripture is celebrated for Faith and as I take it Jacob's wrestling with the Angel and prevailing was by Faith and Prayer So as from those leading Men we may reasonably conclude that the leading Graces in Mountain-Worship were Reverence Knowledg Faith and Prayer naked and simple in themselves without other external performances of Touch not taste not handle not or any thing of that rule of Obedience which consisted in Tabernacle-Ceremonies or Form of Religion And yet did the Patriarchs under these attain to great perfection enjoying a more pacate state than under Tabernacle-Institution For Noah made an everlasting Covenant in behalf of all Flesh and was perfect and just Abraham was the Friend of God and Father of the Faithful who blessed him were blessed and who cursed him were cursed Isaac was the promised Seed in whom all Nations were blessed Jacob wrestled with the Angel the Messiah and prevailed Neither are these ever taxed with any gross Sin or Failing nor any other of the first most eminent Patriarchs But Moses failed and provoked God First refusing to accept of his Ambassage to Pharaoh because it was dangerous to the Flesh secondly in not circumcising his Sons and lastly at the Waters of Strife and therefore was not permitted to enter into the Land of Rest When the Father of the Faithful never staggered but at the first word left Father Mother Kindred and Country and followed God he knew not whither neither did he delay to sacrifice a dearer Son than Gershom was nor ever failed to believe in the Promise tho against hope So David failed exceedingly in the matter of Vriah and numbring the People yet these two were the great Pillars in Tabernacle-Worship and for their failings many Afflictions befell them And in like manner Eli Sampson Jephtha Solomon and others had their failings and afflictions Neither is this to be wondred at for the Knowledg and Fear of God are the foundation of Piety and Faith and Prayer the Spirit thereof and the Ceremonial part and rule of Typical Obedience but the formal the first stable and firm the second liable to Spiritual Whoredoms which in Scripture-Language is Superstition and Idolatry which are the beginning cause and end of all Evil Wisd 14.27 Besides it was a Yoak neither we nor our Fathers were able to bear So that Tabernacle and Mountain-Worship comprehend the whole Body of Religion which consists in two parts Contemplative and Practical the first excelling in Knowledg Doctrine Preaching opening the Word Prophecy Gift of Tongues and the other in Obediences Works Duties and Performances of the Things which the first teach Which also are twofold some referring to God as most Types do and are not simply by themselves holy but by the Command sanctified so as in their seasons they required an obedience which was necessary unto Salvation other referring to our Neighbours the sum of which is Charity and Justice in their lovely effects and indeed are more incumbent on the Gospel-Church now than they were upon the Legal before for then it was Love your Friends and hate your Enemies but now Love your Enemies c. Both briefly taught by our Saviour Love thy Neighbour as thy self and again Do unto others as thou wouldest others should do unto thee These are again signified to us in the two great Commandments but in a little different method the first referring to our Duty to God and Comprehending as well Tabernacle as Mountain-Worship for the first is Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart soul and mind in which Obedience to all Rites Seals or Types as well Legal in their season as Evangelical in our day was comprehended and was both contemplative and practical Mountain and Tabernacle-Piety The first is as our Lord saith the great Commandment and the second is like unto it Love thy Neighbour as thy self Which is wholly practical and as I said of more especial force in our Gospel-day So as indeed David's Tabernacle and Mountain differ not much from contemplative Piety and practical nor much from the two great Commandments for to love God is contemplative and to exercise Charity is practical and obedience to Typical Commands consists in both for to sacrifice to wash baptize c. is
Church And this is a sore Evil I fear frequent in our Land for saith our Lord Whosoever shall say to his Brother Thou Fool is in danger of Hell-Fire I perceive not fully what is meant by Thou Fool for I do not confine it wholly to the literal sence but however it leaves it without controversy that to reproach a Brother is a great Offence Which Evil began even yet before the Apostles had finished their course and in this Age hath taken so deep root as if that day were come in which the Love of many shall wax cold For if any differ from that Form which is constituted to the Generality of a Nation and is practically used by all as well he that sweareth and he that feareth an Oath or professeth not Godliness as he that doth he is strait way reproached with Names of Contempt and but to name a Worship more in Spirit and Truth than this is is a matter to be brought before the Judg And which yet is more to be lamented even those that desire to sacrifice in Spirit deride and bite one another in such matters as are but form so as Pulpits and Books writ in Vinegar take this way of reproaching To whom I say nothing save in the words of the Apostle The Tongue is an unruly Evil full of deadly Poison with the same Mouth yea and Breath bless we God even the Father and curse Men which bear his similitude yea even such as earnestly seek to be more and more conformed to Christ My Brethren these things ought not to be so Was ever the Church of Christ in all things of one persuasion No not in the Apostles days But did Paul ever reproach them of the Concision who believed in Christ and yet were zealous for the Law Acts 21.20 Was not the great Decree of the first General Council held by the Disciples at Jerusalem Acts 15. in order to the binding up of all in the Bands of Unity And when the Church multiplied did not differences in Judgment increase And when it was most free from difference was it not most shadowed under Superstition and ignorant Zeal as is most manifest if we look but two Centuries back Why therefore should we reproach one another as long as we all agree in that great Fundamental That Jesus is come in the Flesh and that he is the Christ of God and the Lamb that takes away the Sins of the World How therefore seeing by this Confession John 1.42 we know the Spirit of God is there how shall we escape if we say to such a Believer and Confessor Thou Fool Thou poor deluded Soul was not this the Message from the beginning 2 John 3.11 Love one another not as Cain the wicked one who slew his Brother because his Works were more righteous than his But above all things beware that thou persecute not thy Brother for filthy Lucre's sake or because he stands as an Umbrage to thine outward Interest Riches or Glory for as Godliness is great Gain so to convert Godliness into Gain is utter Shipwrack For a Bishop ought to be blameless not given to Wine no Striker not given to filthy Lucre but patient not a Brawler not covetous not high-minded not reviling his Reviler but seeking the Peace and Good of the Church Are there not some that have the form of Godliness without the power Are there not others that whilst they boast of the Power despise the Form to their own Loss And hath not God a choice People who taking the safe and middle Path join both in good weight and measure And doth it not behove that the Strong bear with the Weak and consequently because no Professor but in his own Persuasion thinks he is joined to the Strongest Therefore ought every one to bear with every one as it is written Let us therefore as many as are perfect be thus minded and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded God shall