and the very name Immanuel by which hee is to bee called intimateth as much it being a name too high for any person except the Messiah What in this Prophecy Isaiah spake plainly in the fifty third chap. hee utters allusively where speaking of the Messiah for that that Chapter is to be understood of him is so evident that hee who runs may read it hee saith He shall grow up as a tender plant in a dry ground that is say some not improbably of a Virgin without the help of a man Now that Jesus was born of Mary whilest yet a Virgin the Evangelical History plainly affirmeth nor need it seem impossible either to Jew or Pagan As for the Jew why may hee not beleeve that the same Divine power which caused Old Sarah to conceive and bring forth when shee was as good as dead which made Aarons rod to bud blossome and bring forth Almonds yea which formed the first man Adam without the help of woman could enable a Virgin to conceive and bring forth without the help of man As for the Pagans they affirm that Venus was engendred of the froth of the Sea animated by the warmth of the Sun that Pallas came from Joves brain and Bacchus from his thigh that some of their Heroes were begotten by their Gods upon mortal creatures Hercules on Alemena by Jupiter Pan on Pâ—nelope by Mercury Romulus on Rhea a Virgin by Mars and why is it not credible that Jesus should bee born of the Virgin Mary by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost And thus I have given you a brief account of the parallel between the Prophecy of the Messiah and the History of Jesus as to his birth 2 The Prophet Isaiah speaking concerning the Messiah tells us that the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the Spirit of Wisdome and Understanding the Spirit of Counsel and Might and the Spirit of Knowledge and of the fear of the Lord that this Spirit did rest on Jesus appeareth both by the Oracles hee spake and the Works especially by the Miracles hee wrought It was the testimony the people gave of him that never man spake like him by which it appeareth that the Spirit of Wisdome and Knowledge did rest on him never did any so clearly reveal the Will of God to the people as hee The Glorious Promises were never so unveiled as by him and by him the Precepts of the Law were most exactly interpreted That the Spirit of Might did rest on him eminently appeared in his wondrous Miracles which were not done in a corner but openly before the people who cryed out wee never saw it on this fashion That Miraculous works were expected by the Jews from the Messiah when hee should come appeareth by the Question when Christ commeth will hee do more Miracles than those which this man hath done and accordingly when John sent to Jesus Art thou hee that should come or do wee look for another hee returneth this Answer Go and show John again those things which you do hear and see The blinde receive their sight the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the deaf hear and the dead are raised up all which could not have been done by him if hee had not been annointed with the Holy Ghost and with Power 3 Concerning the Messiah we finde a Three-fold Office to which he was annoynted to wit of King Priest and Prophet Moses fore-tells him to be a Prophet where he saith A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren David mentioneth him under the Offices of a King and a Priest Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Sion and thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck This was that which was peculiar to the Messiah for though David was a King and a Prophet Samuel was a Prophet and a Priest and Melchisedeck was a King and a Priest yet only the Messiah was a King Priest and Prophet accordingly it is that we finde Jesus as a Prophet teaching the Mysteries of the Kingdom as a Priest praying yea dying for the people and acknowledged by the Magi to be King of the Jews Once more it is fore-told in the Psalms and the Prophets concerning the Messiah that hee should bee a man of sorrows despised and rejected of men yea that he should bee cut off from the land of the living that hee should be taken from Prison and Judgement that having drunk of the brook in the way hee should lift up his head that hee should not see corruption and sit at the right hand of God And now that all these things which were written concerning the Son of Man were accomplisht the Evangelical Histories doe abundantly testifie it were easie to trace out an exact Parallel not only as to substance but circumstances concerning the humiliation and exaltation of Christ As for that pretence of the Jewes opposing our Saviours Resurrection that his Disciples stole him away it is so frivolous and absurd that no rational man can beleeve it yea that Dilemma of St. Austine abundantly confuteth it If the Souldiers were not asleep when the Disciples stole his body why did they permit them to doe it if they were asleep how could they affirm it to be done By all these considerations put together it cannot but appear an undeniable truth that Jesus is the Christ and however it may bee alleadged that some Prophecies which concern the glory and power of the Messiahs Kingdome seem not yet to bee accomplished the Answer is justly returned that it is not an outward and visible but an invisible and spiritual glory and power which is in those Prophecies intended and that is continually fulfilled in the preaching of the Gospel and withall they may very rationally