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<DATE>2012-01-05</DATE>
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<NAME>Zev Berger</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A Clu&s;ter Of Canaans Grapes. BEING Severall experimented truths re|ceived through private communion with God by his Spirit, grounded on Scrip|ture, and pre&s;ented to open view for publique Edification.</P>
<P>By Col. ROBERT TICHBOURN.</P>
<Q><BIBL><HI>1 Cor. 12.7.</HI></BIBL>
<P>The manife&s;tation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withall.</P>
<BIBL><HI>Matthew 5.15.</HI></BIBL>
<P>Neither doe men light a candle, and put it under a bu&s;hell, but on a candle&s;ticke, and it giveth light unto all that are in the hou&s;e.</P>
<BIBL><HI>1 Cor. 1.27</HI></BIBL>
<P>But God hath cho&s;en the fooli&s;h things of the World to confound the wi&s;e, and God hath cho&s;en the weake things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.</P></Q>
<P><HI>Decemb.</HI> 25. 1648. Imprimatur <HI>Jo&s;eph Caryll.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>Matthew Simmons,</HI> 1469.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<PB REF="2">
<P><HI>The Author nothaving lei&s;ure to attend and correct the Pre&s;s, de&s;ires the Reader to be at &s;o much pains as to peru&s;e the&s;e Errata, and amend what in &s;ome places are nece&s;&s;ary to be ob&s;erved, to make the &s;en&s;e com|pleate.</HI></P>
<P><LABEL>ERRATA.</LABEL></P>
<P>PAge 6. l. 22. leave out and going before blood, p. 7. l. 21. for believer, r. be|ing for ever. p. 22. l. 5. for: 35. 53. p. 29. l. 38. for out r. our. p. 37. l. 11. for add, r. and: p. 42. l. 21. for pre&s;ent, r. precept. p: 50. l. 26. for eive, r. live. p. 58. l. 17. for 35. r. 53. p. 58 l. 20. for &s;ons, r. &s;un. p: 69. l: 28. r. &s;uch &amp; &s;uch p: 83. l: 14. r. I com|prehend, and in l. 15. for but, r. not. p. 84. l. 29. for fal&s;hood, r. fa&s;hioned. p. 85. l. 32. for office, r. olive. p: 95. l: 32. for ceter, r. center: p: 95 l: 36. for he, r. thee. p: 103. l: 32. for I have told I you, r. I have told you I, p: 103. l: 35. for doe di&s;tru&s;t me, r. doe you di&s;tru&s;t me, p: 109. l 25. for inful, r: &s;inful, p: 112. l: 34. for receive truth, r. receive this truth: p: 121. l: 34. for power of their lives, r. power of godline&s;&s;e in their lives, p: 125. l. 23. for eyes pur&s;ute, r: eager pur&s;ute, p: 128. l: 30. for return, r. return of, p: 131. l: 27. for &s;in, r. &s;un, p: 135. l: 19. for the &s;pirit, r. this &s;pirit, p: 146. l. 1 for con&s;trained, r. co~trived, p: 163. l: 25. for Jews, r. Spou&s;e, p. 165. l. 2. for but, r: and, p: 168. l: la&s;t, r. the workings or God, p: 182. l: 19. for cea&s;ing, r. cro&s;&s;ing, p: 18 2. l: 27. for you, r. he, p: 183. for rip up, r. crye up, p: 213. l: 10. for &s;ure but, r. &s;ure none but, p: 213. l. 27. for upod, r. upon, p: 206. l: 5. for fault, r. fall, p: 134. l: 16. for body, r. other, p. 235. l: 15. for in his, r. or in his, p: 137. l: 14. for give, r. have, p: 239. l: 27. for would it, r. would if, p: 240. l: 15. for &s;oule ip, r. &s;oule is.</P>
<P>P. 107. l. 20. left out, where it is &s;aid, <HI>as tho&s;e dead bones could not live before God had united them, covered them with skin, and breathed life into them:</HI> this &s;hould be added, <HI>no more could they remain dead bones, when God had &s;o united them, and breathed life into them.</HI></P>
<P>p. 131. l: 7, to he is be&s;t &s;atisfied, adde, not to eate at all.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>To His EXCELLENCY THOMAS Lord <HI>FAIRFAX,</HI> Comman|der in Chiefe of all the Land Forces under the pay of the PARLIAMENT, within the Kingdome of <HI>England,</HI> and Dominion of <HI>Wales,</HI> and the I&s;lands of GARNSEY and JERSEY.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>MY LORD,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_I HAVE ob&s;erved, that Per&s;ons en|gaged by love, have u&s;ed <HI>this way</HI> to make their acknowledgme~ts that when they give their labours
<PB REF="3">to the Worlds view, they pre&s;ent them to that hand which hath by kindene&s;&s;e mo&s;t obliged them; I judge this practice to ari&s;e from in|genuity of &s;pirit, that where men cannot pay a debt, there they wil acknowledge them&s;elves debters. Now I be&s;eech your <HI>Excellency</HI> to give mee leave to take up this pra|ctice, I am not able to pay the ob|ligements of your <HI>Lord-&s;hips love and kindene&s;&s;e to mee;</HI> nor in this doe I attempt any higher thing, then to acknowledg my &s;elfe your <HI>Lord-&s;hips</HI> debter for more unde|&s;erved favours then any per&s;on I know, among&s;t tho&s;e many thou|&s;ands that are fellow-debters with mee. And if your <HI>Excellency</HI> &s;hal be plea&s;ed to own and accept of this poore acknowledgement, I &s;hall
<PB REF="3">declare it to be the fruites of your owne wonted goodne&s;&s;e, &amp; my &s;elf not at all the le&s;&s;e, but the more your debter. I am the more en|couraged to Dedicate this to your <HI>Lord-&s;hip</HI> from the ob&s;ervation that I have made of your &s;pirit, to be willing to owne truth and hone|&s;ty in the lowe&s;t per&s;on &amp; the mea|ne&s;t dre&s;s. What I here pre&s;ent to your hands, I tru&s;t will bee found truths by the word and &s;pirit of truth: but I confes unto your <HI>Lord|&s;hip,</HI> it is in a very mean attire, with|out the ornament of humane lear|ning: And I expect Worldlings &s;hould &s;light and &s;corn it upon that account: but if they appear truths, <HI>as truth is in Je&s;us,</HI> I am confident they wil be beautiful in your <HI>Ex|cellencies</HI> eye. I have had much
<PB REF="4">&s;truglings between my fle&s;h &amp; &s;pi|rit, whether to bury, or to bring forth the&s;e breathings of God upon my &s;oule. The &s;pirit of God hath made them very &s;weet to me, and my &s;pirit judged they might be &s;o to others, therefore was I willing to breath them forth: but then my fle&s;h objected that the &s;tile was low and meane, and that this &s;ubject out of my hand would admini&s;ter matter of &s;corne from the World: and if <HI>one of a thou&s;and</HI> did value it, yet <HI>a thou&s;and for one</HI> would slight me and it. Til it plea&s;ed God to ca|ry me above &s;corn, I could not ri&s;e to this re&s;olutio~, to bring that forth to the World, which God by his Spirit had brought into my &s;oule: but when I had re&s;olved the world &s;hould have it, I was not long to
<PB REF="4">&s;eeke in my &s;elf of a hand fir&s;t to pre&s;ent it to, but re&s;olved to pre|&s;ume upon your <HI>Excellencies</HI> excee|ding love and goodne&s;&s;e, &s;o as to pre&s;ent it unto your <HI>Lord&s;hip</HI> as the acknowledgement of my reall af|fections &amp; abundant engagements to your <HI>Excellency.</HI></P>
<P>Sir, I ble&s;&s;e the Lord I have no ba&s;e ends in this appearing to the World; for if the rea&s;onings of my fle&s;h could have prevailed, this had never beene an object for Worldlings &s;corne. And if the Lord &s;hal give you time to read it, I hope it wil appeare to your <HI>Ex|cellency,</HI> and to every &s;piritual eye that &s;hal looke into it, that my de|&s;igne is to lift up &s;omething above my &s;elfe, (Namely <HI>God in Chri&s;t.</HI>)</P>
<PB REF="5">
<P>And finding the &s;ame &s;pirit to be in your bo&s;ome, I am encouraged to dedicate this following Treati&s;e to your <HI>Lord&s;hip,</HI> and take that boldene&s;&s;e as to &s;ub&s;cribe my &s;elfe your <HI>Excellencies</HI> very much enga|ged, and ever faithful &s;ervant,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>ROB: TICHBURN.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="5">
<HEAD>To the Readers.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Readers,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_IF you know what you looke for, I will tell you what you &s;hall finde that &s;o you may either &s;ave your labours or attaine your ends: <HI>You &s;hall have truth in a meane attire &s;et before your eyes,</HI> the truths of, God which to a &s;pirituall eye carry their owne beauty; but you will finde them with|out art, not adorned with humane learning, and &s;o with|out beautie to a fle&s;hly eye: I know you will wonder what I meane to appeare in Print, e&s;pecially in the&s;e times, when <HI>plaine truths</HI> from the mo&s;t of men, will finde no|thing el&s;e but <HI>plaine &s;corne;</HI> mo&s;t men having &s;ight but on one &s;ide, and their &s;tomacks &s;o full of crudities, that they cannot beare but vomit up with &s;corne in the face of him that brings them, <HI>even &s;aving truths;</HI> be&s;ides you will thinke I cannot bee ignorant but to know, that my name will prejudice the&s;e <HI>truths</HI> unto many that live by fancie more then Faith; &s;uch as will cavill with all truth that comes by a hand they like not, and have little other grou~ds for the truth they take up, but that they come by &s;uch hands that they at pre&s;ent fancie: I confe&s;&s;e I cannot make my &s;elfe &s;o ignorant as not to under&s;tand the&s;e things, nor is it my de&s;igne by appearing in Print to make my felfe
<PB REF="6">publike, for I expect by it to be the deri&s;ion of mo&s;t men, nor doe I Print becau&s;e I thinke the Pre&s;&s;e wants worke, for I am throughly convinced that much evill hath over. &s;pread this Land by tho&s;e many <HI>un&s;auory Pamphlets,</HI> and tho&s;e rending, dividing principles which have this way been &s;pread abroad, by which the members of Chri&s;t have beene &s;candalized, rent and divided, and have al|mo&s;t made them&s;elves a pray to the <HI>Wilde Boares,</HI> and the <HI>&s;ubtle Foxes,</HI> which have no higher ends but to de|stroy the <HI>tender Vines:</HI> The rea&s;ons <HI>why</HI> I chu&s;e to ren|der my &s;elfe to the Worlds &s;corne in this matter and man|ner, are the&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> In &s;atisfying my con&s;cience in obedience to God in &s;ome Scripeures &s;et upon my &s;pirit by him&s;elfe I tru&s;t, when as my fle&s;h and &s;pirit did contend about this matter; And the fir&s;t is this.</P>
<P><HI>Freely yee have received freely give:</HI> Though this was &s;poken fir&s;t to the Apo&s;tles, yet I thinke it doth not ex|clude any but include every Saint and Di&s;ciple of Chri&s;t to be free in the giving forth of their knowledge, expe|rience and injoyment of God in Chri&s;t, by his &s;pirit to the World. And this is my ca&s;e, <HI>What I give I have freely received from the Lord in &s;ecret, when no eye but his did &s;ee me.</HI> I doe acknowledge it is the free grace of God that makes knowne any title of truth to me, and if my heart deceive me not, it is the manife&s;ting of his free grace that is my de&s;igne in giving forth freely as I receive: I &s;hall I tru&s;t with much more ea&s;e beare the reproaches of the World, then I could a concealement of the love of God in Chri&s;t. <HI>In another Scripture</HI> I finde that light is not to be put under a bu&s;hell but to be held forth that according to its nature it may lighten others, and becau&s;e what Saints have, they have received, and every talent is to bee im|proved
<PB REF="6">to the Masters u&s;e, and the &s;tanding rule to Gods people; <HI>that all things be done to edification,</HI> and that mo&s;t which may edifie mo&s;t, therefore in obedience to the&s;e Scriptures, God hath moulded me into his will, and I doe freely ca&s;t my &s;elfe upon his love and power, to beare up my &s;pirit to carry me through good and evill reports, and I hope &s;hall ever e&s;teeme of the Worlds &s;cornes as not worthy of thoughts in that day when God &s;hall manife&s;t his will and worke to me.</P>
<P><HI>A &s;econd rea&s;on</HI> why I thus appeare, is, <HI>That I might be a Chri&s;tian Servant to fellow Saints.</HI> God is as free in giving as he is in &s;aving, he gives what hee plea|&s;eth, how he plea&s;eth, when he plea&s;eth, and by whom hee plea&s;eth, this I have in &s;ome mea&s;ure experimented of God, and thinke it my duty to be a &s;ervant to God and to fellow Saints, to bring unto them what I have received from him: When Saints reveale their knowledge and expe|rience of God, they doe thereby confirme, strengthen, and build up one another in their mo&s;t holy Faith: I know no higher worke that Saints on earth have then this, and were it more in practice I doe verily beleeve that the beauty of holine&s;&s;e and the power of godline&s;&s;e would be more tran&s;|parent, but in &s;tead of &s;erving one another this way in the &s;pirit of God, we are devouring and de&s;troying one a|nother by an evill &s;pirit of lying and &s;laundering, fomen|ting unchri&s;tian and needle&s;&s;e jealou&s;ies one of another; this is either in the beginning or the end of mo&s;t mens di&s;|cour&s;es, of their printings; and it hath beene <HI>where I am &s;ure it ought not to be in mens Preachings;</HI> the&s;e tares which the evill man hath &s;owne among&s;t the good &s;eed have exceedingly &s;candalized the Go&s;pell of Chri&s;t, with the profe&s;&s;ours thereof; and if God delight in this gene|ration, hee will exceedingly humile us under this very
<PB REF="7">thing; in &s;tead of crucifying Chri&s;t in one another, Saints &s;hould be &s;ervants to carry Chri&s;t to each other; I meane their light in Chri&s;t, and their experiences of the love, faithfulne&s;&s;e, and holine&s;&s;e of God; this would in|crea&s;e love to God and his people in &s;tead of devouring, be|get imbracings into the bo&s;ome and armes of love, and faithfulne&s;&s;e, not to bely and &s;candalize but to honour and vindicate every childe of God.</P>
<P>A third rea&s;on that moves in me is this, <HI>To &s;tir up tho&s;e many thou&s;ands which this Land affords that are abundantly more able to take up this nece&s;&s;ary worke.</HI> Truly it is &s;ad to &s;ee how frothy and light things doe take up the &s;pirits of able and godly men, when as this onely thing nece&s;sary is as it were quite forgotten, not one|ly dead but buried out of &s;ight, I doe beleeve the&s;e la&s;t &s;e|ven yeares have brought forth as little of this fruit, as any &s;even yeares before, in which men did complaine they dur&s;t not &s;end truths abroad, lea&s;t &s;o doing &s;hould confine them to pri&s;ons, had the &s;even yeares liberty the Pre&s;&s;e hath had beene improved in this, through the ble&s;sing of God, it might have left &s;uch monuments of God in the World as after ages might have ble&s;&s;ed him for: I doe be|leeve Satan hath hindred much of this worke from appea|ring by the &s;candall and reproach of the World which is u|&s;ually ca&s;t upon it; truly I found it a very hard thing to get over, but when God gave me to under&s;tand, that <HI>The good and comfort of one &s;oule was of greater weight then the reproach of all the World;</HI> I was immediatly carryed above that temptation, and I here mention it to &s;tirre up others to the &s;ame worke, for doubt|le&s;&s;e God hath many thou&s;and poore Saints in this King|dome which will gladly gather up tho&s;e pearles of Divine truths, which the <HI>Swine</HI> of the World trample under their
<PB REF="7">feet, if but one &s;oule ble&s;&s;e God in truth for the revealing of the&s;e truths, though many thou&s;and prophane ones &s;hould &s;corne me to my face, yet I &s;hall not lo&s;e my end nor repent for my reproaches, if God be honoured by them.</P>
<P>My la&s;t rea&s;on is this, <HI>To give the World a true di&s;covery of my &s;pirit, and light in tho&s;e things which I count weighty,</HI> and every truth of them to be of more concernment then a thou&s;and Worlds, I cannot tell the thoughts of men concerning my &s;elfe, nor will pre&s;ume to take the place of God to judge the thoughts of any; but this I can truly tell that in the following truths I have clearely opened my heart to the view of every Reader, and have faithfully given to the World what light God hath given to me in tho&s;e maine truths, and fundamentalls of &s;alvation, in which my &s;oule lives, and what I can cheere|fully dye in, the next moment.</P>
<P>This is all I &s;hall &s;ay, I ble&s;&s;e the Lord I am &s;ingle hear|ted in this worke, let men judge of me and it according to to their light, I have no other end then this. <HI>That the e|ternall loving kindne&s;&s;e and free grace of God may be lifted up in the World, and that all his people may know how good a God hee is.</HI> I confe&s;&s;e the&s;e truths of God were in my &s;oule, like new Wine in old Bottles, my fle&s;h could impri&s;on them no longer, and now they are abroad give me leave <HI>Reader</HI> with them to give thee a word of caution.</P>
<P>If thou bee&s;t &s;pirituall, and under&s;tande&s;t the&s;e truths of God in the &s;pirit, and finde&s;t them &s;weet, then ble&s;&s;e the Lord, let thy heart prai&s;e him and thy eye be &s;ingly &s;et on him, overlooke the creature wholy, unle&s;&s;e it be to glory in the Lord that hath magnified his free grace to &s;o weake a one as my &s;elfe is: <HI>I</HI> acknowledge the truths to be Gods, and revealed by his &s;pirit of truth, &s;o that the beauty of them
<PB REF="8">mu&s;t center no where but in him, but all the failings and weakne&s;&s;es from fir&s;t to la&s;t are mine, the fruits of my fle&s;h and darkne&s;&s;e; I be&s;eech you let God have his due glory, though you blame me for my failings let not my weakne&s;&s;es prejudice any &s;oule again&s;t the precious truths of God. I tru&s;t there is nothing but what are truths of God, though weakly managed, and if any one among&s;t tho&s;e many thou&s;ands more de&s;cerning eyes then mine &s;hall finde out any thing that is not &s;o, I tru&s;t if in a &s;pirit of love and meekne&s;&s;e it be made knowne to me, I &s;hall ble&s;&s;e God for that &s;oule, and honour his truth by acknowledging my owne errours.</P>
<P>And to the &s;corner I &s;hall onely &s;ay this, <HI>I wi&s;h you could &s;ingly &s;corne me in it and not God, then would your &s;inne be the le&s;&s;e, and &s;o would my &s;orrow too:</HI> for God hath carried me above your &s;cornes, and were not your &s;innes increa&s;ed by it, the care of either &s;ide would be but very &s;mall: Let me deale plainely with you, you wrong your &s;elves, not me, for I can both live and dye full of joy and re&s;t in the love of God; though you &s;hall plea&s;e your &s;elves in &s;corning and deriding me, and all the returne I &s;hall make to this, will be to pity your darkne&s;&s;e, and to pray the Lord to give you the light of his &s;pirit, by which you may truly know him, and <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t</HI> which he hath &s;ent, and then I know you will be new creatures. I &s;hall hold you no longer in the porch, but open every doore of the hou&s;e that you may both read and &s;ee the truths of God made knowne by his &s;pirit, to the weake&s;t, and one as unworthy as any of his Servants:</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Rob: Tichbourne.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="table of contents">
<PB REF="8">
<HEAD>The Contents of the &s;everall Chapters con|tained in this Booke.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM><P>LOVE to all SAINTS &s;hews union with Chri&s;t.</P>
<Q>By this &s;hall all men know that ye are my Di&s;ciples if yee love one another <BIBL>John 13.35.</BIBL></Q></ITEM>
<ITEM><P>What Chri&s;t hath borne for Saints they &s;hall never beare them&s;elves.</P>
<P><Q>For as many as are of the workes of the law are under the cur&s;e; for it is written, cur&s;ed is every one that continu|eth not in all things which are written in the booke of the law to doe them.</Q>
<Q>But that no man is ju&s;tified by the law in the &s;ight of God, <HI>it is evident,</HI> for the ju&s;t &s;hall live by faith.</Q>
<Q>And the law is not of faith, but the man that doth them &s;hall live in them.</Q>
<Q>Chri&s;t hath redeemed us from the cur&s;e of the law, being
<PB REF="9">made a cur&s;e for us; <HI>for it is written,</HI> cur&s;ed is every one that hangeth on a tree.</Q>
<Q>There is neither Jew nor Greeke, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for yee are all one in Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</Q>
<Q>And if ye be Chri&s;ts, then are yee <HI>Abrahams</HI> &s;eed, and heirs according to promi&s;e,<BIBL> Gal. 3.10, 11, 12, 13.28, 29.</BIBL></Q></P></ITEM>
<ITEM><P>Gods Children have his Spirit to walk and work in.</P>
<P><Q>For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the &s;onnes of God.</Q>
<Q>For yee have not received the &s;pirit of bondage again to feare, but yee have received the &s;pirit of adoption, whereby we cry <HI>Abba-Father.</HI></Q>
<Q>The Spirit it &s;elfe bearing witne&s;&s;e with our &s;pirit that we are the children of God, <BIBL>Rom. 8.14, 15, 16.</BIBL></Q></P></ITEM>
<ITEM><P>Gods love giveth Saints to know they &s;hall ap|peare like Chri&s;t.</P>
<P><Q>Behold what manner of love the Father hath be&s;towed upon us that we &s;hould be called the &s;onnes of God. Therefore the world knows us not, becau&s;e it knew not him.</Q>
<Q>Beloved, now are we the &s;ons of God, and it doth not yet appeare what we &s;hall be: but we know that when hee &s;hall appeare, we &s;hall be like him, for wee &s;hall &s;ee him as he is, <BIBL>1 John 3.1, 2.</BIBL></Q></P></ITEM>
<ITEM><P>Chri&s;t is the foode of living &s;oules.</P>
<Q>I am that bread of life, <BIBL>John 6.48.</BIBL></Q></ITEM>
<ITEM><P>Chri&s;ts reigne by his Spirit is the Saints liberty from bondage.</P>
<PB REF="9">
<Q>To redeeme them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of &s;ons.</Q>
<Q>And becau&s;e ye are &s;ons, God hath &s;ent forth the &s;pirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba-Father, <BIBL>Gal. 4.5, 6.</BIBL></Q></ITEM>
<ITEM><P>Saints are compleate before God in their union with Chri&s;t.</P>
<Q>For in him dwels all the fulne&s;&s;e of the God-head bodily, and yee are compleat in him, <BIBL>Colo&s;&s;. 2.9.</BIBL></Q></ITEM>
<ITEM><P>Free-grace in God ju&s;tifieth &amp; redeemeth through Chri&s;t.</P>
<Q>Being ju&s;tified freely by his grace through the redempti|on that is in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, <BIBL>Rom. 3.24.</BIBL></Q></ITEM>
<ITEM><P>Chri&s;t and the new creature are un&s;eparable.</P>
<Q>Therefore if any man be in Chri&s;t hee is a new creature, <BIBL>2 Cor. 5.17.</BIBL></Q></ITEM>
<ITEM><P>Vanity and vexation of &s;pirit compa&s;&s;eth all things under the &s;unne.</P>
<Q>I have &s;eene all the workes that are done under the Sun, and behold all is vanity and vexation of &s;pirit, <BIBL>Eccle&s;. 1.14.</BIBL></Q></ITEM>
<ITEM><P>A Saints excellency is to have no will in him&s;elfe but the will of God.</P>
<Q>Saying, Father if thou be willing remove this cup from me, neverthele&s;&s;e not my will, but thine be done, <BIBL>Luke 22.42.</BIBL></Q></ITEM>
<ITEM><P>No man exceedes another in excellency but by re|ceived mercies.</P>
<Q>For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what ha&s;t thou that thou did&s;t not receive? <BIBL>1 Cor. 4.7.</BIBL></Q></ITEM>
<PB REF="10">
<ITEM><P>None but God can be a proper &s;ubject for a Saint to glory in.</P>
<Q>He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord, <BIBL>1 Cor. 1. part of the 30. ver&s;.</BIBL></Q></ITEM>
<ITEM><P>Saints have victory through Chri&s;t over Death, and by faith glory in it.</P>
<P><Q>O Death where is thy &s;ting? O grave where is thy vi|ctory?</Q>
<Q>The &s;ting of death is &s;inne, and the &s;trength of &s;inne is the Law.</Q>
<Q>But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <BIBL>1 Cor. 15, 55, 56, 57.</BIBL></Q></P></ITEM>
</LIST>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="endorsement">
<PB REF="10">
<HEAD><HI>Jan.</HI> 25. 1648.</HEAD>
<P>I Have delightfully looked upon the&s;e <HI>Clu|&s;ters of Canaans Grapes,</HI> and have helped them to the <HI>Pre&s;&s;e,</HI> that they may be <HI>Wine</HI> for Common drinking: I onely minde the Reader, that the&s;e Grapes yeeld the <HI>New Wine of the Go&s;pell;</HI> Let him take heed hee puts it not into the <HI>Old Bottles</HI> of envy or of malice, of prejudice or of contempt; if he doe, <HI>His Bot|tles will breake;</HI> and though the Wine (becau&s;e 'tis &s;aving Wine) cannot but be &s;afe, yet him|&s;elfe will be a loo&s;er, yea, in danger to be lo&s;t; Whereas, his profit and Salvation are (I beleeve, on this &s;ide the glory of God) the highe&s;t end of the Author, in this publication, as they are of the Licen&s;er,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Jo&s;eph Caryl.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="11">
<PB N="1" REF="11">
<HEAD>A Clu&s;ter of Canaans <HI>GRAPES.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. I. Love to all Saints &s;hews union with Chri&s;t.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>JOHN 13.35.</HI></BIBL>
<P>By this &s;hall all men know that yee are my Di&s;ciples, if yee love one another.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THE fore-going ver&s;e holds out a Com|mand from Chri&s;t, that all his Di&s;ciples, <HI>tho&s;e which love and follow him,</HI> &s;hould love oee another: And to this command our Saviour holds forth his love as a <HI>pattern</HI> and incitation to us to love one another, <HI>That you love one another,</HI> &s;aith Chri&s;t,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver&s;e 34,</NOTE> <HI>as I have loved you.</HI> Our Saviour &s;pake the&s;e words <HI>a little before bis death,</HI> that they might be of the more force, and make the more <HI>impre&s;&s;ion</HI> upon the &s;oules of his Di&s;ciples, as if he &s;hould &s;ay, remember my <HI>dying love,</HI> and let it live in your bo&s;omes, as a precept and example for you to love one another. In this 35. ver&s;e our Saviour advances love, <HI>holy, &s;pirituall</HI> love, and makes it a <HI>Beacon</HI> of di&s;covery. This love, it is the love of Chri&s;t <HI>within us,</HI> for <HI>without him</HI> we can doe nothing. Now Chri&s;t makes <HI>a double</HI> di&s;covery by this love: <HI>The fir&s;t is,</HI> he di&s;covers God his Father and our Father, and him&s;elfe to us: <HI>Secondly,</HI> by
<PB N="2" REF="12">this love he makes a di&s;covery of <HI>Saintt</HI> to the world, as they are in union and communion with him; the latter of the&s;e is that which is held forth in this ver&s;e, namely, A Saint manife&s;ting to the world his union with Chri&s;t, by his love to every fellow-mem|ber, as bearing Chri&s;ts image.</P>
<P>The point that <HI>naturally</HI> flowes from the&s;e words, is this:
<Q>That love to all Saints is a plain manife&s;tation of our union and communion with Chri&s;t.</Q></P>
<P>When I &s;ay all Saints, I admit of no di&s;tinction but only Saint|&s;hip, living in the Spirit up to their intere&s;t as Di&s;ciples and fol|lowers of Chri&s;t: <HI>Not Saints of &s;uch or &s;uch a judgement</HI> in point of wor&s;hip, <HI>nor Saints</HI> of a higher or lower growth, <HI>nor Saints</HI> di&s;tin|gui&s;hed by their various formes of di&s;cip&s;ine, but as branches of the true Vine, which in their union with Chri&s;t bring forth the fruits of the beauty of holine&s;&s;e, and the power of godline&s;&s;e, Chri&s;t gives this as a generall command to all his Di&s;ciples, <HI>to love one another,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 15.17.</NOTE> our Saviour tells us this, As I am in the Father, &s;o are you in me, and this is a good foundation of love, therefore <HI>love one another</HI> as I have loved you.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 15.12.</NOTE> And in 1 <HI>John</HI> 4.21. <HI>And this Com|mandment have we from him, that he who loves God loves his brother al|&s;o;</HI> as if the holy Gho&s;t had &s;aid, Tho&s;e that truly love God, will love his image where-ever they find it. Our Saviour in <HI>John</HI> 17.20, 21. prayes upon this principle, he prayes for all that &s;hall be|leeve in him, his love is not &s;tinted onely unto Apo&s;tles or Di&s;ci|ples, per&s;ons of greate&s;t gifts and graces, but it runnes as &s;trongly to the weake&s;t beleever. So in the 10. ver&s;e of that 17. of <HI>John, All mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them.</HI> Chri&s;t by an eye of love beholds that union which the weake&s;t beleever hath with him, and beholds his glory in that union. Here wee have Chri&s;t the <HI>pure&s;t founntain</HI> of love for our pattern, his love runnes to all in union with him, &s;o &s;hould our di&s;tingui&s;hing love <HI>extend to all</HI> that hold the head Chri&s;t Je&s;us, and walk in the light and life <HI>of</HI> the Spirit This truth is &s;o cleare from the fir&s;t Text, that it needs not any more to prove it, though the Scripture be a|bundant in it,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 The&s;&s;. 4.9.</NOTE> as that 1 <HI>John</HI> 4.19, 20, 21. and <HI>John</HI> 15.12. So take in 1 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 4.9. the Apo&s;tle makes it as it were a needle&s;&s;e thing, to write to them their duty in this, to love their brethren in Chri&s;t. <HI>For</HI> (&s;ayes he) <HI>you your &s;elves are taught of God to love one <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> nother,</HI> as if he had &s;aid, you know nothing of God if you know
<PB N="3" REF="12">not this duty; if you know your union with Chri&s;t, you will know that that love which made you one with him, hath made you &s;o with every of his members. So in that 1 <HI>John</HI> 2.10, 11.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 2.10, 11.</NOTE> the holy Gho&s;t there &s;peakes the &s;ame thing with the fir&s;t Text, and makes <HI>love to the brethren</HI> to be a di&s;covering <HI>Beame</HI> of Chri&s;t the Lord of Light and Glory in us, The Text is plain, <HI>Hee that loves not his brother, abides not in the light, but is in darkne&s;&s;e, and walkes in darkne&s;&s;e, not knowing whither be goes,</HI> becau&s;e he is with|out Chri&s;t the light of life, who is the light of that &s;oule hee lives in; which &s;oule loves Chri&s;t, and all that is like him. In all the&s;e Scriptures you may ob&s;erve how the heart of Chri&s;t, and all <HI>tho&s;e that wrot from the Dictates of the holy Ghost,</HI> is upon this very thing. God calls him&s;elf the <HI>God of Love,</HI> &amp; fils his children with his Di|vine nature by his Spirit, and would have them beare his Name too, that the world may know, that the <HI>Father of Love</HI> hath be|gotten <HI>Children of Love</HI> in his own likene&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>I am afraid we all live much below this eminent di&s;covery of our intere&s;t in Chri&s;t, by <HI>our love to all Saints,</HI> in that latitude which Chri&s;t intends it; therefore to &s;tirre up and engage our hearts more in this glorious and heavenly duty and priviledge, let us in the Spirit of Chri&s;t &s;eriou&s;ly weigh the&s;e Rea&s;ons and Con|&s;iderations following.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t,
<MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="Rea&s;on, or Con&s;i|deration."> <HI>the Onene&s;&s;e of all Elect</HI> beleevers in the originall love of God, con&s;ider if we all have not <HI>one Fountaine</HI> of life, and were not all in the <HI>fir&s;t Adam</HI> involved into one death of tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion? Was there any fallen &s;oule le&s;&s;e guilty in the fall of the <HI>fir&s;t Adam,</HI> then another? Or was there any that God &s;aw more worthine&s;&s;e in, then in another, to move him to chu&s;e &s;uch a &s;oule? <HI>Surely no:</HI> For then that Word of eternall Truth could not &s;tand in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.8. <HI>For by grace are we &s;aved, not of our &s;elves, 'tis the gift of God.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 2.8.</NOTE> Every &s;aved &s;oule is a child of free grace, and its &s;alvation the gift of God: in the fifth ver&s;e of that Chapter,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Verre 5.</NOTE> <HI>Even we who were dead in &s;ins, hath he quickned us together with Chri&s;t:</HI> there is all in one &s;tate of death, and all in one &s;tate of life; and the originall of this life he brings in a parenthe&s;is <HI>(by grace ye are &s;aved)</HI> love is in God the originall of it, to all alike, and it never degenerates from this fir&s;t principle, till it comes through the <HI>muddy hearts</HI> of fallen crea|tures; and we &s;o much degenerate from God, and from love,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 17.23<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> latter part.</NOTE> as we live below this love in the <HI>Originall, John</HI> 17.23. latter part,
<PB N="4" REF="13">our Saviour there prayes that the world may know, that God loves Saints as he loves him: <HI>And ha&s;t loved them</HI> (&s;ayes Chri&s;t) <HI>as thou ha&s;t loved me;</HI> thus is Chri&s;t and Saints in one originall love. And if head and Member, then &s;urely Member and Mem|ber. All true Saints lye in this one <HI>womb,</HI> the originall love of God:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s; 4.4, 5, 6.</NOTE> And thus all Saints are of one Body, one Calling, have one Lord, one God and Father of all; the originall love of God makes this <HI>Onene&s;&s;e</HI> in all the Saints, and &s;peakes very &s;trongly this thing, <HI>That there &s;hould be a uniting of affections amongst all Saints upon the intere&s;t of Saints.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly,
<MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="Rea&s;on, or Con&s;i|deration."> con&s;ider as Saints, <HI>our onene&s;&s;e in union with Chri&s;t,</HI> the rock from whence we are all hewen, whom God hath cho&s;en to manife&s;t to us his eternall love, and to make us capable of en|joying the fulne&s;&s;e of that love: this union our Saviour &s;peakes to in <HI>John</HI> 17.23. <HI>I in them and they in me, that they might be made per|fect in one,</HI> Con&s;ider Saints perfection lies in this union, &s;urely their affections &s;hould flow from this union. A Saints compleat|ne&s;&s;e is in Chri&s;t, <HI>Colo&s;&s;.</HI> 2.10. <HI>&V;nion with Chri&s;t hath all the Argu|ments of love in it:</HI> For there is the beauty, the fulne&s;&s;e, and the compleatne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t upon &s;uch a &s;oule. The excellency of Chri&s;t &s;eemes to have but little beauty in &s;uch an eye or heart, as cannot love upon the naked intere&s;t of a Saint.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 2.5.</NOTE> If Chri&s;t bee e|nough to gain thy love, <HI>whole Chri&s;t is the intere&s;t of every Saint,</HI> e|very beleever is quickned together with Chri&s;t, who in all is for eternall intere&s;t <HI>alike to all</HI> that the Father hath given him. His blood <HI>equall</HI> redemption, and &s;atisfaction, his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is <HI>as compleat</HI> a robe <HI>to all</HI> his members, <HI>as to any,</HI> where Chri&s;t is the Head every Member is compleat in him: Chri&s;t is Head to the whole elect beleeving Body, the Foot hath as good an intere&s;t as the Hand, or Eye. <HI>God is no re&s;pecter of per&s;ons,</HI> he chu&s;es meerly of his own grace, and that grace fils every &s;oule with the fulne&s;&s;e of him <HI>that is the fulne&s;&s;e of the Godhead bodily.</HI> So that through that free, full grace, every &s;oule is compleat in him; if this union in|gage not love, it can be no &s;pirituall object which will doe it: for the fulne&s;&s;e of the Godhead bodily is in Chri&s;t, and Saints are one with Chri&s;t; every beame of the love and glory of God, &s;hines through Chri&s;t. Whence is it then, that union with Chri&s;t takes not all the affections? <HI>Surely Chri&s;t bath but little love from &s;uch a &s;oule, that findes not this Argument enough to per&s;wade him to love his
<PB N="5" REF="13">brother, that is one with him in Chri&s;t,</HI> and lives up to his union with Chri&s;t, bearing his Image. Faith workes not lower effects then fle&s;h and blood doth; refined affections make &s;tronger and purer motions then the highe&s;t piece of &s;imple Nature can doe: Now fle&s;h and blood will act thus high, I mu&s;t love, he is my <HI>bro|ther,</HI> we had <HI>one womb</HI> to be conceived in; I mu&s;t love, hee is <HI>my child,</HI> he beares <HI>my Image;</HI> &s;urely faith workes higher then this, &s;pirituall affections make &s;tronger and purer motions upon union and relations, then carnall can doe; motion from affection made in the &s;oule by a light of this intere&s;t, He is my brother, one womb of love conceived us both, we are both builded upon one Rock of Ages; this love out-beats the <HI>pul&s;e of carnall affections,</HI> though it beats very &s;trong; love to God and Chri&s;t, is in the bottome of this motion, and carries it &s;trongly on, 1 <HI>John</HI> 4.20. <HI>If a man &s;ay,</HI> I <HI>love God, and hateth his brother, he is a lyar:</HI> if there bee love to God and Chri&s;t, there will be love to every &s;oul that is in communion with Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Thirdly,
<MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="Rea&s;on, or Con&s;i|deration,"> con&s;ider <HI>the onene&s;&s;e of Saints in the ingagement of God to all;</HI> namely, his covenant of free grace, in which all his people have equall intere&s;t: it is <HI>free</HI> from God, and <HI>&s;o equally</HI> full to all, God <HI>freely</HI> ingages to be our God, and that we &s;hall be his people, and that he will <HI>freely</HI> forgive our iniquity, and remember our &s;ins no more; God makes this new covenant to all the new creation, to the whole body of his elect in Chri&s;t, which as the holy Gho&s;t tels us in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.10. <HI>That we are his workman&s;hip ereated in Chri&s;t Je&s;us unto good workes.</HI> There is not any &s;oule hath any thing to plead for his eternall life, but meere grace: and this is the free in|gagement of God to every &s;oule that he hath given to Chri&s;t, <HI>this is the &s;ure mercies of David;</HI> this that <HI>better Covenant,</HI> 'tis made in God, and cannot be broken. And in all this glorious intere&s;t all the Saints are one; there is not a beame of this glory from God that takes in one Saint and &s;huts out another: <HI>The weake&s;t beleeving &s;oule may as truly &s;ay, God is my God in his covenant of free grace, as the &s;tronge&s;t beleever.</HI></P>
<P>Fourthly con&s;ider,
<MILESTONE N="4" UNIT="Rea&s;on, or Con&s;i|deration."> <HI>the onene&s;&s;e of that way which God and Chri&s;t hath cho&s;en to manife&s;t their love and their will to all Saints,</HI> namely, the holy Spirt, <HI>John</HI> 14.17.26. Hete is a generall promi&s;e to all Saints, that they &s;hall be taught all things, and this &s;hall be by the holy Gho&s;t, the Spirit of Truth, whom the Father will &s;end in
<PB N="6" REF="14">Chri&s;ts Name, and he &s;hall dwell with them, and &s;hall be in them. What ever truth of God any Saint hath learned, in truth, he hath received it from this Spirit of truth; Though God as a free agent gives to his children as it plea&s;eth him; to one more <HI>light,</HI> to ano|ther le&s;&s;e, but all receive of this one Spirit; <HI>and this I take to be that one Bapti&s;me &s;poken of in the</HI> 4.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 4.5.</NOTE> Ephefians 5. Je&s;us Chri&s;t admini|&s;tring him&s;elfe, by this one Spirit, to all his Children, by which they come baptized into Chri&s;t: into his death, and have put on Chri&s;t,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 6.3, 4 Rom. 8.14.</NOTE> <HI>Rom.</HI> 6.3, 4. And are led by the Spirit, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the &s;ous of God. <HI>To be led by the Spirit is the intere&s;t and prerogative of every childe of God.</HI></P>
<P>This union runs through all the heires of heaven,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 5.22.25.</NOTE> <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.22.25. Love, joy, peace, long-&s;uffering, gentlene&s;&s;e, goodne&s;&s;e, faith, all and every of the&s;e in any, and in all the Saints is the fruits of this Spirit, in which every childe of God as a childe of God walkes; all the&s;e and every branch of holine&s;&s;e is wrought by one and the &s;ame Spirit in every Saint; <HI>So all gifts and all degrees of gifts flow from one and the &s;ame Spirit,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12.4.</NOTE> 1 Cor. 12.4. Now there are diver&s;i|ties of gifts, but the &s;ame Spirit, &s;o <HI>Eph.</HI> 5.9. For the fruits of the Spirit are in all goodne&s;&s;e, and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and truth; what ever of the&s;e is in any Saint, and in all the Saints of God, it is the fruits of this holy Spirit; this is <HI>that life and bloud which runt in the veines of all the Saints of God,</HI> from which all motion and acts of life flowes: <HI>Through Christ that &s;trengthens me,</HI> &s;aies <HI>Paul, I can doe all things;</HI> &s;o mu&s;t every Saint &s;ay, it is Chri&s;t in the Spirit that makes all holy motion in the &s;oule. This union of the Spi|rit in Saints in an eternall union, though here &s;ome have a grea|ter degree of it then others; yet in heaven every Saint &s;hall be fil|led with the fullne&s;&s;e of it; this Spirit is that Spirit which rai&s;ed Chri&s;t from the dead, that dwells in all the Saints, and &s;hall quic|ken our mortall bodies, as members of Chri&s;t our head, at that great day when he &s;hall come to judge the world; this makes a very clo&s;e relation in all Saints one to another, and &s;peakes very lowd for &s;trong affections.</P>
<P>A fift Con&s;ideration may be this;
<MILESTONE N="5" UNIT="Rea&s;on or Con&s;i|deration.">
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 4.4.</NOTE> <HI>That Saints when they joy and glory properly as Saints, then they have all one joy and glory in this life,</HI> namely, the Lord our righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; <HI>Let him that glorieth glory in the Lord,</HI> Phil. 4.4. And he that rejoyces in the Lord, and makes
<PB N="7" REF="14">him his joy, may rejoyce alwayes. This was <HI>Pauls</HI> &s;pirit, he would glory in nothing <HI>but in Chri&s;t, and him crucified.</HI> A Saint will ac|knowledge all his &s;prings to be in God, &s;o that he hath no &s;pring of joy on glory but what flowes from God, which is the fountaine of all, the beauty his eyes &s;ee: of all the &s;weet his &s;oule ta&s;ts, and of all the glory his &s;oule makes after, or makes mention of, <HI>God is all in all, and to all his people. Whom have I in Heaven? but thee,</HI> &s;ayes the Prophet, <HI>or whom on Earth, in compari&s;on of thee?</HI> Proper joy and glory in all the Saints hath but one proper fountaine and object, and that is God him&s;elfe: as all the joy and glory of Saints centre in God, &s;o &s;hould all their love, <HI>and this will &s;oone teach us to love one another.</HI></P>
<P>La&s;tly, Con&s;ider,
<MILESTONE N="6 and la&s;t" UNIT="Rea&s;on."> <HI>That Saints &s;hall have all one glorious being to eternitie,</HI> John 17.24. Chri&s;t will manife&s;t his love to all eterni|tie to his people, <HI>he will have them all as happy as him&s;elfe.</HI> Then &s;hall wee know indeed the life of our union with Chri&s;t, and with one another. Mothinkes the di&s;covery of that love which hath made this union, &s;hould beget love in all tho&s;e that are thus united in the eternall love and glory of God, <HI>Colo&s;.</HI> 3.4. Chri&s;t is the life and the glory of all his people, <HI>and at his appearance they all oppeare in glory,</HI> 1 The&s;. 4.16, 17. This glorious being of the Saints, &s;hall be to a beleever with the Lord; <HI>Oh how &s;hould this draw forth our love one to another, that we &s;hall ever be with the Lord of love!</HI> if Saints be one in all the&s;e, &amp; that the&s;e comprehend the whole of a Saint, then why &s;hould we not be one in affection?</P>
<P><HI>Po&s;&s;ibly &s;ome may &s;ay, wee are not all of one judgement,
<MILESTONE UNIT="Object."> and therefore cannot be one in affection?</HI></P>
<P>That (I am verily a&s;&s;ured is our own not Gods) is of the fle&s;h,
<MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;w."> and not of the Spirit; <HI>Through Chri&s;t,</HI> &s;ays <HI>Paul, I can due all things;</HI> if wee looke upon one another in Chri&s;t, then wee &s;hall finde wee can love becau&s;e in Chri&s;t. <HI>I would aske this que&s;tion,</HI> Whether is the greate&s;t argument of love; <HI>being children <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">f one Father, or being children of equall growth or &s;tature?</HI> For I am per&s;waded this will comprehend all the differences among the Saints, namely, <HI>our &s;tate</HI> and <HI>our growth</HI> as child ren in our Fathers hou&s;e; the branches in Chri&s;t live and grow becau&s;e in him: &s;hall wee be angry if God <HI>who is a free agent</HI> gives out more or le&s;&s;e of him&s;elfe to one bre|thren then to our &s;elves? Growth is as God di&s;pon&s;es of him&s;elfe to us; <HI>What have you that you have not received,</HI> &s;ayes the Text? It
<PB N="8" REF="15">was the fle&s;hly argument of <HI>Jo&s;ephs brethren,</HI> not to love him be|cau&s;e they thought him dearer to their Father then them&s;elves, and becau&s;e God would u&s;e and honour him above them. It is the &s;inne and &s;hame of Saints to make <HI>this the rule of love</HI> to their bre|thren, that they are of one judgement, at one pitch of light in the di&s;coveries of God, and not becau&s;e he is a brother, and beares our Fathers image. If God intended to di&s;pence alike to all his Children, why then hath he provided <HI>milke</HI> for babes, and <HI>&s;tronger meate</HI> for &s;tronger Saints? And what is the meaning of God when he equires the &s;trong to bear with the weak, and to receive them, but not to doubtfull di&s;putations? If a Saint makes onene&s;&s;e of judgement to be the rule of his love to his brother, <HI>he mu&s;t then make the cau&s;e of his di&s;like to proceede from God,</HI> becau&s;e he that is free in giving hath not given equall light to all. Let us take heed in this our quarrell wee be not found <HI>figbters again&s;t God.</HI> He that makes his judgement to be the foundation of his love to his bre|thren, I doubt he lays a greater weight upon it then the foundati|on will beare. Saints knowledge in this life admits of a mixture, wee know but in part, and wee &s;ee but in part, thou &s;ee&s;t &s;ome|thing of God that another &s;ees not, and another &s;ees &s;omething of God which thou at pre&s;ent &s;ee&s;t not; and <HI>God beholds much of fle&s;h and darkne&s;&s;e in all Saints.</HI> Now con&s;ider if this glimmering light, this knowing in part, and this mixture of fle&s;h and &s;pirit, be foundation &s;trong enough to lay the weight of our love to Saints upon. Spirituall love is of the greate&s;t weight that can be, this love is God, for God is love, &s;o that no foundation is &s;trong enough to beare the weight of this love but God him&s;elfe,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 5.16.</NOTE> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.16. In the foregoing ver&s;e, <HI>Paul</HI> lookes upon him&s;elfe and all Saints as <HI>dead and alive with Chri&s;t,</HI> and therefore he re&s;olves in this 16. ver&s;e to know all Saints as they are in Chri&s;t, <HI>to know no man after the fle&s;h, no not Chri&s;t him&s;elfe;</HI> he makes God alone the object and the foundation of his love. And if Saints now did re|&s;olve with <HI>Paul</HI> to know neither Chri&s;t nor Saints after the fle&s;h, I beleeve our formes and our apprehen&s;ions of the wayes of God, which have in the be&s;t of them &s;o much mixture of fle&s;hly dark|ne&s;&s;e, would not be made the foundation and the bounds of our love one to another. I know in Scripture-language but of <HI>two &s;eeds</HI> in the world, The <HI>&s;eed of the Woman,</HI> and <HI>the &s;eed of the Serpent;</HI> Saints are all of one &s;eed, though they may differ in light; <HI>&s;ome</HI>
<PB N="9" REF="15">more in the Spirit, and <HI>others</HI> more in the fle&s;h, yet <HI>all</HI> have the &s;eed of eternall life in them, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.11, 12, 13. When the Apo&s;tle heard of the contentions that were in the hou&s;e of <HI>Clo&eacute;,</HI> &s;aying, that &s;ome were of <HI>Paul,</HI> &s;ome of <HI>Apollo,</HI> and &s;ome of <HI>Cephas,</HI> and &s;ome of <HI>Chri&s;t;</HI> his an&s;wer is this, <HI>Is Chri&s;t divided?</HI> As if he had &s;aid, it is your fle&s;hly apprehen&s;ion that divides you to <HI>Paul, Apol|lo,</HI> and <HI>Cephas:</HI> Did you judge in the Spirit, you would &s;ee your &s;elves to be one in Chri&s;t, for Chri&s;t is not divided; Chri&s;t and his people are one; as Chri&s;t is one with God, &s;o are his people one with him, <HI>Joh.</HI> 17.10.21.23. <HI>All mine are thine,</HI> &s;ays Chri&s;t to his Father and our Father; and therefore prayes for a Spiritof union to fall upon all Saints, <HI>as Saints. All that are thine and mine;</HI> Chri&s;ts bowells earnes to all his members as members one with him&s;elfe and his Father; his heart is not &s;atisfied till they be all <HI>with him</HI> in glory: 24 ver&s;e, he doth not &s;ay, Father I will that tho&s;e which thou ha&s;t given me, <HI>that have the highe&s;t light</HI> be with me where I am to behold my glory, and <HI>tho&s;e of lower light</HI> to be kept under the beggerly rudiments of the World; but his armes of love doe incompa&s;&s;e all; that they all may be one, and tho&s;e which thou ha&s;t given me, &s;ays Chri&s;t: <HI>As if Chri&s;t bad &s;aid,</HI> thou art free in thy &s;elfe and mighte&s;t choo&s;e whom thou plea&s;e&s;t, but tho&s;e which thou ha&s;t cho&s;en, my heart is fired on them all, &s;o that Imu&s;t have them all with me in glory. Thou wert free in choo|&s;ing of them, and art &s;till a free agent, &s;o that thou mai&s;t give them light as it plea&s;eth thee, but they have my heart; as they are thy gift, thou ha&s;t given them me, and I have given my &s;elfe for them, and to this end I dyed for them, and live in them, <HI>that they all might be one in me as I am one in thee.</HI> Chri&s;ts love flowes from union in him&s;elfe, and not from tho&s;e apprehen&s;ions in Saints, which are mixtures of fle&s;h and Spirit, <HI>he is like his Father,</HI> he will not quench &s;moaking flax, or break the brui&s;ed reed, he loves the lea&s;t of his Fathers image where ever he &s;ees it. <HI>Chri&s;ts heart is in the mid&s;t of his body,</HI> he tenders a foote or a hand as well as an eye, becau&s;e it is a member of his body, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.13, 14, 15, 26, 27. And gives it us in charge, that as his body we &s;hould &s;uffer and re|joyce with every member, which mu&s;t relate <HI>to Saints in generall,</HI> for &s;ayes the 27 ver&s;e, you are the body of Chrivt, and members in particular: <HI>Every particular Saint is a member of Chri&s;t, &amp; all Saints the body of Chri&s;t:</HI> to be a member of the body, a Saint, this draws
<PB N="10" REF="16">forth Chri&s;ts love: and by this will it appeare that we are Di&s;ci|ples, <HI>followers of Chri&s;t,</HI> if upon intere&s;t in Chri&s;t <HI>wee love one ano|ther.</HI> By this will all men know that you are my Di&s;ciples, <HI>if you love Saints, becau&s;e of my image, and not becau&s;e of your owne.</HI></P>
<P>Again, con&s;ider this; if that <HI>worldlings</HI> finding us contending with, and hardly u&s;ing of our brethren, <HI>fellow Saints</HI> that are be|low or above our light, &s;hall cruelly entreat us; will they not have a faire plea to God at the la&s;t and great day, when God &s;hall lay it to their charge, that they have per&s;ecuted his Di&s;ciples; may they not an&s;wer, Lord we did not know them to be thy Di&s;ciples; for thou ha&s;t told us wee &s;hall know thine by <HI>loving one another:</HI> but we found the&s;e contending among them&s;elves: their <HI>unkinde|ne&s;&s;e to one another</HI> did demon&s;trate them to be the children of the World, not heirs of thy Kingdome, and walking like children of the fle&s;h, and this world; we judged that we might &s;afely lay our <HI>iron rods</HI> upon them. If they &s;hould an&s;wer thus, &s;ure I am, this would be as good a rea&s;on for the worlds cruelty to us, as our differing apprehen&s;ions of the mind of God, will be for our not loving one another. Wee have two <HI>examples</HI> in the Olde Te&s;ta|ment why <HI>love</HI> and <HI>brethren</HI> &s;hould goe together. Fir&s;t, <HI>Abraham</HI> and <HI>Lot, let not us fall out, for we are brethren.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> to his brethren in their journey; <HI>Fall not out by the way, for you are brethren.</HI> To be children of one Fa|ther is an argument of love; Saints are all in their way to Hea|ven, <HI>and Chri&s;t is their way,</HI> the way and the end are both argu|ments of love. The whole current of the Go&s;pel runs this way, that which invloves all in one is Chri&s;ts command, <HI>Love one ano|ther as I have loved you.</HI> Chri&s;t loved us to give us light and life: &s;o that light could not be the cau&s;e of his love, no more &s;hould it be the cau&s;e of our love; for we &s;hould love as <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> doth, from union with God; <HI>Thine they were, and thou gave&s;t them mee,</HI> that is e|nough to Chri&s;t, if an intere&s;t in God, he loves them. God cals him&s;elfe <HI>the God of love,</HI> and Chri&s;t is the manife&s;t te&s;timonie of Gods love; now the great te&s;timonie that Saints give to the world of their being in God and Chri&s;t, is the <HI>life of love</HI> to God, and all that beare his Image, even the meane&s;t of his Di&s;ciples. None can love &s;piritually and truly, but tho&s;e that live &s;piritually and tru|ly in God; for God is love in the fountaine, &amp; what ever is love in the &s;treames, it is the flowings forth of God into &s;uch a &s;oule. And the true rea&s;on of our little love to Saints, <HI>as Saints,</HI> is this,
<PB N="11" REF="16">our living &s;o much in the fle&s;h, and &s;o little in the Spirit: &s;o much in a forme of godline&s;&s;e, and &s;o little in the power of godline&s;&s;e, laying &s;o much weight upon things that peri&s;h, and &s;o little upon the rocke of ages: and &s;urely when God by the fire of his Spirit &s;hall burn up &amp; con&s;ume our fle&s;hly principles, then will the pan|tings of our &s;oules be pure, like the Spou&s;e in the <HI>Canticles. Tell me</HI> (&s;aith &s;hee) <HI>where is hee whom my &s;oule loveth:</HI> and this hee was Chri&s;t. So will our &s;oules &s;ay, when they &s;eeke an object for their loves, tell me where Chri&s;t is: And if we find Chri&s;t in &s;uch a &s;oule that is not at our pitch of light, and in matter of forme beares not our image; yet I have found Chri&s;t here, and it is hee whom my &s;oule loves: &s;o that now my love mu&s;t runne forth to Chri&s;t; In this &s;oule is an object &s;o drawing, that all fetters are &s;haken off, and all bolts loo&s;ed, &s;o that the &s;oule of this Saint runs forth to Chri&s;t, and every &s;oule in whom Chri&s;t lives; as it is &s;aid in another ca&s;e, the love of Chri&s;t con&s;trains; This &s;oule can impri&s;on his love no longer, the glorious image of Chri&s;t hath &s;o overcome it, that it can now no longer argue upon forms, but give it &s;elfe up to the power of God that now lives in it by the Spirit. Let this &s;hame us who profe&s;&s;e our &s;elves Saints, in all our frowardne&s;&s;e one to another; wee can &s;ee <HI>a moate</HI> in the worlds eye, and not <HI>a beam</HI> in our own. If the world like it &s;elfe be froward to us, we can be &s;oone &s;en&s;ible, and complaine of it, when at the &s;ame time, wee <HI>altogether unlike Saints,</HI> are froward, and become thornes in the &s;ides of our brethren, and can &s;ooner &s;ay 'tis impo&s;&s;ible to be otherwi&s;e, then complaine of our ba&s;e hearts. And I <HI>may ju&s;tly feare, that many a &s;oule,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">&lindx;</NOTE> which but few yeares &s;ince would creepe into corners with other Saints, to complaine to God of the inju&s;tice &amp; unkindne&s;&s;e of the world to them; yet now their feete have beene out of the &s;tockes, are become the fir&s;t that lift up their bande again&s;t their brethren.</HI> I know no cau&s;e of it but this, in affli|ctions they looked for God in one another, and then love lived in them: but in pro&s;perity men looke for &s;elfe, and forme, and that not being found, love growes cold. <HI>I &s;hall not much que&s;tion that object to be a &s;tranger to God, which makes my &s;oule a &s;tranger to love.</HI> And truly this very thing hath put a vaile upon the glory of all the formes that I have &s;eene uner the Sunne; per&s;ecution is &s;uch a forreigner to heaven, that I may &s;afely &s;ay, what ever brings it into a per&s;on, or a Nation, never came from God: and
<PB N="12" REF="17">it will beget <HI>a pale countenance</HI> at the day of death, when con&s;ci|ence &s;hall witne&s;&s;e that Saints have done that to Saints, which they judged unju&s;t from the world to them. If God by his Spi|rie &s;et this home upon our hearts, it will make us willing to take &s;hame to our &s;elves, and to <HI>give glory</HI> to God, and &s;tand <HI>admiring</HI> that God &s;hould not &s;uffer the world to devour us, when we have been &s;o ready, and &s;o <HI>thir&s;ty to</HI> devoure one another. Truly I am affraid that there is a di&s;contented &s;pirit in &s;ome, that God hath not &s;uffered us to devour one another. <HI>It is a very bad &s;pirit that can be angry at the kindne&s;&s;e of God:</HI> It is well for us that Gods ways are not like ours, nor his thoughts like ours: that his wayes &s;hould be wayes of love to us, when our wayes are not love to him nor his: and that he &s;hould have thoughts of kindne&s;&s;e towards us, when we have hard thoughts of his kindne&s;&s;s, and <HI>are ready to call our deliverances our troubles.</HI> It is no kindne&s;&s;e but the kinde|ne&s;&s;e of God that can &s;ave a people again&s;t their will: but this hath beene Gods way to us, oh that it might kindely melt our hearts, and forme us into his owne image, to be love <HI>as God is love,</HI> to love God, and all that beare his image, that his kindene&s;&s;e might eate up all our frowardne&s;&s;e, and his &s;weet overcome all our bitter, then &s;hall wee appeare his Di&s;ciples by <HI>our love to one a|nother.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly,
<MILESTONE N="2"> Let this teach us as Saints, <HI>to eye all tho&s;e things wherein wee are one,</HI> and &s;ee if they doe not ju&s;tly chalenge love from us, we are <HI>all</HI> begotten of <HI>one</HI> love, <HI>all</HI> hewed from <HI>one</HI> rock, the rocke of Ages, <HI>all</HI> under <HI>one</HI> Covenant of free-grace, <HI>all</HI> bap|tized with <HI>one</HI> and the &s;ame Spirit, and have <HI>all</HI> one joy and glo|ry in this life, and to eternity. Now what but fle&s;h and darkne&s;&s;e can make &s;uch rending, and willing to rend and devour one ano|ther; we &s;ee not our proper intere&s;t to be our Fathers love, and darkne&s;&s;e in this makes us to fall out by the way home. The more light we have in God, the more love it begets to God and our brethren. In the <HI>froward fits</HI> of our fle&s;h wee complaine of <HI>new lights,</HI> as if that were the cau&s;e, when the true cau&s;e is our <HI>olde darkne&s;&s;e. That which is borne of the fle&s;h is fle&s;h,</HI> but darkene&s;&s;e cannot di&s;cerne what is borne of the Spirit; it is only the things of God, <HI>or more properly,</HI> God in every thing, which can engage the &s;oule to love. Now the <HI>naturall man</HI> (&s;aith the Text) <HI>he di&s;|cerns not the things of God,</HI> and gives the rea&s;on of it, <HI>becau&s;e they
<PB N="13" REF="17">are &s;piritually di&s;cerned.</HI> God is never &s;eene but in his owne light, and when we have &s;pirituall eyes to di&s;cern him, wee &s;hall &s;ee our intere&s;t in him, <HI>and love one another better.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly,
<MILESTONE N="3"> <HI>Let our petitions at the throne of grace be for more &s;en&s;ible enjoyment of our Fathers pre&s;ence;</HI> though our God be alwayes pre|&s;ent, and knoweth the &s;ecrets of our hearts; yet many times we have not eyes to &s;ee him; for &s;urely were we &s;en&s;ible of our Fa|thers pre&s;ence, we dur&s;t not fall out with our brethren as we do, whence is it that Saints <HI>mi&s;call one another,</HI> and then throw dirt in the faces one of another, and at la&s;t <HI>&s;cratch</HI> till the blood comes? Is it not from hence, that we di&s;cern not the pre&s;ence of God our Father. Were wee more &s;en&s;ible of the pre&s;ence of God, wee &s;hould as Saints &s;ee &s;o much of our relation in God, that our af|fections would be &s;wallowed up in God, and in one another; &s;urely if God be lovely to us, his Image will be &s;o too: and when we &s;ee him, and one another in him, then will our affe|ctions goe kindly out in the Spirit of God one to another. If we cannot love when we &s;ee the lea&s;t of Gods image in a Saint, it is much to be doubted we love our owne image better then Gods, 1 <HI>John</HI> 5.1. <HI>And every one that loveth him that begot,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 5, 1.</NOTE> loveth him al|&s;o that is begotten of him.</HI> God and Chri&s;t is the true object of a Saints love; 'tis a cold and frozen love that doth not melt and yeeld, when God and Chri&s;t appears.</P>
<P>Fourthly, <HI>Let us &s;tudy God and the power of godline&s;&s;e more.</HI>
<MILESTONE N="4"> To &s;tudy Selfe and Formes, will make us carnall and froward; but to &s;tudy God, and the power of Godline&s;&s;e, will in the Spirit make us holy and humble. The experience of this pre&s;ent age is a &s;ad but true witne&s;&s;e of the former of the&s;e; <HI>How full hath Pre&s;&s;e and Pulpit, and all conference</HI> been in contending about Formes, and in them (I very much doubt) <HI>Selfe-intere&s;t</HI> hath been contended for. Now look back and read the fruits of the&s;e labours, hath it not been the cooling of &s;pirituall love, the quanching of tho&s;e flames among Saints, and the blowing up of tho&s;e flames of zeale without knowledge, which hath almo&s;t con&s;umed the <HI>moi&s;ture</HI> and vigor both of <HI>Chri&s;tianity</HI> and Humanity. If mens apprehen&s;ions differ in a Form, though there be much of God in the man, that is not di&s;cerned, or not e&s;teemed; nay very naturall relations upon this account come to be forgotten. <HI>O the hideous effects</HI> of the&s;e fle&s;hly wayes! which de&s;troyes all that is good of outward and inward man.</P>
<PB N="14" REF="18">
<P>O that the &s;treames of our contentions might be turned, and our &s;trivings to exceed, may bee built upon a better foundation, then a bare form of godline&s;&s;e, even upon the power of godline&s;&s;e, let us &s;trive to exceed in holine&s;&s;e and humility, who &s;hall be mo&s;t like to our head, and be made mo&s;t conformable to the death of Chri&s;t. A fine <HI>piece of Nature</HI> may talke up much of Chri&s;t, and <HI>contend much</HI> for Go&s;pel-formes, but it is onely the <HI>workings of the Spirit,</HI> by which a &s;oul doth <HI>live up</HI> much of Chri&s;t. Circumci|&s;ion or uncircumci&s;ion it avails nothing, but the new creature, and it is &s;pirituall wor&s;hip that God requires,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 4.24.</NOTE> <HI>John</HI> 4.24. <HI>God is a Spi|rit, and they that wor&s;hip him mu&s;t wor&s;hip him in &s;pirit and truth.</HI> And in <HI>Rom.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.14.</NOTE> 8.14. <HI>For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sonnes of God.</HI> This Spirit di&s;covers the mind of God to his people in every form, he would have them to receive, but it al&s;o carries the &s;oule through and above every forme, to live upon God him&s;elfe,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 5.22, 23.</NOTE> and in the power of godline&s;&s;e, <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.22.23. <HI>But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-&s;uffering, gentlene&s;&s;e good|nes, faith, meeknes, temperance,</HI> and &s;o forth. And in the 25 ver&s;e, <HI>If you live in the Spirit, al&s;o walk in the Spirit.</HI> It is not a bare talking either of Form or Spirit, but a living up to God in the Spirit, the fruits of which is love, and &s;o forth; ambition to exceed in the&s;e fruits of the Spirit, is that which God will own and crown; it is &s;afe and &s;weete diving into the&s;e deepes, the&s;e be heights, and breadths, and depths, and lengths indeed, but God is to be found in them all, &s;o that there is no feare of mi&s;carying: but empty formes without God become our ruine. I may truly &s;ay with the Prophet, <HI>that we give our money for that which is not bread,</HI> when we &s;pend the zeale of our &s;pirits in contending for formes of godline&s;&s;e. <HI>I &s;hall ever account be&s;t of that which leaves mo&s;t of God, and lea&s;t of &s;elfe behinde it.</HI> And truly my experience tels me, that when my thoughts and affections have travelled mo&s;t through this plea&s;ant path of God in the Spirit, and the power of godli|ne&s;&s;e; <HI>this hath been the effect of it,</HI> God hath in a good mea&s;ure di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed the old man in me, and giuen po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion to the new man the Lord Je&s;us. Now this experience begets this advice, that our hearts and affections &s;hould be more pitched upon the power of godline&s;&s;e, and doubtle&s;&s;e wee &s;hall finde that power in it, as to engage our affections <HI>one to another,</HI> by which the world will know us to be Chri&s;ts Di&s;ciples.</P>
<PB N="15" REF="18">
<P>And la&s;tly, <HI>this may comfort us</HI> when we con&s;ider tho&s;e that hate us purely for godline&s;&s;e-&s;ake; looke upon them under this con&s;ideration, they are not Chri&s;ts Di&s;ciples, nor can they in &s;uch a worke be owned or helped by him. They may boa&s;t of their <HI>hor&s;e-men and Chariots,</HI> but all their &s;trength is weakene&s;&s;e, for they engage without God; nay they engage again&s;t God, and that makes them lighter then vanity: and Saints in their &s;ufferings are followers of Chri&s;t, and contend in his might. God is his peoples &s;trength, and their portion for ever; Let us love our bre|thren then, and not feare our enemies. <HI>Love to God and Saints, and &s;uffering for the &s;pirituality and the power of godline&s;&s;e, are two undeniable witne&s;&s;es that we are Di&s;ciples and followers of Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. II. What Chri&s;t hath born for Saints, they &s;hall never bear them&s;elves.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Gal.</HI> 3.10, 11, 12, 13, 28, 29.</BIBL>
<P>For as many as are of the workes of the law are under the cur&s;e;
<MILESTONE N="10"> <HI>for it is written,</HI> cur&s;ed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the booke of the law to doe them.</P>
<P>But that no man is ju&s;tified by the law in the &s;ight of God,
<MILESTONE N="11"> <HI>it is evi|dent,</HI> for the ju&s;t &s;hall live by faith.</P>
<P>And the law is not of faith,
<MILESTONE N="12"> but the man that doth them &s;hall live in them.</P>
<P>Chri&s;t hath redeemed us from the cur&s;e of the law,
<MILESTONE N="13"> being made a cur&s;e for us; <HI>for it is written,</HI> cur&s;ed is every one that hangeth on a tree.</P>
<P>There is neither Jew nor Greeke, there is neither bond nor free,
<MILESTONE N="28"> there is neither male nor female, for yee are all one in Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</P>
<P>And if yee be Chri&s;ts, then are ye <HI>Abrahams</HI> &s;eede, and heirs accor|ding to promi&s;e.