reveal even this unto you Nevertheless whereto we have already attained let us walk in the same Rule let us mind the same things Lastly I say Whosoever so confines Christ to any one Form of Worship as to persuade himself none save they walking in that way can be saved is a Reproacher of the whole Church of God not walking in that Form Or whosoever excludes any one Form so far as to pronounce no Observer thereof can find Grace he is a Reproacher of all under that Form tho they believe that Christ is come in the Flesh is the Son of God and able to save Sinners of whom he is one amongst the chief And surely if Christ was so severe as this Man O Lord who might abide it Be not high-minded but fear Blessed are the meek humble poor in Spirit blessed are the Merciful and Peace-makers for they shall be called the Children of God Go and learn what this meaneth I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice and then you will not condemn the Guiltless Love covers a multitude of Sin Love is the fulfilling of the Law And if Christ hath magnified his Love in giving his Life for us whilst Enemies will he not much more magnify it for that loving Servant who is ready to lose Life House and Goods in the confession of him Fear not therefore thou Worm who lovest so but persevering in Love walk humbly reproach not be faithful to the end and so receive thy Crown But now the far end of the Precept is Reproach not thy Reproacher If a wicked or prophane Person or a Drunkard not having God in all his thoughts or one making a Gain of Godliness shall make thee their Song and Scorn yet do not thou if thou wilt not offend with thy Tongue retort upon them for as Solomon saith There is a Fool not to be answered in his Folly lest thou be like unto him But whoso reproacheth a Reproacher becomes a Reproacher and consequently this Fool. But this is almost as difficult as to go and sell all that we have and give it to the Poor But however if we cannot so bridle our Tongues wholly let us strive to do as much as we can and when Passion hath transported us let us at least confess the evil of our Hearts and mourn under it For that this is the Rule we should walk up unto is manifest from our Lord 's walking whom we ought in all things to make our Example as it is written For this is thank-worthy if a Man for Conscience towards God endure Grief suffering wrongfully For even hereunto were we called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an Example that we should follow his Steps who did no Sin neither was Guile found in his Mouth Who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously And again 1 Pet. 3.8 Finally my Brethren be all of one mind have compassion one to another love as Brethren be pitiful be courteous not
thee leave thy Gift there go thy way and be first reconciled to thy Brother and then offer thy Gift Mat. 5.23 But on the contrary if in the Fear of God Love of Christ and Charity with all Men thou sacrifice who will lay any thing to thy charge Is it not God that justifies Is not Christ at his right-hand And if he died for thee yet an Enemy will he now refuse thee bringing a Gift in the hand of Love his most beloved Grace that Grace which covers a Multitude of Offences fulfills all Precepts and without which no Gift can be acceptable And now to speak what hath been upon my Heart I fear the neglect of this Duty not returning Evil for Evil hath provoked God more against his praying People than any other Sin they through common Infirmity are subject unto and the more because it hath rather been indulged as a Vertue than contended against as an Evil as judging a small yea and uncertain Error worse than a manifest Breach of a Command ten times repeated deceiving themselves with that common saying which oft comes from a false Heart I love his Person but hate his Error Whatever therefore thou offerest do it in Love O how displeasing and broken must those Prayers be where all should be of one mind but indeed one asks one thing and another the contrary where one blesseth another curseth Ask saith our Lord in my Name and have but we ask and have not And what can be the cause save what the Apostle objects Jam. 4.3 We ask amiss to bestow it upon our Lusts Malice Pride Wrath for the Promise of Christ cannot fail but to him Glory to us Confusion of Faces belongs But O how powerful would Prayers be proceeding from a beloved and chosen People and centering in perfect Love towards God and Man when they meet together at the Throne of Grace not seeking their own but the Honour of God Good of the Church and mutual Edification one of another for hereby the return would be Ask of me things to come touching my Sons and concerning the Work of my hands command ye me Whence we see how great a thing and acceptable to God Love is perfectly fulfilling the Law and all the Prophets require in order to the establishing of our Peace for he that loves all Men cannot reproach his Reproacher nor wilfully do evil unto him that doth evil unto him 8. Not bringing Reproach upon his Inwards or Warfare that is upon his Mind or Conscience in the Conflict between the Law of his Mind and the Law of his Members which is whilst we are fighting the good Fight to ascribe any part thereof to the Merit of our own Sword or Bow as the false Heart is apt to do And that which seems parallel to this in Psal 24. is Not lifting up his Soul to Vanity or a Lie For there is no Lie or Vanity like that which would ascribe the beating down of Satan our Enemy to its own Arm no greater Reproach to the Judg the Conscience which hath so often discovered and condemned the Infirmities and Vanities thereof This indeed is read otherwise by Interpreters namely reproach upon his Neighbour And tho the Sister-Text doth favour our reading yet lest I might seem to have transgressed in departing from the old footsteps I shall give some further Reasons and submit all to the correction of the Pious and Learned First It is manifest from all the Questions Who shall dwell and Applications in all the three Sister-Texts that the Duties required in the Answers are those essential Vertues which are the price of the immoveable and immortal Crown which indeed are such things as Eye hath not seen Ear hath not heard nor hath entred into the Understanding of Man And therefore not reproaching a Neighbour being but a Moral Vertue known to all Men by the Light of Nature so expresly as debauched Man tho he do not practise it cannot blot it out I do not think it was the Prophet's most legitimate intention And furthermore because this whole Verse may be practised from a Natural Moral Principle by Men who yet may miss of immoveable Reward promised in the Close not that I deny that as Moral they are pleasing to God Secondly If we compare the first Clause of the Verse with this they differ little in words but in effect are the same For Thou shalt not backbite with thy Tongue and Thou shalt not reproach thy Neighbour are the same for tho thy Tongue is not expressed in the latter nor Neighbour in the former yet that both are necessarily understood is manifest because one is the Instrument of Backbiting the other the Object thereof without both of which it could not exist Reproach cannot be save by the Tongue nor can it be said we backbite any thing but a Man or a Neighbour for in Scripture-Language most usually by thy Neighbour every or any Man is meant So as so reading it is but a reduplication of the same which in Scripture which avoids Tautologies unnecessary Words or gingling Phrases is very rare and indeed I think never save for emphasy sake And therefore Gospel-Precepts which doubtless are the best and safest Interpreters of the Law Prophets avouching that the Graces accordingly as we express them are the price of immortal Life and the Hebrew it self according to the true legitimate root favours our reading