be extended to his Second coming when he shall appear in glory to Judge the World and when every knee shall bow to him and every tongue shall confesse what now perhaps it denieth that Jesus is the Lord the Christ to the glory of God the Father and so I have given a dispatch to the truth implicitly asserted passe we on more briefly to the 2 Heresie explicitly charged on the false teachers namely denying that Jesus is the Christ If wee render the words exactly according to the Greek text it is Hee that denieth that Jesus is not the Christ but yet the not is justly left out in our translation because according to our way of speaking Hee that denyeth that Jesus is not the Christ is he who affirmeth Jesus is the Christ which is the truth whereas in the Greek Language Gemina negatio fortiùs negat A double negation denieth more vehemently Parallel to this is that speech of our Saviour to Peter The Cock shall not crow this day before thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me where in each clause the Greek useth two Negatives for the greater emphasis Wee cannot better expresse the force
not cannnot be troubled at any evils who knowing that he is in Christ knoweth all things shall work for his good nor can the separation which death maketh be terrible to him who is assured of that Union with Christ which admits of no separation no not by death it self yea which death is so far from hindering that it hasteneth to a fuller perfection To end this therefore Let our first care be to knâ—w Christ and by knowing to get into him and then let our next endeavour be to know that we do know him and are in him The former will give us a right to but it is the latter will give us the comfort of all those glorious priviledges and benefits which Christ hath purchased and if we would know how to attain this reflexive knowledg pass we on to the 2. Next and last Proposition which discovereth the means of attaining it Namely hereby by keeping the Commandments we know that we know him and by walking as Christ walked we know that we are in him Look as if the question be put how we shall know the true Church the answer is by its essentiall marks so if you ask how shall we know that we are true Christians our Apostle answereth hereby by the Characteristicall properties To elucidate this Assertion observe these following Particulars 1. That knowledg which we have of our being in Christ and knowing him by these Characters is not à priori but à posteriori not by the causes but by the effects our Obedience is not the root but the fruit of Faith and we are not in Christ because we walk in him but we walk in him because we are in him To this purpose is that note of Beza upon the Text. Bona opera nos non inserunt Christo sed insitos consequuntur good works do not ingraft us into Christ but our being ingrafted into Christ enableth us to performe good works As therefore the Tree is known by its fruit and life is known by breathing and motion which are the effects of it So we know our Faith in and Union with Christ by our Obedience to and imitation of him 2. That knowledg we have by these Characters is safe and sure yea such as cannot deceive us For 1. Inasmuch as the commands which Christ requireth us to keep and the waies wherein he walked which we must follow are clearly set down in the Word if we faithfully compare our actions with the rule we may know whither we keep the Commandments and walk as Christ walked or not True it is many are cheated with Alchymie instead of Gold think themselves to have those graces which Christ did shew forth whenas they are counterfeit but this is not for want of an exact rule discovering but because of a deceitfull heart misapplying so that were men but faithfull to themselves they might be able to pass a right censure in this Particular Hence it is that whilst the Hypocrite deludeth himself with a partiall Obedience and a counterfeit imitation the regenerate Christian being in some measure enlightned discovereth what is sincere and what is fained and so judgeth righteous judgment To this purpose is that of St Austin Qui diligit fratrem magis novit dilectionem quâ diligit quam fratrem quem diligit He who loveth his Brother more surely knoweth the love whereby he loveth him then his Brother whom he loveth and hence it is that the same Father saith Est modus gloriandi in conscientia ut noveris fidem tuam esse sinceram ut noveris spem tuam esse certam ut noveris charitatem tuam esse sine simulatione this is the rejoycing yea glorying of a Christian whilst his conscience regulated by the word and illuminated by grace giveth in evidence that his Faith is sincere his hope firme and his love unfained 2. Inasmuch as this Obedience to and imitation of Christ are the necessary and particular effects of our Knowledg of and being in Christ he who findeth the one may undoubtedly inferre the other To unfold this briefly know That the effects of a lively Faith are of three sorts Some which so flow from a true Faith that they are likewise the effects of other causes such are all acts of morall Virtue and extenall duties of Religion Hence it is that Heathen who have no Faith at all have performed the former Hypocrites who have no true faith the latter So that though from hence we may conclude Negatively he that doth not these things hath no Faith yet we cannot Affirmatively because we do such things therefore we are in Christ and believe in him Others which are only the effects of a