<MILESTONE N="29"></P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>THe generall &s;cope of the Apo&s;tle in the&s;e ver&s;es,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">The &s;cope.</NOTE> I <HI>humbly con|ceive</HI> to be this, namely to empty the creature of all hopes, or po&s;&s;ibility ever to attain a happy and ble&s;&s;ed condition in it &s;elfe
<PB N="16" REF="19">out of Chri&s;t; in which worke he &s;trips the &s;oule of all externall priviledges and dutie<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> in point of Ju&s;tification, and then makes Je&s;us Chri&s;t to be <HI>all in all</HI> to every redeemed &s;oule.</P>
<P>The former part of this tenth ver&s;e is a po&s;itive conclu&s;ion, that whoever is under the workes of the law for life, is al&s;o under the cur&s;e of the law for death; that is, he which choo&s;eth to be approved and ju&s;tified in the fight of God from the workes of his owne hands and heart,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">The &s;en&s;e.</NOTE> mu&s;t al&s;o be condemned before God in the failings and imperfections of tho&s;e workes.</P>
<P>The latter part of this ver&s;e is a full proofe to the po&s;ition laid downe in the former part of it. If all things in the booke of the Law be not done and fulfilled, then the cur&s;e of the Law attends, and &s;eizes upon every &s;uch &s;oule as would live by the works of the Law,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deutr. 27.26.</NOTE> <HI>Deut.</HI> 27.26. <HI>Cur&s;ed be he that confirmes not all the words of this law to doe them.</HI> That &s;oule which would fetch life from the workes of the law, mu&s;t performe all, or hee lo&s;eth all hee hath done, and his eternall &s;oule with his dying duties. The ob&s;er|vations which I have received from hence is this,</P>
<P>That <HI>God hath not made a &s;eparation of the workes of the law from the cur&s;e of the law,
<MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="Ob&s;erv."> to that &s;oule which would live by them.</HI> And if God hath not, man cannot; this is that &s;tate of bondage &s;poken of in <HI>Gal.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 4.9.23.30, 31.</NOTE> 4.9.23.30, 31. Tho&s;e are children of the free woman whom Chri&s;t hath made free. <HI>(If the Sonne have made you free, you are free indeed.)</HI> And tho&s;e are children of the bond-woman that are obliged to any thing that is holy in their owne &s;trength with|out Chri&s;t. There is no &s;oul free from the&s;e bonds but tho&s;e which are bound up in the armes and cords of Chri&s;ts love: and this is the redemption which Chri&s;t made of his elect body, when hee was in the fle&s;h made under the law, to redeeme them that were under the law, to the adoption of Sonnes, <HI>Gal.</HI> 4.4, 5. Chri&s;t was made under the cur&s;e of the law in the 13. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> of <HI>Gal.</HI> 3. <HI>The cur&s;e and the worke of the law was not &s;eparated to Chri&s;t when hee came to &s;atisfie ju&s;tice, no more is it to any &s;oule.</HI></P>
<P>In the 11. ver&s;e is a &s;econd po&s;ition of the Apo&s;tle, which is al&s;o a confirmation of the former. <HI>The po&s;ition is this,</HI> That no man is ju&s;tified by the law in the &s;ight of God; the demon&s;tration of this truth followeth in the end of the &s;ame ver&s;e, and in the 12. ver&s;e, which &s;hews,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, that <HI>God never intended life by the law,</HI> Gal. 3.21. If
<PB N="17" REF="19">there had been a law which could have given life, verily righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e &s;hould have been by the law; this is plaine, it is not Gods meaning, that righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e &s;hould be by the law, be|cau&s;e he hath not given &s;uch a law out of Chri&s;t, which is able to give life, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.8. For <HI>by grace yee are &s;aved through faith,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 2.8.</NOTE> and that not of your &s;elves, it is the gift of God. All &s;alvation is of grace wholly out of our &s;elves.</HI> God had <HI>another end</HI> in giving the law, then that the &s;oules of his people &s;hould worke life from it: and this end is fuller of glory to his own grace, and of &s;afe|ty to our eternall &s;oules; <HI>namely that &s;in might become exceeding &s;infull, and grace to be exceeding riches of grace.</HI> The Apo&s;tle tels us he had not known &s;inne but by the law, and had there been no law, there had beene no tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion. If no tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion had been, nor any &s;in known, then the glory of free grace had not beene lifted up as now it is. If the law had not di&s;covered &s;inne, the &s;oule had never known the want, nor the worth of a crucified Je&s;us, who is the great gift of the free grace of God, and a perfect eternall Redeemer of a poore lo&s;t &s;oule.</P>
<P>Secondly, As God never intended life to fallen man by the workes of the law,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Levit. 18.5. Gen. 2.10.</NOTE> <HI>&s;o man can never gaine life by the workes of the law,</HI> Levit. 18.5. Gen. 2.10. There mu&s;t be a perfect doing of all the &s;tatutes and judgements of the Lord, by every &s;oule that meanes to live in them, and have life from them. It is not a tit|tle le&s;&s;e then keeping the whole law which can advantage any &s;oule that &s;eekes life from it: So as that &s;oule which in it &s;elfe cannot keepe the whole law, &s;hall never gain life by the workes of the law, <HI>Gal.</HI> 2.16.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 2.16.</NOTE> The Apo&s;tle there &s;peakes po&s;itively twice, that no man is ju&s;tified by the workes of the law: and that by the workes of the law no man &s;hall be ju&s;tified; This is &s;uch a &s;tanding truth, that nothing which either is, or can be done &s;hall contradict it.</P>
<P>The &s;econd ob&s;ervation is this,
<MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="Ob&s;erv."> <HI>That the law of works condemns every &s;oule in the fir&s;t</HI> Adam, <HI>but ju&s;tifies no &s;oule.</HI> The law &s;peaks only thus: <HI>doe and live,</HI> which to fallen man is nothing but the language of death, <HI>Rom.</HI> 7.8, 9. <HI>A righteous law to an unrighte|ous &s;oule gives life to the &s;inne, but death to the &s;oule.</HI> Ob&s;erve the Text; <HI>When the Commandement came, &s;inne revived, and I dyed.</HI> By the command &s;inne became exceeding &s;infull. A &s;oule fallen from God can in it &s;elfe make no other u&s;e of the knowledge of
<PB N="18" REF="20">Gods righteous law, but to &s;inne again&s;t it; <HI>con&s;ult the Text in this ca&s;e.</HI> But &s;inne taking occa&s;ion by the commandement, wrought in me all manner of concupi&s;cen&s;e. <HI>As if he had &s;aid,</HI> When once God di&s;covered his holy law, that &s;infull nature, and unholine&s;&s;e that is in me, made u&s;e of it by way of oppo&s;iti|on, to run into all manner of concupi&s;cence; though the law of creation ju&s;tifies a holy Creator, yet it condemnes a fallen un|holy creature. <HI>By the workes of the law &s;hall no man be ju&s;tified in his &s;ight:</HI> but that &s;oule which lives upon them &s;hall be accur|&s;ed and condemned in the want of one tittle; there lies a cur&s;e, a condemnation in the law to fallen man, but no po&s;&s;ibility of be|ing ju&s;tified by it in the &s;ight of a holy ju&s;t God.</P>
<P>But now that we may not be as &s;oules without hope, though he &s;trips us here of all our owne righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and leaves us by nature under the cur&s;e of the law; yet in the next ver&s;e hee &s;hewes us a perfect redemption from the cur&s;e of the law by Chri&s;t, who was made under the law to beare the cur&s;e, and to fulfill the law for us. <HI>And here I &s;hall be a little more large then in what hath gone before;</HI> for I have found by experience, that the more cleare knowledge a &s;oule hath in this point, the more is the free grace of God with the comfort and &s;afety of a poore &s;oule advanced. In this 13. ver&s;e the Apo&s;tle layes down a third po&s;ition; namely,</P>
<P>That <HI>every elect &s;oule is redeemed from the cur&s;e of the law, through or by Chri&s;ts being made a cur&s;e for us,</HI> Deut. 21.23. The Text &s;peaks plainly thus, he that is hanged is accur&s;ed; it is a paralell place with the end of this 13. ver&s;e; <HI>Cur&s;ed is every one that han|geth on a tree.</HI> Thus Chri&s;t was made a cur&s;e; now that Chri&s;t was thus made a cur&s;e for us, for his elect body which was under the law,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 4.4, 5.</NOTE> looke into that <HI>Gal.</HI> 4.4, 5. where the Text &s;aith, That <HI>when the fulne&s;&s;e of time was come, God &s;ent his Sonne made of a woman, made under the law, to redeeme them that were under the law, that wee might receive the adoption of &s;onnes.</HI> None can doubt but that Chri&s;t is here meant by the Sonne of God: and then the Text &s;peaks plainly, that God in the fulne&s;&s;e of his owne time &s;ent Chri&s;t in the fle&s;h, made under the law, to re|deeme his elect body, that were under the workes, and the cur&s;e of the law, and to bring them to receive the adoption of &s;ons: and in this worke Chri&s;t was made a cur&s;e for us.</P>
<PB N="19" REF="20">
<P>The fir&s;t ob&s;ervation from hence is this: <HI>That what-ever Chri&s;t hath borne for a believer, that a believer is fully redeemed from.</HI></P>
<P>It is the Apo&s;tles owne argument in this place; for &s;ayes he, <HI>Chri&s;t being made a cur&s;e for us, wee are thereby redeemed from the cur&s;e.</HI> And the &s;ame Apo&s;tle in <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.32, 33, 34.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.32, 33, 34.</NOTE> hath the &s;ame Argument. If God delivered Chri&s;t up to death to dye for us, then we are delivered: and Chri&s;t having dyed for us, who &s;hall lay any thing to our charge: <HI>It is God that ju&s;tifies, and Chri&s;t that dyed.</HI> Chri&s;t had not dyed, but that God might ju&s;ti|fie. Chri&s;t had not been made a cur&s;e for us, but that God in ju|&s;tice might acquit us from the cur&s;e. So in the two fir&s;t ver&s;es of <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. <HI>There is no condemnation to them that are in Chri&s;t.</HI> And the law of the &s;pirit of life in Chri&s;t makes the &s;oul free from the law of &s;inne and death: And in <HI>John</HI> 8.36.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 8.36.</NOTE> <HI>If the Son there|fore &s;hall make you free, you &s;hall be free indeed.</HI> This is our Saviours an&s;wer to tho&s;e <HI>Jewes</HI> which thought them&s;elves not to be un|der bondage, becau&s;e they were <HI>Abrahams</HI> &s;eede in the fle&s;h; our Saviour tels them this externall intere&s;t did not make them free-men; For &s;ayes hee, notwith&s;tanding this, you are under &s;inne: Ver&s;. 34. <HI>Who ever commits &s;inne is the &s;ervant of &s;inne,</HI> and your fle&s;hly intere&s;t in <HI>Abraham</HI> doth not acquit you from the bonds and &s;ervitude of &s;inne, <HI>but if the Sonne have made you free, then are you free indeed.</HI> As if Chri&s;t had &s;aid, <HI>Abraham</HI> could not beare your &s;ins, and the wrath of God due to them for you, and therefore you are in bondage &s;till: but what the Son bears, he makes them perfectly free from, for whom he beares it. Chri&s;t came <HI>to &s;ave tho&s;e that were lo&s;t:</HI> And he tels us when he gave up the gho&s;t upon the Cro&s;&s;e, <HI>that the worke was fini&s;hed.</HI> And in <HI>John</HI> 17.4. <HI>I have glorified thee on earth,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 17.4.</NOTE> I have fini&s;hed the worke thou gave&s;t mee to doe.</HI> Chri&s;t tels his Father that he had lo&s;t no glory in &s;ending him upon the worke of Redemption; for &s;ays he, <HI>I have fini&s;hed that worke thou gave&s;t me to doe;</HI> which was, to worke out a perfect Redemption for his people, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 61.1. <HI>To give liberty to the captive, and to open the pri&s;on doores.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 61.1.</NOTE> If this bee a truth, as doubtle&s;&s;e it is, that what-ever Chri&s;t hath borne for a believer, that a believer is fully redeemed from; then it will be worthy a Saints be&s;t &amp; &s;erious con&s;ideration in &s;earching the Scriptures, and in the Spirit giving eare to heare, and heart to
<PB N="20" REF="21">con&s;ider, what they &s;ay Chri&s;t hath borne for us.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, I finde by that 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.21. that Chri&s;t hath born &s;inne for us. <HI>For he hath made him to be &s;in for us who knew no &s;inne, that we might be made the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him.</HI> The text &s;peaks in the <HI>ab&s;tract, He was made &s;inne for us.</HI></P>
<P>There cannot be a fuller expre&s;&s;ion; there is the act, God ma|king Chri&s;t to be &s;inne for us, or taking all &s;inne off from us, and laying it upon him, as was typified under the law in the <HI>Scape|goate,</HI> which went into the Land of Forgetfulne&s;&s;e. Now the i&s;&s;ue and effect of this act followeth in the Text, <HI>That we might be made the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him.</HI> This expre&s;&s;ion is as full as the former, the holy Gho&s;t expre&s;&s;eth the &s;inner for whom Chri&s;t was made &s;inne, to be as fully acquitted from &s;inne as Chri&s;t is made &s;inne. Marke the words: made the righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e of God in him &s;o perfectly righteous, that God ownes the &s;oule as one with him&s;elfe, righteous as being one with Chri&s;t, who is the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God.</P>
<P>Now the &s;oule that is thus righteous mu&s;t needs be acquitted from all finne; the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God, and the condemnati|on for &s;inne is as light and darkne&s;&s;e, which cannot be together in one &s;oule. If Chri&s;t once come into a &s;oule, and tels that &s;oul by his Spirit, that he hath borne all its &s;ins, and &s;o makes the &s;oule to believe in the free grace of God, and to re&s;t upon Chri&s;t as his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, that &s;oule is as fully in the fight of God acquitted from &s;in, as Chri&s;t was by God made &s;inne for it. This &s;oule &s;tands before God compleate in Chri&s;t, not ha|ving &s;pot nor wrinckle in it: All that can be &s;aid, is &s;aid in this, That &s;oule for whom Chri&s;t was made &s;in, is thereby made the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him: <HI>So that Chri&s;t having borne the &s;inne, the &s;oule never more beares that in his owne per&s;on before God, but doth alwayes &s;tand both before the throne of ju&s;tice, &amp; the throne of grace, as fully cloath'd with Chri&s;t his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, as Chri&s;t upon the Cro&s;&s;e was with his &s;inne,</HI> I&s;a. 53.6. <HI>The Lord hath laid up|on him the iniquities of us all.</HI> Iniquity is one with &s;in here; now then read this truth with an eye and heart of faith, that what Chri&s;t hath borne for us, we are fully delivered from, and then will the glory of free grace be lifted up, and our &s;oules made to rejoyce with joy un&s;peakable and full of glory in believing.</P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>Chri&s;t hath fulfilled the Law, and borne the cur&s;e of it
<PB N="21" REF="21">for his people,</HI> Gal. 4.4, 5. Chri&s;t was made under the law to re|deeme his people from all that in the law which was weight and burthen, from the cur&s;e of the law, <HI>Gal.</HI> 3.13. From the reign|ing and condemning power of it, he hath &s;atisfied, and keeps the law fully for us. In <HI>Gal.</HI> 4.5, 6. there Chri&s;t hath redeemed us to the liberty of &s;ons: the &s;pirit of adoption reigning in our con|&s;ciences, and conver&s;ations above the letter of the law: &s;o that in <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.2, 3, 4. There the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> tells us, That by vertue of the law of the &s;pirit of life in his union with Chri&s;t Je&s;us, hee had freedome from the law of &s;in and death; That law of com|mandement by which &s;inne revived, and the &s;oule dyed, he was delivered from by the &s;pirit of life in Chri&s;t Je&s;us. For &s;ayes he, what the law could not enable the &s;oule to doe becau&s;e of the weakene&s;&s;e of the fle&s;h, that did God by &s;ending his Sonne in the fle&s;h, and for &s;inne condemned &s;inne in the fle&s;h; <HI>that is,</HI> condemned our &s;innes, and &s;atisfied his law and ju&s;tice for them all in the death of Chri&s;t: So that now the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the law is fulfilled by Chri&s;t for us, <HI>who walke not after the fle&s;h, but after the &s;pirit.</HI> The law was fulfilled, and had its accompli&s;h|ment in Chri&s;t: that is, the law in the letter: and the &s;oule now through union with Chri&s;t is taken up to live in the law of the &s;pirit of life; that is, the &s;pirit of God lives in the &s;oule, and is a law, and a life to it, not only teaching, but leading the &s;oule into all truth; it is the law of the &s;pirit, and &s;o the law of life; it is the law of love, and &s;o the law of life. Nay it is God him|&s;elfe di&s;playing his love, and reigning by his Spirit in the &s;ouls and con&s;ciences of his people, and &s;o it is the law of the &s;pirit of life: and all this to the &s;oules of his people in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.18. <HI>But if yee be led by the Spirit, yee are not under the law.</HI> A &s;oul which lives not, and acts not upon Chri&s;t in the Spirit (&s;o farre as as he doth not) he is under the law of &s;inne and death in all hee doth: but it is a certaine deliverance from the law of the fle&s;h in our conver&s;ations, and the law of the letter in our con&s;ciences, is to be ledde by the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t, and to walke in that &s;pirit, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 5.8, 9. <HI>For yee were &s;ometimes darkne&s;&s;e,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 5.8, 9.</NOTE> but now are yee light in the Lord, walke as children of the light.</HI> For the fruits of the Spirit is in all goodne&s;&s;e, &amp;c. They were never without the letter; yet &s;ometimes darke &s;aith the Text, but the light of the Lord, in which the redeemed of Chri&s;t &s;hould walke is the light
<PB N="22" REF="22">of the Spirit. Now we have all this freedome, becau&s;e the Son hath made us free, by bearing tho&s;e burthens for us: and what Chri&s;t hath borne for a believer, that a believer is fully redee|med from.</P>
<P>Thirdly, <HI>Chri&s;t hath borne the puni&s;hment due to &s;inne for us;</HI> See this in <HI>I&s;a.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 35, 4, 5.8.10, 11.</NOTE> 35.4, 5.8.10, 11. Ob&s;erve the Text. <HI>Surely he borne our griefes, and carried our &s;orrowes. Hee was wounded for our tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions, he was brui&s;ed for our iniquities; the cha&s;ti&s;ement of our peace was upon him, and with his &s;tripes we are healed;</HI> For the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions of my people was he &s;mitten. It plea&s;ed the Lord to brui&s;e him, and to put him to griefe, to make his &s;oule an of|fering for &s;inne, and he &s;hall &s;ee of the travell of his &s;oule, and be &s;atisfied.</P>
<P>I know not how fuller expre&s;&s;ions &s;hould be made to &s;et out this thing; <HI>That Chri&s;t hath borne the puni&s;hment due to &s;in for the believer, as fully as he hath the &s;innes them&s;elves.</HI></P>
<P>With his &s;tripes we are healed, that is, the puni&s;hment of our &s;ins which he did beare for us: &s;o that as the wrath of God due to &s;inne, we &s;hall never beare them again; for what Chri&s;t hath borne for us, he hath delivered us from the bearing of it in our owne per&s;ons, otherwi&s;e Chri&s;t dyed in vaine: and this Text is not made good if we be not healed by his &s;tripes. Now if the puni&s;hment be not taken from the believer, as well as the &s;inne, how is the wounds of that &s;oule healed by the &s;tripes that Chri&s;t bore for it. And if any &s;hall &s;ay, God made Chri&s;t to beare the believers &s;innes, but the believer mu&s;t beare the puni&s;hment due to tho&s;e &s;ins, though Chri&s;t was wounded, brui&s;ed, and cha&s;ti|&s;ed for them: Such an affirmation will beare very hard upon the ju&s;tice of God, and que&s;tion that truth of our Saviour upon the cro&s;&s;e, that he had fini&s;hed the worke of redemption, <HI>part of which is the puni&s;hment as well as the &s;inne.</HI></P>
<P>I verily believe when Chri&s;t bore the cur&s;e of the law, he did beare the puni&s;hment due to all the &s;innes of all his people: and though I doe believe that God cha&s;ti&s;eth every child whom hee loveth, yet tho&s;e cha&s;tnings are the fruits of his love, and not of his wrath; Chri&s;t hath borne all that in being made a cur&s;e for us.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, <HI>Chri&s;t hath borne death for us as it is the wages of &s;inne,</HI> 1 Cor. 15.53. to the end. By which meanes death is &s;wallowed
<PB N="23" REF="22">up of victory. The &s;ting of death which is &s;inne, and the &s;trength of &s;inne which is the law, have lo&s;t them&s;elves &amp; their &s;trength when they entered into Chri&s;t: &s;o that now a believer can ble&s;&s;e God, that through Chri&s;t he hath victory over death, &s;in, hell, law, and grave: and why &s;o? Why, becau&s;e Chri&s;t hath gone through, he hath borne and overcome all the&s;e for us: <HI>and wee are more then conquerours through Chri&s;t that &s;trengthens us.</HI> We are more, becau&s;e none of the&s;e can conquer Chri&s;t: but he hath to all eternity overcome them for us. This &s;ting of death is &s;wal|lowed up of victory; for it is buried in the wounds of Chri&s;t: but Chri&s;t is ri&s;en, and is at the right hand of God, and becau&s;e he lives, we live al&s;o, <HI>John</HI> 14.19.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 14.19.</NOTE></P>
<P>The &s;econd ob&s;ervation is this.
<MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="Ob&s;erv."> <HI>What-ever the free grace of God hath taken off from his Elect, and laid upon Je&s;us Chri&s;t; that his divine ju&s;tice neither can nor will at any time to all eternity lay upon the elect &s;oule againe.</HI> This is ju&s;tice &s;utable to his covenant of grace, in the 31. of <HI>Jer.</HI> 34. <HI>For I will forgive their iniquities,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 31.34.</NOTE> &amp; remember their &s;innes no more.</HI></P>
<P>The faithfull God engages him&s;elfe to remember his peoples &s;ins no more: and to make it good, he layes them upon Chri&s;t, which &s;atisfieth his ju&s;tice, and carryeth our &s;ins into the land of Forgetfulne&s;&s;e. Doe but ob&s;erve how Gods ju&s;tice as well as his mercy is engaged to make good this his owne covenant of grace; For the law of creation <HI>(that was doe, and live)</HI> &s;elf could not doe, therefore &s;elfe mu&s;t dye. Now &s;urely the law of grace is not &s;tricter then the law of creation: &s;o that Chri&s;t having ful|filled the whole law, and performed every tittle of his Fathers will for us, the ju&s;tice of God is engaged to acquit Chri&s;t, who hath paid the utmo&s;t farthing, &amp; in him to acquit us for whom he hath made this full &s;atisfaction. As it was free grace in God to make us one with Chri&s;t, &s;o it is compleate ju&s;tice that wee live in Chri&s;t who hath dyed for us: And what ever Chri&s;t as the gift of free grace hath borne for us, God in ju&s;tice will ne|ver lay upon his elect in Chri&s;t again. Whoever will deny this, mu&s;t deny God to be ju&s;t, and his covenant of le&s;&s;e value then the covenant of a faithfull man; his grace neither free nor full grace: Chri&s;t not a compleat Saviour, and then his death of no effect.</P>
<P>Now looke backe upon this truth, and you &s;hall behold &s;in;
<PB N="24" REF="23">the cur&s;e of the law, puni&s;hment due to &s;in from the law of crea|tion, and death with its &s;ting in it, all borne by Chri&s;t for his elect body, &s;o that they &s;hall never beare any of them more in their owne per&s;ons, then glory in the free grace of God, and the full redemption of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Thirdly,
<MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="Ob&s;erv."> <HI>Ob&s;erve here the exceeding love that Chri&s;t &s;hewes to tho&s;e poore &s;oules which his Father hath given him;</HI> That hee would take upon him&s;elfe the cur&s;e of the law, the puni&s;hment of &s;inne due to fallen man, and all this to redeeme them which his Father had given him, though they lay under &s;in, law, puni&s;hment, and death. It had been great love and condi&s;cention in Chri&s;t, being God, only to have taken our nature, though he had ne|ver taken any thing el&s;e. But then what love is this, to take our &s;ins, and all that followed &s;in upon him? Hee hath borne that weight for us, which would have pre&s;&s;ed us to hell if we had lain under it in our owne &s;trength.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 5.8.</NOTE> <HI>The&s;e are heighths, and breadths, and depths, and lengths of love,</HI> Rom. 5.8. This commends love indeed, to choo&s;e to beare all evill to deliver the &s;inner from it, and by the &s;ame act to involve the &s;inner into all good.</P>
<P>Fourthly,
<MILESTONE N="4" UNIT="Ob&s;erv."> <HI>Ob&s;erve</HI> from hence, <HI>the glorious condition of a &s;oule in union with Chri&s;t; hee is taken up into the glory of God,</HI> the bo|&s;ome of his love, he lives becau&s;e Chri&s;t lives: and (as Chri&s;t) lives above &s;in, above a condemning, reigning law, above the puni&s;hment of &s;in, and above death as it is the wages of &s;in, a|bove all that is below God. <HI>Our fellow&s;hip</HI> (&s;aith the Text) <HI>is with the Father and the Sonne: and the&s;e things we write unto you that your joy may be full.</HI> It is a life in the &s;pirit above the fle&s;h, a fea&s;ting upon the fat things in Gods hou&s;e, and a re&s;ting upon the full love in Gods heart, by which a Saint is brought with <HI>David,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 57.7.</NOTE> to profe&s;&s;e his heart is fixed; <HI>His heart is fixed, and he wil &s;ing and give prai&s;e,</HI> P&s;alm 57.7.</P>
<P>The 28. and 29. ver&s;es of <HI>Gal.</HI> 3. runs thus. <HI>There is neither Jew nor Greeke, neither bond nor free, neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</HI></P>
<P><HI>And if yee be Chri&s;ts, then are yee</HI> Abraham's <HI>&s;eede, and heirs accor|ding to promi&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>Here fir&s;t the Apo&s;tle &s;trips them of their Nationall priviledges and their outward endowmens, as hee had done before of their legall performances;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 2.3.</NOTE> the &s;ame Apo&s;tle in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.3. puts all fle&s;h
<PB N="25" REF="23">by nature under one and the &s;ame lo&s;t condition. <HI>Among whom al&s;o we all had our conver&s;ations in times pa&s;t, and by nature were the children of wrath as well as others,</HI> Gal. 3.22. <HI>But the Scripture hath concluded all under &s;inne.</HI> In the&s;e generalls we finde no exception for nationall priviledges, or outward endowments: but the 4. and 5. ver&s;es of that 2 <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> tels us, that God who is rich in mer|cy magnified his great love to us when we were dead in &s;ins, <HI>and quickened us together with Chri&s;t:</HI> &s;o that it is by grace that wee are &s;aved. And that Text in <HI>Gal.</HI> 3.22. &s;hewes the rea&s;on why all is concluded under &s;inne, <HI>namely that the promi&s;e of faith in Chri&s;t Je&s;us might be given to them that believed.</HI> So that if &s;alvation be the purcha&s;e, nothing of &s;elfe &s;hall be the price; or if &s;alvation be the end, nothing but Chri&s;t &s;hall be the way. Chri&s;t is that rocke of Ages which can beare, and beare up the weight of &s;oules to all eternity.</P>
<P>Secondly, as he empties the &s;oule of all hopes of good in it &s;elfe, &s;o <HI>he makes Chri&s;t to he all good to the &s;oule. If yee be Chri&s;ts, then are yee</HI> Abram's <HI>&s;eede, and heires according to the promi&s;e,</HI> 1 Cor. 1.30. <HI>But of him are yee in Chri&s;t Je&s;us,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 1.30.</NOTE> who of God is made unto us wi&s;dome, and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;anctification, and redemption.</HI> This Text I take to be full to this purpo&s;e, the &s;cope and tendency of it is to hold out Chri&s;t to be all to a Believer, as he is made &s;o of God: So in 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.22, 23. <HI>All things are ours,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 3.22, 23.</NOTE> as wee are Chri&s;ts. Intere&s;t in Chri&s;t, is intere&s;t in all God;</HI> God doth not &s;trip his children naked that they might remaine &s;o: but he &s;trips us of our owne righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, to cloath us with the perfect robe of Chri&s;ts righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; He empties us of our owne wi&s;dome, to fill us with Chri&s;t our wi&s;dome.</P>
<P>Though God makes it impo&s;&s;ible for us to redeeme our &s;elves from his wrath; yet he freely gives us Chri&s;t who is &s;o full a Re|deemer, that nothing can be laid to the charge of tho&s;e for whom he hath dyed, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.1.33, 34. And though we are fallen from God, by nature it is impo&s;&s;ible for us either to quicken or main|taine the lea&s;t truth of grace in our owne &s;oules. Yet God having made Chri&s;t our &s;anctification, <HI>&s;inne &s;hall not reigne in our mortall bodies, becau&s;e we are not under the law, but under grace.</HI> And who|ever is in him, they are thereby made new creatures; he &s;o wa|ters with his owne Spirit, and &s;hines with his owne love, that he makes every branch in him to bring forth fruit. Chri&s;t is a li|ving
<PB N="26" REF="24">intere&s;t: and though he finde &s;oules dead by nature, yet he makes them alive by grace, &s;o that they are in him as &s;oules a|live. From the&s;e ob&s;ervations I &s;hall &s;et downe three Go&s;pel|truths <HI>as I humbly conceive,</HI> which Chri&s;t hath made known to my &s;oule.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is this. <HI>That man out of Chri&s;t, con&s;idered under what no|tion you will, is the mo&s;t mi&s;erable, emptie&s;t, undone piece of the whole creation.</HI></P>
<P>You will grant me this truth when you looke on fallen man in this con&s;ideration which the Scripture holds forth, in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.2, 3. Being ledde by <HI>Sathan</HI> to doe all his will, and an&s;wer all the lu&s;ts of the fle&s;h. But then take him under the mo&s;t glorious per|formances of the workes of the law, under the highe&s;t externall priviledges in the&s;e dayes of the Go&s;pel; call them Church-privi|ledget, or what you will; or in the fulle&s;t injoyments of the crea|tures, till it &s;ay, &s;oule take thine ea&s;e, <HI>as the foole in the Go&s;pel.</HI> If all the&s;e, or what ever el&s;e can be thought on &s;hould meete in one man, yet at this very in&s;tant of time, the ab&s;ence of Chri&s;t writes death upon this &s;oule with all it hath or doth. Chri&s;t is the life of every &s;oule that truly liveth; it is two deaths in one for a dead &s;oule to enjoy any thing without Chri&s;t: It is nothing more then a dead man wrapped up in his winding-&s;heete, both dead alike, &s;o that neither hath life, much le&s;&s;e can give life each to other; the whole creation is dead till Chri&s;t give it life. Now the more created things we finde without Chri&s;t, the more deaths are center'd in a &s;oule dead before, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.1. This death remaines upon the whole creation till Chri&s;t quicken it. When Chri&s;t who is our life &s;hall appeare, then <HI>(and not till then)</HI> can any &s;oule appear in glory.</P>
<P>The &s;econd truth is this. <HI>That a man united to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, is united to the love of God, the redemption, the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, purity, and the glory of Chri&s;t, in truth to all that is communicable in God and Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>That which hath gone before doth prove this truth: but I &s;hall offer &s;ome more Texts of Scripture, 1 <HI>John</HI> 2.1. <HI>My little chil|dren the&s;e things I write unto you that you &s;inne not. And if any man &s;inne wee have an advocate with the Father, Je&s;us Chri&s;t the righteous.</HI> Union with Chri&s;t makes Chri&s;t to plead his owne righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e for the &s;inner. The Saint through weakene&s;&s;e may fall into &s;in,
<PB N="27" REF="24">but &s;in cannot &s;eparate from the love of God; for Chri&s;t lives for ever to make interce&s;&s;ion, and he as our Advocate pleads his righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e to be ours, <HI>John</HI> 17.10.21, 22, 23. In this Scripture Chri&s;t beares witne&s;&s;e to a Saints union with God and him&s;elfe; <HI>All mine are thine, and thine are mine,</HI> in the 10^t^h <HI>ver&s;e:</HI> and then in the following ver&s;es we &s;ee what u&s;e he makes of this union, name|ly to pray his Father that all his might be made perfect in his glory, and to manife&s;t to the world that he loves tho&s;e in union with Chri&s;t as hee doth Chri&s;t him&s;elfe: &s;o that 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.30. Chri&s;t is all to a Saint, <HI>and all Chri&s;ts,</HI> is a Saints.</P>
<P>In this Text is union with the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, purity, and re|demption of Chri&s;t, <HI>Colo&s;.</HI> 2.10. The text &s;peaks plainly, after the Apo&s;tle had told us the fulne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t, he tels us we are com|pleat in him, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.24. <HI>Heires of God, and joynt-heires with Chri&s;t.</HI> God is a Saints inheritance, as the Saint is united to Chri&s;t. If God be our portion, we are Chri&s;ts fellow-heirs, who is the fir&s;t-borne of many brethren. The end of Gods uniting a &s;oule to Chri&s;t is, that hee might alwayes behold that &s;oule in Chri&s;t, &s;o as to be ever well plea&s;ed with it, and to delight in it, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.21. <HI>For he hath made him to be &s;inne for us who knew no &s;in, that we might be made the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him.</HI> God hath made Chri&s;t the foundation of his eternall love; when hee be|holds the travell of his &s;oule he is well plea&s;ed, which he doth in every &s;oule he hath united to him.</P>
<P>The third Go&s;pel-truth is this, <HI>That a Saint doth then only tru|ly and properly enjoy his life when be lives by faith upon God and Chri&s;t in the Spirit.</HI></P>
<P>It is not enough to know the rule of the law in the letter, and &s;ome of the worke of the law in our lives to know all the formes of Gods wor&s;hip under the law and Go&s;pel; <HI>To know and to be un|der all the&s;e is nothing, when ignorant of the knowledge of God through Chri&s;t in the Spirit.</HI></P>
<P>Knowledge in all the former &s;ub&s;tracted from the latter, is but to know that we are under the chaines and the power of darkne&s;s. Our life con&s;i&s;ts neither in circumci&s;ion or uncircumci&s;ion, but in the new creature, Chri&s;t living in us, and we in Chri&s;t, <HI>The life that we now live, 'tis by the faith of the Sonne of God;</HI> by faith fea|&s;ting and &s;atisfying our &s;oules upon the love of God in Chri&s;t, the Spirit that teacheth and leadeth the &s;oule into all truth, even
<PB N="28" REF="25">the God of truth, and there the Spirit teacheth the &s;oule to read, God to be a God of love, and &s;o to enjoy him, and live in him through Chri&s;t, as a God of grace, and a faithfull God that will keepe Covenant with his people, and not impute &s;inne to that &s;oule for whom Chri&s;t hath dyed. Our life &s;hall be for ever with God and in God, enjoying nothing but God, and all of God in heaven; this is truly our life now as we are one with Chri&s;t, only the clouds of mortality darkens it: and &s;o farre as we live upon God through Chri&s;t in the Spirit, &s;o farre, and no farther doe we truly enjoy life in any condition: and what we &s;trive for here below, is not our life, nor truly worth our contending for; all the weary pur&s;utes of the heart of man which center not in Chri&s;t, mu&s;t wither before they come to their journeyes end, for they have no life to carry them through. A childe of God can finde no re&s;t, but the bo&s;ome of his Father, and no way to that re&s;t, but Chri&s;t the great gift of his Fathers love: &s;o that God and Chri&s;t is both the way and the end of a Saints re&s;t; <HI>that is,</HI> enjoying fulne&s;&s;e of bli&s;&s;e in God, who is all in all to all his peo|ple. Go&s;pel truths &s;hould be teaching to Go&s;pel-Saints, and the&s;e truths accompanied with the &s;pirit of truth may fir&s;t teach and informe all Saints where our life and intere&s;t lies, namely in God and Chri&s;t; God opening the bo&s;ome of his love, and gi|ving us Je&s;us Chri&s;t, Je&s;us Chri&s;t giving out his blood, his life, and all that God requires to &s;atisfie ju&s;tice, and to make a com|pleat redemption, Chri&s;t putting on our fle&s;h, and taking upon him the cur&s;e due to us, and all to this end, to be Mediatour, to &s;tand betweene a di&s;plea&s;ed God, and a poore &s;oule, <HI>to become &s;inne for us, that wee might become righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e in him.</HI></P>
<P>Our life lyes neither in the workes of the Law, nor the formes of the Go&s;pel, but in that love which gave Chri&s;t to be made un|der the Law, to fulfill the Law for us: and in that Je&s;us which is the Lord, and the life of the Go&s;pel; the Go&s;pel is <HI>glad tidings,</HI> which is Chri&s;t crucified. The highe&s;t forme is but a darke repre|&s;entation, a cloud without light if Chri&s;t which is the light of life be not in it. 'Tis God in Chri&s;t that is our life. Let us not turn againe to the beggerly rudiments under which we &s;hall be in bon|dage: but in the Lord of glory to live only upon God in Chri&s;t, who is the true light and life of Saints; to &s;eeke life in any thing el&s;e, <HI>is to &s;eeke the living among&s;t the dead.</HI></P>
<PB N="29" REF="25">
<P>Again, The&s;e Go&s;pel-truths &s;hould teach and exhort Go&s;pel-Saints <HI>to beleeve in God;</HI> he is a God of grace, and he is a faithfull God, he makes good his covenant of grace, that our &s;innes and iniquities hee will remember no more, to charge them upon the believer, for hee hath fully charged them upon Chri&s;t, and hath &s;atisfied his ju&s;tice to the full in Chri&s;t. And hence it is, that by way of comfort our Saviour in <HI>John</HI> 14.1. bids us to beleeve in God through him. <HI>Yee believe in God, believe al&s;o in me;</HI> that is, looke upon the covenant of God, and all the promi&s;es of God made good in me; believe, that what my Father hath given me to doe I have fini&s;hed it, all the worke of your redemption, and what ever God hath laid upon me, &s;hall never more be laid upon you, though it made me &s;weat drops of blood, and at la&s;t give up the Gho&s;t, yet I have fini&s;hed the worke, I conquered by yeelding, and overcame by dying, and I am ri&s;en again to beare witne&s;&s;e of my victory over &s;inne, death, hell, law, and grave for you, and thus I would have you to believe in mee and in God, who gave me out of his bo&s;ome of love to be all this to you. <HI>Di|&s;tru&s;t of the&s;e trutths, is to put a que&s;tion upon the faithfulne&s;&s;e of God, and the fulne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t.</HI> God promi&s;es to pardon freely, Chri&s;t undertakes to &s;atisfie fully; now <HI>a doubt of either</HI> is unworthy in him that is an <HI>heir of both.</HI></P>
<P>In the next place <HI>me-thinkes</HI> this cals for much <HI>love from Saints to God and Chri&s;t.</HI> Oh how &s;hould we love God that hath freely given us Chri&s;t, and with him all things. The great God of hea|ven and earth had no greater gift then Chri&s;t to give, and him he hath freely given us, and in Chri&s;t him&s;elfe, his Spirit, his Kingdome, and his glory too.</P>
<P>Who would not love a heart &s;o full of love as Gods heart is? How can wee chu&s;e but love a hand &s;o full of love as Gods hand is? What ever may ju&s;tly command or invite love, it is in the heart and hand of God, there are mercies free and full in God; <HI>at his right hand is fulne&s;&s;e of joy for evermore.</HI> Love had its fir&s;t con|ception in the heart of God; <HI>we love him becau&s;e he loved us fir&s;t;</HI> The glory of his love is the ri&s;e of our love, the piece-meales of beauty and glory which we earne&s;tly &s;eeke and pur&s;ue after in the creature, they all center in God; what ever it is that might be taking to oul affections, that is in its primitive glory as it is in God: and truly did we &s;ee God by an eye of faith as we do things
<PB N="30" REF="26">below with an eye of &s;en&s;e, the brightne&s;&s;e of his glory would darken all lower glories, and all the &s;treames of our affections would runne into God, who is the fountaine and originall of all love and loveline&s;&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>David</HI> had great glimmerings of this glory, when he called up|on his &s;oule to ble&s;&s;e the Lord, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 103. <HI>Ble&s;&s;e the Lord O my &s;oule, and all that is within mee ble&s;&s;e his holy Name:</HI> And &s;o all the P&s;alme through. Hee had di&s;cerned God in the glory of his love, and he could doe nothing but ble&s;&s;e and prai&s;e God becau&s;e he loved God. When a &s;oule once ta&s;ts God in his love, it can reli&s;h no love be&s;ides Gods love; If this &s;oule have any ble&s;&s;ing and prai&s;e in its heart and lips, he layes them all upon God.</P>
<P><HI>David</HI> &s;pends &s;everall P&s;almes upon this &s;ubject of ble&s;&s;ing and prai&s;ing God, about the 103^d <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> and &s;o forward; now the ground of all this is, he was in love with God. Wee know by the temper of our owne hearts how apt man is to prai&s;e that hee loveth; love takes delight to &s;pend it &s;elfe in &s;etting forth that it loves. So doth <HI>David</HI> here, he &s;ummons up all the &s;trength of his &s;oul to &s;et forth the beauty and the glorious excellency of that God whom he loved; love it makes the &s;tronge&s;t of all motions; it will not only &s;ay much for God, but it will doe and &s;uffer much for God: and truely <HI>me-thinkes</HI> Gods love may ju&s;tly cha|lenge love from his people in all the properties of it; for God hath put forth his love to his people in all its properties as it is the full and free love of God.</P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>O love Chri&s;t</HI> that hath redeemed us out of the hands of all our enemies, that wee might &s;erve him without feare; hee that hath taken away all ground of feare may ju&s;tly command all love. Though Chri&s;t hath not left feare to bring &s;oules to &s;erve him; yet love hath &s;uch a commi&s;&s;ion from the hands of Chri&s;t; <HI>If you love mee, keepe my Commandements;</HI> the love of Chri&s;t con&s;trained him to dye for us.</P>
<P><HI>Oh how</HI> &s;hould that love con&s;traine us to live to him! there is nothing but God and Chri&s;t worthy of our love: and if they have all our affections, our actions will &s;oone follow.</P>
<P><HI>My people</HI> (&s;aith God) <HI>is a willing people in the day of my power;</HI> that is, when his love over-powers the heart, it &s;oone com|mands all the actions. That &s;oule which loves Chri&s;t, makes no di&s;pute who &s;hall command it; <HI>Love is cords to draw, and legges
<PB N="31" REF="26">to carry the &s;oule to all the revealed will of Chri&s;t.</HI> It is Chri&s;ts way to deliver his people from all their enemies, and to leade them by his owne love: And truly the&s;e are &s;peaking arguments to Saints to love Chri&s;t. And indeed the&s;e Go&s;pel-truths afford <HI>much con&s;olation</HI> to all the people of God, why &s;hould wee not now be alwayes looking upon the originall love of God, and Chri&s;t the rocke of Ages, who is the great gift of his love, and &s;o re|joyce for ever. Though &s;elfe be nothing, yet Chri&s;t is all: though the Law condemne us, yet Chri&s;t made under the Law &s;aves and acquits us. Now we may looke upon &s;inne and all our enemies drowned in the red Sea of Chri&s;ts blood, and lying up|on the &s;hoare of his fle&s;h dead, for an eye of faith to behold.</P>
<P>Now wee may &s;ee death &s;wallowed up of victory, and triumph with the Apo&s;tle in <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. latter end. <HI>What &s;hall &s;eparate?</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.31. 'Tis the word of truth; <HI>Hee that glorieth &s;hould glo|ry in the Lord.</HI> We may now glory in all God, his ju&s;tice as wel as his grace.</P>
<P>There is nothing in God but what a believing &s;oule may glory in, it may through Chri&s;t come with as much rejoycing to Gods barre of Ju&s;tice, as to his Throne of grace; for Chri&s;t is our compleatne&s;&s;e at both; Hee pre&s;ents the &s;oule to God, as that &s;oule which God gave to him, and for whom hee hath given him&s;ele, <HI>John</HI> 17.10.6.23. and &s;o pre&s;ents the &s;oule perfect in him&s;elfe. <HI>If Chri&s;t be enough, Saints have enough to rejoyce in.</HI> If his blood &s;atisfie Gods Ju&s;tice to the full, as doubtle&s;&s;e it doth, God is well plea&s;ed when he &s;ees the travaile of his &s;oule, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 53.10. then it &s;hould quiet our con&s;ciences. If Chri&s;ts righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e be perfect in Gods eye, it &s;hould be &s;o in ours, and we &s;hould re&s;t and rejoyce in it. If Chri&s;t be the way to <HI>his</HI> and <HI>our</HI> Fathers bo&s;ome of love, we &s;hould ble&s;&s;e that love which made him our &s;urer way, and &s;eeke no other way but Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>If Chri&s;t be Gods way to convey all his loving kindne&s;&s;e and glory to our poore &s;oules, &s;urely then wee &s;hould re&s;t in Gods wi&s;dome, and rejoyce in his love. This is eternall love, it had no beginning with time, nor can it have any time to end; it is what God is, <HI>the &s;ame ye&s;terday, to day, and for ever.</HI> No &s;oule can out|live his love, or dye that is in his love; therefore there is a foun|dation to that exhortation in <HI>Phil.</HI> 4.4. <HI>Rejoyce in the Lord alway, and againe I &s;ay rejoyce.</HI></P>
<PB N="32" REF="27">
<P>The end of Chri&s;ts bearing our &s;orrowes, was, that we might be made partakers of his joy, he therefore tooke our fle&s;h, our &s;innes, and was made under the Law, and the cur&s;e of the law for us, that we might be taken up into the fulne&s;&s;e of God and him|&s;elfe to all eternity, <HI>to be heirs of God, and joynt-heires with Chri&s;t,</HI> Ephe&s;. 2.6, 7. <HI>And hath rai&s;ed us up together with Chri&s;t, and made us to &s;it together in beavenly places in Chri&s;t Je&s;us;</HI> that in the ages to come, hee might &s;hew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindne&s;&s;e towards us <HI>through Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</HI> Mark it, therefore hath he made us one with Chri&s;t, that to all eternity we might be filled with the exceeding riches of his grace and kindne&s;&s;e to us; <HI>that is,</HI> that he might fill us with him&s;elfe.</P>
<P>Oh what a glorious life is a Saints, when by faith he eyes his in|tere&s;t in God and Chri&s;t, he may then rejoyce indeed: A peri&s;h|ing world can neither give to, nor take from this more exceeding and eternall weight of glory. All our dying dayes are in this life, and &s;hall &s;oone have an end; In heaven it will be alwayes day, there is nor can be neither night nor death where God &amp; Chri&s;t is. Heaven is that home where every one is an heir, and every heir in full po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, <HI>God is all to all, with all, and in all, to all Eternity.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="33" REF="27">
<HEAD>CHAP. III. Gods children have his Spirit to walke and worke in.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Rom.</HI> 8.14, 15, 16.</BIBL>
<P>For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
<MILESTONE N="14"> they are the &s;onnes of God.</P>
<P>For yee have not received the &s;pirit of bondage againe to feare, but yee have received the &s;pirit of adoption,
<MILESTONE N="15"> whereby wee crie <HI>Abba</HI> Father.</P>
<P>The Spirit it &s;elfe bearing witne&s;&s;e with our &s;pirit that we are the children of God.