as fully as the other and as I think more also I have adventured tho still confessing my self unskilful in the Sacred Tongue to depart from the trodden Path having this for my satisfaction that tho I may fall short of the pure Hebraism yet as long as I make it agree with a Gospel-Interpretation I cannot sow any dangerous or unwholesom Error but if any contend I shall submit 9. Of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we have already said something namely that it is that intimate part in Man where God writes his Law and in which the Spirit of Man resideth which I take to be the Mind or Conscience where indeed the Law of God is writ and God vouchsafeth to converse with Man Again it signifies the middle of a thing or within because the Mind is the very middle Center or Life of the Soul sitting there as God's Vicegerent exhorting reproving accusing condemning or excusing in great Majesty and Authority for where the Answer of a good Conscience is who can condemn When it is wounded who can bear it As the Apostle saith Which shews the Work of the Law is written in their Hearts their Consciences witnessing with them and their Thoughts between or within themselves accusing or excusing one another Thirdly 'T is a Battel or Warfare shewing that the Mind or Conscience is the middle part or Lists wherein the Spiritual Warfare is fought which is very often taken notice of by the holy Writers as Paul saith I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind Which Law I take to
be the Law of God writ in my Conscience And again I take the Word in the Heart and Mouth to differ very little from the Law in the Mind namely that God speaks immediatly in the Mind the sound thereof goeth forth into the Heart writing the same Law there and the Tongue speaking according to the abundance of the Heart declareth the Law to the whole Man as conceived by the Heart So as the Line goeth forth through the whole Earth of the little World and where the Heart is faithful God dictates from the Mind it believeth unto Righteousness and the Mouth doth confess unto Salvation but where the Heart takes part with the sensual Part Satan prevails in that Warfare and the Voice of God from the Conscience becomes a severe Judg and Executioner Whence I understand this thus He that bringeth no Reproach upon his Mind nor whom his Conscience reproacheth not who brings no scandal upon his Warfare nor Captain-General our Lord but like a faithful stout Souldier followeth him wheresoever he goeth 10. Now this is the sixth Link of the same Chain for until we have learned to walk in Love not to reproach or do evil to them that revile us we cannot keep our Consciences free from Spots nor follow our Captain 's steps who when he was reviled reviled not again But for those so learned we are in a capacity of being enrolled in his Host by which we as yet may not conclude that all Tears are already wiped from our eyes but to hope that by our Faithfulness we are in a sure way of obtaining it but not without Bickerings and many Blows Thorns in the Flesh and Buffetings from our irreconcileable Enemy Satan whom yet at length God shall tread under our feet Now this Spiritual Warfare is the keeping a good Conscience and the preserving of it unspotted is the fighting this good Fight As Paul to Timothy 1 Tim. 16. This Charge I commit unto thee That thou by them mightest war a good Warfare holding Faith and a good Conscience And the Weapons thereof as he next sheweth Chap. 6.11 are Righteousness and Godliness by consumption Faith which is the Shield Love Patience and Meekness with which saith he Fight the good Fight of Faith lay hold on Eternal Life And the Enemies against which we are to fight are not only the Flesh and Blood but Principalities and Powers Rulers of Darkness Eph. 6.12 That is You are not only to strive against those Spiritual Lusts and Infirmities which proceed from the Flesh as common to all Men but also those Spiritual Evils of the Heart and Mind which Satan would ensnare you in Superstition Idolatry Dependencies in Duties in Angels Spirits of just Men or any Power in Heaven or in Earth which is under Christ our Sun and Shield For when the Soul will not be captivated by the Lusts of the Flesh Satan that he may not lose his possession will transform himself into an Angel of Light and will preach even from Scripture-Texts Spiritual Idolatry as he did to our Captain-General For setting him upon a Pinacle above the Temple and holy City which were Gospel-Types he takes a Text and produces a Promise wherein a great Christian Prerogative is contained and all to ensnare our Lord in presumptuous Sin If thou beest the Son of God cast thy self down for it is written He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee c. Now this is a Spiritual Wickedness because he ensnared therein abuseth Grace and Love from Heaven into Wantonness a sore Evil and frequent in our Days So when Satan would persuade to live upon the Bread of our own purveying and not of the Word made Flesh 't is one of his Strong-Holds against which we are to fight in the way and words of our Captain-General Man lives not by Bread onely c. And therefore the Apostle adds Take the whole Armour of God the Breast-plate of Righteousness Helmet of Salvation Sword of the Spirit Prayer and Supplication but above all the Shield of Faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery Darts of the wicked One That is will be able to preserve the Answer of a good Conscience from all Guilt which wounds it as a flaming Fire Again which helps to clear this our Exposition 2 Cor. 10.4 For tho we walk in the Flesh yet do not we war after the Flesh for the Weapons of our Warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of Strong-Holds casting down Imaginations or Reasonings and every high thing that exalts it self against God and bringing into Captivity every Thought to the Obedience of Christ That is The Strong-Holds of Satan or Nature or whatsoever thing it be that would set up it self in our Hearts as a Mediator or Saviour or any way pretend to the Offices of our Lord must be utterly subdued and cast down Again 2 Tim. 2.4 Thus thou therefore endure Hardship as a good Souldier of Jesus Christ No Man that warreth intangleth himself with the Affairs of Life to the end he may please him who hath chosen him to be a Souldier And if a Man also strive for Masteries yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully Wherein again three Duties more are required in this Warfare First That he resolve to undergo all hardships and temptations the frost of Winter and heat of Summer want of Bread or Water in the Wilderness he must neither yield to the hardships of Legal Duties nor to the ease or pleasure of the Flesh Secondly He must not intangle himself with Martha in the Cares of this World but with Mary chuse the better Part or with Moses rather chuse to be afflicted with his Brethren and Fellow-Souldiers than to enjoy the Contents of a Carnal Life for a Season wholly give himself up to the Service of God who elected and called him to the War and be in all things obedient to his Captain And lastly He must strive lawfully not doing violence to any accusing no Man falsly nor murmuring at his hard Service and shortness of Pay but be content with such Wages and Rewards as God sees fit both when and how to give him and patiently wait for the Crown the final Reward neither must he break Parrole with an Enemy or tell a lie for the honour of his Captain because thereby he indeed defames him as if he could not conquer without Sin when indeed the end of the Warfare is by perfect Righteousness to subdue Sin and all its Supporters Lastly We shall add one Text more which shews the Reward of the Faithful Souldier 2 Tim. 4.7 8. I have fought a good Fight I have finished my Course I have kept the Faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto every good Souldier of Jesus Christ Which agrees exactly with the intent of the Prophet for what Paul calls a Crown David