right faith but yet such as faith produceth not but when in strength of this sort are the sence of Gods Love peace of Conscience joy in the holy Ghost magnanimity in afflictions and desires of dissolution From these we may conclude Affirmatively but not Negatively he that can act these duties doth know Christ but every one that knoweth Christ cannot act these duties Finally Other effects there are which flow from Faith only and alwaies which it is as naturall for Faith to produce as for the Sun to shine or the Fire to burn such are these my Text speaketh of a sincere Obedience and a consciencious imitation of Christ from whence we may infer both waies and so the proposition will be recipocrally true Every one who keepeth the Commandments knoweth Christ who walketh as Christ walked is in him and every one who knoweth Christ keepeth the Commandments is in Christ and walketh as he walked Put then both these Considerations together we may know that we keep the Commandments and if we keep the Commandments we may assure our selves that we know Christ no wonder if our Apostle say Hereby we know we know him We may perceive whether we walk as Christ walked or no and if we walk as Christ walked we may be confident we are in him no marvell if our Apostle say Hereby we know that we are in him The strength of this Argumentation will the better appear if we reduce it to a Syllogism which may be thus framed Whosoever keepeth the Commandments knoweth Christ Who so walketh as Christ walked is in him But I keep the Commandments and walk as Christ walked Therefore I know Christ and am in him The first of these which is the Major we know by a certainty of faith as being expresly asserted in this and other Scriptures The second which is the Minor we know by a certainty of experience finding these qualifications wrought in us and thus knowing the premises we inferre the Conclusion and so by a certainty of Faith joyned with experience we are able to assert our interest in Christ 3. This Knowledg which we have hereby doth not exclude the Testimony of the Spirit It is St Pauls assertion That the Spirit beareth witness with our Spirits that we are the Children of God Yea St John in
the last Chapter of this Epistle plainly ascribeth this Office of bearing witness to the Spirit and yet it is no less true that these graces and qualifications do beare the same witness these two witnesses being the one subservient to the other whilst the spirit is the principall and these qualifications are the Spirits instrument in this work Whether there be an immediate Testimony given by the spirit to the Soul of a Believer assuring him oâ— his interest in Christ I will not now dispute That the spirit can thus testifie is not to be questioned and that at some times to some eminent Saints he hath been and may still be pleased to vouchsafe it will not be denied but doubtless the usuall way of the Spirits witnessing is by the grace of Sanctification imprinted on the heart and expressed in the life To this Testimony the Spirit concurreth especially two waies partly by implanting his graces in us in which respect they are called the fruits of the Spirit and partly by discovering them to us in which regard St Paul saith We have received the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things which are freely given us of God The truth is as we cannot have grace without the Spirits operation so neither can we discern it but by the Spirits irradiation and as the beauty of all colours is manifested by the light of the Sun so is the truth of all graces in the heart by the Spirits light By all which it appeareth that the Spirit is the chief in this work so that as if you ask how we know that we know Christ and are in him the answer is by keeping the Commandments and walking as Christ walked so if you ask how we are inabled to keep the Commandments and walk as Christ walked and how we are to know that we do thus walk and keep the Commandments the answer is by the Spirit To close up this with a double consectary 1. That assurance of an interest in Christ which many pretend to who walk contrary to him and his Precepts in their lives is not a Christian Knowledg but a vain confidence a carnall security a lying delusion and a damned presumption To all such therefore who hug sin in their Bosomes and yet suppose they are folded in Christs arms who sail with full speed to Hell and yet think to cast Anchor at Heaven Gates who live in Rebellion against and yet promise to themselves Salvation by Christ we say not rejoyce with trembling but tremble without rejoycing not work out your Salvation with fear but fear without any hope of Salvation in this condition And whereas such persons may perhaps plead an immediate Testimony of Gods spirit assuring them that they are in Christ we are bold to tell them it is an hissing of the old Serpent not a whispering of the good Spirit it is the voice of the Devill not of God Ah my Brethren we sometimes pity mad Persons whom we seelying in the straw clad in rags and yet heare them boasting themselves to be Kings and Queens Have we not as great nay far more reason to pitty our own madness in fancying to our selves we are in Christ washed by his Blood and made Kings and Priests to God when as we transgress his Laws and cast both his Precepts and Pattern behind our back Me thinketh when men who live in Adultery Fornication Covetousness Envy Rebellion or any work of the Flesh promise to themselves an interest