<MILESTONE N="16"> </P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_IN this whole Chapter we find the Apo&s;tle full of a&s;&s;u|rance of the love of God in Chri&s;t to him, that hee is above all condemnation as he is one with Chri&s;t: and from hence he is full of joy and holy boa&s;ting, and as full of exhortation to holy walking with God in the Spirit. And I conceive the&s;e three ver&s;es, holds forth the ground and the rea&s;on of all the&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> he fs full of a&s;&s;urance from the te&s;timony of the Spirit of God bearing witne&s;&s;e with his Spirit, as in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 16. and from hence he is rai&s;ed up into &s;uch full joy and holy boa&s;tings by re|ceiving the &s;pirit of Adoption, which delivered him from the &s;pirit of bondage and fear, and enabled him to crie <HI>Abba-Father,</HI> as in <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 15.</P>
<P>Now being thus filled, he breaks out into exhortation to holy walking, out of the fle&s;h &amp; in the Spirit: and in <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 14. makes it the character of the &s;onnes of God to the world, their being ledde by the Spirit. I may fitly call this portion of Scripture <HI>the lively image of a Saint living in God and to God in the Spirit;</HI> For methods &s;ake I &s;hall &s;et downe <HI>two heads,</HI> upon which I &s;hall
<PB N="34" REF="28">hold forth that which God &s;hall give into me upon the medita|tion of this Scripture.</P>
<P><HI>The fir&s;t</HI> is the &s;ealing worke of the Spirit of God in a Saint,
<MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="Head."> or a Saint &s;ealed up to the eternall love of God by his Spirit, and that I gather out of the 16^t^h <HI>ver&s;e,</HI> and the latter part of the 15^t^h <HI>ver&s;e.</HI></P>
<P><HI>The &s;econd</HI> head is this,
<MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="Head."> A Saint walking and working in the Spirit, or the Spirit reigning in a Saint: and this I gather from <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 14. and ver&s;e 15.</P>
<P>In this worke I &s;hall endeavour to wave all fle&s;hly rea&s;ons as a &s;ubject above it, and keepe my &s;elfe only to the te&s;timony of the word of God. And as a foundation to this building, I judge it very nece&s;&s;ary in two or three Scriptures, to &s;hew how wee live under the promi&s;e, and the powrings forth of this Spirit in <HI>Luke</HI> 24.49.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"> Lu. 24.49.</NOTE> There our Saviour promi&s;eth to &s;end the promi&s;e of the Father: &s;o that the certaine comming waas vnder a dou|ble promi&s;e.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"> Joh. 15.25.</NOTE> And in <HI>John</HI> 15.26. Our Saviour explains who hee meant by the promi&s;e of the Father.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"> Joh. 16.7.</NOTE> And in <HI>John</HI> 16.7. The Lord Chri&s;t doth fully promi&s;e at his going away from the world by his corporall pre&s;ence, that he would &s;end the Com|forter, which in the la&s;t Scripture mentioned is di&s;covered to be the Spirit. Now that Chri&s;t hath made this promi&s;e good, take only that one place in <HI>Acts</HI> 2.1,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"> Acts 2.1, 2, 3, 4.</NOTE> 2, 3, 4. I &s;hall keep you no longer from the heads propounded, but as they are laid downe, &s;o pro&s;ecute them.</P>
<P>I begin with the fir&s;t of them; <HI>Namely,</HI> the &s;ealing worke of the Spirit of God in a Saint, or a Saint &s;ealed up to the eternall love of God by his Spirit. The&s;e Scriptures fir&s;t mentioned are as full a proofe of this as any in the booke of God; they tell us plainly in &s;o many words, that the &s;pirit of Adoption being re|ceived, beares witne&s;&s;e to the &s;pirit of a Saint that he is the child of God; and in this a&s;&s;urance &s;o &s;atisfies the &s;oule of a believer, that he cries <HI>Abba Father;</HI> that this is the office of the Spirit to &s;eale up a Saints intere&s;t in the eternal love of God and his <HI>onn|ne&s;&s;e</HI> with Chri&s;t,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 4.30.</NOTE> let us con&s;ult that place, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.30. where the Apo&s;tle makes it an argument a gain&s;t corrupt or vain world|ly di&s;cour&s;e in the Saints; <HI>That you may not grieve the holy Spirit of God</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>whereby you are &s;ealed up to the day of redemption.
<PB N="35" REF="28">As if the Apo&s;tle had argued thus;</HI> You know <HI>(&s;aith he)</HI> the Spirit hath &s;ealed you up to the love of God in Chri&s;t, yea, into all God and Chri&s;t, all the love of God, and all the blood and re|demption of Je&s;us Chri&s;t; all the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the Sonne, &amp; the glory of the Father. Now for you to be corrupt, v<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ine, and worldly in your communication, you &s;eeme to deny this &s;eale of the Spirit, or your intere&s;t in God, and &s;o you grieve the Spirit, who&s;e proper worke it is to &s;eale you up to God. So in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 3.16, 17, 18, 19.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 3.16, 17, 18, 19.</NOTE> wee finde the Apo&s;tle praying for the Saints. Now let us con&s;ider what he prayes for; Fir&s;t, <HI>that they may be &s;trengthned with might by his Spirit in the inward man, &s;o as that Chri&s;t may dwell in their hearts by faith, and that they may be rooted and grounded in love, that they might be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, &amp; heighth, and to know the love of Chri&s;t which pa&s;&s;eth all knowledge, that they might be filled with all the fulne&s;&s;e of God;</HI> pray marke it. Here is Chri&s;t dwelling in the heart by faith, and the &s;oule rooted and grounded in the love of God and Chri&s;t, from whence it comes to know <HI>in &s;ome mea&s;ure</HI> the height, and breadth, and depth, and length of the love of Chri&s;t which pa&s;&s;es knowledge, and &s;o comes to be filled with the fulne&s;&s;e of God. <HI>But whence ari&s;es all this?</HI> why look into the 16^t^h ver&s;e; <HI>from being &s;trengthened with might by his Spirit in the inward man.</HI> This Spirit &s;eales up and beares witne&s;&s;e to the &s;oule that it is in the eternall love of God in Chri&s;t: and &s;o in all that &s;atisfaction which Chri&s;t hath made to his Fathers ju&s;tice, and hath an intere&s;t in all that righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e which Chri&s;t hath as the head. And thus Chri&s;t <HI>by his Spi|rit</HI> takes po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the heart, and dwels in it by faith, &s;o as <HI>he turnes all into Spirit.</HI> The knowledge is made &s;pirituall, he comes to know heighths, breadths, depths, and lengths of love. Letter is now turned into Spirit, and the &s;oule now neither knows Chri&s;t, nor any thing of Chri&s;t in the fle&s;h but in the &s;pi|rit; Being thus &s;trengthened with might by the &s;ealing of the Spirit, the &s;oule is able to unfold the mi&s;teries of God &amp; Chri&s;t in the fle&s;h, and can &s;ucke in, and feed on the &s;pirit of the word, and when it reades the 53. of <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 4, 5, 6, 10, 11. compared with 2 <HI>Co.</HI> 5. la&s;t. It can draw out by the Spirit matter for the &s;oule to live on to eternity.</P>
<PB N="36" REF="29">
<P>I, <HI>&s;ayes a &s;pirituall &s;oule,</HI> I now &s;ee that God hath &s;et Chri&s;t in my roome, and that Chri&s;t hath &s;o really and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">lly all my &s;ins imputed to him, and all the puni&s;hments due to them laid on him, that he is &s;aid to be made &s;inne for me: and hee was &s;o made &s;inne, that God hath made him to bear all the puni&s;hments due to my &s;innes.</P>
<P><HI>Surely he hath borne our griefes, and carried our &s;orrowes. He was wounded for our tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions, he was brui&s;ed for our iniquities; the cha&s;ti&s;ement of our peace was upon him, and with his &s;tripes we are healed; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all;</HI> yet it plea&s;ed the Lord to brui&s;e him, he hath put him to griefe, and his &s;oule is made an offering for &s;inne: <HI>And he &s;hall &s;ee of the tra|vell of his &s;oule, and &s;hall be &s;atisfied, for he &s;hall bear their iniquities.</HI> I, <HI>&s;ayes the &s;oule,</HI> now I &s;ee in the Spirit, and believe that Chri&s;t was made &s;inne for me, and &s;o hath taken all my &s;innes, and the puni&s;hment due to &s;inne from mee: And as he was made &s;inne for me, &s;o am I made righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e before God to all eternity in him; hee is the full &s;atisfier of divine ju&s;tice for mee, &s;o that I am compleatly righteous in the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him; thus doth the Spirit &s;eale, and roote, and ground, and e&s;tabli&s;h a &s;oule by faith in Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>And in this a&s;&s;urance it is, that the Saints have acce&s;&s;e by one Spirit unto the Father,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 2.18.</NOTE> as in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.18. In this a&s;&s;urance the &s;oule runnes with holy boldne&s;&s;e, and throwes it &s;elfe into the bo&s;ome of his Father.</P>
<P>In this &s;pirituall light the &s;oule &s;ees that there is nothing but Chri&s;t betweene him and his Fathers bo&s;ome, and this Chri&s;t to be him that hath taken all &s;inne &amp; puni&s;hment due to the &s;ins of his people on him&s;elfe: &s;o that there is not the lea&s;t tittle of them to &s;tand between God and the &s;oule, <HI>nothing but Chri&s;t be|tweene,</HI> and this Chri&s;t &s;tands only as the way to the Fathers bo|&s;ome; not to keepe out as the <HI>Angel</HI> with his &s;word at the en|trance of the garden: but to carry home, and to pre&s;ent &s;potle&s;s to his Father, &s;o that God may truly &s;ay of us, we have his righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e in Chri&s;t.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 1.13, 14.</NOTE> For further proofe, looke into that <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 1.13, 14. There the Apo&s;tle having &s;poken of the &s;ecrets of God, his election and prede&s;tination according to his purpo&s;e in Chri&s;t, in whom after yee believed, yee were &s;ealed with
<PB N="37" REF="29">that holy Spirit of promi&s;e, which (&s;ayes he,) <HI>is the earne&s;t of our inheritance:</HI> plainly making the Spirit to be the &s;eal, and the ear|ne&s;t of a Saints inheritance. It was from this &s;eale that <HI>Job</HI> could &s;ay, <HI>I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that I &s;hall behold him with the&s;e eyes.</HI> And &s;o the Apo&s;tle; <HI>I know</HI> (&s;ayes he) <HI>if this earthly ta|bernacle were di&s;&s;olved, I &s;hould have a building not made with hands eternall in the Heavens.</HI> And thus the &s;oule is carryed above all feares under the &s;pirit of bondage, by living upon God and Chri&s;t in the &s;pirit of Adoption, bearing witne&s;&s;e to the &s;oule <HI>that it is the childe of God,</HI> and &s;o filling the &s;oule with God, that it is quiet add e&s;tabli&s;hed, and lives boa&s;ting in God, as the A|po&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> in <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. the latter end. <HI>Who &s;hall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect? who &s;hall condemne or &s;eparate from the love of God in Chri&s;t;</HI> nothing, <HI>not life, nor death, nor any thing &s;hall be able to dee this.</HI> How knew he this? why he tels you in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 16. <HI>The Spirit of God did bear witne&s;&s;e of this to his &s;pirit.</HI> And thus the &s;oul through the &s;eale of the Spirit quitely waites for his period in a &s;tate of grace, till he be &s;wallowed up into the fulne&s;&s;e of that glo|ry which is by the &s;ame Spirit &s;ealed up for it, as in <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.5. <HI>We through the Spirit waite</HI> (&s;aith the Apo&s;tle) yea, and not only wait, but waite &s;atisfied; under po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion the &s;oule is &s;atisfied with a fulne&s;&s;e of eternall life, as in <HI>John</HI> 4.14. There is the Spirit pow|red forth into a &s;atisfying of the &s;oul, that it thir&s;ts no more af|ter any thing <HI>but God,</HI> and is &s;atisfied with God; <HI>for it is a well of water &s;pringing up to eternall life.</HI> I &s;hall &s;atisfie my &s;elfe with thus much in the proofe of the fir&s;t head, <HI>namely,</HI> the &s;ealing worke of the Spirit of God in a Saint, or a Saint &s;ealed up to the eternall love of God by his Spirit.</P>
<P>By this we &s;hould examine our a&s;&s;urance of Gods love,
<MILESTONE UNIT="V&s;e."> whence we fetch it, whether from within, or from without; whether from externall duties and priviledges, or from an internall &s;eale; we &s;eee it is Gods end in giving his Spirit, that by it Saints may be &s;ealed up to the day of Redemption, and that we may there|by know we are his children: And this wee finde to be in the ex|perience of the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> and other Saints. Now let us aske our &s;oules, doth our a&s;&s;urance ri&s;e from the witne&s;&s;e of the Spirit of God to our &s;pirit; Truly we &s;hall never be e&s;tabli&s;hed in our &s;pi|rite till we come to this pitch. If we live only upon tho&s;e graces
<PB N="38" REF="30">that flowe from the Spirit, it will be a very uncertaine life; for our own hearts can be&s;t witne&s;&s;e how many ebbings and flowings of the fruits of the Spirit is within us. Now if Gods love ebbe and flow to us, as our love doth to him, how changeable &s;hall wee make God to be? and how un&s;etled mu&s;t our &s;pirits needes be: &s;ayes God, <HI>my love is unchangeable:</HI> and to a&s;&s;ure you of it, <HI>I give you my Spirit to beare witne&s;&s;e with your &s;pirit that yee are the children of my love.</HI> God gives his Spirit, that we may looke on him&s;elfe which is unchangeable; he loves becau&s;e he will love: and as we can give no rea&s;on of his love, &s;o God gives no period to his love. And when once the &s;oule of a Believer comes thus to live on God him&s;elf by his &s;pirit, then he is an e&s;tabli&s;hed &s;oul.</P>
<P><HI>But I ha&s;ten to the &s;econd head;</HI> namely <HI>a Saints walking and wor|king in the Spirit,</HI> or the Spirit ruling and reigning in a Saint: and this I gather from the 14. and 15. ver&s;es of <HI>John</HI> 14.17. There is the &s;pirit of Truth dwelling and being in a Saint,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 14.17.</NOTE> and the Saint knowing of this po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion.&mdash;Here is a being and abiding; a po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ion that leads to a ruling and a reigning. The Spirit in a Saint is Chri&s;t in a Saint; now Chri&s;t is a Saints head to rule in him, and reigne over him. And in <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 26. the Spirit puts forth an act of its Soveraignty, teaching all things; a Saint acting knowing|ly, acts from the Spirit that teaches. And in <HI>John</HI> 16.13, 14. There is a further di&s;covery what the Spirit &s;hall doe when it hath po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed a &s;oule; why it makes di&s;coveries of Chri&s;t to the &s;oule; <HI>for he &s;hall receive of mine, and &s;hew it unto you, and thereby you &s;hall be guided into all truth.</HI> And as a Saint is elected into God and Chri&s;t, &s;o the holy Spirit dwelling in him, he lives in, and to God and Chri&s;t, po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing all fulne&s;&s;e in God and Chri&s;t: and making all his performances from God and Chri&s;t: And thus he walkes and workes in the Spirit,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.9, 10, 11.</NOTE> and the Spirit rules and reignes in him. This <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11. &s;peaks ve|ry exactly of a Saints walking in the Spirit, and the Spirit reign|ing in a Saint. <HI>They that are in Chri&s;t Je&s;us</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>walke not af|ter the fle&s;h, but after the &s;pirit.</HI> And in <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 2. he tells us, he acts only in Chri&s;t, and lives by the law of the Spirit in Chri&s;t Je|&s;us; which hath freed him from the law of &s;inne and death. <HI>As if hee &s;hould &s;ay,</HI> all my duties and performances it is Chri&s;t li|ving and acting by his Spirit in mee. For &s;aith he in the 3^d ver&s;e,
<PB N="39" REF="30">the bare law of Commandement could not rai&s;e mee up to holy walking; For fle&s;h <HI>which was my owne &s;trength,</HI> that was weake: but God having made up that in his Son. Now &s;ayes hee, the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the law is fulfilled in us, <HI>who walke not after the fle&s;h, but after the &s;pirit.</HI> And &s;hewes in the 5^t^h <HI>ver&s;e,</HI> what it is to walke after the fle&s;h, and what after the &s;pirit: and in the 6. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> tells us fle&s;h and &s;pirit is the way of life and death: but in the 9th. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> he &s;hewes who are in the Spirit, <HI>namely tho&s;e in whom the &s;pi|rit of God dwels.</HI> And &s;ayes plainly, <HI>that tho&s;e which have not the Spirit are none of Chri&s;ts.</HI> And in the two next ver&s;es, &s;hewes if Chri&s;t lives in a &s;oule by his Spirit, then the body of &s;inne dyes.</P>
<P>There is a reigning power indeed, the whole body of &s;in killed, by the Spirits dwelling and reigning in a Saint, and now all the action and motion of &s;uch a &s;oule is from God. The &s;oule now in all its wants can have acce&s;&s;e to God through Chri&s;t in the &s;pi|rit, as in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.18. and in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 3.16, 17, 18.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 2.18. Ephe&s;. 3.16, 17, 18. John 17.38, 39.</NOTE> By the &s;pirit in the inward man, the &s;oule is an e&s;tabli&s;hed &s;oule, and a know|ing &s;oule, and &s;o is enabled to act for God in the Spirit, <HI>John</HI> 7.38, 39. There is a promi&s;e to believing &s;oules of being &s;o filled with the Spirit, that there &s;hall be flowings forth. <HI>Out of his belly &s;hall flow rivers of living water.</HI> And this (&s;aith the 39^t^h ver&s;e) is &s;poken of the &s;pirit, which they that believe in him &s;hould receive.</P>
<P>Now what is the end of this fulne&s;&s;e of the Spirit, but that it &s;hould rule and reigne in a Saint, and that a Saint &s;hould walke and act in it. In <HI>Rom</HI> 6.14. There is a promi&s;e <HI>&s;in &s;hall not have dominion over the Saints:</HI> and the rea&s;on is given; <HI>becau&s;e</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>you are not under the law, but under grace.</HI> Chri&s;t is your &s;anctifica|tion, and his &s;pirit of grace &s;hall deliver you from the dominion of &s;in. In 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2.14, 15. There a Saints knowledge is &s;piritual, and &s;o d&s;tingui&s;hed from the world: and this &s;pirituall knowledg living in action in a Saint. We &s;hall finde in 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.11. in the former part of the Chapter, the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks of &s;piritual gifts, acting diver&s;ly in &s;everall Saints, but all the&s;e workings are from one and the &s;ame Spirit: &s;o as it is the Spirit that doth all in the Saints. In 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.16, 17, 18. There is a &s;oule made light by ha|ving the vaile taken from its eyes, and in that light beholding God (&s;aith the Text) is changed into his Image. Now marke it, all this is by the &s;pirits living in a &s;oule. A &s;oule living upon
<PB N="40" REF="31">God in the &s;pirit, hath the vaile taken away and lives in a glori|ous vi&s;ion of God; by which the &s;oul is changed into the Image of God, and this is by the Spirit of the Lord, &s;aith the end of the 18. Ver&s;e. And &s;o in 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.14, 15, 16, 17. There is a new creature made by the love of Chri&s;t, which con&s;trained the &s;oul from the powerfull operation of the Spirit; wherefore hence|forth &s;aith he, <HI>wee know no man, no not Chri&s;t him&s;elfe after the fle&s;h;</HI> No: How then? Why in the &s;pirit, that &s;pirit that &s;heddes the love of Chri&s;t in our hearts, and thereby con&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">aines us to live in him that died for us, and in whom wee are dead to the fle&s;h, but alive in the &s;pirit; <HI>And thus the Spirit acts the new creature.</HI> So in <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.16, 17, 18, 22, 25. Ver&s;es, There is an exhortation to walke in the &s;pirit; by which a &s;aint is delivered from obe|dience to the lu&s;ts of the fle&s;h; though the fle&s;h lu&s;teth again&s;t the &s;pirit, yet &s;aith the 18. Ver&s;e, <HI>If yee be led by the &s;pirit yee are not under the Law;</HI> and in the 22. Ver&s;e &s;hewes the fruits of the Spirit: and concludes in the 25. Ver&s;e, <HI>If you live in the &s;pirit then walke in the &s;pirit;</HI> making all a Saints life and action to be in the &s;pirit.</P>
<P>I will only touch one particular of the life of a Saint out of this generall, namely, his wor&s;hip; and &s;hew you how all that is in the Spirit, for a Saint wor&s;hiping God in the Spirit, take fir&s;t <HI>John</HI> 4.23, 24. Which is our Saviours An&s;wer to the wo|man of <HI>Samarias</HI> Que&s;tion in the 20 Ver&s;e, &s;he as one without the Spirit que&s;tions about the places of wor&s;hip, going as far as an eye of nature could carry her to externalls: but the Lord Chri&s;t in the 21 Ver&s;e tells her, <HI>Woman the houre cometh when nei|ther in this mountaine, nor in Jeru&s;alem &s;hall yee wor&s;hip the father,</HI> your light is onely in externalls, and you wor&s;hip you know not what; and then preaches him&s;elfe to her, <HI>Salvation is of the Jewes,</HI> as if he had &s;aid, God will have his people onely wor|&s;hip him, and that in the Spirit; <HI>for the time comes and now is when the true wor&s;hipers &s;hall wor&s;hip God in the &s;pirit:</HI> and gives the rea|&s;on of it, (for &s;aith he) <HI>God is a &s;pirit; and they that wor&s;hip him mu&s;t wor&s;hip him in &s;pirit and in truth.</HI> This truth is very fully con|firmed in <HI>Phil</HI> 3.3. fal&s;e teachers in the foregoing Chapter would have brought the Saints under the law of works a gaine, and the yoake of circumci&s;ion: but the Apo&s;tle in this 3. Ver&s;e tell us,
<PB N="41" REF="31">tho&s;e are the <HI>circumci&s;ion which wor&s;hip God in the &s;pirit.</HI> As if the Apo&s;tle had &s;aid, the&s;e fal&s;e teachers endeavour to bring you under a formall wor&s;hip; and to make you debtors to the law of wor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">s againe: But we are above it, and we are to live in the Spirit, and to wor&s;hip in the Spirit; in the 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.5. There the Apo&s;tle tells you who they be that are &s;it for communion with God; they be living &s;tones, alive in the Spir<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">t and acting in the Spirit, to offer up &s;pirituall &s;acrific<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> to God by Je&s;us Chri&s;t. I but when is a man a living &s;tone, fit to offer up the &s;acrifice? &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">e that in 1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 2.27. <HI>But the an<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">inting wh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ch yee have received of him, abides in you, and the &s;ame anointing teacheth you all thin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">s, and is truth, and is no lye, and even as it hath taught you yee &s;hall abide in him.</HI> Then is a man a vi&s;ible Saint, a living &s;tone, fi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> to wor&s;hip God, and to have communion with him, when he hath received the <HI>&V;nction</HI> of the Spirit; by which he is taught of God to wo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">|&s;hip in the Spirit, and in truth: This truth is not taught of man but of God, and therefore it abides in him; thus you &s;ee he that wor&s;hips God truly, wor&s;hips him in the Spirit.</P>
<P><HI>What a Spirituall Saint is;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">What a Saint is not.</NOTE></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, he is more than a Morall-man, he that is le&s;&s;e than a morall-man is a bea&s;t, and he that is at the heigh of a morall|man is but meerly a man, a fine civiliz'd peice of clay, loving him&s;elfe, and therefore doth <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ot devoute another, becau&s;e an|other man &s;hould not devoure him; decked with his owne ac|compli&s;hments, and glorying in his owne <HI>Babel;</HI> Sarely a &s;piri|tuall Saint is more than this.</P>
<P>Yea Secondly, he is more than a Form <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ll or Legall Prof<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">r; What is a formall Pro<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">e&s;&s;or? He is one that lives by &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">n&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">, and not by faith, that is on<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ly taught of man and not of God, that hath all his light from without him, from the practice of others, and not from the prec<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">pts or &s;pirit of God within him. One that can &s;ee and practi&s;e anything which may plea&s;e all, or, the mo&s;t of men, <HI>he is alwayes learning and never learned;</HI> becau&s;e hee is alwayes &s;tudying man and never God, hee is one which you &s;hall ever finde in the croude where the mo&s;t are, there you &s;hal be &s;ure to finde him. If you meet him and tell him of a Chri&s;t crucified, I but &s;aith he, <HI>doth any of the Phari&s;ees b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">lieve in his name?</HI> he is a man much in wor&s;hip: but the in&s;cription is <HI>to the unknown
<PB N="42" REF="32">God;</HI> his eyes are in anothers head, and therefore he is led by an|other to act as a blinde-man; no forme comes ami&s;&s;e to him, for he is nothing el&s;e but forme, he is one &s;o ignorant as that hee thinks it a crime for any man to &s;ee more than him&s;elfe, though he be blind; and if the man that &s;ees will not deny his light; hee will doe the be&s;t he can to pluck out his eyes, he is &s;o proud of his chaines of darkene&s;&s;e that none &s;hall live where hee can rule that will not weare his &s;etters; this &s;oule is mother and nur&s;e both, to that <HI>Brate of hell,</HI> Per&s;ecution of the Saints; this man of forme knows no heights, bredths, depths, or lengths above him|&s;elfe, and if he &s;natch a peice of the Word of God, he only hath it in the letter, and &s;o never reaches God in it, <HI>this is a formall Profe&s;&s;or.</HI> I but what is a legall Profe&s;&s;or? he is a man &s;eemingly neerer Heaven, but if he goe on farther no man farther from it, he is a man full of the word in the letter: but altogether emptie of it in the &s;pirit; he is a man exact in the language of Mount <HI>Sinai:</HI> but cannot pronounce a plaine &s;illable of the language of <HI>Sion;</HI> he can tell you that God is a ju&s;t God, and a &s;evere Judge, a revenger of him&s;elf upon &s;inners, but is not able to pronounce God as a Father, and a reconciled God in Chri&s;t; hee is exact to tell you of pre&s;ent duty and tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion, but is not able to unfold the my&s;terie of godline&s;&s;e, Chri&s;t in the fle&s;h; if a word of Chri&s;t drop out of his mouth, it is to tell you what quallifi|cations mu&s;t fit you for Chri&s;t as he thinkes; when he hath found a leprous &s;oule of &s;inne, he cannot &s;hew it Chri&s;t, but &s;ayes he; goe wa&s;h in the teares of repentance and you &s;hall bee cleane, though he never &s;hew him Chri&s;t which mu&s;t wa&s;h his repen|tance, if he findes a poore Saint under &s;ome affliction, he cannot make up the wound by leading the &s;oul to the love of God, from whence that affliction came, but &s;aith he looke into your &s;elfe, inquire for that &s;in the puni&s;hment of which you now lie under, God is a ju&s;t God, if you will &s;in you mu&s;t beare the indignati|on of the Lord for it; goe fall on your knees, weep and fa&s;t, and pray and vow, make God &s;ome amends; this is all the releife he can give, and &s;o he poures oyle into the flame of &s;orrows; and vineger into the bleeding woundes of poore Saiuts. This legall &s;oule lives upon his duties, and not upon the free grace of God, and therefore he <HI>can give no other coun&s;el than he hath experience;</HI>
<PB N="43" REF="32">he never ta&s;ted in the &s;pirit how good God is, and therefore can never &s;peake good to his own &s;oule, or any other from God; If he &s;peak any good to a &s;oule it is from duties, <HI>doe and live</HI> the effect of all his language.</P>
<P>I only give this as a word of caution, that we hearken not to the councels of &s;uch men, lea&s;t we become like tho&s;e fooli&s;h <HI>Gala|tians,</HI> which began in the Spirit, but were like to end in the fle&s;h; Let this be enough in the negative what a &s;pirituall Saint is not.</P>
<P>But then what is a &s;pirituall Saint?
<NOTE PLACE="marg">What a Saint is.</NOTE></P>
<P>Why hee is one that lives by faith above &s;ence; one that is all in God, and nothing in him&s;elfe; hee is taught of God to know him, he is drawne by God to love him, he is per&s;waded by God to tru&s;t in him, he is &s;illed with God, and lives upon him, heis &s;atisefid with God, and rejoyces in him; he &s;o lives in God, that he makes his boa&s;t of him, as the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. the latter end. <HI>Who &s;hall condemne; nay who &s;hall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?</HI> He is one which in the Spirit is able to looke from eternity to eternity, and therein behold that eternall love of God which gave out Chri&s;t to manife&s;t his love to us in him, and hath made him one with Chri&s;t in all his merits, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and benefits; he is able to &s;ee into that love and eternall purpo&s;e of God that made Chri&s;t to be &s;inne for us, <HI>that we might be made the righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e of God in him.</HI> He can &s;ee God his Father, and in the &s;pirit of Adoption call him Father; Hee can read his &s;alvation written in the Covenant of grace; He can behold him&s;elfe one in Chri&s;t, as Chri&s;t is in God; He a&s;&s;uredly knowes that <HI>Chri&s;t hath born his griefe, and that God hath wounded Chri&s;t for his tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions, brui|&s;ed him for his iniquities, &amp; laid the cha&s;ti&s;ement of his peace on him,</HI> and all this &s;o fully and really, as that by the &s;tripes God laid on Chri&s;t, his &s;oule is healed; that God hath made Chri&s;te &s;oul an offering for the &s;innes of his people: and that hee hath beheld the travell of his &s;oule, and is well plea&s;ed: &s;o that now this &s;piri|tuall man drawes up this conclu&s;ion. What-ever of &s;inne and pu|ni&s;hment was mine, was taken from me, and made Chri&s;ts, and he hath fully &s;atisfied for the one, &amp; born the other: &s;o that now from the ju&s;tice of God I can conclude this, that neither of them &s;hall bee laid on mee againe. Chri&s;ts righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and his glo|ry is &s;o made mine, that I &s;tand &s;potle&s;&s;e in the one, and &s;hall
<PB N="44" REF="33">be perfect in the other to all eternity.</P>
<P>Thus is a &s;pirituall &s;oul-led up to God, and made to know his great de&s;igne from eternity; <HI>namely,</HI> to make Chri&s;t his <HI>wi&s;dome, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;anctification, and redemption,</HI> and that in all the&s;e hee &s;tands perfect before God, in the perfection of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>This &s;oule lives in the region of Gods love, and in Chri&s;ts righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and &s;ees him&s;elf above all condemnation: and yet the lea&s;t tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion in him di&s;covered to him by the love and Spirit of God, melts the poore heart into nothing. I &s;ee <HI>&s;ayes he,</HI> I am alive in Chri&s;t through the eternall love of God: and that makes me thus judge, <HI>that if one dyed for all, then were all dead.</HI> I dyed to &s;inne in Chri&s;t, and if now I live, it &s;hould not be to my &s;elfe, but to Chri&s;t, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.14, 15. And to this <HI>the love of Chri&s;t con&s;traines me;</HI> For (&s;ayes he,) <HI>This I know, who ever is in Chri&s;t is a new creature. Olde things are pa&s;&s;ed away, and behold all things are become new,</HI> ver&s;. 17. And therefore &s;aith he, what ever is &s;inne is the old man: and of this he cries out as the Apo&s;tle in <HI>Rom.</HI> 7. <HI>O wretched man that I am; the law of my fle&s;h rebels again&s;t the law of my minde.</HI> Sin hath le&s;&s;e entertainment no where, then where the love of God by his Spirit dwels; perfect love &s;huts out feare, (&s;aith the Text) and perfect love kils corruption. Love to Chri&s;t kils and buries &s;in, when legal fear only layes it in a &s;wound, it lives againe, and po&s;&s;ibly kils the legall &s;oule at la&s;t: but this &s;pi|rituall man he keepes nothing to him&s;elfe, but carries all to God and Chri&s;t; he lives only in God and Chri&s;t: and when he finds corruption in him&s;elfe, he pre&s;ently by the &s;pirit layes it downe at the feete of Chri&s;t, and tels him, my glory (&s;aith he) is to live in thee and what ever is thine, and thy glory is to live in mee, and in the death of my corruptions.</P>
<P>Oh then be zealous of thy glory; thou ha&s;t taken the guilt and puni&s;hment of all my corruptions from me: Is it not al&s;o for thy glory to take the reigne and the power of them from me too? Yes <HI>(&s;aith Chri&s;t)</HI> and I will make my promi&s;e good; <HI>Sinne &s;hall not have dominion over you; for you are not under the law, but under grace.</HI> True Lord, <HI>&s;ayes the &s;oule,</HI> and I believe it, that to live un|der grace is the only way to keepe &s;in under me.</P>
<P>Thus a &s;pirituall &s;oule having a &s;ight of his &s;innes, of all men hath lea&s;t feare in point of condemnation, becau&s;e this &s;oule is
<PB N="45" REF="33">filled with the perfect love of God which ca&s;ts out feare: but the in-being of this love of God in a &s;oule makes as little love to all the profers of &s;in, as it hath feare of the condemnation of it. Sin in all its temptations hath the &s;oone&s;t denyall from &s;uch a &s;oule of any, for he an&s;wers &s;in thus. Sin (&s;ayes he) The love of Chri&s;t con&s;trains me to hate thee; This &s;oule tels &s;in he will but lo&s;e his labour in tempting him; for (&s;ayes he) I am not at my owne di&s;|po&s;ing, I have given my &s;elfe up to Chri&s;t already, and Chri&s;t hath taken po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of me, and lives in me by his Spirit, and for thy temptations I &s;hall carry them to Chri&s;t: and &s;ure I am thou can&s;t not live in his pre&s;ence, he hath overcome thee for me, and he will de&s;troy thee in me. Thus the &s;pirit changes a &s;oule from darkne&s;&s;e to light, and from the power of Sathan unto God, and is made to live in this light, which is the light of Gods recon|ciled countenance in the face of Chri&s;t. And in this vi&s;ion of God and Chri&s;t, <HI>the &s;oule is changed into the image of Chri&s;t from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit,</HI> 2 Cor. 3^d. &amp; la&s;t.</P>
<P>This &s;piritual man as he lives upon <HI>God</HI> in the &s;pirit, &s;o he wor|&s;hips God in the Spirit; he knowes neither the Mount nor <HI>Hieru|&s;alem</HI> as his place to wor&s;hip in; he only knows Chri&s;t as the pro|per <HI>medium</HI> to wor&s;hip God in, and he knowes not Chri&s;t after the fle&s;h neither, but after the &s;pirit; his fea&s;ting is with God and upon God; he knowes no formes or figure, nor externals to make him a re&s;t of, he can only re&s;t in the bo&s;ome of God and Chri&s;t; he knowes no fellow&s;hip but with the Father and the Son: as hee enjoyes God and Chri&s;t in Saints, &s;o hee hath &s;weete fellow&s;hip with them. God is both the light and the life of his wor&s;hip; he makes God his way and his end in his wor&s;hip. This is a <HI>Dove</HI> that can re&s;t no where but in the <HI>Arke;</HI> Church-fellow&s;hip to him without Chri&s;t, is no more then a &s;elected piece of the darke world; the Ordinances (if Chri&s;t be not in them) is to him but as the grave. When Chri&s;t was ri&s;en, all his enquiries are, <HI>where is he whom my &s;oule loves.</HI> Shew me Chri&s;t in a Saint, Chri&s;t in a Church, and Chri&s;t in an Ordinance, and then you &s;hew me my life, and upon this ground I can live and dye with you &s;aith hee. <HI>This &s;oule can mea&s;ure all men and things by Chri&s;t: but Chri&s;t by no|thing but him&s;elfe,</HI> that Spirit of Chri&s;t which dwelleth in him: and thus you have &s;ome weake di&s;cour&s;es of a &s;pirituall Saint.</P>
<PB N="46" REF="34">
<P>This exhorts Saints to live in the &s;pirit upon God and Chri&s;t, and to act from the endowings of that &s;pirit, as the image of God and Chri&s;t. It is very plaine it is the intere&s;t and priviledge of Gods children to live on him&s;elfe in the Spirit, and from that life &s;piritually to make all its motions.</P>
<P>Oh why will you live out of God! did you ever finde any be|loved like this beloved? Did you &s;inde any thing that is all, but God? Why God is willing you &s;hould live upon all, <HI>his all,</HI> and be filled with his fulne&s;&s;e. <HI>O come my beloved, eate of my banquet of love. Drinke, O drinke abundantly and be &s;atisfied</HI> (&s;aith Chri&s;t.)</P>
<P><HI>All our &s;adne&s;&s;e and complainings ari&s;e from our living out of God;</HI> be it what ever it can be that is the mo&s;t like God, yet if it be not naked and clearly God, the &s;oule will be complaining of wants. 'Tis not duties, Church-fellow&s;hip, Ordinances, or any thing that we conceive or propo&s;e to our &s;elves, which can of them|&s;elves give the &s;oule re&s;t; it is only a living in, and upon God in the &s;pirit.</P>
<P>Oh let us &s;tand in that liberty with which Chri&s;t hath made us free; we can &s;tand in none but in Chri&s;t, and that is the free|ne&s;&s;e of grace, that we &s;hould &s;tand for ever &s;potle&s;&s;e and blame|le&s;&s;e in the &s;ight of God through him.</P>
<P>Again, This &s;hould &s;tirre up Saints to act in God; we have no cau&s;e now to act doubtingly: If Chri&s;t be our &s;trength, the Spi|rit will teach us to pray and to crye <HI>Abba-Father,</HI> for hee is our Father. Is corruption too &s;trong for us? it is not too &s;trong for Chri&s;t, we &s;hould lay it at his feete.</P>
<P>And now tell mee <HI>believing &s;oule,</HI> can&s;t thou that live&s;t in the love of Chri&s;t live in &s;in? No &s;ayes the &s;oule, &s;in is <HI>for the love of it</HI> &s;laine in me; by what law? even the law of love living by the Spirit in me.</P>
<P>It is impo&s;&s;ible &s;ayes &s;uch a &s;oule that I that am dead to &s;inne &s;hould live unto it. <HI>My life</HI> (&s;ayes he) <HI>is hid with Chri&s;t in God: And it is not I that live now, but Chri&s;t he lives in me.</HI> Chri&s;t lives, and I dye (&s;ayes the &s;oule) I, that is, all I, my righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e as well as my unrighteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. If I mi&s;take not, this is the &s;trong|e&s;t argument again&s;t a Saints living in &s;in that can be, why a Saint cannot fin, but it mu&s;t be without excu&s;e. A carnall man may &s;in, I could doe no better in my owne &s;trength. I, but a Saint cannot
<PB N="47" REF="34">plead &s;o, he hath Chri&s;t for his &s;trength; why then in the Spirit of God let Saints con&s;ider what a cour&s;e of &s;in would be in them; it is little le&s;s then proclaiming Chri&s;t a &s;inner; for a Saint is loo|ked upon to live &amp; act in Chri&s;t, and that Chri&s;t doth all in him.</P>
<P>Oh then, if the glory and honour of God and Chri&s;t be deare to us, how can we that are delivered from &s;in live any longer to it. It is impo&s;&s;ible that we can love Chri&s;t and &s;in too, &amp; there|fore where Chri&s;t lives by his love, he con&s;trains the death of &s;inne. The exhortation is to Saints to live in the Spirit, and that is, trampling upon all below God and Chri&s;t, and behold our &s;elves heirs of that glory, and co-heirs with Chri&s;t in that glo|ry that is God and Chri&s;t to all eternity.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IIII. Gods love giveth Saints to know, they &s;hall appear like Chri&s;t.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL>1 <HI>John</HI> 3.1.2.</BIBL>
<P>Behold what manner of love the Father hath be&s;towed up|on us that we &s;hould be called the Sons of God.