but rather that sooner or later it shall overtake them for it seems to be that Temptation or Trial that must come upon all Flesh and that Stone upon which he that falleth not and is broken it shall fall upon him and grind him to Pouder Psal 75.8 Also that Cup which is in the Hand of the Lord the Wine red and full of mixtures and he poureth out of the same even upon the Righteous but the dregs thereof the Wicked shall wring out and drink for the Lord trieth the Righteous but upon the Wicked he poureth Fire Brimstone and Burning Tempest the portion of their Cup Psalm 11.6 And again Thus saith the Lord Take the Cup of Wine of this Fury at my Hand and cause all Nations to whom I send thee to drink it and if they refuse say unto them Thus saith the Lord Ye shall certainly drink it Jer. 25.15 28. So as this Cross must in some acceptation come upon all but vastly different for to the Righteous it is the Cup of Salvation and to the Wicked of Perdition for it taketh them in the vigor of their days they shall not be able to ford over to the New Birth but shall perish in the way if it do not come then it shall not fail at the hour of death when the desperate unbelieving Soul shall be rent from the Body and hurried away in the burning Tempest to the gnashing of Teeth prepared for them Yet we ought not to judg any Man for the God of Mercy can yea and doth in this hour shew Mercy to some as Brands plucked out of the Fire And indeed the last blows of this Warfare are in the choice ones of God oft-times reserved to the Accounts made upon their Death-beds and blessed are those that being prepared watch for it with Oil in their Lamps And indeed thus it befel our Lord for tho he carried his Cross daily yet not until then did the Pangs thereof fall upon him for then tho without Sin he suffered as a Transgressor and tho ever blessed he then bore the Curse for us as it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth upon a Tree so as tho a Lamb spotless and without guile yet died he as a Sinner of Sinners and great was his tribulation and the like we must expect For if any Murmurings Self-Wisdom Merit or Idolatry remain in this Crisis all that will have Christ must cast them away reserving nothing save Him and his Cross naked and crucified What manner of Men then ought we to be watching and preparing for the coming of our Lord But to return The Worldly Cross which many of the Children of God competently escape cannot be that Cross which none avoid yet do I not say that any in Christ are exempted from a careful diligence in bearing that Cross when thereunto called nor is it of Sin to take such a Calling as may imbitter it but rather judg this may prepare the way and make the other more easy for it hath often been a Means in God's hand to call Sinners and worldly-minded Men into the right way And lastly I say That he that cannot bear this Cross shall much less bear the other and therefore betimes and as preparatory it behoves all Men to order their Hearts to undergo cheerfully what this Cross can bring Art thou married Thou hast not therefore sinned for the Marriage-Bed is honourable and Children the Blessing of God yet by this means the worldly Cross is more surely entailed upon thee and the Duty of bearing it urged more strongly For to want natural Affection is brutish not to provide for our Widows is to deny the Faith and he that will not work neither let him eat Besides we owe a Duty to Nature to the World to our Country to them ruling over us to our Families to give Obedience where Obedience is due and where the Rule is ours to exercise it in Love and Piety And so incumbent are all these as at the great Audit every one must give an account of his Talent But I say to strike the Nail home and right in this Matter we ought to use the World and not to abuse it to weep as if we wept not to buy as if we possessed not that is to mourn for Relations but not repine to esteem of Riches encreasing as if to morrow they would take wings to know in these things there is no permanency naked we come naked we go weeping we enter and in groans we make our exit He that gives shall he not take Who hath suffered most even as Job hath not suffered what his Sin hath merited one for a thousand and therefore betimes to resign all these is necessary even as if we had them not so as when they are required we may part from them as if we had lost nothing For if a good Man lend to another for nothing shall the Borrower murmur when he sees fit to require his own If therefore we retain these worldly Things better than others let us not esteem it as the effects of our Prudence or reward of our Piety but of exuberant Bounty if they be rent from us let us not murmur or yet hope that we by patient enduring have entitled our selves to the reward of them that have taken up the real Cross of Christ but rather let us bear the worldly Cross from moral Principles as their proper and adequate Burden even as some moral Men have strenuously done and thereby thought that Morality is sufficient for these things but yet if they faint too much let Grace support and in mutual union conclude That so transitory and frail is this World and the felicity thereof as it is not worthy their Tears or Care and so resolve together to fix their loves upon things Above Eternity Immortality c. But I say the Cross of Christ is another thing a Stranger to moral Principles and hid from the natural Spirit at least until it be subdued by the Divine which it cannot be till Christ's Cross hath begun to work because it knoweth not the Things of God for none can take this Cross until he have some knowledg of God and his Christ no nor yet until they be enrolled his Souldiers and have set before them the price of the immortal State and have resolved faithfully to fight the Good Fight For as moral Riches are the Object of the moral Principle and as the loss of the hopes of them is the worldly Cross so is Immortality the Object of the Divine Principle and to have our Hopes delayed and obscured to a certain despondency of the Cross of Christ Briefly thus a Man must first be called from a natural State Secondly Must have given obedience to the Heavenly Vision resolving to undergo all hardships in attaining immortal Life Thirdly Must also have bin conversant in the appointed means of obtaining thereof and have found how far he falls short of the Obedience required also that his Righteousness Merits
which God will bottle up or in a Groan mayest offer up a well-pleasing Petition which could not be uttered in words therefore be not deceived of thy Birth-right for 't is not to abolish the Duty that this befals thee but thy whorish Pride and Deceit for formerly thou boastest in thy many and pleasant words proceeding from head to head in method and tho when thou hadst finished thy deceitful Heart said it is naught it is naught yet in secret boasted with the Pharisee I thank thee I am not as this Man I pray without Book now I have obliged God to do me good in blessing and confessing him in Spirit but learn thou That the sighings of the Poor and needy God will not forget And this being fully set upon thy Heart God will enlarge thy Mouth again and thy Tongue shall be like a Hind let loose Hast thou given Alms and thy Heart recoileth upon thee that it was not in pure Charity but to stop the mouth of a guilty Mind or to obtain a better Reward for thy self yet by no means withdraw thy hand but even now whilst this Sentiment is upon thee make haste and go and give again more largely than before for thy Mind cannot tax thee now that thou givest for base ends whilst thou believest such Gifts bring no Blessing but rather a Curse Perhaps thou hast heard