in Christ their sins should presently look them in the face and tell them that they are none of Christs 2. It neerly concerneth us all to search our hearts and try our waies to enquire into the Obedience and Conformity of our Conversations that hereby we may know we are in Christ It is an excellent saying of St Bernard Quantum creseis in gratiam tantum dilataris in fiduciam according to the measure of our Obedience so is the measure of our Confidence if therefore we would strengthen the latter we must by due inquiry assure our selves of the former Ah my Brethren it is an easie matter for a man to say I know I am in Christ but it is no easie matter to say Hereby I know I am in him what is it for a man to brag that such and such Lands and Lordships are his unless he can shew his evidences These qualifications are the evidences of our title to Christ and what will it avail to lay a claime to Christ if we have not these to shew Oh then what need is there of a diligent search that we may find these qualifications in us and because in nihilo facilius periculosius erratur there is nothing wherein we may more easily and yet more dangerously be mistaken then in this enquiry Oh what need is there of a due care that there be no flaw in our evidence that our qualification be of a right stampe To this end Study carefully the directions of the word Pray fervently for the illumination of the Spirit consult not with flesh and blood hearken not to the suggestions of Satan but deal impartially with thy own Soul as knowing of how great concernment the right managing of this work is And now upon serious and deliberate search 1. On the one hand Canst thou not find these qualifications in thee Be not too hasty in passing a determinate sentence against thy self since though these graces be necessary effects yet they are noâ— necessary signs of Faith and therefore they may be in us and so we truly in Christ and yet not appear so as we to know either that they are in us or we in Christ Perhaps thou art at that time clouded with some violent passion assaulted with some virulent temptation under spirituall desertion and no wonder if in such a case thou be not able to see those graces which yet thou hast since though there be fire yet so long as it is hid in the Embers it cannot flame forth nor doth it appear to be there Besides the operating there must be as you have heard a discovering work of the spirit By the former Faith bringeth these graces forth as effects by the latter a Believer maketh use of them as signs and these two do not alwaies go together Indeed if thou manifestly find the contrary vices reigning in thee thou maist and oughtest to conclude thy self as yet to be without Christ but though thou canst not clearly apprehend the inbeing of these graces thou must not peremptorily conclude against thy being in Christ but rather hanging as it were between hope and fear wait and pray and search for further discovery 2. On the other hand dost thou find the truth of these qualifications in thee Bless thy God know thy bliss own thy priviledg and labour after greater measures of this apprehension since as he that only hopes he keepeth the Commandments can only hope that he knoweth Christ so he that knoweth and is
it If thy enemy hunger saith St Paul feed him if he thirst give him drink the Hebrew word in the proverb whence St Paul borroweth it is rendred by Vatablus Propina ei aquam not only give him drink but drink to him as a token of love that it may appear however he is towards thee thou art reconciled to him Excellent to this purpose is that advice of Gregory Nazianzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we must say brethren unto them that hate us and accordingly express brotherly love to them And thus in this construction of brother we have beheld the extension of love how farre it reacheth in regard of the objects about which it is conversant 2. But besides this carnal fraternity between all men there is a spiritual brotherhood between all Christians they have all the same Father even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who begetteth them again they have the same Mother the Church Jerusalem from above which bringeth them forth they all are washed in the same laver of regeneration baptisme partake of the fame immortal seed and are nourished by the same sincere milk of the Word Finally they are all begotten to the same undefiled inheritance heirs of the same glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Clemens Alexandrinus we call them brethren who are born anew of the same Word yea quanto dignius fratres dicuntur habentur saith Tertullian how much more deservedly then other men are they called and accounted brethren who acknowledge one Father God have drank of one spirit of holiness and are brought forth of the same womb of ignorance into the glorious light of Evangelical truth A brother in the sense above-mentioned is only so by nature but in this by grace that 's only a brother on the left hand but this on the right hand that of the earth earthly but this from heaven heavenly In this sense some Expositors and as I conceive most rationally take the word here this name brother being by the Apostle and afterwards in the primitive times in common language given to all and only those who did embrace Christian Religion and which maketh this interpretation more manifest is that our Apostle in the next Chapter phraseth it love the brethren which seemeth to