<MILESTONE N="1"> Therefore the world knowes us not, becau&s;e it knew not him.</P>
<P>Beloved, now are we the &s;ons of God,
<MILESTONE N="2"> and it doth not yet appeare what wee &s;hall be: but wee know that when hee &s;hall appeare, we &s;hall be like him: for we &s;hall &s;ee him as he is.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_GOds love in the manner of it, in making of us his &s;onnes, is here by the holy Gho&s;t &s;et forth with a <HI>behold:</HI> and truly none but &s;uch as have received the holy Gho&s;t can behold it. It is too bright a glory for any but a &s;piritual eye to look on, there|fore the world knowes not Gods children, the heires of glory, becau&s;e they know not him the Lord of glory. <HI>Spirituall objects
<PB N="48" REF="35">are only di&s;cerned by &s;pirituall eyes,</HI> and &s;uch are here called to be|hold the originall love of God which hath made us one with Chri&s;t: in him &s;onnes of his love and heires of his glory.</P>
<P>There lyes very much in the&s;e two ver&s;es; I &s;hall only for me|thods &s;ake put them into two generall heads, and make ob&s;erva|tions from them.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is this, <HI>That at the glorious appearance of Chri&s;t will come the fulne&s;&s;e of a Saints glory as hee is united to Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;econd generall head is this, <HI>That this fulne&s;s will be the ful|ne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t, for we &s;hall be like him, &amp; &s;ee him as he is.</HI></P>
<P>To the fir&s;t head, <HI>That at the glorious appearance of Chri&s;t will come the fulne&s;&s;e of a Saints glory as he is united to Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>By this glorious appearance of Chri&s;t, I under&s;tand that ap|pearance when he &s;hall come to judge the world, when he &s;hall give the damned their full portion, and his children theirs; for then &s;ayes the Text, <HI>wee &s;hall be made like him, and &s;ee him as he is,</HI> which is a &s;tate of perfection. I &s;hall now endeavour to prove this fir&s;t generall head.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, take this paralell Scripture as a proofe, <HI>Colo&s;.</HI> 3 3, 4. <HI>For yee are dead, and your life is hid with Chri&s;t in God.</HI></P>
<P><HI>When Chri&s;t who is our life &s;hall appeare, then &s;hall yee al&s;o appeare with him in glory.</HI></P>
<P>Here Chri&s;t is &s;aid to be a Saints life, there is our union with him, and at his appearance then we appeare in fulne&s;&s;e of glory. That &s;oule which is one with Chri&s;t is united to him in his death and in his life. <HI>We are dead with Chri&s;t</HI> (&s;ayes one Text) and this Text &s;ayes, <HI>wee are alive in Chri&s;t.</HI> Nay Chri&s;t is our life: &s;o that when Chri&s;t manife&s;ts his owne glory, he manife&s;ts our glory as we are united to him; Wee may reade the will of Chri&s;t in this point of our glory with him in <HI>John</HI> 17.24. <HI>Father I wil that they al&s;o whom thou ha&s;t given me be with me where I am, that they may be|hold my glory which thou ha&s;t given me.</HI></P>
<P>To behold the glory of Chri&s;t, is to be &s;wallowed up into the glory of Chri&s;t, yea into Chri&s;t him&s;elfe; for his glory is not to be beheld out of him&s;elfe, and then doth the fulne&s;&s;e of a Saints glory appeare when he doth come to behold Chri&s;t a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> he is uni|ted to him in his fulne&s;&s;e of glory. So likewi&s;e <HI>Rom</HI> 8 17. <HI>And if children then heirs, heirs of God, and joynt-heirs with Chri&s;t; If &s;o
<PB N="49" REF="35">be that we &s;uffer with him, that we may be al&s;o glorified together.</HI></P>
<P>The Apo&s;tles &s;cope is to &s;hew, that in our union with Chri&s;t we are heires of glory, joynt-heirs with Chri&s;t, and &s;o have joynt|intere&s;t in his glory: &s;o that when the fulne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;ts glory appeares, then the fulne&s;&s;e of our glory appeares.</P>
<P>The holy Gho&s;t doth fully cle<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">e this point, and &s;hews where|in this glory lies, in that 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 4.16, 17. <HI>For the Lord him&s;elfe &s;hall de&s;cend from heaven with a &s;hout, with the voyce of the Arch-Angel, and with the trumpe of God: and the dead in Chri&s;t &s;hall ri&s;e fir&s;t.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Then we which are alive and remain &s;hall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meete the Lord in the aire,</HI> and &s;o &s;hall we ever be with the Lord.</P>
<P>This place &s;peakes of that comming and appearing of Chri&s;t which I mentioned in the beginning: and it clears this point ful|ly, that we &s;hall appear with Chri&s;t in glory <HI>(&s;ayes the Text)</HI> and &s;o &s;hall wee ever be with the Lord; not only appeare with him in glory, but al&s;o abide for ever with him, and &s;o be filled with the fulne&s;&s;e of his glory.</P>
<P>The&s;e Scriptures in&s;tead of many more which might be produ|ced, will fully &s;erve to make proofe of the fir&s;t generall head.</P>
<P>The &s;econd generall head proves it &s;elfe; it hath in it a double proofe, that our fulne&s;&s;e is the fulne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t; For fir&s;t (&s;ayes the Text) <HI>wee &s;hall be like him:</HI> Now nothing but ou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ion with Chri&s;t can make us like Chri&s;t, to be filled with his fulne&s;&s;e. And another Text &s;ayes, <HI>Of his fulne&s;&s;e</HI> (meaning Chri&s;ts) <HI>we received, and grace for grace.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;econd proofe in the Text is, <HI>We &s;hall &s;ee him as he is.</HI> Now Chri&s;t is &s;o beight a glory, that he can be &s;eene in no light but his owne; he is the expre&s;&s;e Image of his Father, and the brightne&s;s of the glory of God: &s;o that his brightne&s;&s;e darkens all other glo|ries, and is di&s;cerned in nothing but him&s;elfe.</P>
<P>I &s;hall now make &s;ome ob&s;ervations of this Scripture, and the&s;e gener<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ll heads. And the fir&s;t ob&s;ervation &s;hall be this; namely, <HI>That a Saints <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">oor&s;t condition is in this world.</HI></P>
<P>When the world &s;hall end, then &s;hall all the clouds of the peo|ple of God be blown over, and the brightne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;ts appear, and we like him (&s;ayes the Text.) I when the little world that we
<PB N="50" REF="36">carry about us in this body of &s;inne and death &s;hall give up the gho&s;t, then &s;hall a harve&s;t of gaine come in, as the holy Gho&s;t tels us in that fir&s;t Chapter of <HI>Paul</HI> to the <HI>Philippians,</HI> ver&s;. 21. <HI>Though to live be Chri&s;t, yet to dye is gaine.</HI> Though the beames of Chri&s;t &s;hines through clouds in this world, and &s;o maintains life in his members; yet here lyes the gaine, to be carried above the clouds, and to be lodged in the bo&s;ome of the Lord of glory. As the fore-named Text, <HI>To be ever with the Lord:</HI> there lies the gain. Gods word tels us of a time <HI>when all teares &s;hall be wiped from our eyes:</HI> but it is not in this world; for our Saviour tels us <HI>the world will hate us,</HI> &amp; it &s;hall be a place of tribulation: It mu&s;t not &s;eeme hard or &s;trange to tho&s;e that &s;hall reigne with Chri&s;t to &s;uffer with him; all our &s;ufferings are in, and from the world, but the fulne&s;&s;e of our reigne is with Chri&s;t in Heaven.</P>
<P>Thus are we made conformable to the image of Chri&s;t, in this world we enjoy lea&s;t of Chri&s;t, and therefore mu&s;t needs be a Saints wor&s;t condition. That is the darke&s;t day to a Saint in which the lea&s;t of Chri&s;ts pre&s;ence and glory appeares; therefore is the world a Saints wor&s;t &s;tate, becau&s;e it is not able to beare the fulne&s;&s;e of the glory of Chri&s;t, which &s;hall be revealed in Heaven. There will be no need to enquire for him whom our &s;oule loves, for we &s;hall alwayes be in his pre&s;ence. When mortality hath put on immortality, then comes in the crown of glory; we may have glimp&s;es of glory in this life, but the more exceeding and eternall weight of glory is in the life to come. The top of our life here is of faith: <HI>we eive by the faith of the Sonne of God</HI> (&s;aith the Text.) And another Scripture opening the nature of faith, &s;ayes, <HI>It is the evi|dence of things not &s;een:</HI> but in Heaven we know as we are known of God; the eye wil then be made &s;utable to the object, and there wil be defect no more on our part to dimini&s;h the glory: So that you &s;ee if wee &s;et a&s;ide all the &s;owr of the world, and take a Saints &s;weete&s;t mor&s;els he hath below, yet it is &s;hort of the glory &s;hal be revealed. Wherefore the ob&s;ervation &s;tands very cleare, That a Saints wor&s;t condition is in this world.</P>
<P>The 2^d ob&s;ervation is this; namely, <HI>That a Saint hath reliefe from the wor&s;t of the world by faith, waiting for the appearance of Chri&s;t:</HI> as in the Text. A Saint by faith lookes upon his union with Chri&s;t as a Sonne, and &s;o &s;atisfies it &s;elfe with the appearance of God. So
<PB N="51" REF="36">the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> in <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. the latter end, he eyes there his uni|on with Chri&s;t, and &s;o is carried above tribulation or di&s;tre&s;&s;e, or the wor&s;t of the world. Hee concludes there was nothing could &s;eparate him from Chri&s;t, and therefore he is at re&s;t; as if he &s;hould &s;ay, notwith&s;tanding all the&s;e which he named be|fore, as tribulation, and the re&s;t, yet Chri&s;t and I &s;hall be one in glory, and when his fulne&s;&s;e of glory appeares, then &s;hall mine. A Saint by faith can argue thus; what-ever may &s;eeme be&s;t at pre&s;ent to a carnall eye; yet I know when Chri&s;t &s;hall ap|peare, that is, the righteous Judge of quicke and dead, then &s;hall my head be lifted up, for my full redemption drawes nigh. When a &s;tate of good and evill for eternity comes, then &s;hall my &s;tate and condition appeare good. I know whom I have tru|&s;ted, Chri&s;t will pre&s;erve his owne glory, and mine with his; my &s;tate of glory &s;hall be that which &s;hall accompany the ap|pearance of Chri&s;t: the be&s;t and wor&s;t of the world hath but a moment, a little time to attend it: but the glory of Chri&s;t hath eternity with it, and this is my portion.</P>
<P>Thus hath a Saint by faith reliefe from the wor&s;t of the world, waiting for the appearance of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>A third ob&s;ervation. <HI>Love makes the &s;oule quicke-&s;ighted.</HI> The &s;oule that loves Chri&s;t, &s;ees by faith his appearance, though a|farre off, and rejoyces in it; though no affliction but is grievous for the pre&s;ent; yet by faith the &s;oule &s;ees the appearance of Chri&s;t, though at &s;ome di&s;tance, and in the joy of it is carried a|bove the pre&s;ent affliction.</P>
<P>Hence it is, that Saints can overcome the world, even their faith (&s;ayes the Text) that eyes the appearance of Chri&s;t; for if they &s;aw nothing but the world, the world would overcome them: but it is a higher glory that carries them above the world.</P>
<P>The believing &s;oule &s;ayes, <HI>he that &s;hall come, will come, and will not tary,</HI> and &s;o quickens Chri&s;ts appearance to the reliefe of his owne &s;oule.</P>
<P>A fourth ob&s;ervation. <HI>A Saint values him&s;elfe according to his intere&s;t in God:</HI> and what reliefe comes in by that intere&s;t, hee eyes it though afarre off, and &s;atisfies him&s;elfe with it. Let the world value me at as low a rate as they will &s;ayes a Saint; yet I will value my &s;elfe according to my intere&s;t in God. If they &s;ay
<PB N="52" REF="37">my wi&s;dome is folly, yet I will &s;ay Chri&s;t is my wi&s;dome, and &s;o I have true wi&s;dome. If they &s;ay I &s;hall want bread to eate, I can &s;ay by experience <HI>I have food to feed on which they know not of:</HI> and when they &s;hall want their huskes, I &s;hall finde bread e|nough in my Fat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ers hou&s;e, and love enough in my Fathers heart to &s;atisfie and till my eternall &s;oule. I ble&s;&s;e the Lord &s;ayes &s;uch a &s;oule, I value this above tenne thou&s;and worlds, my uni|on with Chri&s;t: and <HI>know there is no condemnation to them that are in Chri&s;t Je&s;us:</HI> and that nothing &s;hall be able to &s;eparate mee from this glorious intere&s;t, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. I can value this, I am th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ough free gr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ce a childe of God, an heire of glory: and that which the wor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">d adores, I in the Spirit of Chri&s;t can trample upon; I know God hath freely given me Chri&s;t, and with him all things, <HI>the world is an addition and over plus.</HI> Chri&s;t and glory is my portion, and when the worldling gluts him&s;elfe with this pre&s;ent dying world I can rejoyce in my intere&s;t in the li|ving God, and eye my g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ory as a &s;onne of God, and an heire wi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">h Chri&s;t, as <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">t &s;hall be revealed at the great and glorious ap|pearance of the Lord Je&s;us. My &s;oule &s;hall be &s;atisfied with its intere&s;t in God, when the world and worldlings &s;hall be con|founded in their own glory. <HI>My life is hid with Chri&s;t in God, and when Chri&s;t who is my life &s;hall appeare, then I know I &s;hall appeare with him in glory.</HI> Through as it is h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">d in God, the world cannot &s;ee it, yet through the Spirit of God I can &s;ee it, and rejoyce in it: and thus a gracious &s;oule filled with the Spirit, values it &s;elf according to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ts intere&s;t in God and Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>The fifth ob&s;ervation is this; namely, <HI>That a gracious &s;oule re|lieves it &s;elfe in b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">holding Gods love in the originall, and the glory of it.</HI> Hee lookes upon Gods love as it elected and cho&s;e him to be a &s;onne, and he lookes on the glory of that love as it &s;hall be ma|nife&s;ted at the glorious appearance of Chri&s;t. In a cloudy day &s;uch a &s;oule goes to the Sonne of Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e for reliefe, and in a day of death to the fountaine of life. This &s;oule goes not to his outward e&s;teeme in the world, not to his externall advanta|ges, or endowments of parts and the like for his reliefe; hee doth not boa&s;t and rejoyce him&s;elfe in this, that he is a member of a Church, or is under this or th'other Ordinance above other men, or that his parts are greater, or his e&s;teeme with the world
<PB N="53" REF="37">more then other poore Saints: but he fetches his reliefe from the fount<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ine of life, that originall love which made him a &s;onne. His eye is with the Apo&s;tle in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.5. upon that grace which fir&s;t gave him lif<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">: <HI>Even when we were dead in &s;innes, hath be quick|ned us together with Chri&s;t; by grace yee are &s;aved.</HI> He eyes that grace which made him one with Chri&s;t that originall love of God: and from this object the &s;oule drawes very high and glo|rious conclu&s;ions in all the di&s;pen&s;ations of God to it. I am now a &s;onne, and in all Gods di&s;pen&s;ations to mee he is my Father, and I &s;tand as a &s;onne in his pre&s;ence, begotten by his owne ori|ginall love, and therefore I know all is the kindene&s;&s;e of my God and Father to me in this life: but when Chri&s;t &s;hall appear in the fulnes of his glory, then &s;hall all know I am a &s;on, <HI>for I &s;hal be like him, and &s;ee him as he is.</HI> Thus a child of God fetcheth his reliefe from his intere&s;t in God, and an heire of Heaven makes up his glory in his &s;oule by that glory which waites for him, &amp; &s;hall to all eternity be revealed to him with God and Chri&s;t in Heaven.</P>
<P>The &s;ixth ob&s;ervation is this; namely, <HI>That a Saints glory which now is hid from the world, when it is fully manife&s;ted &s;hall de|&s;troy the world.</HI> When Chri&s;t &s;hall come to judge the world, and to put an end to all corruptible things, then is it that he will re|veale the fulne&s;&s;e of his owne glory, and &s;o our glory as wee are by free-grace united to him.</P>
<P>Original love hath more grace and glory in it then the world can b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">are, &s;o that when it &s;hall be fully manife&s;ted it will eate up all vani&s;hing dying things. Should any &s;oule in this life partake of the fulne&s;&s;e of the glory of its intere&s;t, as it is one with Chri&s;t, that &s;oule would &s;oone breake through the clay wals of the bo|dy, it would be like new wine in old bottles, the bottles would &s;oone breake; the heart-&s;trings would be like the locks &amp; bolts of the pri&s;on doores, that opened of them&s;elves to the Apo&s;tles. The &s;unne in the Firmament is a type of the Son of Righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e, and is the glory of the pre&s;ent world: but when Chri&s;t the naturall &s;onne of God, and the thing typified appeares in his ful|ne&s;&s;e of glory, then all the&s;e &s;mall brookes of glory &s;hall run into this fountaine.</P>
<P>The worldling then mu&s;t lo&s;e his glory, <HI>viz.</HI> the world,
<PB N="54" REF="38">though he finde not a higher glory, God in the face of Chri&s;t: but when the world &s;hal thus be &s;wallowed up, then &s;hal a Saint be no loo&s;er, but &s;hal be carried from narrow &s;halow &s;treames, into the Ocean of original life and glory.</P>
<P>A Saint can loo&s;e nothing in loo&s;ing the world, for hee findes all fulne&s;&s;e in God; the type cea&s;es, the thing typified appearing; the life of faith ends, and the life of vi&s;ion begins; fulne&s;&s;e of glory then ari&s;es before his eyes, and never &s;ets any more.</P>
<P>The &s;eventh ob&s;ervation is this, <HI>Though at the glorious appea|rance of Chri&s;t the world &s;hall be con&s;umed, yet then his owne &s;hall be made like him.</HI> Vilde bodies made like his glorious body, and &s;o taken up into an eternal beholding of God and Chri&s;t for ever. For (&s;ayes the Text) <HI>we &s;hall &s;ee him as he is.</HI> That glorious ap|pearance of Chri&s;t which &s;hal eate up the glory of the world, and &s;o leave worldlings howling for want of a glory; that I &s;ay &s;hal &s;wallow up Saints into it &s;elfe, and fixe them in &s;inging <HI>Ha|lelujah's</HI> to all eternity.</P>
<P>The world pa&s;&s;es away, that Saints may have entrance into tho&s;e man&s;ions prepared for them by original love, where the &s;ame love wil fully di&s;cover it &s;elfe to all eternity, and &s;atisfie the &s;oule with tho&s;e di&s;coveries.</P>
<P>The eighth ob&s;ervation is this, namely, <HI>That a Saints glory is a certaine glory.</HI> For as <HI>our lives are bid with Chri&s;t in God,</HI> &s;o the fulne&s;&s;e of our glory is in Chri&s;t, and appeares at his glorious appearance; a Saints fulne&s;&s;e of glory &s;hal as certainly appeare as Chri&s;t &s;hal come to judge the world. And this &s;hal be the be|ginning of glory, <HI>Come yee ble&s;&s;ed of my Father, receive the King|dome prepared for you; enter into your Ma&s;ters joy.</HI></P>
<P>Now feede <HI>my beloved,</HI> and be &s;atisfied to eternity; you &s;hall have no interruption of the full enjoyment of God for ever; what ever is in God communicable, you &s;hall have it; you &s;hall know God as you are knowne of God, and be filled with the fulne&s;&s;e of that glory that flowes from the pre&s;ence of God, and fils hea|ven and all the heirs of glory to all eternity. Chri&s;t in whom our life is hidde, though hee make it an ob&s;cure life from the world; yet it is a certain life to a Saint, the being of it is as &s;ure as Chri&s;ts owne being. <HI>Becau&s;e I live, you live al&s;o:</HI> and the glorious manife|&s;tation of it as certaine as the appearance of Chri&s;t.</P>
<PB N="55" REF="38">
<P>The ninth and la&s;t ob&s;ervation is this. <HI>That that day which will be mo&s;t dreadfull to the world, and their entrance into the fulne&s;&s;e of all horrour to eternity, even that day &s;hall be a day of fulne&s;&s;e of joy to the people of God, and an entrance into fulne&s;&s;e of communion with God and Chri&s;t,</HI> which as another Text &s;peaks, <HI>is fulne&s;&s;e of joy,</HI> which is at Gods right hand for evermore. Yea, that &s;hall be the Coronation day, when the righteous Judge &s;hall crowne us with righteou&s;nes, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.8. <HI>Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, which the Lord the righteous Judge &s;hall give me at that day:</HI> and not me only, but all them that love his appearing. And then &s;hall Je&s;us Chri&s;t give up the Kingdome to his Father, and all the flood-gates of glory &s;hall be &s;et open: Love &s;hall then flow from God as it is in God, and the &s;oule made capable to re|ceive &s;uitable to &s;uch a fulne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>The&s;e truths may bee u&s;efull to us in the&s;e particulars fol|lowing;</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>Let this per&s;wade us to be much in beholding our intere&s;t as we are the children of God, and as we are fixed with Chri&s;t in the eter|nall love of God.</HI> It is the exhortation of the holy Gho&s;t in this place. <HI>Behold what manner of love the Father hath be&s;towed on us that we &s;hould be called the &s;onnes of God.</HI></P>
<P>Herein is the glory of the life of &s;aith, that it lookes into the love of God, and our intere&s;t in Chri&s;t, as co-heirs with him in the love and the glory of God. This is a fountain that always gives forth the water of life, and refre&s;hes the City of God; name|ly, to eye God in all his di&s;pen&s;ations to us as a Father of love to his children: doth God lay us upon beds of &s;ickne&s;&s;e, and leade us through a wilderne&s;&s;e of afflictions in this life; yet behold, <HI>now are we the &s;onnes of God,</HI> and in all this God is a loving Fa|ther, and all his di&s;pen&s;ations are filled and managed to us by and with his love. Now I, even now from all eternity, and to all eter|nity, are we the <HI>children</HI> of God. There may be many times when it may be truly &s;aid, we doe not act as the children of God: but there is no time when it can be truly &s;aid, that an elect &s;oule is not the childe of God; for now, even before all time were we &s;onnes, though yet we enjoy not the fulne&s;&s;e of our intere&s;t as &s;ons.</P>
<P>If you object and &s;ay, mu&s;t I apply this time now when I &s;inne? mu&s;t I then looke on my &s;elfe as a childe of God?</P>
<PB N="56" REF="39">
<P>I an&s;wer yes; we mu&s;t, and no time more needfull then that; I &s;hall demon&s;trate this truth under the&s;e con&s;iderations.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, that according to the law of the Go&s;pel, and the Cove|nant of free-grace, there is no other way left to re&s;tore a &s;oule fal|len in &s;inne: but beholding our intere&s;t in the free love of God, and &s;o in Chri&s;t the great gift of his love, that dyed for us, is ri|&s;en againe, and now lives for us, and makes continuall interce&s;&s;i|on for us at Gods right hand in glory. If &s;in be the wound, what &s;hall be the cure but free-grace; If &s;elf &s;lay &s;elfe, who &s;hall make us alive, but Chri&s;t as wee are united to him in the love of God. Whether &s;hal we goe from the rock of ages to find relief in &s;o &s;ad a &s;tate: and how &s;hall we ju&s;tifie it at the throne of grace, if we flye to duty, (and po&s;&s;ibly under &s;uch a notion as this) to fit us for Chri&s;t and for mercy: will free grace approve of this? Is not the law of boa&s;ting excluded by the law of faith? And what advan|tage <HI>(poore &s;oule)</HI> will it be to thee, when thou art &s;tung with &s;in, that fiery Serpent, to looke on thy duties, will one &s;in cure ano|ther? No, Chri&s;t is the balme of <HI>Gilead:</HI> It is only looking up|on thy intere&s;t in God and Chri&s;t, that will re&s;tore thy &s;oule. It is nothing but looking upon Chri&s;t who was typified by that bra|zen Serpent in the wilderne&s;&s;e, which can fetch out the &s;ting of the fiery Serpent of &s;inne. If we looke to the cau&s;e in our hearts, that keepes us below ous intere&s;t, poring upon a duty to relieve us un|der a &s;inning condition. Wee &s;hal finde the cau&s;e to be unbeliefe: and now <HI>poore &s;oule</HI> tell me, is not this the top of all &s;inne? Un|beliefe makes a &s;oule deny the Lord that bought it; it underva|lues the Covenant of free-grace; the &s;oule mu&s;t have no life till it have &s;omething of it &s;elfe to live upon, if unbeliefe may rule: and truly this is the workings of our hearts, when in a &s;inning &s;tate we doe not eye and improve our intere&s;t as we are the children of God, by improving our intere&s;t in God as our Father, by the Spi|rit. The poore &s;oule that &s;innes, and is within the Covenant of grace, can looke upon that love of God which made Chri&s;t to be made &s;inne for us, and wee the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5 &amp; la&s;t.</P>
<P>That &s;oule which eyes its intere&s;tin God and Chri&s;t, hath by vertue of it in the Spirit, power over &s;inne in all points. <HI>Sin &s;hall not condemn,</HI> Rom. 8.1. <HI>There is no condemnation to them which are in
<PB N="57" REF="39">Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</HI> So in the reigning power of &s;in; <HI>Sinne &s;hall not have dominion over you; for you are not under the law, but under grace,</HI> Rom. 6.14. But if a &s;oul decline Chri&s;t and its intere&s;t in the love of God for its object under a &s;inning &s;tate; goe whither it will, <HI>&s;inne will revive, and the &s;oule &s;hall dye.</HI></P>
<P>This is the fir&s;t demon&s;tration of the truth: That no other ob|ject but our intere&s;t in God and Chri&s;t is able to re&s;tore a &s;inning &s;oule to life againe; all other objects be&s;ides this encrea&s;eth &s;inne in the &s;oule, and there is no object but this can carry the &s;oule a|bove &s;in.</P>
<P>A <HI>&s;econd</HI> demon&s;tration why an elect &s;oule &s;hould under a &s;in|ning &s;tate looke on its intere&s;t in God and Chri&s;t, <HI>is this.</HI> Becau&s;e no other object but this can de&s;troy the &s;in. Sin will reigne till Chri&s;t reigne: and one Text &s;ayes, <HI>Chri&s;t is made to us of God wi&s;|dome, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;anctification, and redemption.</HI> It is in the great defigne of God to glorifie his free-grace, that Chri&s;t &s;hould &s;an|ctifie us, not our &s;elves. So the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.10. <HI>And if Chri&s;t be in you, the body is dead becau&s;e of &s;inne.</HI> The power of &s;in dyes on|ly where Chri&s;t lives: So the &s;ame Apo&s;tle, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.17. <HI>Therefore if any man be in Chri&s;t he is a new creature; Olde things are pa&s;&s;ed a|way, all things are become new.</HI></P>
<P>It is only the pre&s;ence of Chri&s;t that overcomes the old nature in man, and &s;layes the old corruptions; goe to what poole you will to be clean&s;ed of your corruptions, they will be all helpele&s;&s;e in them&s;elves.</P>
<P>If we goe to Duties and to Ordinances, wee may lye there all our dayes, and never have a cure of this evill of &s;in, till Chri&s;t the Angel of the Covenant come and trouble the waters: I, and hee mu&s;t put them in too, with his owne hand of love, all the cure mu&s;t lye upon his hand. This is the top of our glory that we are meerely pa&s;&s;ive: Chri&s;t and free-grace is only active in all that concernes the good and welfare of our &s;oules; what cau&s;e then hath a &s;inning &s;oule to looke of his intere&s;t in God &amp; Chri&s;t &s;ince there lies all his reliefe; it is Sathans coun&s;ell wee take in &s;o doing: the mind and will of God is, that wee &s;hould looke upon him whom we have pierced; when we mourne, I deny not any &s;oule to melt into evangelicall teares over the lea&s;t &s;in that lives and moves in it; only be &s;ure of this, that when thou looke&s;t on
<PB N="58" REF="40">a living &s;in, that thou looke&s;t on it through Chri&s;t that dyed for it, and lives for thee. This will make kindly child-like mourning over &s;in, and &s;weete &s;tedfa&s;t re&s;ting on the free grace of God. This is the meaning of the holy Gho&s;t in 1 <HI>John</HI> 1, 2. <HI>And if any man &s;inne, we have an Advocate with the Father, Je&s;us Chri&s;t the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our &s;innes. As if the holy Gho&s;t had &s;aid,</HI> a &s;inning &s;oule hath no whither to flye for reliefe, but to his intere&s;t in Chri&s;t, and to look up to God through him; (for &s;ays the holy Gho&s;t) <HI>he is our only Advocate with the Father,</HI> to plead for us in &s;uch de&s;perate ca&s;es, he can plead his righteou&s;ne&s;s to be curs, and the propitation that he hath made for us, and there is no other pleader either at the barre of Ju&s;tice, or the throne of grace, but Je&s;us Chri&s;t. <HI>There is no other name under hea|ven by which men can be &s;aved, but by the name of the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Oh then where &s;hould poore &s;inning &s;oules looke, but to their intere&s;t in Chri&s;t as &s;ons of God, and co-heirs with Chri&s;t. The Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> in Chap. 35.11. &s;peaking in the ver&s;e before of Gods brui&s;ing and putting Chri&s;t to griefe, making his &s;oule an offering for our &s;ins, &s;aith, <HI>Hee &s;hall &s;ee the travell of his &s;oule, and &s;hall be &s;atisfied. God is &s;atisfied with no other object but his &s;ons;</HI> he looks on all his people through him; now wee mu&s;t eye what God eyes, the travell of Chri&s;t as our publique per&s;on, and in that object the &s;oule will live, and &s;in will dye. God hath lodged the glory of his grace here, that all our reliefe &s;hould come in and through the Lord Chri&s;t: He came from the bo&s;ome of Gods love upon this de&s;igne, to be eyes to the blinde, legges to the lame, and to &s;et the captive and tho&s;e that are bound in fetters &amp; chains free; Is not Chri&s;t then, and the bo&s;ome of free-grace that gave him, the only object for a &s;inning &s;oule to looke on for reliefe: an experienced &s;oule in the&s;e objects will tell you that a glimpes of Gods love in the face of Chri&s;t is the only expeller of the being and the reigning of &s;in in it: &s;uch experience as this the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks of in 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.14, 15. <HI>For the love of Chri&s;t con&s;trains us, be|cau&s;e we thus judge, that if one dyed for all, then we were all dead. And that he dyed for all, that they which live &s;hould not henceforth live un|to them&s;elves, but unto him which dyed for them, and ro&s;e againe.</HI> Marke the &s;pirit of the Apo&s;tle, he eyed his intere&s;t as one with Chri&s;t in death and life: and &s;peaking of &s;in (&s;ayes he) love con|&s;traines
<PB N="59" REF="40">&s;traines me thus to judge that I am dead to &s;inne, and can live no longer to it, becau&s;e Chri&s;t is my intere&s;t. This is an object indeed able to &s;lay &s;inne in the &s;oule, to behold our intere&s;t in Chri&s;t; that love which made this intere&s;t con&s;traines our &s;oules thus to judge, and thus to act as being dead to &s;in, becau&s;e we are alive to Chri&s;t: &s;o that I hope it is clearely made out, that a &s;oule in a &s;inning condition mu&s;t eye its intere&s;t in God as a Father, and in Chri&s;t as a head and a husband. For no other object be|&s;ides this can either rai&s;e a &s;oule fallen in &s;in, or &s;lay that &s;inne which lives in the &s;oule. Therefore the exhortation &s;tands firm, and &s;hould make its impre&s;&s;ion on our &s;oules; namely that wee &s;hould be much in beholding our intere&s;t as we are the children of God, and as we are fixed with Chri&s;t in his eternall love. I may &s;afely &s;ay this is our duty as well as our priviledge, to be al|wayes eyeing our intere&s;t in the love of God; for herein we &s;erve the ends of God in magnifying his grace to us, and &s;hedding his love abroad in our hearts. This is fully proved in that <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.14, 15, 16. <HI>For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the &s;onnes of God.</HI></P>
<P><HI>For yee have not received the &s;pirit of bondage againe to feare: but ye have received the &s;pirit of adoption whereby we crie</HI> Abba <HI>Father.</HI></P>
<P><HI>The Spirit it it &s;elfe bearing witne&s;&s;e with our &s;pirits, that we are the children of God.</HI></P>
<P>Marke it, the Spirit is given to beare witne&s;&s;e of our intere&s;t: and this is not a &s;pirit of bondage, but that free &s;pirit in which we behold our intere&s;t as children, and <HI>(&s;ayes the Text)</HI> cry out <HI>Abba-Father.</HI></P>
<P>If we have received the Spirit, it is our duty as well as our pri|viledge to improve it to this end, the con&s;tant beholding of our intere&s;t as the children of God: and in <HI>ver&s;</HI> 17. of <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. <HI>If children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joynt-heirs with Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Oh eye this intere&s;t; as we love our lives let us eye this intere&s;t, this is our living upon that life which is hid with Chri&s;t in God; the perfection of which &s;hall be a full enjoyment of God and Chri&s;t to all eternity.</P>
<P>Againe, let this per&s;wade us to prize highly, and thru&s;t hearti|ly for this mo&s;t glorious appearance of Chri&s;t. If our hearts put that day farre from us, wee put our highe&s;t glory farre from us;
<PB N="60" REF="41">for till then we are as heirs under age, not in full po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion; for free-grace hath given more, and the blood of Chri&s;t hath pur|cha&s;ed more, and heaven containes more glory for us then the world can beare to be revealed: but Chri&s;t &s;hall come and mani|fe&s;t it all, which glory &s;hall con&s;ume the world, all corruptible things &s;hal dye before it, and then &s;oule and body both &s;hall be carried above corruption, to be filled and crowned with immor|tall glory, though now we are &s;onnes; yet many times there is &s;uch clouds of corruptions and afflictions on us, that it hardly appeares what we are, much le&s;&s;e what we &s;hall be. Our glory now as children is more then the world can &s;ee: and when Chri&s;t thus appears, it &s;hal be more then the world can bear. Oh let this bear up our &s;pirits the few moments that are behinde: if all in this world be not enough, Chri&s;t is hard by, and he wil bring enough with him. Wait cheerfully, as tho&s;e that believe &s;uch an appea|rance of Chri&s;t at hand, in which we &s;hall appeare in our intere&s;t and our union with him.</P>
<P>Againe, let this teach us what value to put upon the world: it is too weake a foundation to beare all our glory, when we come to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e our full inheritance as co-heirs with Chri&s;t, the world will be too narrow to containe it: and if it be &s;o, then &s;urely the world is not worthy of our love, our joy, nor our feare. That &s;oule which God loves, the world is too little for its love; God only can and will &s;atisfie that love; he makes us love him, <HI>becau&s;e he loved us fir&s;t;</HI> the flames of love which he kindles in our bo&s;oms he &s;atisfies with that fountain of love which is in his own bo&s;ome. That &s;oul which hath intere&s;t in Chri&s;t, and waits for his appea|rance, the peri&s;hing world is too low a thing for him to rejoyce in. But he may always rejoyce in the Lord, for there is a &s;utable portion: and truly there is no ju&s;t cau&s;e for a Saint to feare the world, when Chri&s;t hath undertaken for him at the throne of grace; <HI>the world mu&s;t hate us becau&s;e it hates him</HI> who&s;e image wee bear: but here is reliefe enough, Chri&s;t that is our intere&s;t in hea|ven, he hath overcome the world for us; wee may be encouraged to goe to the Father in Chri&s;ts name, to be kept from the evill of the world: but there is no cau&s;e why wee &s;hould feare that the world &s;hall overcome us; for Chri&s;t is able and faithfull to pre|&s;erve all tho&s;e the Father hath committed to his charge. Were the
<PB N="61" REF="41">world as little in our affections as it is in our intere&s;t, we &s;hould enjoy it more, and feare it le&s;&s;e: it is our carnality that makes it a King, and &s;ets it on the Throne, and then we fall down and wor|&s;hip it: but God hath made the world our foote-&s;toole, as it is Chri&s;ts, for he is our intere&s;t, and what is his glory as our head, is our glory as his members: when the world concerning Saints is mentioned by God it is as an additionall thing: but Chri&s;t and his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is a Saints intere&s;t. The holy Gho&s;t gives the world this title, <HI>The meate that peri&s;hes:</HI> but Chri&s;t is that portion which endures for ever; call not that enough which is not enough for a moment; a frowne from God can in a moment darken all the world, and a &s;mile from God as &s;oon out-&s;hine all the beau|ty of the world. Oh then Saints, let this teach us toknow our ful intere&s;t in God, and the emptine&s;&s;e of this empty peri&s;hing world.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, This cals all Saints to rejoyce in the glorious appearance of Chri&s;t; that will be a day of glory that never will have night: the &s;un that will give give light unto that day will be the Sonne of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and the God of grace: we &s;hall from that to all eternity never behold nor enjoy le&s;&s;e glory then God him&s;elfe; God filling us, and all that glorious company above, not only re|vealing, but communicating the fulne&s;&s;e of his glory to us: &s;o that our vilde bodies &s;hall be made like unto his glorious body, and the whole &s;oule and body made capable to receive, and &s;hall be &s;atisfied with the fulne&s;&s;e of God, all the glory of Heaven &s;hall center in our bo&s;omes, and that &s;hall be the fea&s;t which the Lamb and his Wife &s;hall keep to all eternity. Is not this a fit &s;ubject for our joy, if &s;uch a day as this be at hand? Oh then rejoyce all you who&s;e intere&s;t is in Chri&s;t; for every moment in this dying world ha&s;tens to this day; all the clouds we &s;ee in this darke world are flying away, that this Sun of Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e may breake forth in its full &s;plendor and glory; the world dyes, that we may live; things that now appeare, they peri&s;h to make way for this glori|ous appearance of Chri&s;t: and therefore live now upon this, not only that we are children: but <HI>knowing that when hee &s;hall appeare we &s;hall be like him,</HI> for (&s;ayes the Text) <HI>we &s;hall &s;ee him as he is.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="62" REF="42">
<HEAD>CHAP. V. Chri&s;t is the foode of living &s;oules.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>John</HI> 6.48.</BIBL> I am that bread of life.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THESE words they are a cleare and plaine te&s;ti|mony of our Saviour concerning him&s;elfe. In <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 33. of this Chapter, he tels the Jewes, <HI>that the bread of God came downe from heaven,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 6.33.</NOTE> and gi|veth life unto the world. For the bread of God is he which commeth downe from heaven, and giveth life unto the world:</HI> and then in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 35. and <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 48. So that we mu&s;t con&s;ider the&s;e words under the&s;e <HI>two heads.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t,
<MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="Head."> <HI>The Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t to be that bread which came downe from heaven.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly,
<MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="Head."> <HI>The Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t to be that bread which gives life to the world.</HI></P>