or read a gracious Promise and thy Soul found no relish in it yet hear and read again if it be but for the Commands sake and that Obedience is better than Sacrifice And again consider the Promise is here it cannot fail because the Promiser is faithful and just to forgive Sins if we confess them But thou wilt say Truth but the Promise belongs not to me because I cannot believe This indeed I grant is a strong pang but no strange thing for thou must also resign the Promises as Abraham did for in sacrificing the Promised Seed he resign'd back the Promise for if in Isaac's both Abraham and all Nations must be blessed then with him sacrificed and as yet without Seed must the Promise cease and in it all Hopes save in the Promiser alone therefore this is the great Point and there remains nothing but that thou give it back in Abraham's Faith which is in assurance that thou shalt receive it again and not in a Figure but Essence for indeed it is but required of thee in the Figure Besides there is not a Promise in the whole Book of God but thou hast put thine own construction upon it mis-shaping it to the purpose of thy legal and carnal Heart and so believed in it so as in truth thou didst not believe in the pure Promise of God but in an Idol thy Invention had form'd out of it and it is but this Idol thou must offer up for the Fundamental Promise is The Seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpent's Head and as thy Fathers mis-shaped it so hast thou they thought he would do it in Power and Might but it was fulfilled in Infirmity and Death in due time as thou knowest and now the Promise being Believe baptize and be saved thou thoughest a formal Baptism with some few shreds of thine own Righteousness would carry thee up to Heaven on Eagles Wings but thou wast mistaken God's Ways are not as thy ways nor his Thoughts as thine for thou must baptize in his Death all thy Righteousness must go into his Grave thy Merit must become as rags and thou and all thy Vertues must stand still as Israel did at the Red-Sea while he treadeth down the Seed of the Serpent under thy feet for he will make good his Promise but not in thine but his own Way and therefore indeed thou givest it not up but thy own mis-shapen construction of it and therefore yield it freely and know nothing beside thy own unworthiness but him and trusting in him abhor thy self repent in Ashes and the thing is done as a ripe Fruit thou shalt drop into the Land of the Living And here let me interpose one word of Advice to them in whom this Confusion and Division have taken hold that is when Brother and Sister-Gifts begin to accuse and criminate each other then stop thine Ears against the Accusation but if any accuse it self then hear with tender compassion for if my Experience deceive not That is Satan in the form of an Angel of Light And thus is Christ teaching us to judg our selves that is If Faith stand up and perswade that it hath laid hold of the Promises aright and without doubting believed but Obedience Prayer Charity c. have stoln the Wedg and Babylonish Garment and troubled Israel in this then be assured this is not Faith but bold-fac'd Presumption rigged forth by Satan in the out-side form of Faith and therefore send him out of the Camp in the Vally called Achor unto this day And so if Obedience Prayer Good-works or any Gift stand up upon such-like terms reject them as Accusers of their Brethren perswaded by Satan to act his part but if Faith accuse it self or being accused by others as the Acan is ready to confess the Fact I have sinned these are innocent I had a great trust in the Army I carried the Shield but fiery Darts falling as thick as Hail I fainted and fled away I am the guilty Jonas cast me over-board and ye shall live Now in this state call every Grace to its station let the Rowers row hard let the Steerage be plied and call to him whom the Wind and Sea obey but if the troubled Conscience still foam and the Spirit bluster from on high and no hope to bring it safe to Land there 's no Remedy over-board it must but yet shall not perish for out of the Belly of Hell it shall cry and be heard and after a while perhaps three Days and three Nights it shall sing to the Lord a New Song Thou hast brought me from Corruption my Soul fainted in me and I remembred thee my Prayer came before thee They that observe lying Vanities forsake their own Mercy And thus do thou with every Gift which hath its more immediate Life in God as Faith Hope Love c. such I say as if a Man could give his whole Substance for it would be contemned But if a practical Gift commanded by God as an Offering from thee fall under this Self-condemnation then neither be so hasty to call others to its assistance nor yet to cast it out because he that so commanded hath also given it a certain Talent to perform at least in some measure but rather stir it up to take an Oar into its own hand that is if Prayer say I am formal I profit not I have no life in me If Charity say I am a Merit-monger and my Alms hypocritical If Fasting say I am vain-glorious and Pharisaical cast us over-board and be safe do not humour them at all in this but encourage them to ply afresh
He that in his natural state walks in full riot sinning boldly in contempt of God and Piety if God shall yet bring this Man under Conviction by strong hand his Call is usually in great terror and this usually puts him upon a more legal and superstitious way of Worship and not seldom more out of a servile fear of punishment than a true love of God or Good so as the old root of Concupiscence is not pluckt up but brought under by fear of Wrath and therefore as formerly he found that by contempt of God and Duties Wrath was exasperated So now by a more servile Fear and rigid Obedience he seeks to procure Peace and therefore is superstitious in all things rigid toward others and ready to persecute all not of his own length and measure Now if this Man be called to this War he contends stubbornly accounts free Grace a meer Harlot as Judah did Tamar believing there is no way to redintegrate what former contempt wounded but by an over-acted Zeal which might countervail it and thence as one strong hold fails him he raises another and makes every one a false Christ and runs after every one that saith Lo here or Lo there he is and often perisheth in the way But if through Mercy he escape this Snare yet is he very liable to the second temptation for now perceiving the large Arms and free Heart of Grace he for a while like Seed sown in stony ground rejoyceth in it blesseth God as large in bounty but withal hasting to the other extream despiseth his former folly in trusting to Duties counts them foolish and smiling at his former zeal therein applauds his own Wisdom in discerning their nakedness and setting him at freedom from a needless Yoke And now his servile Fear being removed the Roots of his former licentiousness not as we said before extirpated but only lopt and kept under by fear of punishment sprout forth to the great abuse of the Heavenly Gift unto wantonness Yet ought not this to discourage any Man from repenting of his evil ways for the Lord delighteth not in the death of a Sinner as it is written Ezek. 18.21 If the wicked turn from all his sins and keep my Statutes and do what is lawful and right he shall thereby live and not die all his transgressions he hath committed they shall not be mentioned to him in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live But yet upon the whole it is good to be forewarn'd and watchful over such Temptations as are most incident to that manner of sowing he hath sowed And therefore I say it behoveth all Men to remember their Creator in the days of their Youth before the evil days come and Years draw nigh when God shall say I have no pleasure in them for because when I called they refused