indigitate a certain society of men so called yea in the fifth Chapter at the beginning he describeth him whom here he calls brother to be one that is begotten of God According to this construction that which is here required is called by the Apostle Peter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 brotherly kindness and is distinguished as a particular species from its genus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is presently annexed charity As then there is a general love which belongeth to all men so a special love which belongeth to all Christians and as we must do good to all men so especially to the houshould of faith indeed seeing the Christian brother hath a double cause of love in him that is Gods image as a man and Gods graces as a Christian we ought to deal by him as Joseph did by his brother Benjamin whose mess was five times greater then the rest of his brethren If any shall yet further enquire why our Apostle speaking of this love to a Christian calls him by the name of a brother I answer for these three reasons because this name of brother carrieth in it an obligation to a specification and modification of that love which is here required since we must love a Christian quia quatenus qualis because he is a brother inasmuch as he is a brother and with such a love as is among brothers 1. This word Brother carryeth with it a strong Obligation to Love In fratris voce ratio so Danaeus It is an urgent reason why we should Love a Christian because he is our Brother all relation is a ground of affection and hence it is a man loveth any thing that is his the nearer the relation the greater tye to love and therefore the more reason why a Brother should be beloved the nearest relation is that which is spirituall and therefore yet greater reason to Love a Christian who is ours our Brother yea our Brother in Christ When Moses saw two Israelites Countrey men strugling together he said to them Sirs you are Brethren why do you wrong one another when Abraham and Lot kinsmen were likely to fall out saith Abraham Let there be no strife I pray thee between me and thee for we are Brethren when Socrates saw two Brethren striving one with another he told them they did as if the two hands which were made to help should beat each other so that since Christians are Brethren in the highest and closest relation this should be a great ingagement upon them to love 2. This word Brother intimateth a specification of this love in regard of its Object which is then rightly placed when it is upon a Brother as he is a Brother that is a Christian as he is a Christian One that is a Brother in this spirituall notion may be my naturall Brother or Kinsman and then to love him is what nature dictates or he is my Friend and Benefactor and so to love him gratitude teacheth or he is able to do me either an injury or a courtesie so that I have cause to fear the one and hope the other and in this respect to love him self love prompts me or once more he may be a man of rare naturall and acquired endowments and to love him for this ingenuity moves me but to love him because he is a Brother in a spirituall sense this is that which Christianity inciteth to and this only is a right Christian love Indeed thus to love him is to love him in reference to God and Christ because he hath the grace of God in him the Image of God upon him To love him as a Brother in this sense is to love him as a Son of God a Member of Christ and as St Hieromes phrase is Diligere Christum habitantem in Augustine to love God and Christ dwelling in him And now if any shall say it is hard nay impossible to know any man to be such a Brother and therefore how can I love him as such when I cannot know him to be such I answer that there is a great deale of difference between the judgment of certainty and charity love doth not need nor require infallible but only probable signs and therefore whosoever doth profess the true faith of Christ and doth not by a flagitious conversation give that profession the lye love taketh him to be a Brother and to love one because he atleast seemeth to be such a one by his externall Profession and Conversation so as the more Christian graces we discover in him the more we are affected towards him this is that which most especially falleth under the Precept of loving our Brother 3. Yet once
argument lesse valid Hee by whose name you are called is holy be you holy in all manner of conversation because it is written Be you holy for I am holy How unsuitable are unholy members to an holy head and therefore how abominable must prophane Christians be to this Holy Jesus certainly the Holy one is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity to wit without fury in any and much lesse in his own followers and as Moses saith God will bee sanctified in those who draw nigh to him so let me tell you Christ will bee sanctified by those who professe his name and therefore either disclaim Christianity or embrace sanctity that you may be in some measure like him who is here stiled The Holy one 2 Having given you this view of the title by which Christ is called be pleased now to look upon this person so called as he is affirmed to bee the donor of the Vnction for so the text runs You have an unction from the holy one that is from Christ It is that which is true of Christ in a double causality 1 Meritorious in as much as hee was at the cost to purchase this unction and that at no lesse a rate than his own