<P>For proofe of this fir&s;t head, we need goe no further then this Chapter, in which every te&s;timony to this truth is the witne&s;&s;e of the Lord of truth, <HI>even Chri&s;t</HI> him&s;elfe: to that of the 33. <HI>ver&s;e,</HI> take the 38. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> of this Chapter; <HI>For I came downe from heaven, not to doe my owne will, but the will of him that &s;ent me.</HI> So in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 52. <HI>I am the living bread which came downe from heaven.</HI> And like|wi&s;e in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 58. <HI>This is that bread which came downe from heaven.</HI></P>
<P>Chri&s;t &s;peaking in the ver&s;e before this of his Fathers &s;ending him: the&s;e Scriptures prove the truth.</P>
<P>But it will be &s;aid,
<MILESTONE UNIT="Object."> <HI>every good and perfect gift comes from above:</HI> and wherein lies the peculiarity of Chri&s;t in this more then in o|ther gifts of God.</P>
<P>I an&s;wer that in the con&s;ideration of the next head,
<MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;w."> which is, <HI>that Chri&s;t is the bread of life,</HI> or that bread which gives life to the world: In this I &s;ay, the peculiarity of Chri&s;t comming from hea|ven will appear.</P>
<PB N="63" REF="42">
<P>Thus is the marrow and the life of all our Saviours di&s;cour&s;e in this Chapter as it were center'd in this 48. ver&s;. <HI>I am that bread of life.</HI> In <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 33. he calls him&s;elfe the bread of God, and the life of the world. And in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 38. he &s;hewes how he came to be the life of the world, even by the will of God, &s;ent by God, and his bu&s;ine&s;&s;e the worke and the will of God. In this 39. and 40. <HI>ver&s;es,</HI> he tels us. <HI>And this is the Fathers will which hath &s;ent me, that of all which hee hath given me I &s;hould loo&s;e no|thing, but &s;hould rai&s;e it up againe at the la&s;t day. And this is the will of him that &s;ent me, that every one that &s;eeth the &s;onne and belie|veth on him may have everla&s;ting life, and I will rai&s;e him up at the la&s;t day.</HI></P>
<P>Here our Saviour cleares up whom hee meant by the world, namely, the elect and cho&s;en of God, which are given to Chri&s;t by his Father, and then declares that his worke is his Fathers will, and tels us what it is; <HI>namely,</HI> that all which God his Fa|ther had given him, &s;hould have everla&s;ting life in him. He tels us how faithfull he will be in this worke, &s;o that nothing &s;hall be lo&s;t that God hath committed to him: and tels us this is the will of God,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver&s;e 40.</NOTE> that every &s;oule which hee hath given to Chri&s;t &s;hould have a di&s;covery of him, and believe on him, and that in all this wil of God runs the &s;eed of eternal life. For that part which is capable of lying downe in the du&s;t to &s;leepe, even that part &s;hal not be lo&s;t, <HI>but &s;hall be rai&s;ed up at the la&s;t day:</HI> that is, the la&s;t day of the world, which pa&s;&s;eth away like a dreame in the night. Now if we lay all this together, mu&s;t we not needes acknowledge this truth: That Chri&s;t is the bread of God, the bread of life; yea, the God of life. Our Saviour u&s;es this term of bread indulgently to the weakne&s;&s;e of our fle&s;h: but his work is in the Spirit, and if God give us the Spirit with the letter, we &s;hal di&s;cerne the glory of Chri&s;t as he is our life in his own light. This appears by our Saviours owne words, in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 63. of this chapter. <HI>It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the fle&s;h profiteth nothing: the words that I &s;peake unto you they are &s;pirit and they are life.</HI></P>
<P>Chri&s;ts words are &s;pirit &amp; life,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver&s;e 49.</NOTE> becau&s;e him&s;elf is our &s;piritual life. In <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 49. Chri&s;t tels us what he doth mean by this bread of life; <HI>Your fathers did eate Manna in the wilderne&s;&s;e and are dead. As if Chri&s;t &s;hould &s;ay,</HI> no externals what&s;oever is your life; you
<PB N="64" REF="43">may feede on them all your way in the wilderne&s;&s;e, and yet &s;oule and body dye. But in the two next ver&s;es, he &s;peaks plain|ly what is the bread he meant, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 50. and 51. <HI>This is the bread which commeth downe from heaven, that man may eate thereof, and not dye.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I am the living bread which came downe from heaven: if any man eate of this bread he &s;hall live for ever: And the bread that I will give is my fle&s;h which I will give for the life of the world.</HI></P>
<P>Here I &s;ay Chri&s;t demon&s;trates what is the bread hee meant, namely him&s;elfe in the fle&s;h, and he becomes this bread of life by giving his life in the fle&s;h for us. In the 53, 54, 55, 56. ver|&s;es of this chapter, out Saviour &s;hewes us how that intere&s;t in him as a crucified Je&s;us is our life: and that he may fully cleare this out to us, he holds forth him&s;elfe not only a crucified Savi|our, but a living God. In <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 57. <HI>As the living Father hath &s;ent me, and I live by the Father: &s;o he that eateth me, even he &s;hall live by me.</HI></P>
<P>Our Saviour's argument &s;eemeth to be thus; I live as one in God, and you as one in mee: And thus is Chri&s;t that bread of life, or that bread which gives life to his owne in the world. Thus much for proof to the two heads that were fir&s;t laid down; I &s;hall now hold out &s;uch &s;piritual ob&s;ervations from what hath gone before, as I have received from Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>And the fir&s;t ob&s;ervation &s;hall be this, namely, <HI>That Chri&s;t only is a Saints life.</HI></P>
<P>By this I mean, that every &s;parke of a Saints life lies in Chri&s;t, and &s;o in Chri&s;t, that it is in nothing el&s;e in which Chri&s;t is not all. Chri&s;t is &s;o fully and &s;olely a Saints life, that take all du|ties, ordinances, priviledges, and externall advantages, what|&s;oever &s;ub&s;tracted from Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and they are all dead things: <HI>but like the grave cloaths in the Sepulchre, when Chri&s;t was ri&s;en.</HI> Our Saviour him&s;elfe beares witne&s;&s;e to this truth, <HI>I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.</HI> It is a truth &s;o deare to God and Chri&s;t, that Chri&s;t &s;peakes to it in this place as fully as termes can expre&s;&s;e it, both in the affirmative and the negative. <HI>I am the life</HI> (&s;ayes Chri&s;t) that is in the affirmative. And &s;o the life, that no man comes to my Fa|ther the fountaine of life, but by me; there in the negative and
<PB N="65" REF="43">affirmative, both in the negative <HI>exclu&s;ive</HI> from Chri&s;t, and in the affirmative, <HI>inclu&s;ive.</HI> If wee con&s;ult that place in <HI>John</HI> 16.14. where our Saviour &s;peaks of the office of the Spirit, and the u&s;efulne&s;&s;e of it in the hearts of his people; we &s;hall find it &s;peak to this thing we have in hand, <HI>John</HI> 16.14. <HI>He &s;hall glorifie me, for hee &s;hall receiverf mine, and &s;hall &s;hew it unto you.</HI></P>
<P>Marke it, the work of the Spirit is to reveal Chri&s;t to us as he is our life, and &s;o glorifie Chri&s;t in &s;h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">wing him to be our life. As if Chri&s;t had &s;aid, the holy Gho&s;t when he comes, hee &s;hall &s;hew you your names written in the booke of Life with my blood: all your &s;innes laid on me, and that I have buried them in my owne wounds, &s;o that they &s;hall never ri&s;e up in judgment more again&s;t you; my righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e your robe of glory, perfect glory in the &s;ight of God; my law of love written in your hearts to be the power that &s;hall &s;lay &s;inne in your lives. Thus the Spi|rit &s;hall glorifie me in &s;hewing you that I am your life in whole and every part of it; Chri&s;t as hee is one with God is our foun|taine of life, &amp; in all our addre&s;&s;es to God, he is our way, truth, and life. For further confirmation take the experience of the A|po&s;tle. <HI>It is not I</HI> (&s;aith the Apo&s;tle) <HI>but Chri&s;t that lives in me: and the life that I live it is by the faith of the Sonne of God.</HI> And in a|nother place; <HI>Our lives are bid with Chri&s;t in God.</HI> Take this Text for all, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.30. <HI>But of him are yee in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, who of God is made unto us wi&s;dome, and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and &s;anctification, and redemption.</HI></P>
<P>Marke it, here Chri&s;t is made all by God to us; for what can you call life, that is not bound up in &s;ome or all of the&s;e. The 29. ver&s;e of that Chapter gives a good and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ull rea&s;on why God made Chri&s;t all to his people: namely this, <HI>that no fle&s;h &s;hould glo|ry in his pre&s;ence.</HI> This rea&s;on is &s;o full, that the truth &s;tands &s;trong upon it again&s;t all gain-&s;ayers: grace were nor grace, if fle&s;h had any thing in it &s;elfe to glory of in the pre&s;ence of God; our life to be only in Chri&s;t, pre&s;erves as entirely the glory of Gods free-grace, as it doth the &s;afety of our &s;oules; for that &s;oul that glories in Chri&s;t as his life, glorifies the free grace of God which gave that life. When the Apo&s;tle &s;peakes of the acts of life in his &s;oule, he makes Chri&s;t all; for &s;ayes hee, <HI>I can doe all things through Chri&s;t that &s;treng thneth me.</HI> And the &s;ame Apo&s;tle
<PB N="66" REF="44">in another place &s;ayes he, it is meerely of grace <HI>that I am what I am:</HI> &s;o that you &s;ee where Chri&s;t is made all, there free-grace hath the glory of all, and this is the great de&s;igne of God to all eterni|ty to glorifie his free grace.</P>
<P>Thus much &s;hall &s;uffice for the fir&s;t ob&s;ervation: <HI>That Chri&s;t on|ly is a Saints life.</HI></P>
<P>A &s;econd ob&s;ervation is this; <HI>If it be thus, Saints &s;hould value and e&s;teeme of Chri&s;t as their lives.</HI></P>
<P>Saints, what meane the&s;e carnall feares? doth not Chri&s;t live? If the world be nothing, is not Chri&s;t enough? Why feare you &s;o much to loo&s;e the meate that peri&s;bes, when Chri&s;t this bread of life lives for ever: cannot you be content the world &s;hould bring forth wants? why there is no other place of want but that, there is bread enough in your Fathers hou&s;e. Heaven only is the proper place of fulne&s;&s;e; doth it not &s;peake an undervaluing of Chri&s;t, that carnall feare &s;hall po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e our &s;pirits of want, when Chri&s;t the fulne&s;&s;e of the God-head bodily is our life &amp; portion: Nay, what mean the&s;e &s;toopings and bendings of our judgements, affections, &amp; &s;ervices to the world, and worldly ends; Is not this the end of it, to live in their love and e&s;teeme, &s;o as to make a por|tion of peri&s;hing things, &amp; friends of the unrighteous Mammon? Saints, will this &s;tand with an e&s;teeme of Chri&s;t as our life. A &s;oule that truly values Chri&s;t, it pants thus in &s;pirit: <HI>Let me know truths as they are in Je&s;us, and obey them in the &s;pirit of Je&s;us.</HI> God hath made the world my foote-&s;toole, as it is his, and I am one with him; Chri&s;t is only my life and glory: I would trample up|on my foot-&s;toole, and lie downe in the bo&s;ome of Chri&s;t who is my life and glory; this is a &s;oule that truly values Chri&s;t. But tell me Saints, if we value Chri&s;t as our life or portion, and our crowne of glory, our be&s;t and true&s;t friend, our faithfull brother, and our loving husband, one that hath borne all Gods wrath for us, who hath dyed that we might live, and who&s;e love is &s;o great <HI>that hee cannot live in heaven without us. Father I will, that tho&s;e which thou ha&s;t given me be with me where I am</HI> (&s;aith Chri&s;t in <HI>Iohn</HI> 17.) If we thus looke on Chri&s;t, and value him, whence is it that we &s;o ea&s;ily grieve him.</P>
<P>Ingenuous nature teaches this, to be tender of offending them we value, and put a price upon their love. Doth not grace ex|ceede
<PB N="67" REF="44">nature in this? Surely it doth. Oh then let our lives &s;peak our loves to Chri&s;t, and our value of him: this is the language of the Spou&s;e, <HI>I charge you O yee daughters of Jeru&s;alem, that yee &s;tirre not up nor awake my love till he plea&s;e,</HI> Cant. 2.7.</P>
<P>Love and value of Chri&s;t wrought this frame of &s;pirit in the Spou&s;e: &s;he was tender of the plea&s;ure of Chri&s;t, and improves all her intere&s;t among the daughters, that Chri&s;t might re&s;t his plea|&s;ure. Is not the Spou&s;e here a type of a godly &s;oule that hath in|tere&s;t in Chri&s;t. If &s;o, then &s;ure her &s;pirit &s;hould be ours: if we value Chri&s;t, it will make us tender that he re&s;t his plea&s;ure: it is but equall Chri&s;t &s;hould have re&s;t in us, for hee hath tra|vailed for us, and trod the wine-pre&s;&s;e of his Fathers fury alone.</P>
<P>Now tell mee Saints, doe you thinke Chri&s;t can re&s;t, and take plea&s;ure in our bo&s;omes, when they are &s;o full of worldly love, and carnall aimes and ends, with pur&s;uites an&s;werable; doe we e&s;teeme of Chri&s;t when we make him &s;uch a bed to lye in; can we &s;ay we love and value him, when we entertaine tho&s;e in our hearts with him, that crucified him, <HI>namely our lu&s;ts:</HI> Is this entertainment and company for the Prince of glory? Oh, if wee prize and value Chri&s;t, that will be only deare to us which is deare to him; his re&s;t and his plea&s;ure will be our re&s;t and our joy, and what ever wounds Chri&s;t will wound us. That &s;oule which &s;ees its intere&s;t in Chri&s;t, and values that, beholds Chri&s;t upon the cro&s;&s;e, wounded and bleeding for his &s;innes, and is &s;o affected with that kindne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t, that when ever hee &s;ees Chri&s;t bleed afre&s;h with any fins committed by him, the &s;oule is as it were in Chri&s;ts roome, hee is then crucified, not to &s;atisfie for his &s;in, for that he &s;ees is fully done by Chri&s;t for him, and could never have been done but by Chri&s;t: but the reflection of love and the value of Chri&s;t wounds this &s;oule cleane through. Chri&s;t <HI>(&s;ayes &s;uch a &s;oule)</HI> travelled as low as Hell to redeeme me, for there I was by nature. The fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> left me there, and the &s;econd <HI>Adam</HI> only plucked me out: and in this travell he &s;weate drops of water and blood; hee tore his way through his owne bowels to redeeme my &s;oule; he puts his owne robe of righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e on me, and never leaves this pur&s;u it of love till he bring mee into his Fathers and his owne glory, and I can never &s;in again&s;t le&s;&s;e love then this. Oh this value of Chri&s;t, it makes a gracious
<PB N="68" REF="45">&s;oule exceeding tender of any thing that may di&s;plea&s;e Chri&s;t whom his &s;oule loveth. An experienced &s;oule in the wayes of Chri&s;t will tell you it is the harde&s;t travel that ever it went, to &s;tep a &s;tep in the ways of &s;in, after it hath apprchended the love of Chri&s;t, &amp; been taught by the &s;pirit to value that love: and I be|lieve if Sathan could &s;peak truth, he would confe&s;&s;e it to be the harde&s;t work he hath to draw a &s;oule that beholds Chri&s;ts love, and values that love in any &s;oule. Therefore as the only remedy again&s;t &s;in, eye Chri&s;t, love &amp; value him. But Saints, if we thus value Chri&s;t as our life and our all, whence is it that in time of di&s;tre&s;&s;e we &s;eek reliefe of broken ci&s;terns, and for&s;ake the foun|tain of life? <HI>my meaning is this.</HI> When under a weake or a woun|ded &s;tate by &s;in, we flye to duties for relief, and not to <HI>Chri&s;t:</HI> to renew the graces of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> in us, and not to eye our intere&s;t in <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> as hee is the gift of free-grace; this is an undervaluing of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> who in <HI>Prov.</HI> 3.18. is &s;aid to be a tree of life, tho&s;e graces you would live on is the fruits of this tree, and are only fruits of life as they flow from intere&s;t &amp; communion with this tree of life; doe but con&s;ider the folly of our &s;pirits when wee flie from <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> to duties, and to the &s;tirring up of gifts and graces in us for our reliefe in &s;uch a &s;tate; for fallen man is a creature that can act no grace in him&s;elfe, and grace without the breathings of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> is as dead as man: no grace can act it &s;elfe. Take our Savi|ours te&s;timony to this truth in <HI>John</HI> 15.4, 5. <HI>Abide in me and I in you: as the branches cannot be are fruit of it &s;elfe except it abide in the Vine, no more can yee except you abide in me.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I am the Vine, yee are the branches; hee that abides in me, and I in him, the &s;ame brings forth much fruit; for without me you can doe nothing.</HI></P>
<P>Our Saviour in this maine point thinkes it not enough in the compari&s;on he made to &s;hew fully how that all the acts of life in us flows from him&s;elf which is our life. But he concludes in the&s;e plain words, <HI>without me</HI> (&s;ayes he) <HI>you can doe nothing.</HI> The Spou&s;e of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> in <HI>Cant.</HI> 4. la&s;t. &s;he honors <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> in believing this truth, for &s;he cals for the Spirit of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> to blow upon her garden of &s;pices that they may flow forth. The &s;pices here are the graces of a Saint, and it is the breathings of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> in the Spirit that gives them all life: no grace hath life in it &s;elfe, nor can it act it &s;elfe:
<PB N="69" REF="45">but <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> he is the life and the motion of every grace, as hee is the &s;oule it lives in: It is a mi&s;taking <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> and an undervaluing of him, when we goe to duties that they may carry us and com|mend u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> to God; <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> is the only way to God, and it is hee on|ly that carries us as living &s;oules to duties, and through duties, in and by his owne Spirit. The Apo&s;tle knew this well enough, when he made that prayer, <HI>Colo&s;&s;.</HI> 1.11. <HI>Be yee &s;trengthened with all might according to his glorious power.</HI> In <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 10. he makes this petition. <HI>That ye might walke worthy of the Lord unto all plea&s;ing: being fruitfull in every good worke, and encrea&s;ing in the knowledge of God.</HI> Hi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> de&s;ire was, that the <HI>Colo&s;&s;ians</HI> &s;hould live up to <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> and walke worthy of the Lord. Walking is an act of life, and this hee knew was out of them&s;elves, and not in any of their externall priviledges or advantages what&s;oever, &amp; therefore he &s;econds it with this petition; <HI>That ye might be &s;trengthned with all might according to his glorious power.</HI> The Apo&s;tle here &s;peaks his experience; for in another place he doth acknowledg that he did <HI>all things through Chri&s;t that &s;trengthned him:</HI> And he prayes here for the &s;ame &s;trength, becau&s;e hee well knew there was no other &s;trength &s;ufficient to this glorious worke. The &s;ame Apo&s;tle in <HI>Heb.</HI> 12.2. &s;ets a high value upon <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> and makes him all in this worke of grace, and gives it us in direction, to looke unto Je&s;us the author and fini&s;her of faith; did we thus eye <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> and value him as he is, we &s;hould not &s;o often look below him, &amp; goe in our own &s;trength to fini&s;h faith, that it might be the author of <HI>Chri&s;t;</HI> for &s;o we doe when we will not clo&s;e with <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> till wee have qualified our &s;elves, nor thinke free-grace enough in it &s;elfe, till we have &s;uch &s;uch qualification in us which we think to be &s;it for grace, if not worthy of grace. Truly I know no worthine&s;&s;e of our own that free-grace cals a &s;it &s;ubject for it to work its owne glory out of; I find God mentioning his grace under this confi|deration, <HI>loving us when we lay in our blood,</HI> &amp; no eye to p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">tty u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">; grace lives, when all help below is dead. Now &s;uch thoughts as the&s;e are exceedingly below <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> that is our life. Is this a true value of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> who hath done, &s;uffered, pardon'd &amp; purcha&s;ed &s;o much for us as he hath. That when we are in &s;treights, to goe to duty for rel<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ef, and not to the God of duties who is the life of &s;oul &amp; duties. Is not this matter of reproof to tho&s;e fooli&s;h <HI>Ga|latians, which began in the &s;pirit &amp; would end in the fle&s;h.</HI></P>
<PB N="70" REF="46">
<P>I thinke there is not any piece of the olde man in Saints that darkens more of the glory of Gods free-grace, and damps more of the comforts of his people then this doth, to goe any whe|ther but to Chri&s;t in &s;treights, mu&s;t needs put a di&s;honour upon him, and be an undervaluing of him; for doth it not imply thus much; the thing we &s;eeke after is not to be had in Chri&s;t, or not &s;o &s;oone in Chri&s;t as in duties, or at lea&s;t that it is not only to be had in Chri&s;t, but it is all one whether we goe to him or not; now all the&s;e are conceptions of the olde man in us, when through the Spirit we looke upon Chri&s;t as our life, we &s;hall &s;ee all fulne&s;&s;e in him, grace enough to pitty, to pardon, and to die for us: Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e enough to cloath us, and to pre&s;ent us &s;potle&s;&s;e to the pure eyes of his Fathers glory: Power enough to take us out of Sathans hands, and to defend us from all e|nemies and all evill: Wi&s;dome enough to make us wi&s;e in him, to guide and to governe us, that our conver&s;ations may be like children of light and heires of glory: Goodne&s;&s;e enough to &s;upply all wants in us, and to give out fulne&s;&s;e of his owne grace to us, yea and happine&s;&s;e enough to &s;atisfie our &s;oules to all eternity, and the &s;oule &s;ayes Chri&s;t is enough; yea, he is all, and whether &s;hould I goe but to him, he hath the words of e|ternall life in him, yea he is my eternall life; this is the frame of &s;uch &s;oules as doe truly prize Chri&s;t as their life.</P>
<P>A third ob&s;ervation is this,
<MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="Ob&s;erv."> <HI>That if Chri&s;t be a Saints life, then a Saint only enjoyes his life as be lives upon Chri&s;t in the Spirit.</HI></P>
<P>When I thus mention Chri&s;t, I doe it as he doth it him&s;elfe, <HI>I and my Father am one</HI> (&s;aith Chri&s;t) <HI>and as I am in the Father, &s;o are you in me.</HI> We are one with Chri&s;t through the love of God, and enjoy this life through the Spirit of God. In <HI>John</HI> 6.63. Chri&s;t tels us <HI>it is the Spirit that quickeneth, the fle&s;h profiteth no|thing.</HI> As if hee had &s;aid, what ever you enjoy of mee as your life, it is through my Spirit, 'tis not the fruits of your own fle&s;h, 'tis what comes from me, that is &s;pirit and life to you; Our Sa|viour cleares up this truth in his di&s;cou&s;e with that woman of <HI>Samaria,</HI> in <HI>John</HI> 4.23.24. <HI>But the houre commeth, and now is, when the true wor&s;hippers &s;hall wor&s;hip the Father in &s;pirit and in truth, for the Father &s;eeketh &s;uch to wor&s;hip him.</HI></P>
<P><HI>God is a Spirit, &amp; they that wor&s;hip him mu&s;t wor&s;hip him in &s;pirit
<PB N="71" REF="46">and truth.</HI> And in another Text, <HI>the naturall man di&s;cernes not the things of God, nor cannot, becau&s;e they are &s;piritually di&s;cerned.</HI> The Spirit only reveales the hidden things of God: &s;o the Apo&s;tle in <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.16.18. <HI>For we through the Spirit waite for the hope of righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e by faith.</HI></P>
<P><HI>This I &s;ay then, walke in the Spirit, and yee &s;hall not fulfill the lu&s;ts of the fle&s;h: but if yee be led of the Spirit, yee are not under the law.</HI></P>
<P>In the beginning of this Chapter, the Apo&s;tle exhorts them <HI>to &s;tand fa&s;t in the liberty wherewith Chri&s;t hath made them free:</HI> and in the&s;e ver&s;es he tels them what this liberty is, namely to live upon Chri&s;t in the Spirit. So likewi&s;e in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 3.16, 17, 18, 19. <HI>That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be &s;treng|thened with might by his Spirit in the inward man, that Chri&s;t may dwell in your hearts by faith; that yee being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth, &amp; length, and depth, and heigth, and to know the love of Chri&s;t which pa&s;&s;eth knowledge, that yee may be filled with the fulne&s;&s;e of God.</HI> The &s;um of the Apo&s;tles prayer is in &s;hort this, That they might live upon Chri&s;t as their life, to know his love in all the demon&s;tra|tions of it, which is above humane knowledg: but he begins thus in <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 16. <HI>That they might be &s;trengthened with all might by his &s;pi|rit in the inward man.</HI> Hee layes downe this as the foundation; As if the Apo&s;tle had &s;aid; Who ever lives on Chri&s;t by faith, knowing and enjoying his love in the breadths, lengths, depths and heights of it, mu&s;t doe it by his Spirit, that only can make true di&s;coveries of Chri&s;t and our intere&s;t in him. This is the proper office of the Spirit, as he is the comforter promi&s;ed; we may &s;ee this in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.30. <HI>And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby yee are &s;ealed unto the day of redemption.</HI></P>
<P>Our intere&s;t in Chri&s;t as he is all to us, is &s;ealed up to us in the Spirit, it is not a fle&s;hly, formall, hi&s;toricall knowledge of Chri&s;t, in which wee can live on him as our life, but it is to know him and enjoy him in the Spirit, which is a lively know|ledge of Chri&s;t, and an enjoying of Chri&s;t as our life.</P>
<P>A Fourth Ob&s;ervation may be this; <HI>If Chri&s;t be a Saints life,
<MILESTONE N="4" UNIT="Ob&s;erv."> then a Saint &s;hould take beed of doing any thing that is again&s;t Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>You cannot wounde Chri&s;t but you wounde your own lives;
<PB N="72" REF="47">Chri&s;t is your life, and if hee looke backe on thee as he did on <HI>Peter</HI> when he denyed him, thou wilt &s;oone reele the wound in thy owne bo&s;ome; if this truth t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ke place in any &s;oule, let it then con&s;ider how deare every &s;oule is to Chri&s;t; he that touch|eth you <HI>(&s;aith Chri&s;t)</HI> toucheth the Apple of my eye: &s;o deare are Saints to Chri&s;t, and Chri&s;t &s;o tender of them; And in an|other place our Saviour &s;aith, <HI>who ever offends one of the&s;e little ones</HI> (his Saints) <HI>it were better that a mal-&s;tone were hanged about their necks, and that they were ca&s;t into the Sea;</HI> So dangerous is it to wounde Chri&s;t in his people&punc; O that this pre&s;ent age could &s;piritually receive this truth; that when they wou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">de Chri&s;t in his people, they wounde their owne lives, the &s;ad experience of per&s;ons and nations which have died of the&s;e woundes, might be enough to warne this pre&s;ent age from wounding the chil|dren of God; if God would give them &s;pirituall under&s;tanding. Shew me any example where the &s;pirituall pe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ple of God were made the Butt for any Nation, or per&s;on to &s;hoot at: but that the arrowes flew backe, and wounded the heart that &s;hot them, even unto death; The&s;e &s;ad undertakings hath ruined &s;o many Kings, and Kingdomes, this Mountaine will overturne all the World; for worldlings will be alwayes engaging again&s;t &s;piri|tual Saints, <HI>the &s;eed of the woman</HI> and the &s;eed of the &s;erpent will be at variance, till they be parted as fare a&s;under as heaven and hell; but the &s;eed of the woman &s;hal prevaile. As Chri&s;t for a &s;aint, &s;o Chri&s;t in a &s;aint &s;hal be a conquerer; and though thou mai&s;t wounde Chri&s;t in a &s;aint, yet if free-grace make not a cure that wounde will be thy death; thou art in &s;taken poore &s;oule, if thou thinke&s;t thou laye&s;t all thy blowes upon the Saint thou ami'&s;t at; No, Chri&s;t he b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ares the blowe, and thou mu&s;t reckon with him for them. This truth makes the pre&s;ent age to have a &s;ad and a pale countenance in my eye; I cannot thinke they will live long that hath &s;o many of the&s;e wounds in their &s;oules; <HI>there is not a more deadly path that &s;infull man travels in than this,</HI> when he woundes deepe&s;t he kills him&s;elf; &s;ure 'tis weightie worke, Saints &s;hould be doublely careful that Satan lead not them into it, upon any pretences what&s;oever; Chri&s;t will let &s;uch know, it is ill requitall for his woundes, that they wounde their brethren, and &s;o him in them.</P>
<P>A Fift and La&s;t ob&s;ervation &s;hall be this; <HI>If Chri&s;t be only a
<PB N="73" REF="47">Saints life, then here wee may ob&s;erve the &s;ad condition of a Chri&s;tle&s;&s;e &s;oule.</HI> It is a dead &s;oul, <HI>dead in &s;innes and tre&s;pa&s;&s;es, walking according to the cour&s;e of the world, and the Prince of the power of the aire; and by nature the child of wrath;</HI> as it is in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.1, 2, 3.</P>
<P>If Chri&s;t be not made &s;inne for thee, thou beare&s;t thy owne &s;inne, and mu&s;t al&s;o beare the &s;ting of &s;inne, which is eter|nall death, and then thou art a dead &s;oule indeed <HI>Joh.</HI> 10 9. Chri&s;t &s;peakes in the&s;e words, <HI>I am the doore, by me if any man enter in, he &s;hall be &s;aved.</HI> Now that &s;oule which comes not in at this Doore, never comes into the bo&s;ome of God, <HI>where onely is &s;alva|tion;</HI> and therefore a Chri&s;tle&s;&s;e &s;oule mu&s;t needs be in a mi&s;era|ble condition; for farther proofe to this, take that <HI>Job.</HI> 3. <HI>la&s;t. And be that believeth not the Sonne &s;hall not &s;ee life: but the wrath of God abideth on him.</HI> If this makes not up a condition fully mi|&s;erable to have the wrath of God abiding on a &s;oule? I know not what doth; and this is the &s;tate of every Chri&s;tle&s;&s;e &s;oule, though it may have a name to live, yet in the account of God &s;uch a &s;oule is certainly dead; for as God is the fountaine of life, &s;o he hath made Chri&s;t the way to this fountaine; and if God looke upon any &s;oule out of Chri&s;t, he lookes on it as a dead &s;oul, and when we come to &s;ee things as they are, we &s;hall &s;ee them as God &s;ees them, a Chri&s;tle&s;&s;e &s;oule to be a dead &s;oule. This may be u&s;eful to Saints;</P>
<P>Fir&s;t to exhort Saints to eye Chri&s;t as their life, <HI>Joh.</HI> 6.15. <HI>I am the living bread, which came downe from heaven, if any man eate of this bread he &s;hall live for ever.</HI> So our Saviour againe in <HI>Joh.</HI> 14.19. <HI>Becau&s;e I live, yee &s;hall live al&s;o.</HI> In both places Chri&s;t &s;peakes our life to be in intere&s;t with him, and that we &s;hould eye this intere&s;t, and feed on this bread of life; in 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5. <HI>la&s;t. For he hath made him to be &s;in for us, who knew no &s;in; that wee might be made the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him.</HI> So in 1. <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.30. <HI>But of him are yee in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, who of God is made unto us wi&s;dome, and righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e; and &s;anctification and redemption.</HI> Mark it, how the holy Gho&s;t &s;ets out all our life in Chri&s;t: that wee might looke on it by faith, our intere&s;t in Chri&s;t as he was made &s;in for us, and we the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him; and as he is made of God wi&s;dome, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;anctification, and redemption to us; what is the end of God in this, thus to hold out our intere&s;t in Chri&s;t, as our life in the parts and whole of the it?</P>
<PB N="74" REF="48">
<P>But that we &s;hould glorifie that grace which hath made Chri&s;t thus to be all to us, by looking upon Chri&s;t as he is our life. The Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> in Chap. 53.5.10, 11. ver&s;es, beares witne&s;&s;e to this truth, and carries on the &s;ame de&s;igne in &s;hewing Saints the originall love of God, in making Chri&s;t to be our intere&s;t of life. Hee holds forth Chri&s;t <HI>as hee was wounded for our tran&s;gre&s;&s;i|ons, brui&s;ed for our iniquities, the cha&s;ti&s;ement of our peace laid on him, &s;o that with his &s;tripes we are healed.</HI> God making Chri&s;ts &s;oule an offering for &s;inne, and in the beholding of the travell of Chri&s;ts &s;oule is fully &s;atisfied. I &s;ay Chri&s;t is thus held forth in his word that we &s;hould &s;o looke upon him in the Spirit. In <HI>Gal.</HI> 3.13. it is thus written; <HI>Chri&s;t hath redeemed us from the cur&s;e of the law, be|ing made a cur&s;e for us.</HI> This is a precious and &s;afe object thus to looke on Chri&s;t; what a life of heavenly joy will come into our &s;oules in beholding Chri&s;t thus as our life. <HI>Chri&s;t hath borne the cur&s;e him&s;elfe, and layes nothing but the ble&s;&s;ing upon us.</HI> He beares all the &s;tripes, and cloaths us with his owne righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; hee leaves not a tittle of wrath for an elect &s;oule to beare, for he bears every &s;tripe, and all the cur&s;e him&s;elfe, till God acknowledge him&s;elfe fully &s;atisfied with the travell of his &s;oule, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.13. <HI>But now in Chri&s;t Je&s;us yee who &s;ometimes were afarre off, are made nigh by the blood of Chri&s;t.</HI> Chri&s;t &s;o beares all the cur&s;e, and takes away all the wrath of God, that he by his blood brings the &s;oule neere to God, into the bo&s;ome of God, &s;o that &s;uch a &s;oule is a happy &s;oule. In every condition, if it be Chri&s;t to live, 'tis gain to dye, <HI>Phil.</HI> 1.21. This is an object fit for precious Saints, eternall &s;oules to look on; we are too earthly in our object when we look below the Lord Je&s;us. If we make duties our object, 'tis too low, <HI>they are not our life, but the fruits of life. A man doth not live, be|cau&s;e he acts, but he acts becau&s;e he lives.</HI></P>
<P>The Apo&s;tle de&s;ires to know nothing but Chri&s;t and him cru|cified: and plainly &s;peaks this, not to be found in his owne righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, but in Chri&s;ts, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.8, 9, 10. <HI>For by grace are yee &s;aved through faith, and that not of your &s;elves, it is the gift of God. Not of workes lea&s;t any man &s;hould boa&s;t; for wee are his workman&s;hip created in Chri&s;t Je&s;us unto good workes, which God hath before ordai|ned, that we &s;hould walke in them.</HI></P>
<P>Marke it, here is workes as the fruits of our life, and intere&s;t in Chri&s;t, and the rea&s;on is given in the fir&s;t words, namely the great
<PB N="75" REF="48">de&s;ign of God for his own glory, that all may &s;pring from grace.</P>
<P>Now this is our intere&s;t in Chri&s;t, and the life and &s;weet of all this will fill our &s;oules, when in the Spirit we looke on Chri&s;t as our life.</P>
<P>This may invite every &s;oule to ca&s;t it &s;elfe on Chri&s;t as its life, and re&s;t on him. Let the &s;oule that is the wor&s;t of &s;inners in its owne eye remember this, <HI>it is of grace that we are &s;aved,</HI> and Chri&s;t is the great gift of Gods free-grace.</P>
<P>The Prodigall when hee &s;aid <HI>there was bread enough in his Fa|thers hou&s;e,</HI> doubtle&s;&s;e eyed Chri&s;t. There is in Gods eye price e|nough, blood enough, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e pure enough, which makes life full enough, for Chri&s;t is all this, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.33, 34. <HI>Who &s;hall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect? It is God that ju&s;tifies? Who is be that condemneth, it is Chri&s;t that dyed, yea rather that is ri&s;en a|gaine, who is even at the right hand of God, who al&s;o maketh inter|ce&s;&s;ion for us.</HI></P>
<P>The Apo&s;tle here makes a challenge, but he doth it upon a &s;ure gound, namely God ju&s;tifying a &s;oule through its intere&s;t with Chri&s;t in his death, re&s;urrection, and interce&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>This trea&s;ure is laid up in God for thee poore &s;oule, that &s;aye&s;t thou ha&s;t no worthine&s;&s;e of thy owne. It is the will of God that the ends of the earth &s;hould looke up to Chri&s;t, &s;o that tho&s;e might have milke and honey freely, which have no price nor no money of their owne. Poore &s;oule, I will give thee one Text to live upon for ever, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.4, 5. <HI>But God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in &s;ins, hath quickened us together with Chri&s;t. By grace yee are &s;aved.</HI></P>
<P>Make thy condition wor&s;e then this if thou can&s;t, to be dead in &s;ins: And then know this, God is rich in mercie, his love is ex|ceeding great, it exceeds the greatne&s;&s;e of thy &s;ins. This love is &s;o great, that it can take &s;oules dead in &s;ins, and quicken them to|gether with Chri&s;t: and if you will know the rea&s;on of all this, <HI>it is by grace that we are &s;aved.</HI></P>
<P>What can&s;t thou &s;ay now, poore doubting &s;oule? All life is without thy &s;elfe, <HI>it is by grace that thou art &s;aved.</HI> If thou can&s;t not &s;ee thy &s;elfe worthy, why yet &s;ee God is gracious: It is not Gods de&s;igne to looke out worthy &s;oules, but to take unworthy &s;oules, and magnifie his grace on them. It will be no pre&s;umpti|on
<PB N="76" REF="49">but faith and obedience to re&s;t on Chri&s;t, to &s;uch an end as to magnifie the free-grace of God; when wee re&s;t on Chri&s;t as our life, wee doe as much as in us lies ju&s;tifie and magnifie that free-grace which gave Chri&s;t to be our life. And on the contrary, when wee will not re&s;t on Chri&s;t wholly as our life, till wee have wrought up &s;ome qualifications in our &s;elves; we deny this gift of God, and our like to be from free-grace. The Text &s;peaks plain|ly, <HI>it is of grace that we are &s;aved.</HI></P>
<P>Oh let God have the glory of his grace, for the life of our &s;oules lies in it; there is no other way to enjoy intere&s;t in Chri&s;t, but to lay hands on him as the gift of grace: and it appeares that a Chri&s;t-le&s;&s;e &s;oule is a dead &s;oule. Is it better to be dead &s;oules, then to have life meerely from grace? If not, oh then honour grace, let Chri&s;t be our life; though we are wholly dead in our &s;elves, yet ca&s;t thy &s;elfe upon Chri&s;t as the gift of Gods free-grace for thy life.</P>
<P><HI>But in the la&s;t place;</HI> If Chri&s;t be only a Saints life, and a Saint enjoyes this as he lives upon Chri&s;t in the Spirit; Then let this teach us always at the throne of grace to be pleading the promi&s;e of the Father &amp; the Son to powr out the holy Spirit upon us, and not re&s;t &s;atisfied without the Spirit, in any or in all externals, not in a bare literall knowledg, <HI>no nor a Chri&s;t only in the fle&s;h,</HI> but only to know God and Chri&s;t, and to live on them in the Spirit. To know truths as they are in Je&s;us, is to know them in the Spirit of Je&s;us: and this is our Saviours owne promi&s;e, <HI>John</HI> 14.26. <HI>That when the Comforter</HI> (which is the holy Gho&s;t) <HI>comes, he &s;hall teach you all things.</HI></P>