and set at nought all my Counsel I will laugh at their calamity and mock when their fear cometh Therefore I say when God calls delay not say not in thy heart I have yet time enough to repent and turn to the Lord for few if any so hoping have found the way of Godly Sorrow but if thou hast lost some time in riot and prophaneness and at length a strong hand forceth thee to repentance let it be sincere and hearty not for fear of punishment but for love of him that called thee and his Christ that died for thee and tho thou lay thy Foundation in legal Fear yet mayest thou by Prayer Faith Experience and Patience convert it into reverential Love Which endeavour for legal Fear is often servile and servile Fear is an hypocritical bridling Sin for base ends and as soon as Grace stops the cries of Guilt it slacks the Reins and Lust takes its career but Love digs up the Root of whatsoever thing is hateful to its Beloved and is most pleasing to God and Man Fear I say of the sin-revenging God may as with an Anvil and Hammer break a flinty heart in pieces but every piece is still Flint but Love like Oil shall make it supple and plaint and the more as Grace and forgiveness of Sin manifest themselves it loves and becomes more obedient But if yet thou hast not obtained Love yet do not hope to expiate thy former evil life with any Righteousness of thy own and above all esteem not the persecuting or reproaching a Brother any kind of Merit but if he hath offended thee forgive him as thou desirest God should forgive thee And again while legal Duties bear a high rate in thine Eyes yet still let what is thy own Act be of mean account Know God will try it and it will be found light in his Ballance and so being humble in thy own eyes walking in consumption of the Arm of Flesh in love with thy Brethren and watching for the day of thy Tryal thou shalt find favour and God shall deliver thee in six Evils and the thus Hast thou bin formerly licentiously wicked and now art a Convert If thou dost hope to clear Scores with God by restraining thy Lusts excedency of Merit and yet but a servile fear and terror of the Sword of Justice it is the Spring and Plumet of thy Obedience it must fall out that when Grace shews it self to the taking away the Fear that also thy Obedience ceases and thy Lusts again break forth and in the mean time thou art in a miserable state first Because servile Fear and a wounded Spirit are thy Tormenters and yet best Friends upholding thee from uttermost Perdition Secondly Because Grace which is the only true Balsam against Sin and Guilt is become thy most perfect Poison so as it is of Grace not to let thee see Grace But on the contrary I say tho thy Sins were as red as Scarlet tho thou hadst been a Beast of Ephesus yet if in true and sincere Obedience thou turn to God converting thy servile Fear into Love Self-confidence into Self-condemnation and thy eager persecuting Spirit into brotherly Affection thou mayest in this well-fought Fight wash thy self as white as Snow and free thy self from the evil of this last Temptation because the Love of God will more powerfully restrain thy rebudding Lust than Servile Fear can yea the Lord himself will be thy Keeper as he hath promised Because thou hast kept the Word of my patience I will keep thee in the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the World to try them that dwell upon the Earth 24. Now this Warfare is in sundry places and divers manners represented in the holy Scripture in Allegory in Proverbial Speeches and Prophecies The Fathers did not only see it in Prospect but by Faith which makes things afar off as present in the Promise did enjoy it and obtained a good report And of this we shall now join some few Texts and more hereafter as occasion offers Our Psalmist hath many Passages touching this whereof one thus Psal 118. Out of my Straits I invoked Jah
count them happy which endure ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord that is Patience will make you strong to endure to the end and see wherefore God gave Job Afflictions and Patience namely that he might be perfect lacking nothing Again our Lord speaking of the Great Trial saith In your patience possess your own Souls implying that the hasty and impatient of Spirit over-runs or leaps out of his Soul leaving it to be possessed of Anger Revenge Murmurings and such like brutish Passions But Patience keepeth the possession thereof in meekness and submission to the good pleasure of God so as Patience is one of the seven Pillars of our Warfare cementing and knitting together our Joints that we may stand under the Cross and lastly cryeth Grace Grace to the top Stone of the Building and therefore is the beginning and consummation of the Perfection of that Obedience that Man oweth to his Maker 8. The last of this beautiful Sisterhood is Mercy which is indeed rather two than one The first altogether Divine ever gracious and serene in countenance always present with the most High and dwelleth not in Houses of Clay but so propitious as it is always looking down upon the Sons of Men and so bountiful as there are none who have not tasted of its tenderness but our Subject leading to such Vertues as vouchsafe to dwell on Earth we shall pass this over The other also is of Heavenly Seed begot by the same Father but born of a Mother sprung from the Womb of Sarah to the end it might pitch its Tent among Men and instruct them to imitate the Father of all in Love Patience Long-suffering and pity towards all Men but especially to the Poor Hungry Naked or under Tribulation or Wants and also to minister in agreeable Supplies to them and therefore is of larger Heart and Arms than her other Sisters for whilst they only take care of things for the Family at Home this like it's Father in liberality careth for and extends its Goodness into every corner of the Land for it is the Mother of Charity and Founderess of Hospitals and Alms-Houses Yet if we consider it in reference to her Mother's House it is but of low and despised Parentage for the Seed thereof is vileness and contempt in its own Eyes For until the Soul hath fully learned by sure experience what need it stands of that Mercy which dwells above it can never be perfect in its Duty beneath because that is the Key that openeth its Bowels towards others and therefore our Lord that he might be perfect in all things touching our Redemption vouchsafed to take such a state upon him as stood in need of Mercy from above as it is written He took not on him the Nature of Angels but the Seed of Abraham for in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his Brethren that he might be a merciful and a faithful High Priest for in that he suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted so as by suffering under the Cross Christ learned this Vertue and so must we Eminent also is it amongst Graces drawing upon it self all the sweet and comfortable Blessings its Heavenly Sister hath prepared above as our Lord saith Blessed are the Merciful on Earth for they shall find Mercy from Heaven And so our Psalmist With the Merciful thou God wilt shew thy self merciful And again The Righteous is ever merciful and lendeth and his Seed is blessed so as Heavenly Gifts Blessings are intailed-Rewards upon the Merciful upon Earth It was well said of the Heathen Orator It shall never repent thee that thou hast shewn Mercy when it was in thy power to have executed Revenge Again saith Solomon He that is merciful doth good to as if he would say have mercy upon his own Soul Our Lord also enjoyneth it in these pressing words Love your Enemies do good and lend hoping for nothing and ye shall be the Children of the most High for he is kind to the unthankful and evil be ye therefore merciful as your Heavenly Father is merciful So that to be merciful on Earth as God is in Heaven is to love