bloud the Apostle Paul speaking of Christ saith not only that in him wee have redemption through his bloud but a little after in whom you were sâ—aled with that holy Spirit of promise the donation of the Spirit being one of those precious benefits which Christs death hath procured for us 2 Efficient in as much as having on the Crosse purchased this Unction for us he rose from the grave and went up into Heaven for this cause among others that he might actually conferre it on us It is said there was in Rome at the day of Christs birth a Fountain of Oyl which sprang forth sure I am this Unction of the Spirit is given to Christ not only for himself but his Church and as the Oyntment trickled down from Aarons head to the very skirts of his garment so the oyl of the Spirit is diffused from Christ to all his members Those two Olive branches mentioned by the Prophet Zachary are by some expounded of Christ his two Natures and of them it is said they empty the golden oyl out of themselves to note that communicative influence from Christ to the Christian whereby he partaketh of this unction It pleased the Father saith the Apostle that in him should all fulnesse dwell not only plenitudo abundantiae but redundantiae vasis but fontis an abundant fulnesse as in a vessel filled up to the brim but a redundant fulnesse as in a fountain whose streams make glad the City of God Thus as it is said in the Psalms he received gifts so in the Epistle hee gave gifts intimating that he received gifts not only for himself but his Church that as he received from his Father the Spirit without measure so we might receive from him the Spirit by measure no wonder if the Spirit be called in Scripture the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of Christ Jesus and the Spirit of the Lord. If any shall ask why the Apostle did not say you have an unction from him or from Christ but from the Holy one the answer may probably bee returned that it is to intimate the nature of this unction which is an holy oyntment and for that end it is chiefly given by Christ namely for the renewing and sanctifying of our natures that as the oyntment which God appointed to be made by Moses did sanctifie the things and persons which were annoynted with it so doth this unction confer holiness on those to whom it is given upon which account it is called the Spirit of holinesse and thus it is universally given to all beleevers for the preserving them both from sin and errour To end this point and so this discourse You who are Christians only in name and want this Unction you who are Christians indeed and would have this Unction more abundantly learn whither to repair for it It is our Saviours advice to the Laodicean Church and in her to all Christians I counsel thee to buy of mee this choyse commodity is no where else to be had and though it cost him dear yet he sells it us cheap our buying is only begging our paying praying and therefore acknowledging as all our comfort to be in him so grace to be from him let us continually depend on him earnestly seek to him that as he hath shed his bloud for us so he would shed his Spirit on us Amen THE FIRST EPISTLE OF St. JOHN CHAP. 2. VERS 20. But yee have an unction from the holy One and yee know all things THE Christian Religion as it imposeth difficult precepts so it proposeth pretious prâ—mises and though it put the Professors of it upon frequent dangers yet it withall assureth them of glorious priviledges Among those many Promises and Priviledges none of more special concernment than this of the Holy Unction the Spirits Donation by which wee are enabled to all duty and confirmed against all perils There are two things especially by which the Christian Church and her members are endangered namely violent Persecutions and virulent Heresies these corrupt our mindes those perplex our hearts these cheat us of those affright us out of truth but this spiritual Unction is both our consolation and illumination the latter of which it is that our Apostle acquaints us with in the Text But you have c. The second part of this verse is that which I am now to handle namely Beneficii illatio the Benefit conferr'd on all true Christians by vertue of this Unction as it is set down in those words And you know all things For the fuller discussion whereof bee pleased to consider it both absolutely and relatively inclusively and exclusively by the one wee shall see the Nature of the benefit wherein it consists how far it reacheth and by the other its Original whence it floweth and on what it dependeth namely the Holy unction 1 Begin wee with the absolute consideration of the benefit and inquire what is involved in this You know all things There is some little difference in the reading of one word in this clause which would not bee omitted The Syriack reads it as if it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you know all men and so the benefit here intended is that which is called by S. Paul discerning of spirits 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Theophilact 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to know who is spiritual and who is not who is a Prophet and who is a deceiver nor is this reading here unsuitable because the Apostle just before speaketh of Antichrists between whom and the Orthodox S. John might look upon the Christians to whom hee wrote as able to judge Now this gift in the primitive times was double The one more special onely conferred by the Spirits