<P>We are therefore &s;eeking &s;omething below Chri&s;t, and &s;o apt to deifie a form, becau&s;e we know &s;o little of Chri&s;t in the Spirit. In <HI>John</HI> 7.38, 39. There is a glorious promi&s;e of the full powrings forth of the Spirit upon believers. <HI>He that believes on me</HI> (as the Scripture hath &s;aid) <HI>out of his belly &s;hall flow rivers of living water.</HI> But this &s;pake hee of the Spirit, which they that believe on him &s;hould receive. I know nothing, but this promi&s;e is the intere&s;t of all believers, &amp; it is worth the pleading at the throne of grace. The Apo&s;tle <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. tels us what u&s;e Saints make of the Spirit. <HI>They walke by it above the fle&s;h;</HI> he cals it the law of the Spirit of life in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, which hath made us free from the law of &s;inne
<PB N="77" REF="49">and death; this is the &s;pirit that dwels in a Saint, and &s;hall rai&s;e him up at the la&s;t day. In the 11. <HI>ver&s;e,</HI> this Spirit is Go&s;pel-admi|ni&s;tration, &amp; Saints intere&s;t under the Go&s;pel; thus Saints wor|&s;hip God in the Spirit, <HI>John</HI> 4.23. <HI>But the houre commeth, and now is, when the true wor&s;hippers &s;hall wor&s;hip the Father in &s;pirit and in truth.</HI> A Saint is wholly carried up to Chri&s;t his life by the Spi|rit, and all the acts of his life is the workings of the Spirit in him, <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.5.16, 17, 18. There the &s;oule waites for the righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t by faith through the Spirit: and when he comes to walke in God, and to live up his intere&s;t in Chri&s;t; it is all through the Spirit, and it is only through the Spirit of God in them that dead creatures are made living Ordinances. The in|&s;titution is, <HI>doe this in remembrance of me;</HI> Now it is the Spirit which gives an ordinance to this life. Our Saviour tels us in <HI>John</HI> 6.63. <HI>The fle&s;h profiteth nothing, nor the word; it is the Spirit that quickens and makes alive.</HI> The rea&s;on is cleare, God and Chri&s;t is in the Spirit; now to enjoy God in his originall love with Chri&s;t in all hee is as the fruits of this love; this is our life, and this can only be in the Spirit. Oh then it concerns us to plead our intere&s;t as children for the &s;pirit of Adoption, as it is in <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.14, 15, 16. It is the breathings of the Spirit which makes dead bones to live; Ordinances and &s;oules will be both dead without Chri&s;t in the Spirit; it is expedient to goe <HI>(&s;ayes Chri&s;t)</HI> to &s;end the comforter, and it is as needfull that he give the Spirit; without it we can ne|ver have fellow&s;hip with the Father nor the Sonne, in whom on|ly our joy, our life, and our glory will be full; In this Spirit only can wee live upon Chri&s;t as hee is the bread of life, and our bread of life.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="78" REF="50">
<HEAD>CHAP. VI. Chri&s;ts reigne by his Spirit is the Saints liberty from bondage.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Gal.</HI> 4.5, 6.</BIBL>
<P>To redeeme them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of &s;onnes.</P>
<P>And becau&s;e yee are &s;onnes, God hath &s;ent forth the &s;pi|rit of his Sonne into your hearts, crying Abba-Father.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THE Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> in almo&s;t this whole Epi&s;tle, makes it his bu&s;ine&s;&s;e and de&s;igne to di&s;cover to Saints their liberty in Chri&s;t: and as it appeares by the Apo&s;tles writing to them in the foregoing chapter and in this.</P>
<P>The&s;e Saints to which he did more particular|ly write, lay under legall principles, and moved with legal &s;pirits; now for a remedy of this to them, and all Saints after them, in the&s;e two ver&s;es the Apo&s;tle holds forth Chri&s;t under a double ca|pacity; <HI>namely,</HI> Ju&s;tification and Sanctification to the Believer. And in both a perfect freedome from the law, &s;o far as it is free|dome, to be delivered from it.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t of the&s;e two ver&s;es holds out Chri&s;t ju&s;tifying of his people in the redemption of his blood, from what ever the law could accu&s;e them of, or charge upon them.</P>
<P>The latter ver&s;e holds forth the fruits of this redemption, or indeede a part of this redemption it &s;elfe; Namely this, That be|cau&s;e we are &s;onnes, <HI>God hath &s;ent forth the &s;pirit of his Sonne into our hearts, crying</HI> Abba <HI>Father.</HI></P>
<P>Either of the&s;e two parts are worthy a Saints &s;tudy and ad|miring for ever; I &s;hall lay the foundation of what &s;hall follow in this Point, Namely, that it is part of the Redemption of the
<PB N="79" REF="50">bloud of Chri&s;t to a believer, that no law &s;hould command or, rule in the con&s;cience or &s;pirit of a believer, but the Law of love; the &s;pirit of Adoption is here given forth to that very end, that in it the &s;oule may keep its communion clo&s;e with God, and Chri&s;t; and be alwayes able to cry <HI>Abba Father.</HI> In the proofe of this we mu&s;t con&s;ider the fir&s;t and &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> as wee were in the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> we lay under a law of Creation, and a Covenant of workes; as creatures to obey our Creator, and in obeying to have life; <HI>doe and live, but tran&s;gre&s;&s;e and die; In the day thou eate&s;t thereof thou &s;halt die the death.</HI> But in the &s;e|cond <HI>Adam</HI> the Lord Chri&s;t, the Covenant we are under is not of workes, but of grace, the law is not in the letter but in the &s;pirit, not written in Tables of &s;tone, but in the hearts of his peo|ple by his Spirit, as appeares clearely where the Covenant of Free-Grace is recorded, as in <HI>Jer.</HI> 31.33, 34. and in <HI>Heb.</HI> 8.10. In both places God doth not only covenant to be our God recon|ciled to us, not imputing &s;in and iniquity to his people any more: but al&s;o to put his Law in our inward parts, and to write it in our hearts; &s;o that this way he will teach and rule in the hearts of his people, under that covenant of which Chri&s;t is the Medi|ator. God is a Spirit and when he promi&s;eth to write his law in our hearts, wee mu&s;t under&s;tand him thus, <HI>the workings of his &s;pirit in the hearts of his people;</HI> Letter &s;hall be turned into &s;pirit, Chri&s;t &s;hall be a King as well as a Saviour, and as a &s;pirituall King, &s;o his law and his government &s;pirituall, that the Lord Chri&s;t and his Father may appeare one in this great engagement of teaching, and ruling in the hearts of his people by the Spirit; let us looke into Chri&s;ts promi&s;e, <HI>Joh.</HI> 14.15, 16, 17.26.&mdash;<HI>Jo.</HI> 16.13, 14. Here the Lord Chri&s;t promi&s;eth to performe that Office of his interce&s;&s;ion to God for us, that he would make good his owne covenant, and give his &s;pirit to comfort, lead, and gu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">de, the &s;oules of his people: Now the making good of Gods cove|nant, and the efficacy of Chri&s;ts interce&s;&s;ion for this &s;pirit to rule in the hearts of his people, every &s;oule in its owne particular can be&s;t cleare up the faithfulne&s;&s;e of God, and Chri&s;t. But the A|po&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> in the power of the &s;pirit &s;ets it out at large, in <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.2, 3, 4, 5.9, 10, 11.14, 15.26, 27. Ob&s;erve the expre&s;tious of the holy Gho&s;t in the &s;econd ver&s;e, <HI>For the law of the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">pirit of life in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, hath made me free from the law of &s;in and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 span"></HI>
<PB N="80" REF="51">is mention of a double law, and as di&s;tinct each from other as life and death; <HI>the law of the &s;pirit of life in Chri&s;t Je&s;us,</HI> and the <HI>law of &s;in and death:</HI> I looke on the&s;e two as that which depends on the two Covenants, that of Workes, and that of Grace, or as it is el&s;e-where expre&s;&s;ed, the Law of the fir&s;t and &s;econd hus|band, which is the fir&s;t and &s;econd <HI>Adam;</HI> Now whil&s;t the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> is alive in the con&s;cience, the con&s;cience is kept under his law, which is thus the law of &s;in and death; as it makes known &s;in, and the wages of &s;in which is death, but &s;in &s;aith the Text <HI>is not imputed where there is no law, Rom.</HI> 5.13. and in Rom. 6.23. <HI>the wages of &s;in is death.</HI> And then in Rom. 7. beginning; the Apo&s;tle &s;aith this law hath dominion over the con&s;cience &s;o long as the fir&s;t husband lives. From the&s;e places I judge I am not mi&s;taken in the interpreting the law of &s;in and death: but that the holy Gho&s;t clearly meanes that law of Creation, <HI>doe and live,</HI> or the bare Letter of command in the con&s;cience. Only let us con&s;ider what is meant by the law of the Spirit of life in Chri&s;t Je&s;us; which I under&s;tand thus, That through that union the &s;oule of a believer hath with Chri&s;t it is made &s;pirituall; Chri&s;t in his Kingly Office in throned in the con&s;cience, and the the &s;oule re&s;ting in the bo&s;ome of Chri&s;t as a dutifull Spou&s;e in the bo&s;ome of her beloved husband; and his law is the law of the &s;pirit of life, that law which is life it &s;elfe, and turnes letter into &s;pirit. One thing more I would explaine my &s;elf in, that is how I under&s;tand the holy Gho&s;t in this freedome, that the law of the &s;pirit of life in Chri&s;t Je&s;us hath made to a belie|ver from the law of &s;in and death by the &s;pirit of life; I under|&s;tand Chri&s;t in the &s;pirit: Now the freedome the Lord Chri&s;t hath made for the &s;oules of believers from this law of Creation, under the Covenant of workes; It is double, Namely, from the condemning power, &amp; the ruling, or reigning power of the law in the con&s;cience.</P>
<P>Of the fir&s;t of the&s;e, there is the lea&s;t &s;cruple, and not being &s;o fully within that I de&s;ire to hold to, I &s;hall wave it, and keep only to the latter, Namely, how Chri&s;t hath freed the. Believer in his con&s;cience from the ruling or reigning power of the law of crea|tion in the letter only; For light in this con&s;ider the 4th. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> of Rom. 8. and &s;o forward; taking in the latter part of the 3. <HI>ver&s;e,</HI> &amp; it wil appeare to be the de&s;igne of God in &s;ending Chri&s;t in the
<PB N="81" REF="51">the fle&s;h, that Chri&s;t in the Spirit might rule in the &s;oules. and &s;pirits of his people. <HI>God &s;ending his Sonne in the likene&s;&s;e of &s;infull fle&s;h, that the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walke not after the fle&s;h but after the &s;pirit;</HI> That is, to walke after the rule which is not the fle&s;h but the Spirit, and &s;o goes on to &s;hew the difference between<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> fle&s;h and &s;pirite, making it all along a part of our redemption in Chri&s;t to live in the Spirit, making the Spirit our light and our life, our rule and our &s;trength. In <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.14. There the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks plainly, and makes it a de|mon&s;tration of our &s;onne &s;hip to be ruled by the Spirit; <HI>For as many as are ledde by the Spirit of God, they are the &s;onnes of God.</HI> Hee &s;peakes in <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 16. following, of the &s;eale of the Spirit. But here he &s;peaks di&s;tinctly of the ruling power of the Spirit, that hath power of a man, to lead the man as it plea&s;eth; and that is the terme here, &s;onnes of God led by the Spirit of God; that this Spirit is &s;ufficient to rule the con&s;ciences of believers; wee may plainly &s;ee in <HI>Rom.</HI> 6.14. <HI>Sinne &s;hall not have dominion over you; for you are not under the law but under grace.</HI></P>
<P>I know not what can be more plaine then this; here is a pro|mi&s;e, <HI>&s;inne &s;hall not have dominion over us.</HI> And the rea&s;on given is that part of the redemption of Chri&s;t to the &s;oule of a believer, from the ruling power of the law, to the ruling power of the &s;pi|rit of grace. Marke the inference; <HI>therefore &s;inne &s;hall not have do|minion over you;</HI> becau&s;e &s;inne &s;hall not find you under the ruling power of the law in your con&s;cience, which affords no &s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ength a|gain&s;t it: but &s;inne &s;hall finde you under the law of the &s;pirit of grace, which is in Chri&s;t the law of life to the &s;oule, and death to &s;inne; <HI>therefore &s;inne and death &s;hall be &s;wallowed up of victory in you by the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t, as it was for you in the death of Chri&s;t.</HI> Sinne hath its repul&s;e in the &s;oule from the change of the law that rules, the law of &s;inne and death turned into the law of &s;pirit and life. <HI>I can doe all things through Chri&s;t that &s;trengthens me</HI> (&s;aith the Apo&s;tle.) I am not delivered from the dominion of &s;inne, be|cau&s;e I have the light of the law of creation to di&s;cover &s;in<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> but I am under the law of the &s;pirit of life and grace, not only to di&s;|cover, but to de&s;troy &s;inne; Sin hath not dominion, becau&s;e that which oppo&s;es it is Chri&s;t, not I.</P>
<P>Thus I have endeavoured to let you under&s;tand that light God
<PB N="82" REF="52">hath given mse in this part of the redemption of his blood, for his Sonne to deliver us from the ruling power of any law in our con&s;ciences, but the law of love in the &s;pirit of life.</P>
<P>But that I may be rightly under&s;tood, I de&s;ire you to remember a clau&s;e that I laid down in the beginning where I endeavored to open the&s;e ver&s;es; the clau&s;e is this: <HI>That the Believer in the blood and &s;pirit of Chri&s;t hath a perfect freedome from the law, &s;o farre as it is freedome to be delivered.</HI> I laid it &s;o downe, that I might have here roome to di&s;tingui&s;h betweene the ruling power of the law, and the matter and &s;ub&s;tance of the law.</P>
<P>In the fir&s;t &s;en&s;e, the ruling power of the Law I doe really be|lieve from what hath beene delivered already, and &s;ome further rea&s;ons that I &s;hall di&s;cover. That the con&s;cience of a believer is by the law of the &s;pirit of life in Chri&s;t Je&s;us made free from the law of &s;inne and death.</P>
<P>But for the &s;econd part, the matter or &s;ub&s;tance of the law, which I take to be the whole revealed will of God, and is in its utmo&s;t power and purity written in the heart of every believer; Not only the whole revealed will of God in his word made fle&s;h, and dwelling among us, but made Spirit, and dwelling in us.</P>
<P>Thus to give you a little light, I &s;hall be more full in what fol|lowes; give me leave to adde &s;ome further rea&s;ons to prove the former thing.</P>
<P>As fir&s;t, If the law in the letter be the rule in the con&s;cience of a Believer, then <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> not Chri&s;t mu&s;t be the King; for &s;ayes the Text, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was faithfull in his hou&s;e as a &s;ervant, but Chri&s;t as the &s;onne.</P>
<P><HI>Mo&s;es</HI> may rule till Chri&s;t comes: but as Chri&s;t had none to help him in the work of redemption, no more will he in the work of ruling.</P>
<P>Secondly, If <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> be to rule where Chri&s;t hath redeemed, where is the making good of Gods Covenant, <HI>to write his law in our hearts;</HI> what benefit in the promi&s;e of the comforter, that &s;pi|rit of truth, to lead into all truth.</P>
<P>Thirdly, If the law rule, and <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> be King, the &s;trength mu&s;t be in our &s;elves to obey; for neither <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> nor the law in the let|ter can give any &s;trength. If either could, Chri&s;t hath dyed in vaine: and if &s;trength be in our &s;elves, then Gods de&s;igne in &s;en|ding
<PB N="83" REF="52">Chri&s;t is lo&s;t, which is to ju&s;tifie his people freely by his grace, &s;o as there may be no roome for fle&s;h to boa&s;t in; not the law of works, but the law of faith to be pleaded, as appears in that third chapter to the <HI>Romans.</HI></P>
<P>La&s;tly, If the Law be to rule in the spirits of Gods people, then obedience to that law mu&s;t quiet &amp; &s;atisfie the hearts of Gods people. Now as the Apo&s;tle in <HI>Gal.</HI> 3.2. <HI>This only would I learne of you; Received yee the Spirit by the workes of the law, or by the hearing of faith?</HI> So &s;ay I, and appeale to the con&s;ciences and experience of every Saint, that ta&s;ts the joyes of life in God; received it you by the the workes of the Law, or in the &s;eale and workings of the &s;pirit of life, in which you are freed from the law of &s;inne and death.</P>
<P>So I &s;hall come to that &s;econd part, the matter and &s;ub&s;tance of the law; Under this comprehend the whole revealed will of God in his word: but to di&s;tingui&s;h betweene that part of Gods word, more di&s;tinctly known by the ten commandements from any other part of the revealed will of God in his word; but to the eye of a believer, beholding God, and every part of his revea|led will in Chri&s;t, all is alike. <HI>In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God.</HI> That was &s;poken of Chri&s;t; now the Believer alwayes beholding God in Chri&s;t, which is his originall word, and the Scripture, only Chri&s;t written out in the Spirit doth be|hold God in his originall, and in his written word, in every part of it one: &s;o that every part is of like beauty and pretiou&s;ne&s;&s;e to the &s;oule of a believer.</P>
<P>Having opened my &s;elfe thus farre, I &s;hall doe it farther, and declare; that to have any hope left to live as &s;infull nature plea&s;es, ca&s;ting the revealed word of God behind their backs, and under a notion of redemption to deny the Redeemer; to talk of free-grace, and to trample grace under foote; <HI>to deny the Lord that bought them;</HI> in walking as doe others that know not Chri&s;t. This is &s;o far from entring into my thoughts, from that freedome I have pleaded for all this time; that if I &s;hould name this, and call it darkne&s;&s;e, I &s;hould call it <HI>Aegyptian darkene&s;&s;e,</HI> &s;o farre from free|dome, that it is bondage beyond expre&s;&s;ion. The &s;econd of the <HI>Ephe&s;ians</HI> &s;ets it out be&s;t in the&s;e termes. <HI>The power of the Prince of the Aire ruling in the children of di&s;obedience.</HI> But that freedome I
<PB N="84" REF="53">plead for, is the power of the Lord of glory, ruling by his Spirit in his children of light and life. My aime is not to take away that holy, ju&s;t, and good law of God out of the con&s;cience of a belie|ver: but as God doth with his people in the new Covenant, and in Chri&s;t the mediator of it, e&s;tabli&s;h them in a better covenant, <HI>Heb.</HI> 8. upon better promi&s;es: &s;o would I only hold out the mat|ter of the law taken out of the hand of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> which was but a &s;ervant, and e&s;tabli&s;hed in the heart of Chri&s;t, which is the Son, and by the Son in the &s;pirit of light and life, written in the heart and conver&s;ation of every believing &s;oule: And le&s;&s;e then this I thinke is not in the covenant of the Almighty, when he convenants to put his law in our inward parts, and to write it in our hearts. For my authority in this, I &s;hall &s;ay as the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul,</HI> in the 3^d of <HI>Rom.</HI> the la&s;t <HI>ver&s;.</HI> when in the greate&s;t part of the chapter he hath pleaded this very cau&s;e that I doe, he concludes in the&s;e words; <HI>Doe we then make void the law through faith? God forbid. Yea we e&s;tabli&s;h the law.</HI> So that it is cleare, the law of life that makes us free from the law of &s;in and death, which is Chri&s;t living by his Spirit in the con&s;cience, is not to make void, but to e&s;tabli&s;h upon better promi&s;es from a law of death to be a law of life. <HI>Thus much in generall.</HI></P>
<P>But more particularly I lay downe this as my light, that the law is now in the Spirit, &amp; in the Go&s;pel for a believer to walk by; the law is made Go&s;pel, as Chri&s;t is made fle&s;h; the Go&s;pel is both a perfect law of life, and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of grace and truth; why &s;hould we &s;eparate that which God hath in his free-grace joyned together; namely, Law and Go&s;pel in one, under the government that is given to the childe Je&s;us. Nor is the holine&s;&s;e or &s;anctifica|tion that God lookes for in his believing Saints, &s;uch as is fal&s;e|hood by the law, or outward command, but by the preaching of faith, by which the &s;pirit is given, which renewes and &s;anctifies a Believer, and makes him the very law of Commandements in him&s;elfe and his heart, the very two Tables of <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> And though the law be a beame of Chri&s;t in &s;ub&s;tance and matter, yet we are not to live by the light of one beame; now when the Son of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is ri&s;en him&s;elfe, that was a fitter light for tho&s;e who lived in the regions of the &s;hadow of death; it is with the law now, or light of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, as it was with the light in
<PB N="85" REF="53">the creation; when that which was &s;cattered was gathered into one body of light. So Chri&s;t now being revealed, holine&s;&s;e and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e as well as grace and love is revealed in him, and and gathered up in him; <HI>The word is now fle&s;h, and dwels among&s;t us, and we behold his glory as the glory of the only begotten &s;onne full of truth as well as grace;</HI> is in &s;ub&s;tance by the Spirit &s;et downe, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.16, 17, 18. <HI>ver&s;es.</HI> There is the vaile taken away in turning to the Lord. There is Chri&s;t held forth to be the Spirit, and the &s;pi|rit of liberty to his people: but ob&s;erve the fruits of this liberty, it is from &s;inne not to &s;inne: <HI>but we all with open face, beholding as in a gla&s;&s;e the glory of the Lord, are changed into the &s;ame image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord,</HI> or of the Lord the &s;pi|rit: <HI>&s;o it is in the margine.</HI> Thus is Chri&s;t that Sunne to us which warmes us in the very &s;hining upon us; the Believer works, walks, and lives under the Go&s;pel, as beholding his perfect redemption wrought in Chri&s;t, and &s;o brings forth the power of this re|demption and &s;alvation through the &s;pirit of Adoption, freely working to the prai&s;e of his free-grace, and freely obeying from the life of this redemption, doing every thing in love, becau&s;e of his love &s;hed abroad in our hearts: and neither taking in judge|ments, hell, or damnation; nay, not heaven or glory, to force on the worke, or quicken the duty, but doing all from the &s;pirit of life in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, except when corruption or temptation hin|dereth the freene&s;&s;e and &s;piritualne&s;&s;e in the duty. A Spirit at this pitch is Chri&s;t and his beloved, both met in his garden of &s;pices: and by feeding on the honey in the honey-combe, Chri&s;t fils the &s;oule with him&s;elfe, and delights him&s;elfe in that fulne&s;&s;e that is him&s;elfe. So the &s;oule in communion with Chri&s;t in the Spirit &s;ees it &s;elfe compleat in Chri&s;t, &s;o joyes in its Ma&s;ters joy, alwayes &s;atisfying it &s;elfe in that love that is Chri&s;t him&s;elfe, and is able to trumpet out its glory to the world. <HI>My beloved is mine, and I am his;</HI> This is Chri&s;t and his office, branches &s;etting about God, alwayes feeding on the banquet of love, and fitting under the benner of love, God beholding every elect &s;oule in Chri&s;t; the &s;oule beholds God in Chri&s;t, and Chri&s;t beholds him&s;elfe and all his in God, and this vi&s;ion in one &s;pirit &s;wallowes up all into one; God beholds every elect &s;oule as Chri&s;t, Chri&s;t beholds e|very branch in him as of him, beholding us in that glory we &s;hall
<PB N="86" REF="54">have with him when he appeares in his fulne&s;&s;e of glory, and the believing &s;oule in the Spirit, beholding its ju&s;tification, &s;anctifica|tion, and redemption, and Chri&s;t one in eternall love; the &s;oule is in this light transformed into this love, that is God him&s;elfe, &amp; &s;o &s;ees nothing of God but what is all God; &s;uch a &s;oule knowes no divided Chri&s;t, or parted God; every tittle of revealed truth, which is Chri&s;t written out by the Spirit, it is all God and Chri&s;t in one, and this Spirit that reveales Chri&s;t to the world in the word, and to the believer in his &s;oule, this Spirit is God too, that &s;o all within the &s;oule is God, all about the &s;oule is God, and all comes from the &s;oule is God: and this is the freedome the belie|ver in his con&s;cience hath from the law in the letter, it is not de|&s;troyed, but e&s;tabli&s;hed; It is taken out of the hand of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> the &s;ervant, and put into the hand of Chri&s;t the Sonne; it is not made void, but fulfilled for us and in us, <HI>who walke not after the fle&s;h, but after the &s;pirit.</HI></P>
<P>Now behold the Law in its glory, changed from law to Go&s;|pel, from letter to &s;pirit, from <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to Chri&s;t, from death to life, from an angry God to a loving Father; as it is Go&s;pel, &s;o it is Spirit, 'tis Chri&s;t, yea it is God him&s;elfe. On the glory of that Law which is God, not only declaring the mind &amp; will of God, but in the &s;pirit of love, filling the &s;oule with &s;trength to obey, from whence we find Chri&s;t in the Go&s;pel calling upon tho&s;e that love him to keepe his Commandements. God, Chri&s;t, and the Spirit being in the Law, it becomes the law of life, when the law had in it but a naked demon&s;tration; what a Creator might ju&s;t|ly require of a fallen creature, but gave no &s;trength; it is held forth under the termes of the law of &s;inne and death, by which it had not that glory to invite a poore &s;oule to looke on it, becau&s;e the &s;oule could &s;ee nothing but its death in it: but as Chri&s;t be|ing made under the law to redeem them that were under the law, hath &s;atisfied his, and our Father fully in it for us: &s;o hee hath turned this law into his law of love, into Go&s;pel, into Spirit, into him&s;elfe and his Father.</P>
<P>Now this law hath that beauty which allures and takes every beleeving &s;oule; nature turned into grace, it is now meate and drinke to a believer to doe the will of God in the Spirit.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, This will let us truly to under&s;tand who they be that be
<PB N="87" REF="54"><HI>Antinomians;</HI> Tho&s;e that deny the Law, if I may judge, I &s;hould &s;ay it is tho&s;e that would keepe it in the hand of the &s;ervant, out of the Sonne; what can be a greater denying of it, then to keepe it in the Letter out of the Spirit, to rob it of that glory which is God and Chri&s;t in the Spirit.</P>
<P>What &s;oule dare put it &s;elfe under the Law out of Chri&s;t, when in &s;o doing it makes it &s;elfe a debter to the whole law: And as the Apo&s;tle in <HI>Gal.</HI> 3.10, 11. &s;ayes; <HI>So many as are under the workes of the law, are under the cur&s;e of the law,</HI> and under that law which can never ju&s;tifie before God.</P>
<P>Now to keepe the law in &s;uch a &s;tate as this is, will make eve|ry &s;oule &s;hun it, not daring to come under it, as &s;eeing nothing but death in it. Sathan is the &s;oules greate&s;t enemy, in darkning it with legall principles, that it &s;ees not Chri&s;t: &s;o are tho&s;e the greate&s;t enemies to the holy, ju&s;t, and good law of God, that would pul that nature of Chri&s;t in his Spirit from it, and leave it &s;till, the law of the letter in the hand of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> when God and Chri&s;t hath made it <HI>Go&s;pel-law,</HI> the law of love in the Spirit.</P>
<P>The law may here complain, as the Spou&s;e did of tho&s;e watch-men that rent her vaile; tho&s;e that rend Chri&s;t from the law, rend the beautifull vaile, the glory of the law from it. The&s;e holds forth the law dead, like <HI>Lazarus</HI> in the grave, &s;tinking, and tho&s;e that follow it, weeping. Or as <HI>Pharoah</HI> to the children of <HI>I&s;ael,</HI> doubling the tale of bricks, and giving no &s;traw, what glory is there in this. But tho&s;e that hold out the Law in the Spirit, holds it not only forth as a law that lives, but a law that gives life, &s;o farre from requiring the tale of bricke to be doubled, and give no &s;traw, that in every duty it brings Chri&s;t in, whence we are able to doe all things.</P>
<P>This makes it plainely appeare who they be which deny the law, and may ju&s;tly be di&s;tingui&s;hed by the name of <HI>Antinomians.</HI></P>
<P>Againe, this exhorts Saints, that &s;eeing it is part of the redemp|tion of the blood of Chri&s;t; That no law but the law of love, the &s;pirit of life in Chri&s;t &s;hould rule or reigne in the con&s;cience of a believer: To take the coun&s;ell of the Apo&s;tle in <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.1. <HI>Stand fa&s;t therefore in that liberty wherewith Chri&s;t hath made us free, and be not entangled againe with the yoake of bondage.</HI> God hath not gi|ven, nor Saints received the <HI>&s;pirit of bondage againe to feare, but the
<PB N="88" REF="55">pirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba Father. This is the life of our lives, to live in the &s;pirit.</HI> It is the great promi&s;e of the Go&s;pel to give the Spirit. This would I know, when doth the &s;oule fea&s;t, but when God &s;preads tables of love, and in the Spirit bids us <HI>eate my beloved, eate abundantly, and be &s;atisfied.</HI> Nature teaches the outward man to &s;tand for liberty; oh then what &s;hould grace doe, how &s;hould this &s;tirre us up to &s;tand for that liberty which is our life; loo&s;e this, and loo&s;e all your &s;pirituall life in a mo|ment; doe but once looke on the law out of Chri&s;t, and it will be with us as tho&s;e in 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.15. <HI>But even to this day when</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>is read, the vaile is upon their hearts.</HI> This vaile will be a vaile of dark|ne&s;&s;e, that the &s;oule &s;hall not &s;ee Chri&s;t in propriety in any of his offices, benefits, or merits. If any or all the&s;e be deare, oh then <HI>&s;tand fa&s;t in this liberty wherewith Chri&s;t bath made us free.</HI> This is that freedome the Sonne hath made, which is freedome indeed: But if the Sonne make us not free, then are we bond men to eternity. If thy heart be hard, <HI>looke on him whom you have piereed,</HI> and then &s;hall it be evangelically melted. If &s;inne &s;ting thy con|&s;cience, looke on him that is is lifted up, which the brazen Ser|pent typified; this is our freedome, and Chri&s;ts prerogative, <HI>the governement is on his &s;houlders;</HI> he is that King, and his Spirit that Law, which is only to reigne in the con&s;cience of his people.</P>
<P>Why &s;hould not our &s;oules count deare of that which is &s;o deare to Chri&s;t and all his people. This is that glory Chri&s;t will not give to another; therefore this is that glory wee &s;hould only give to Chri&s;t. Oh then admire and extoll for ever this glory of the riches of the free-grace of God in Chri&s;t, that hath freely given this &s;tate of grace, this glorious &s;tate to us <HI>that were by nature the children of wrath as well as others.</HI> It doth not yet appear what we &s;hall be, &s;o that more glory &s;hall be, then is yet revealed: but our &s;oules mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e, <HI>that which doth appeare is more glory then wee can expre&s;&s;e.</HI> Sure then it is our duty to admire and extoll the ri|ches of this free-grace, which hath freed us from the law of &s;inne and death, tran&s;lated us from the power of darkene&s;&s;e to the Kingdome and government of his deare Sonne, enthron'd Chri&s;t in our hearts, and written his holy law there in his Spirit.</P>
<P>Oh let us extoll this God in the fruits of the Spirit, <HI>which is love, joy, peace, long &s;uffering, gentlene&s;&s;e, goodne&s;&s;e, faith,
<PB N="89" REF="55">meekene&s;&s;e, temperance, again&s;t which there is no law.</HI></P>
<P>Thus I &s;hall conclude; This is our freedome &s;o to live in the Spirit, as to be led by the Spirit.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VII. Saints are compleat before God in their union with Chri&s;t.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Colo&s;&s;.</HI> 2.9. <HI>and part of the</HI> 10. <HI>ver&s;.</HI></BIBL> For in him dwels all the fulne&s;&s;e of the God-head bodily, and yee are compleat in him.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THIS portion of Scripture is a part of <HI>Pauls</HI> Epi|&s;tile to the Church of God at <HI>Colo&s;&s;e,</HI> it is the very center of all tho&s;e &s;weete comforts that the holy Gho&s;t hath dropped downe in this Epi&s;tle. Nay &s;ure I am, it holds forth the corner-&s;tone of all the building.</P>
<P><HI>A Saints perfection, and the rea&s;on of it is the &s;ubject-matter of this Scripture.</HI></P>
<P>The rea&s;on &s;tands fir&s;t in reading, as a foundation is laid before a &s;ure building.</P>
<P>The Apo&s;tle holding forth a Saints compleatne&s;&s;e, &s;ets before it Chri&s;t fulne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>From the&s;e drops we may ob&s;erve the&s;e two points.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>That a Saint hath no compleatne&s;&s;e in the &s;ight of God,
<MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="Ob&s;erv."> but as it is united to Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>And &s;econdly, <HI>That as a Saint is one with Chri&s;t,
<MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="Ob&s;erv."> &s;o he &s;tands com|pleat before God in Gods owne fulne&s;&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, That a Saint hath no compleatne&s;&s;e in the &s;ight of God, but as it is united to Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>To prove this; Fir&s;t ob&s;erve the &s;cope of the holy Gho&s;t in
<PB N="90" REF="56">this Scripture. <HI>For in him, which is Chri&s;t, dwels all the fulne&s;s of the God head bodily.</HI></P>
<P>Here the holy Gho&s;t takes in the God-head in all the fulne&s;&s;e of it, and centers it in Chri&s;t, and &s;o makes out the Saints per|fection in union with him; <HI>As if he had &s;aid,</HI> all fulne&s;&s;e in perfe|ction dwels in Chri&s;t as the fountaine or the body, and is &s;o in you as you are in him; hee filled for you, you filled in him; hee compleat as one with God, you compleat as one with him, as Chri&s;t &s;ayes him&s;elfe, <HI>I in the Father, and you in me.</HI> Mark it, till the holy Gho&s;t had center'd all fulne&s;&s;e in Chri&s;t: hee mentions no compleatne&s;&s;e for a Saint, which points at this truth, had not Chri&s;t been full for us, wee had never beene compleat; and when he doth mention the Saints compleatne&s;&s;e, he doth it inclu|&s;ively, compleat in him. This is not only full mercy, but al&s;o it &s;prings from pure love, it is free-grace that wee are compleat in him, for free-grace &s;ees no compleatne&s;&s;e but in him. <HI>Thou art my beloved Sonne</HI> (&s;ayes God, &s;peaking of Chri&s;t) <HI>in whom I am well plea&s;ed.</HI> And in another place, <HI>I beheld the travell of his &s;oule, and am well plea&s;ed.</HI> I never met with any mention of God being well plea&s;ed and &s;atisfied, but Chri&s;t was <HI>Alpha</HI> and <HI>Omega,</HI> all in all in it. This which is already laid down, makes a fair way for &s;uch a quere as this is.</P>
<P>Pray wherein lyes the compleatne&s;&s;e of a Saint; what are the parts or &s;ub&s;tance of Saints compleatne&s;&s;e or fulne&s;&s;e?</P>
<P>To this I an&s;wer, it will be be&s;t di&s;cerned by its contrary. The Saints fulne&s;&s;e and compleatene&s;&s;e before God in Chri&s;t will be mo&s;t tran&s;parent, when wee &s;piritually di&s;cern our condition in the fir&s;t <HI>Adam:</HI> and that will appear in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.1, 2, 3. The A|po&s;tle &s;peaking there of a &s;tate of nature, &s;peaks of a per&s;on dead in &s;ins and tre&s;pa&s;&s;es, walking according to the cour&s;e of the wick|ed world, and the will of Sathan that Prince of the Aire, <HI>fulfilling the lu&s;ts of the fle&s;h, and &s;o by nature the children of wrath.</HI></P>
<P>This is the &s;tate of a naturall man under the wrath of God, &s;e|parated from the bo&s;ome of God, and &s;o dead in &s;ins and tre&s;|pa&s;&s;es; a va&s;&s;all to Sathan, led by his will according to the cour&s;e of the wicked world, <HI>fulfilling the lu&s;ts of the fle&s;h, alienated from God &amp; Christ, &amp; from the Common-wealth of I&s;rael,</HI> breaking every holy law of God &s;o often as Sathan will; And then (not having
<PB N="91" REF="56">Chri&s;t made a cur&s;e for him) lyes under the cur&s;e of the law, and the wrath of God to all eternity. A &s;oule fully delivered from this &s;tate, and compleatly &s;tated in the bo&s;ome of God, and in glory with Chri&s;t, will be acknowledged a full compleatne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, ob&s;erve the &s;tate of nature drawne into the&s;e heads.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, the wrath of God. Secondly, va&s;&s;alage or &s;lavery under Sathan, to be led to the fulfilling of lu&s;ts at his will. And la&s;tly, to be dead in &s;ins and tre&s;pa&s;&s;es.</P>
<P>In oppo&s;ition to the&s;e I &s;hall hold out ju&s;tification, &s;anctifica|tion, and glorification.</P>
<P>And in the&s;e three heads I &s;hall endeavour to &s;hew how we are compleat in him, <HI>namely,</HI> Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>how Chri&s;t is our compleat Ju&s;tification;</HI> &s;ee this in <HI>Rom.</HI> 3.20. to the 25. Here Ju&s;tification exclu&s;ively and inclu&s;ively is &s;et forth. In ver&s;. 20. <HI>By the deeds of the law no fle&s;h is justified in his &s;ight.</HI> There the holy Gho&s;t &s;hews where it is not by deeds of the law, I under &s;tand our be&s;t du<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">s the highe&s;t performances wee can make to the will of God in this, no ju&s;tification. But then looke into the 24. <HI>ver&s;e,</HI> and there you &s;hall &s;ee Ju&s;tification lying between, or in the&s;e two brea&s;ts, that alwayes flow with eternall life, namely the free grace of God, and the redemption of the blood of Chri&s;t; here is free-grace giving Chri&s;t to be our re|demption, and Chri&s;t in his blood giving &s;atisfaction to his Fa|thers ju&s;tice, bringing us to lye down in the bo&s;ome of this free|grace, which gave him out for us; he doth this by being made a cur&s;e for us, <HI>Gol.</HI> 3.13. God and Chri&s;t are one in this as in all things el&s;e; for layes the Text, <HI>He hath made him to become &s;inne for us, that we might be made the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him.</HI> I&s;a. 53.5.11. marke there, <HI>Chri&s;t is wounded for our tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions, brui&s;ed for our iniquities, the cha&s;ti&s;ement of our peace laid on him.</HI> Now marke the i&s;&s;ue, <HI>with his &s;tripes we are healed. And God &s;ees the tra|vell of his &s;oule, and is &s;atisfied.</HI> Here is God &s;atisfied, our &s;oules healed, and all this through the wounds of Chri&s;t. The whole booke of God his &s;ull of this; take for proofe only the&s;e two pla|ces more, <HI>Colo&s;&s;.</HI> 1.13, 14. and then I thinke it will &s;tand fair to view, that the clect S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">int &s;tands before God for ju&s;t fication com|pleat in Chri&s;te this is the part of the compleatne&s;&s;e wee have in Chri&s;t, and &s;o delivered from the wrath of God; for as one Text
<PB N="92" REF="57">&s;ayes, <HI>were there no law, there would be no finne;</HI> if no rule, then no tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion; &s;o may I &s;ay, the cur&s;e being born, and the law &s;a|tisfied for us, we are free from all wrath and condemnation: And thus are we freed and delivered from a fir&s;t part of the &s;tate of na|ture, the wrath of God; Chri&s;t &s;atisfies, &amp; God ju&s;tifies, as the A|po&s;tle expre&s;&s;eth it in <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. latter end. <HI>Who &s;hall condemn</HI> (&s;ayes he) <HI>Chri&s;t hath dyed, and is ri&s;en, and God ju&s;tifies.</HI> So that there he makes a challenge; <HI>Who &s;hall condemne?</HI> He &s;aw this his com|pleatne&s;&s;e in Chri&s;t, and glories in it.</P>