to do good to lend and expect nothing to be kind to the Unthankful and Evil and the Reward is to be the Children of the most High Again in reproof to the Pharisees They that are whole need not a Physician go and learn what this meaneth I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice where Mercy is preferred to the Rule of commanded Duties under the Law and doubtless also in our day to those Gospel-Duties which in the Divine Allegory are figured by Sacrifices And in another place Wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees ye pay tithe of Mint Annise and Cummin but have omitted the weightier matters of the Law Judgment Mercy and Faith 9. And now here to express my own Doubts I fear lest some of us nay indeed all in some degree do even as the Scribes did too slightly pass over these more substantial parts of Holy Duties and put too much weight upon a formal hearing or reading of the Word and Prayers oft I fear used more out of custom than a gracious sence of our own Spiritual Wants as if in these the Sinews of Religion consisted when indeed they are but preparatory Means and supporting helps in and for our fuller and stedfaster performance of the other for we ought not to hear for hearingsake or to spend one day in seven in a solemn meeting together with the old leven of Malice and lustings of the Flesh in our Hearts But the great ends of Hearing is first That we believe in the Promises for Faith comes by hearing Another end of Hearing is That we may be instructed from the Word in the Vertues Graces and Duties God requires at our Hands which are Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance against which there is no Law And again Add to Faith Vertue to Vertue Knowledge to Knowledg Temperance Patience Goodness Brotherly-Kindness Charity for if these things abound they make that we shall neither be barren or unfruitful and to these we need not add Humility and Mercy because in them they are fully complexed so that we hear not that we may be present at the Duty or as if in it the measure of our Righteousness were fulfilled but we hear that we may learn the Promises and we learn them that we may believe and obtain Faith which is a Master-Builder and also that we may know what those Graces are in which Faith is made perfect which is this Sisterhood for Faith is not perfect until so meek and humble as it sees all Duties yea Vertues and it Self too vile in its own eyes and be so established in Promises and Experiences as stedfastly and without wavering it believeth that Christ is able to save to the uttermost and willing to do it for all that so
Horse or Foot by Arrows at a distance or by Sword in close Fight ought to have in readiness all sorts of Arms sutable for Defence And therefore he who hath to do with Satan ought to have his Quiver full of Scripture-Inspirations so as when he meets his Enemy he need not be afraid And to this experienced Christians can set their Seals for to them labouring under Temptation Unbelief or Torment a Text hath usually come in to them that hath dissipated their Doubtings as Light expells Darkness Neither is there any Weapon Satan can form against a Believer but there is a Scripture-Antidote against it Wherefore I say seeing we have a subtil restless and irreconcileable Enemy and to avoid the War is impossible if then a Friend would put a Book into our hands teaching the Art of War and Conquest shall we not study it And if some obscure Passage should put us to a loss shall we not enquire for an Interpreter of better Skill and Experience than our selves Study therefore the Book of the War of God which will sometimes plainly sometimes in Allegory teach thee the whole Art of overcoming and will shew thee what is the whole Armour of Righteousness and how to proceed like a good Souldier of Jesus Christ ready to endure all Hardships when called thereunto And forasmuch as the Scripture contains more Memorials than any memory can well contain it may be good to store it with some of more general use And to offer my Mite First Such as under a Blessing or Happiness require some Duty or Service as Blessed are the Meek Merciful and pure of Heart c. If ye know and do these things happy are ye Blessed is the Man that endureth Temptation Which will both remind the Soul of what is acceptable to God and bear it up in Afflictions And of this kind there are Hundreds more and not one which doth not direct unto some Weapon useful in our Spiritual Warfare Secondly Such as are in opposition to these namely such as under a Curse prohibit Wickedness as Cursed are the Proud Cursed he who trusts in Man and maketh Flesh his Arm which withdraws his Heart from God For by these he wills that we be warned of Satan's Sleights Arms and Strong-holds Thirdly Promises which above all support weak Faith and comfort under Tribulation as My Grace shall be sufficient for thee Which was Paul's Balsam against Satan's Buffetings Be faithful unto the end and I will give thee a Crown of Life All things shall work together for Good unto them that love the Lord c. And surely it cannot be amiss to have a Quiver full of these And lastly and above all leave not those three out of thy Lesson which the Lord made use of against Satan Mat. 4.4 7 10. 12. But now having thus endeavoured to shew that so necessary the Union and equal Fellowship of Doctrine and Obedience is as without both neither can be in Christ also that to visit the Fatherless Widow and Stranger in Affliction to break off the Yoke of Oppression to divide his Bread to the Hungry to be meek merciful and humble is that Obedience which is pure and unspotted against which there is no Law nor they in whom they abound can be barren or unfruitful in the knowledg of our Lord Jesus Christ but they in whom they are not are blind And lastly that my Fears are that some may put too much of true Religion upon Hearing and frequenting of the Ordinances in a formal way without bringing their Hearts under a strict examination how far they have profited by what they have learned and put in practice what they are convinced is unspotted Piety I conclude with the Apostle 2 Pet. 1.10 Wherefore my Brethren give diligence to make your Calling and Election sure for if ye do these things ye shall never fail But so an Entrance shall be ministred unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savour Jesus Christ. And let no Man think that the diligence the Apostle here requires is to go and only hear what unspotted Religion is and to tell his Friends and Family how well the Minister handled the Word and all the Week after to walk according to the deeds of the Old Man in Lustings in Wrath in Covetousness in Boastings that he is not like other Men who will scarce go to hear at all But to do this diligence is First To draw nigh to God which is not difficult for thee for at any time even thine own set time Morning Noon Evening or Midnight he will meet thee in thy Conscience and speak to thee by it If thou hast heard the Word of Truth and understood then what thou oughtest to do and yet hast not so done he will by it both inform thee and reprove thee And the second part of thy Diligence is to drop a Tear of godly Sorrow or at least a Sigh for thy failings St. James hath it thus Jam. 4.7 Submit your selves to God draw nigh to him and he will meet you cleanse your Hands O ye Sinners in godly Sorrow and purify your deceitful Hearts by Repentance Be afflicted and mourn that hearing and understanding ye have not obeyed Let your Joy that ye hoped ye were more righteous than others be turned into heaviness because ye know not but ye may have claimed that to which you have no right And this is some part of the Diligence required And if hereby thou canst truly humble thy self in the sight of the Lord thou hast his Promise that he will lift thee up St. Peter 1. Pet. 5.6 agrees with us Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time Cast your Care and diligence upon him for his Care nay his Diligence is over you And also our great Prophet consents Psal 51.16 Thou desirest not Sacrifice else would I give it Thou delightest not in Burnt-Offerings The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit a broken and a contrite Heart O Lord thou wilt not despise And now to conclude I say The Father of this unspotted Religion is Preaching the Father of Preaching the pure Word of God tried in the Fire the Mother thereof is Vileness and Contempt in thine own Eyes and the Mother of this Vileness is the Cross of Christ And God is Lord and Father of all and whom he hath joined together let no Man dare to divide asunder 13. But honoureth them that fear the Lord. This is the eighth Precept and fitly follows the aforesaid For Contempt of our selves prompts us to think better of others and honour such and the Heart swelling with Pride despiseth all save it self So as this is another Sprig of the same Stock ingrafted in the Stock of brotherly Love by the hands of Humility which are never too fine to perform the meanest Work of Charity So as this Honour lives in Self-contempt Humility and Love and verily ought to over-branch Love it self for to
than a Teacher abounding more in Alms in Charity in washing of the Feet of the Saints and those other Vertues which will not suffer her to be barren in the knowledg of our Lord Jesus Christ than a Master in Arts yet is not skilful in the greater Mysteries of Redemption but well skilled in a naked Christ and in chearful Obedience freely cast in her two Mites into his Treasury and consequently gives more than many others of far greater Abilities 17. And now the consideration of this reneweth upon us the great Commandment of Love more strongly than before For it is not enough only to love but also to honour And what then shall we say of our selves if we convert Honour into Dishonour and Love into Hatred Persecutions Envyings Defamations May not two of different Minds or Ways in many things both fear the Lord And shall that difference which is not manifestly decided in the Word but from the doubtfulness thereof and abilities of the Professors springs up into two Opinions break this so positive and often enforced a Command of Honour and Love Whence is it that some doubt in Mind touching the Service of God Is it not for fear of offending And is not that Fear rooted in the Fear of God How then shall we persecute and compel a Doubter seeing it is also a plain Text He that doubteth is damned because it is not of Faith Neither surely doth this Text need an Interpreter When ye so sin against your Brethren and wound their weak Consciences ye sin against Christ Canst thou give Bail for the Sin of another drawn into the Offence by thy means Canst thou bring back thy weak Brother for whom Christ died and is now perished by thy inducement If thou canst not who will plead thy Cause In what City of Refuge wilt thou hide thy Head from the Avenger of Blood Shall it not be less tolerable for thee than for him in the Day of Judgment And therefore I judg it a safe and excellent Rule Honour them that fear the Lord. 18. Here another Query offers namely Seeing this Fear Jara is an initiating Grace so necessary through the whole Warfare as without it no attaining of the immoveable State why the Psalmist did not at first require it and impose it as a Requisite To which I answer Tho it is not expresly named yet it is fully required for if it make every poor Cottage of Clay honourable where it is found much more is it self honourable and desirable If it was gross Idolatry in the Pharisees to prefer the Gold to the Temple and Gift to the Altar because those were the Sanctifiers and these but sanctified by them it is without controversy that the Gift which maketh honourable is more honourable than the thing by it made honourable Secondly The reason why it was not before required was not because it was not of special use before for as the Apostle hints all godly Conversation ought to be coupled with Fear and which is more our Obedience is vain without it our Warfare must miscarry and we left without the Seal of Sonship But because that even now a time draws near wherein its Master-piece-Service will be required And again because it now ought to appear in a renewed or rather regenerated State dying to tormenting Fear and living in the Love of Christ For in this great Crisis of our dying with Christ he makes all things new and not only so but he permits Satan to send for his Principalities of Darkness in new counterfeit Angels of Light For under the Legal State whilst it was Do this and live his Text was Live upon carnal Ordinances Stones made Bread and not to have regard to the Words or Spirit proceeding out of the Mouth of God but to walk on confidently and without fear in the Merits of his own Arm like the rich Man Soul take thy rest But now these Strong-holds being broken down he flies to a new Text teaching free Grace to Security and Presumption Fear not to dash thy Foot against a Stone for Angels shall bear thee up And now against this regenerate or Gospel-Fear which takes more of Love is the best Weapon for verily under the Law this Fear did oft-times put on frowardness and when Satan persuaded Confidence in superstitious Works and posted on to Idolatry this Fear armed the Conscience and it thrust thorns into the Flesh resisting the Pride thereof and convincing it was not able to perform what was required and consequently urged it to such Duties of Humiliation and Contrition as the Law required and still wrought more by fear and terror of Evil and Judgment to come than by the more gentle and noble Principles of Love But now the Table 's turned the whole Man and Pride of the Flesh become vile in its own eyes Do this and live abolished and in place thereof Believe and be saved and a Canopy of Love spread over them Satan also changes the Weapons of his Assault for if in the way of his old Deceit he should say Do and live one Whisper of free Grace would have rendred his Temptation ridiculous if he should sollicit the Arm of Flesh to buckle on its Armor again it would cry out O thou Deceiver from the beginning I am bruised and broken in thy Service I am less than a Worm And therefore he now comes in a new Disguise knowing his former Visage was discovered-and detested instead of Do and live he saith Stand still and live and for Work out thy Salvation by thine own Arm Work not at all thy doing and working is rotten and filthy they contaminate and hinder the work of the Spirit in thee sit still and let Grace make a perfect Work And now I say is the time that the regenerated Fear of God girds up its Loins to resist this Hypocritical Mocker with its two-edged Sword Legal and Evangelical threatning and entreating How darest thou O Worm as thou knowest thou art tempt the Lord thy God whom by late experience thou perceivest is a consuming Fire How canst thou hope for Salvation without giving all diligence to make thy Election sure in fear and reverence Then turning the other Edg I grant as the Tempter said Do and live is abolished but consider who brought it about if it was it self then go on and boast but if it was another then forget not how from thee a perishing Wretch he took that heavy Burthen which pressed thee deep as Hell and laid upon thee another which was easy and light and wilt thou not bear it for his sake Consider how he raised thee from Death and made thy dead Carcase a living Member of himself and wilt thou take his Members and make them the Members of an Harlot in Sloth and Lust If he hath given thee much dost therefore owe him less If all thy legal and painful diligence could not deliver thee will Abuse of Grace and Contempt of thy Deliverer carry thee to the far end