<P><HI>The &s;econd thing in a &s;tate of nature is va&s;&s;alage to Sathan;</HI> to which in oppo&s;ition I propo&s;ed our &s;anctification by Chri&s;t, as a &s;econd part of our compleatne&s;&s;e in him. For proofe of this, take that known place where the holy Gho&s;t &s;ayes, <HI>Chri&s;t is made unto us wi&s;dome, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;anctification, and redemption,</HI> where Chri&s;t is made by God our &s;atisfaction, he is filled for us, and we filled of his fulne&s;&s;e, as that oyntment which fell from <HI>Aarons</HI> head down to the skirts of his garment: &s;o doth the &s;pirit of God de&s;cend from Chri&s;t to us, dwelling plentifully in us, and &s;o be|comes our &s;anctification: As in that 14^t^h of <HI>John's</HI> Go&s;pel. <HI>The Spirit &s;hall lead into all truth;</HI> not only di&s;cover truth, but lead in|to truth. So the 6^t^h and 7^t^h ver&s;es of <HI>Colo&s;&s;.</HI> 2. <HI>rooted, built up, and walking in Chri&s;t.</HI> The Apo&s;tle in another place acknowledging his owne in&s;ufficiency to any good worke; yet (&s;ayes he) <HI>through Chri&s;t that &s;trengthens me I can doe all things, Colo&s;&s;.</HI> 1.10, 11.</P>
<P>There is fruitfulne&s;s in every good work, as we are &s;trengthned according to the mighty power of Chri&s;t: Chri&s;t the Vine, and we the branches; a Saint bears fruit as he is in Chri&s;t. <HI>Without me you can doe nothing</HI> (&s;ayes Chri&s;t.) A Saint hath life to live up to the will of God, only as hee lyes in the bo&s;ome of Chri&s;t, and &s;uckes life from him as being one with Chri&s;t, &s;o as the branches doe from the Vine, <HI>Col.</HI> 3.3. A dead man cannot walk, no more can any man out of Chri&s;t walke in the wayes of God: but the Saints life is hid with Chri&s;t in God: and therefore &s;ayes the A|po&s;tle, <HI>It is not I that live, but Chri&s;t in mee.</HI></P>
<P>I might abundantly enlarge in this, but I forbeare, for I well know that the Spirit of God in our &s;oules is more then ten thou|&s;and witne&s;&s;es be&s;ides. Thus is Chri&s;t the Saints compleatne&s;&s;e in point of &s;anctification, the which I hold out in oppo&s;ition to that va&s;&s;alage that a natural man lyes in under Sathan.</P>
<PB N="93" REF="57">
<P>The third thing that makes up the naturall mans bondage is, <HI>be is dead in &s;ins and tre&s;pa&s;&s;es.</HI> To which I hold forth as our com|pleatne&s;&s;e in Chri&s;t; the Saints life and that a life of glory, to prove this, looke into <HI>Col.</HI> 3.4. there is Chri&s;t held out plainly as our life, &amp; &s;aith the Text, <HI>at his appearing we &s;hall appeare with him in glory,</HI> There is life in Chri&s;t, and glory in Chri&s;t; Chri&s;t our life, and his glory our glory, which agrees with that of our Saviour, <HI>becau&s;e I live you &s;hall live al&s;o; and where I am you &s;hall be:</HI> As if the Lord had &s;aid, my beloved Saints you are as &s;afe as I am, our lives and our glory bound up in one, I laid downe my life to take up yours, and now I have laid up your life as &s;ure as my owne, both in my father and your fathers bo&s;ome, <HI>I in the Father and you in me; My love, my faire one, my undefiled;</HI> you are where I am, this truth &s;ealed on <HI>Pauls</HI> &s;pirit, by the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t made him triumph in this glorious inheritance, and tram|ple upon all glory below it, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.1. He knew his intere&s;t in an eternall hou&s;e, a building of God in heaven; and in another place the &s;ame Apo&s;tle <HI>Hence forth is laid up for me a more exceed|ing and eternall weight of glory,</HI> Rom. 8.30. There is all the&s;e three branches proved, <HI>and this glory in the end of all: but it &s;elfe with|out end, etarnall glory.</HI> This point needeth no more proofe it is &s;o cleare a truth, both in word and &s;pirit, proving this I conceive the other is proved al&s;o, <HI>That as a Saint is in Chri&s;t &s;o he &s;tands compleate before God.</HI> I &s;hall now give you &s;ome rea&s;ons of that which is gone before;</P>
<P>Fir&s;t were there any compleatne&s;&s;e for a believing &s;oule but in Chri&s;t, and not a full compleatnes for a believing &s;oul in Chri&s;t, <HI>then God could not be a ju&s;t God,</HI> which is bla&s;phemy to imagine; for God having made Chri&s;t to beare our &s;ins, and wounded him that we might be healed, this being the decree of God, if there were any redemption but in Chri&s;t, God could not be ju&s;t to Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>And Secondly, if in his bloud there were not a full R<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">dempti|on, God could not be ju&s;t either to Chri&s;t that &s;uffered, or us for whome he &s;uffered; <HI>I come to doe thy will O Father</HI> (&s;aith Chri&s;t) Now Chri&s;t having performed every tittle of his Fathers will, God in ju&s;tice mu&s;t make all redemption to come through him; and to be to us a compleate redemption.</P>
<P>A Third Rea&s;on. If it were not thus, <HI>then grace were not free|grace,
<PB N="94" REF="58">nor full grace.</HI> If there be any compleatne&s;&s;e out of Chri&s;t then it mu&s;t be our own, than grace is not free-grace; and if that we have in Chri&s;t be not compleat, and doth not make us com|pleat before God, then Grace is not full: now truly a hard thought of God in either of the&s;e, mu&s;t run again&s;t the whole current of the word of God, and the experience of the Saints.</P>
<P>In the Spirit Saints may improve the&s;e truths by way of direction; if God by his Spirit &s;hew us our owne naturall defor|mity, O then flie to Gods owne trea&s;ury for perfection and compleatne&s;&s;e, Namely, to Chri&s;t, <HI>In whom is all the fulne&s;&s;e of the Godhead bodily</HI> and to this very end that Saints might be com|pleat in him, it is Satan's light that leads us to our duties for com|pleatne&s;&s;e, for the Holy Cho&s;t leaves it upon record that com|pleatne&s;&s;e is only in Chri&s;t, and &s;urely if that lead the &s;oule it &s;hall be led to Chri&s;t for compleatne&s;&s;e. Did we believe this Scripture we mu&s;t needes believe in Gods compleatne&s;&s;e, name|ly, <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t:</HI> The Apo&s;tle de<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">res to know nothing but Chri&s;t and him crucified, for he &s;aw compleatne&s;&s;e in him; never to want compleatne&s;&s;e in the eyes of God, is to goe to him in that compleatne&s;&s;e that is God, Namely, Chri&s;t; for he is our com|pleatne&s;&s;e, as the fulne&s;&s;e of the God-head is in him.</P>
<P>Secondly, having pirched on Chri&s;t for our compleatne&s;&s;e, let us beleeve &s;trongly, be e&s;tabli&s;hed fully in him not doubting in the lea&s;t, for our compleatne&s;&s;e is a compleat God, God makes us compleat in him&s;elfe; God mu&s;t be di&s;plea&s;ed with his owne pe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="4 letters">tion if with a Saint in Chri&s;t, for a Saints perfection is Chri&s;t, and Chri&s;t is the &s;ulne&s;&s;e of the God-head. <HI>If we &s;um|mon in Satan, Law, Divine ju&s;tice, Con&s;cience, remainder of the old Adam within us, and what ever can be thought on, yet here is a full an&s;wer to all,</HI> Chri&s;t is a&s;cended into Heaven as our compleat|ne&s;&s;e, and Satan the accu&s;er of the brethren ca&s;t ou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">; he was made a cur&s;e, and did bare it, and overcame it for us, and in it &s;atisfied the holy Law, and the ju&s;t God for us; if the remainders of the old <HI>Adam</HI> &s;trugles, and con&s;cience joyne with it to accu&s;e us, Chri&s;t an&s;wers, you are not complear in your owne duries, but in me, I am perfect, you can finde no &s;pot nor wrinkle in me, and in my perfection lies your compleatne&s;&s;e; So that every belie|ving Saint eyeing his onene&s;s with Chri&s;t, may triumph as <HI>Paul</HI> in <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. <HI>latter end. Who &s;hall condemne? Or what &s;hall &s;eparate?</HI>
<PB N="95" REF="58">and conclude as he doth; Nothing &s;hall be able to doe it, for I am compleat in Chri&s;t. From all this there runneth great con&s;o|lation to the children of God; Wee have here had a view of that perfection and compleatne&s;&s;e that God in his free-grace hath gi|ven unto us, and that the eyes of this pure God will behold us in it to all eternity, which is the fulne&s;&s;e of the God-head dwelling bodily in Chri&s;t, and we in him; he compleat as God, we com|pleate in him, ju&s;tice can lay no more to our charge then to Chri&s;t, for our compleatne&s;&s;e of ju&s;tification is in Chri&s;t; the wrath of God can as &s;oone ri&s;e on Chri&s;t as on us, for hee is our compleat di&s;charge from wrath, having borne the cur&s;e for us, &s;inne can no more &s;eparate us from God, then Chri&s;t from God; for Chri&s;t is our compleat attonement, our &s;innes being taken from us, and laid on Chri&s;t. Death can no more &s;eparate us from God then it hath done Chri&s;t; he bore all the &s;ting of death for us, death is to Saints but a di&s;&s;olution in the fle&s;h, that wee might come home and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e to eternity that compleatne&s;&s;e with him. What can the &s;oul de&s;ire for comfort that lyes not in this? Chri&s;t is full for us, and wee compleat in him; If God and Chri&s;t be e|nough for thy &s;oule, then &s;atisfie it here, here is Gods compleat|ne&s;&s;e, yea that compleatne&s;&s;e which is God made our compleat|ne&s;&s;e; what can our &s;oules judge will be the end of this love? Truly it will be love without end, that love which hath made us compleate in Chri&s;t, that love will make us compleate with Chri&s;t, not only glorious Heires, but Heires in glory; not only decked as the Kings daughter, but lying for ever in the bo&s;ome of Chri&s;t as his Spou&s;e, not only to have vi&s;ious of the Kingdome, but po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the Kingdome, mortality putting on immortali|ty will not be all; but there &s;hall be added to it a crown of glory. <HI>It doth not yet appeare</HI> (&s;ayes the T<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">x<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">) <HI>what wee &s;hall be: but when be appeares, we &s;hall appeare like him.</HI> It will be enough &s;urely to be as Chri&s;t is? Oh then here let our &s;oules ceter; no reaching &s;oul can reach after more then is in Chri&s;t, he is compleat enough to an&s;wer all de&s;ires, to quiet all &s;pirits, to fill all hearts, to cloath all naked &s;oules; hee is bread and bread enough. Let us begge a mature &s;teady eye of faith, alwayes to behold Chri&s;t the fulne&s;&s;e of the God-head bodily for us, and we compleate in him; then may we in life and death lift up our heads with joy un&s;peakable,
<PB N="96" REF="59">and full of glory in believing: <HI>Thus to live will be Chri&s;t, and to dye will be gaine.</HI> The &s;oule will quietly waite till God loo&s;e the body, and rejoyce to be di&s;&s;olved, knowing it &s;hall be with Chri&s;t: the droppings of Heaven will &s;tay the &s;oule quiet here, knowing that the compleatne&s;&s;e and fulne&s;&s;e of glory that God and Chri&s;t is in &s;hall &s;w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">llow it up to all eternity. And thus it is and &s;hall be to be compleat in Chri&s;t.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VIII. Free-grace in God ju&s;tifieth and re|deemeth through Chri&s;t.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Romans</HI> 3. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 24.</BIBL> Being ju&s;tified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THe holy Cho&s;t doth confirm and explaine that pofitive truth; he layes downe in this ver&s;e by &s;ome ver&s;es go|ing before and after, as from the 20. to the 28. In the ver&s;e before he tels us <HI>all have &s;inned and come &s;hort of the glory of God,</HI> and therefore &s;tand in need to be ju&s;tified. And in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 20. he tels us, <HI>that by the deeds of the law there &s;hall no fle&s;h be ju&s;tified in the &s;ight of God.</HI> Had the holy Gho&s;t &s;topped here, it had been an addition of mi&s;ery to a fallen man: and the &s;ad cries in the &s;oule of man would have been like tho&s;e evill &s;pirits to our Saviour, <HI>that hee was come to torment them before their time.</HI> But Gods de&s;igne is love, and the holy Gho&s;t is to proclaime it, &s;o that all which goes before is but like the Mini&s;tery of <HI>John,</HI> to prepare the way for Chri&s;t, to breake the clouds, that the Sunne of Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e may appear, and that Saints may &s;ee by an eye of faith that they are no loo&s;ers in that the men&s;truous ragges of their owne duties &s;hould not be a ju&s;tifying righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e to them
<PB N="97" REF="59">in the pure eyes of God: but that full ju&s;tification is given of the free-grace of God, through the redemption that is in Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>In the words is a birth, the wombe that gives it forth when it had conceived it, and the Midwife from who&s;e hands and &s;ides we receive it; and all the&s;e infinitly holy and glorious, <HI>the birth</HI> is, Ju&s;tification to a &s;oule that hath &s;inned and come &s;hort of the glory of God; <HI>the wombe</HI> that conceives and brings forth this glorious birth it is the Free-Grace of God; and <HI>the Midwife</HI> from who&s;e hands and &s;ides we receive this, is a Chri&s;t crucified. One ob&s;ervation from the&s;e three, which is this; <HI>That all the glorious life of an elect &s;oule delivered from the &s;tate of a fallen &s;inner, and made a redeemed Saint, is from eternity and to eternity wholely conceived and given forth, in and from the wombe of the free-grace of God.</HI></P>
<P>This is demon&s;trable under the&s;e two heads.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, in con&s;idering a &s;oule under a &s;tate of nature.</P>
<P>Secondly, under a &s;tate of Grace.</P>
<P>Or if you will, in the fir&s;t and the &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> in both which I thinke the exceeding glory of that great wombe, the eternall iove and free-grace of God will appeare, in taking lo&s;t creatures out of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> to make them glorious Saints in the Lord Chri&s;t, that &s;econd <HI>Adam.</HI> I know no other light nor rule but the word and &s;pirit to make out any thing of God to any &s;oule; therfore fir&s;t, &s;earch the word what light it gives us to di&s;cerne our &s;tate by nature, or the naturall condition of fallen men and women.</P>
<P>To take this in the beginning of holy writ, let us turne to <HI>Gen.</HI> 3.6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Here we finde the fall of our fir&s;t Parents, in which we all fell, and the effects of this fall in them; They fel by difobeying God in eating the forbidden fruit: but then ob|ferve the effects of this fall when they knew their nakedne&s;&s;e, the only reliefe they &s;ought was aprones of fig-leaves, <HI>or as it is in the Margin,</HI> things to gird about them, and here they re&s;t con|tent; they &s;aw their nakedne&s;&s;e a great advantage truly, but hav|ing girded them&s;elves with fig-leaves they knew no want of God, for in ver&s;e 8. when they heard the voyce of God, and that in the coole of the day, they hid them&s;elves from the pre|&s;ence of the Lord, among&s;t the trees of the garden; and when God came &s;o neere to them as they were falne to confe&s;&s;e the rea|&s;on
<PB N="98" REF="60">why they fled from his pre&s;ence, they acknowledged they were afraid ver&s;e 10. Compare the&s;e fir&s;t appearances of nature in our fir&s;t parents after their fall, with the experiences of our owne naturall hearts and others, and it will appeare in all that is mi&s;erable what exact Images we are by nature of the&s;e our fir&s;t parents.</P>
<P>They were naked, &s;o are all by nature of any righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e to &s;tand in the &s;ight of God; they knew they were naked, &s;o doth many a de&s;perate finner who&s;e con&s;cience f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ies in his face: but the remedy they &s;ought was only an apron or girdle of fig|leaves. So doth our naturall hearts licke their woundes whole, and cover their nakedne&s;&s;e, by legall and formall duties and performances, girding our loines, &s;trengthening our hearts in them, and covering our nakedne&s;&s;e &s;o as the eye of man cannot di&s;cerne it, and in this po&s;ture as our fir&s;t Parents hid them&s;elves among&s;t the trees of the garden from the pre&s;ence of the Lord, &s;o we &s;hrowd our &s;elves under publick externall Ordinances after the fa&s;hion of the world, and re&s;ting in beggerly rudiments to defend us from the pre&s;ence of an angry God, and yet not with&s;tanding all this when God comes clo&s;e to the &s;oule, though it hath girt it &s;elfe about with fig-leaves, its owne righteou&s;ne&s;s yet it is not e&s;tabli&s;hed, but doth confe&s;&s;e in all the actions under &s;uch a &s;tate it was afraid becau&s;e of its nakedne&s;&s;e, and this feare doth inflame the mi&s;ery of it, and cau&s;eth it to fly and hide it &s;elf from the pre&s;ence of God, here is the fir&s;t buddings of nature, and truly it is an exact mi&s;erable condition, for it is wholely in &s;elfe, and wholely out of God, the reliefe this &s;oule findes is in flying from, and being out of the pre&s;ence of God; now &s;ure I am, every Saint experienced of Gods love, will call this &s;tate a &s;tate com|pleatly mi&s;erable, knowing that all its life happine&s;&s;e lies in a clo&s;e communion with the bo&s;om of God, &amp; a continual behol|ding of his face in <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> yet this &s;tate thus compleatly mi&s;erable is not <HI>Adams</HI> alone: but all his &s;eede in him, of which by nature is all the world, as is fully expre&s;&s;ed in ver&s;e 23. of this 3. Chap. of the <HI>Romans, For all have &s;inned, and come &s;hort of the glory of God.</HI> The mi&s;ery of this &s;tate of nature, may be farther amplified in co~|fidering thar <HI>Antipathy</HI> that is in all to that holy ju&s;t and good law of God, and that impo&s;&s;ibility which is in man to performe it; one place &s;aith &s;peaking of the law, it is that which neither we
<PB N="99" REF="60">nor our fore-fathers could beare, we could not &s;tand under it to ju&s;tifie our &s;elves by it. The Apo&s;tle in <HI>Rom.</HI> 3.9. to <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 19. &s;peaks plainly this generall evill &s;tate by nature, and the fruits of it in many particulats in oppolition to all the laws of a holy God. And in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 19. &s;peaks plainly, that the Law makes all the world guilty, and &s;o makes his inference in the 20^t^h <HI>ver&s;e, that none can be ju&s;tified by the deeds of the law:</HI> and then he gives his rea|&s;on for it, which is this; For (&s;ayes hee) <HI>by the law is knowledge of &s;inne.</HI> Gods pure nature di&s;covers the impure nature of fallen man, &s;o in the following ver&s;es &s;peaks of a ble&s;&s;ed and a ju&s;tified &s;tate for a poor &s;oul under another head: But all this &s;peakes the mi&s;erable, irrecoverable lo&s;t &s;tate of a naturall man in him&s;elfe, the fruits of this tree of nature we may &s;ee in that 2^d of <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> the three fir&s;t ver&s;es. Though it be a dead tree, yet at beates fruit, but it is the fruit of death, tre&s;pa&s;&s;es and &s;ins, walking in them accor|ding to the cour&s;e of this world, <HI>and the power of the Prince of the Aire, that &s;pirit which workes in the children of di&s;obedience, who are by nature the children of wrath.</HI></P>
<P>Any of the&s;e particulars rightly under&s;tood, and &s;et home up|on the &s;pirit of a man, will make it crye out as the Apo&s;tle. <HI>O wretched man that I am: and in me</HI> (that is in my fle&s;h) <HI>is no good.</HI></P>
<P>But certainly if ever we come to &s;ee that &s;inke and ma&s;&s;e of &s;in and corruption that is in us by nature, and that wages of &s;inne which is death; wee &s;hall then acknowledge if ever God di&s;cover his thoughts of eternall love to us, that it is all free-grace.</P>
<P>The &s;econd demon&s;tration of the point is; To con&s;ider a Saint under a &s;tate of grace in Chri&s;t, the &s;econd <HI>Adam.</HI></P>
<P>To take this in the beginning as it &s;tands in the word, let us turne backe to that 3^d of <HI>Gen.</HI> 15. where Chri&s;t is promi&s;ed in the &s;eed of the woman, and what to doe? <HI>to breake the head of the Ser|pent;</HI> that is, to kill and overcome him. The Apo&s;tle in 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.21. &s;ayes, <HI>be mu&s;t reigne till he hath put all his enemies under his feete.</HI> And in this conque&s;t over his owne, and his peoples enemies, hee doth the will of his Father; we have his owne word for it, <HI>John</HI> 4.30. This doth exceedingly &s;et forth the free grace of God, that when he found all man-kinnde in a &s;tate of rebellion; &s;o &s;oone as ever he had enquired into the fault, hee makes a promi&s;e of the Lord Chri&s;t in whom the &s;tate of a poore &s;oule is better then in
<PB N="100" REF="61">innocency. As if the Lord had &s;aid, <HI>Adam</HI> though thou did&s;t run from me, &amp; was affraid becau&s;e thou wert naked; yet now e&s;tabli&s;h thy heart in beholding my fulne&s;s which is thy cloathing; ca&s;t from thee the workes of thy owne hands, that fig-leave righte|ou&s;ne&s;s thou ha&s;t begirt thy &s;elfe with, and lay hold on the wor|kings forth of my eternal love in this promi&s;e of Chri&s;t. The Ser|pent hath been too hard for thee, when he found thee in thy own &s;trength: but I will give out Chri&s;t that great gift of my love, and he &s;hall as he is one with me from eternity, in my everla&s;ting pow|er and fulne&s;&s;e make warre with the Serpent: and in that warfare, though the Serpent &s;hall brui&s;e his heele, wound his fle&s;h; yet he &s;hall breake the head of the Serpent, and overcome him. This mu&s;t needs be free-grace to make &s;uch a promi&s;e to fallen <HI>Adam</HI> and his po&s;terity that ranne from the pre&s;ence of God, and were content with fig leaves for a covering of their nakedne&s;&s;e; You may &s;ee in nature there is as little de&s;ire of Chri&s;t and his righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e, as there can be of di&s;cerning; for here is a flying from the pre&s;ence of God, and a &s;atisfying it &s;elfe with its owne righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e: and certainly this righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is nothing but men|&s;truous rags; that is that &s;tate in which God loves a &s;oul though it lyes in its blood, &s;o as no eye but Gods can pitty it, and is not this free-grace then? Let us con&s;ult with the covenant of grace, and &s;ee if it be not free-grace, <HI>Jer.</HI> 31.31, 32, 33, 34. The en|gagements in it are from God, and thereupon God freely engages him&s;elf to make a man eternally happy in his love; God engages him&s;elfe to be our God, and we &s;hall be his people; <HI>that hee will forgive our iniquities, and that he will remember our &s;ins no more, and that he will put his law in our hearts, and write it in our inward parts.</HI></P>
<P>What &s;oule can di&s;cern this in the Spirit, but he mu&s;t acknow|ledge God in the riches of his free-grace. In <HI>Heb.</HI> 7.19. The ho|ly Gho&s;t &s;peaks plainly, that the law makes nothing perfect but the bringing of a better hope. As if he had &s;aid, it is free-grace, not the deeds of the law that perfects any &s;oule. That &s;oul which is compleat before God, it mu&s;t be in him, namely Chri&s;t. And &s;ayes another Text; <HI>If the Sonne hath made you free, you are free in|deed;</HI> which implies there is no freedome or compleatne&s;&s;e but in Chri&s;t. Now Chri&s;t &s;ayes the Text, is the redemption of the free-grace of God, and that the Apo&s;tle knew full well, when
<PB N="101" REF="61">he de&s;ired to know nothing but Chri&s;t and him crucified. In <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. The Apo&s;tle glories in the free-grace of God. <HI>It is God that ju|&s;tifies</HI> (&s;ayes he) <HI>and Chri&s;t that hath dyed; Who &s;hall condemn?</HI> As if he had &s;aid, free-grace hath magnified it &s;elfe to me, in which I am &s;afe, &s;o that none can condemn, and in this I glory. And the &s;ame Apo&s;tle in <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.2. makes mention of the acce&s;&s;e that Saints have by faith into the grace wherein they &s;tand. If we look into the 53^d. of <HI>I&s;a.</HI> we &s;hall there finde particulars of much of that grace of God under which wee are; namely, the &s;ufferings of Chri&s;t for us. The Text &s;ayes plainly, <HI>He bore our griefes, and car|ryed our &s;orrowes: and he was wounded for our tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions, brui&s;ed for our iniquities, and the cha&s;ti&s;ement of our peace was upon him, and it is by his &s;tripes that we are healed, and his &s;oule was made an offe|ring for our &s;ins, and that God beheld the travell of his &s;oule and was &s;atisfied.</HI> This is a &s;tate of grace indeed; for if wee compare this with 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5. the la&s;t, we &s;hall &s;ee there a plaine di&s;covery of the de&s;ign of Gods free-grace; &s;ays the Text, <HI>he was made &s;in for us who knew no &s;in, that we might be made the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him.</HI> The Lord which had no &s;inne of his owne, had never been made &s;inne, nor had he born &s;in with all the puni&s;hments due to them, but for this end and de&s;igne of God, namely, that fallen &s;inners in the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> might be his righteou&s;ne&s;s in the &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> the Lord Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Now &s;urely this is a &s;tate of grace to be the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in Chri&s;t, <HI>Rom.</HI> 10.4. The Apo&s;tle tels us, <HI>Chri&s;t is the end of the law for righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e to every one that believeth.</HI> And this &s;al|vation is of the free-grace of God; wee have this righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e freely of his grace, <HI>Gal.</HI> 2.16. <HI>By the workes of the law &s;hall no man be ju&s;tified,</HI> Gal. 3.10. <HI>For as many as are of the workes of the law are under the cur&s;e.</HI> But in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 13. of that Chapter, <HI>Chri&s;t hath redee|med us from the cur&s;e of the law, being made a cur&s;e for us.</HI></P>
<P>In &s;hort, this is the &s;tate of grace, Chri&s;t made ours, and we his; he made &s;inne for us, and bearing all puni&s;hment due to &s;in for us, &s;atisfied Gods ju&s;tice, and made a redemption to a perfect &s;tate of innocency in him.</P>
<P>Thus Chri&s;t hath taken all that is ours, and given us all that is his; his blood to clean&s;e us, his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e to perfect us in the &s;ight of God, his Spirit to guide us, to lead us into all truth, and
<PB N="102" REF="62">to doe all our works in us, <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.16, 17, 18. and at la&s;t to re&s;ign us up to his Father to enjoy fulne&s;&s;e of glory with him to all eternity.</P>
<P>Now reade all this backeward and forward, and behold the heights, the breadths, the depths, and lengths of it, and then you will find it all the free-grace of God: and &s;ure I am, every &s;oule which in the Spirit comes to know and behold him&s;elfe thus fully ju&s;tified, will give God the glory, and acknowledge it to be freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>This gives all to know that Gods way in ju&s;tifying of his peo|ple, is through Chri&s;t the great gift of his free-grace; <HI>not of workes</HI> (&s;ayes the Text) no not from good meanings, or from good do|inge; all good in a Saint ari&s;es from his one-ne&s;&s;e with Chri&s;t, in whom both per&s;ons and duties are ju&s;tified by the free-grace of God. It is not our externals makes our beauty in the &s;ight of God, not our getting into fellow&s;hip with the Saints, and en|joying Ordinances and priviledges with them, but our fellow&s;hip with Chri&s;t; <HI>I in you, and you in me</HI> (&s;aith Chri&s;t.) And the Spou&s;e, <HI>my beloved is mine, and I am his.</HI> I, herein lyes the glory and the intere&s;t of a ju&s;tified one. Chri&s;t &s;ayes to his, <HI>Come yee ble&s;&s;ed of my Father:</HI> and the Father &s;ayes yee are compleat in him. Here is God making a &s;oul from all eternity one with Chri&s;t, and pro|nouncing him for ever ju&s;tified in the blood and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Oh then, when you have but a thought of &s;tanding ju&s;tified before God, lay downe all but Chri&s;t. If you have an eye to du|ties, looke on them as the fruits of Chri&s;t in you, by whom you are ju&s;tified of the free-grace of God; you may looke on duties as the fruits of your Ju&s;tification, but none but Chri&s;t as the roote and foundation of it.</P>
<P>Secondly, It &s;hould beget admiration, in con&s;idering Gods gi|ving freely &s;uch eternall love, and loveline&s;&s;e to his elect Saints, though by nature they hated him; Let us aske our &s;oule in the truth of that word, which tels us, <HI>God loved us before we loved him,</HI> and that he cho&s;e us we did not choo&s;e him; what &s;truglings hath our natures made again&s;t his love &s;hed abroad in our hearts.</P>
<P>Oh then what vild hearts had we before he dropped love into them; yet to us God doth not only drop drops of love, but hee
<PB N="103" REF="62">gives us all his love, and to witne&s;&s;e it he gives Chri&s;t the &s;onne of his loue <HI>which knew no &s;inne, to be made &s;inne for us, that we might be made the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him;</HI> the perfection of righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>Oh here is love making loveline&s;&s;e; here is Chri&s;t given to a &s;oule, which is infinite love, and being found in his righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e is made perfect lovely, without &s;pot or wrinkle (&s;ayes the Text) compleate in him. Can we con&s;ider this, and not admire it; wee can as men admire that we can give no rea&s;on for. Oh then let us admire this love of God, which &s;urpa&s;&s;es all our rea|&s;on, and can never be apprehended but by an eye of faith, why any &s;hould be ve&s;&s;els of wrath, and not we, or why wee ve&s;&s;els of honour, when others are ve&s;&s;els of di&s;honour. If you can give me no rea&s;on, then admire this love, this free love, this full and eter|nall love! Oh what beloved like our beloved, that could love &s;uch wretches as we, and &s;o love us as to make us one with him&s;elfe to all eternity; this is only fit to be admired by Saints.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, This cals upon Saints to tru&s;t God, and to live upon him by faith.</P>
<P>Secondly, To love God and Je&s;us Chri&s;t which hath thus lo|ved us.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, To lye low at the feete of God and the weake&s;t Saints! Oh tru&s;t God; who is like him to be tru&s;ted? Which hath for|given us freely, and ju&s;tified us freely and fully, when God might have glorified his Ju&s;tice in our damnation, but hath freely cho|&s;en to glorifie his grace in our &s;alvation. Oh for a Saint to di|&s;tru&s;t God, how unworthy it is of that love and free-grace by which we &s;tand ju&s;tified in his &s;ight for ever. If God &s;hould argue with us thus; what doe you di&s;tru&s;t me? Doe you thinke <HI>I</HI> either am, or will be wrath with you? Why I have made you one with Chri&s;t, and I can as well be in wrath with him as with you; What &s;hould I do: more, I have clean&s;ed you in the blood of my Sonne, and cloathed you with my owne righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and do you thinke I can now be wrath with you? Surely then you think me unju&s;t may God &s;ay. I have told I you am &s;atisfied in Chri&s;t, and how can I as a ju&s;t God &s;atisfie my wrath on you again. Nay I have put my Spirit into your hearts, by which you have come to me crying <HI>Abba-Father,</HI> and yet doe di&s;tru&s;t me! Surely it is your
<PB N="104" REF="63">fle&s;h, and not my Spirit in you, which creates the&s;e hard thoughts of me. I &s;ay if God &s;hould argue thus with us, who &s;hould be able to an&s;wer him. God is a gracious God to us, a God of free-grace; oh then live on the free-grace of this gracious God; what though thon can&s;t not &s;ee tho&s;e qualifications in thee that would per&s;wade thee to love thy enemie, were they in him; yet mea&s;ure not God by thy &s;elfe, he is a God of infinite free-grace, his ways are pa&s;t finding out: Now if he tels and per&s;wades thee by his &s;pi|rit he loves thee, believe it this love was from eternity, and &s;hall abide to eternity; enquire no rea&s;on, God is above thy rea&s;on, live on him by faith. If God tell thee he hath laid thy iniquities on Chri&s;t, and the griefe and puni&s;hment due to them, and that he &s;tood as the &s;inner in thy roome, becau&s;e thou mighte&s;t for e|ver &s;tand righteous in him. I &s;ay, if God tell a poore &s;oule this in the Go&s;pel tho&s;e glad tidings of peace, oh then goe not backe to Sathan and thy owne heart to find rea&s;on of this love &amp; qualification &s;utable to this love, before thou wilt believe Gods word: but lie downe at the feete of God, and ca&s;t thy &s;elfe at the throne of his free-grace, for there is thy &s;alvation; believe that the rea&s;ons is in him&s;elfe, and the &s;utable qualifications &s;hall &s;pring from communion with him&s;elf, and the Lord Chri&s;t in the Spirit.</P>
<P>Secondly, Oh love God and Je&s;us Chri&s;t which hath and doth thus love us; oh that our hearts did truly &s;ay there is no be|loved like our beloved. <HI>Who will &s;hew us any good</HI> (&s;ays one Text.) Why &s;oule, wilt thou not love tho&s;e that &s;hew thee good? Oh then love God &amp; Chri&s;t in whom is all thy life, and all the good of it bound up, what ever may engage love it is all in God and Chri&s;t; there is the fulne&s;&s;e of riches, and glory, and mercy, and beauty, and plea&s;ures, and honours, and all that the va&s;te&s;t &s;oule can de&s;ire to be found in fellow&s;hip with the Father and the Son. If there were no other argument but this to love him, it were e|nough, <HI>becau&s;e he loved us, and gave him&s;elfe for us.</HI> The Father gave him, and he willingly became &s;inne for us: and hee tels us the end; <HI>that we might be made the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him.</HI> Oh that now in the beholding of this love, we might be changed to his Image, to be love as God is love.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, <HI>Oh lye low at the feete of God,</HI> and the weake&s;t Saint, when we looke upon all our glorious inheritance as Heires, and
<PB N="105" REF="63">Co-heirs with Chri&s;t, yet remember it is all of free-grace. 'Tis of grace wee are &s;aved out of the jawes of hell; <HI>What ha&s;t thou which thou ha&s;t not received;</HI> you &s;hall finde it in the de&s;ign of God to exclude boa&s;ting: As in <HI>Rom.</HI> 3.27. <HI>Let not the wi&s;e man glery in his wi&s;dome, the rich man in his riches, nor the &s;trong man in his &s;trength: but let him that glorieth glory in the Lord;</HI> For truly a Saint hath no glory but as he is in God and Chri&s;t. The Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> de&s;ired <HI>to know nothing but Chri&s;t and him crucified,</HI> and only to be found in his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; this was his his glory: and &s;ayes he, <HI>If I boa&s;t, I will boa&s;t of the Cro&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t.</HI> Hee had according to the outward man learning and honour, and much to boa&s;t of: but this is &s;elfe, and hee throwes it downe at the feete of God, and will only glory as he is one with Chri&s;t. And truly when a &s;oule can &s;ay, <HI>my beloved is mine, and I am his,</HI> hee hath &s;poken all at once, and this glory of the Sunne puts out the light of the Starres, and now all that is &s;elfe is nothing. I (&s;ayes <HI>Paul,) in me, that is in my fle&s;h,</HI> in all that is my &s;elfe, <HI>there is no good.</HI></P>
<P>Thus is a Saint living on the free-grace of God, nothing in him&s;elfe, but all in Chri&s;t: and from hence he comes to prize the weake&s;t Saint, he looks on him as hewed out of the &s;ame Rock, as an heir of the &s;ame glory, as a &s;oul created in that free-grace that him&s;elf is, and &s;o argues thus; he is my brother, and though he be weake and I &s;trong, yet I mu&s;t not boa&s;t, but beare; not boa&s;t o|ver him, but beare him in my armes. If I have more gifts, they are al for the edification of the body, &amp; not to di&s;courage the lea&s;t member, but to help all, and therefore &s;ayes he, my bo&s;ome &s;hall be a bed for my brother to re&s;t in. And if hee may &s;ee further on my &s;houlders, I will lye downe at his feete that he may get up. If I have gifts, it is to beare the burthen of the weake; <HI>Gifts truly &s;anctified, heithens Chri&s;t, but they humble a Saint.</HI> Chri&s;t di&s;covers him&s;elfe by them, and the Saint in beholding Chri&s;ts fulne&s;&s;e doth &s;ee his owne emptine&s;&s;e, and &s;o owns and admires God, but aba&s;es and denies him&s;elfe. The &s;oule argues thus, that ju&s;tifying grace I have from Chri&s;t; it is for my &s;elfe, and I re&s;t in it: but my &s;anctifying grace, tho&s;e gifts and fruits of the Spirit, they are in me for the good of others, and therefore lookes on it as his duty, and that he is obliged by the law of Chri&s;t &s;hed abroad in his heart, to become all things lawfull to all men, that hee may
<PB N="106" REF="64">gaine &s;ome: Againing and not a de&s;troying worke is in his eye, and this makes him indeed and in truth to lye low at the feete of the weake&s;t Saint, and this he doth from a &s;pirituall con&s;idera|tion, how that he &s;tands ju&s;tified to all eternity by the free-grace of God through the redemption that is in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, for wee are ju&s;tified freely by the grace of God through Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IX. Chri&s;t and the new Creature are un&s;eparable.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL>2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5. <HI>former part of ver&s;.</HI> 17.</BIBL> Therefore if any man be in Chri&s;t, hee is a new crea|ture.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THE Apo&s;tle doth in this Scripture (as in all o|ther) <HI>like a good and faithfull &s;ervant,</HI> make it his whole bu&s;ine&s;&s;e and de&s;ign to advance his Ma&s;ters glory (the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.)</P>
<P>A new creature is the mo&s;t glorious object that the world affords, and the Apo&s;tles care is to hold that forth in all its glory, namely in Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>A creature in Chri&s;t is a new creature indeed, and a new crea|ture is in Chri&s;t indeed. As if the Apo&s;tle had &s;aid, there is not a|ny man who is in Chri&s;t, what ever he was before, but by vertue of that union he is made a new creature, though before a wilde Olive; yet &s;o &s;oone as ingrafted into Chri&s;t the tree of life, hee brings forth good fruit. <HI>As you cannot gather grapes from thornes, nor figs of thi&s;tles,</HI> no more can the members of Chri&s;t be barren, or bring forth briers or thi&s;tles in &s;tead of the fruits of the Spirit, which is love, joy, &amp;c. Chri&s;t is the Saints fountaine that is uni|ted to him, out of whom can flow no bitter water. Hee that is
<PB N="107" REF="64">borne of God &s;ins not, &s;o far as the new birth is in him, though there be a law in the members, in the fle&s;h of Saints, which &s;er|ves the law of &s;in, yet with the law of their mindes they &s;erve the will of God; &s;o that you &s;hall finde Saints in this frame, com|plaining of &s;elfe, and admiring of God, condemning of &s;elf, and ju&s;tifying of God, the remainder of the old man in me, that is my &s;elfe, my fle&s;h &s;aith a Saint: but the new creature that is Chri&s;t in me the hope of glory, that is, the King of glory come into my &s;oule, and di&s;playing the glory of his pre&s;ence there, that is Chri&s;t in me, and I in Chri&s;t, in whome I am made a new crea|ture; <HI>therefore if any man be in Chri&s;t he is a new creature:</HI> and if any man be a new creature it is Chri&s;t in him.</P>
<P>That there may appeare Method in what followeth take this one generall Ob&s;ervation, Namely;</P>
<P><HI>That being in Chri&s;t and the new creature are in&s;eperable, they alway gee together.</HI></P>
<P>If in Chri&s;t then a new creature, and if a new creature then in Chri&s;t, as it is impo&s;&s;ible to be a new creature before united to Chri&s;t; &s;o it is as impo&s;&s;ible to be truly in Chri&s;t, and not to be a new creature, as tho&s;e dead bones could not live before God had united them, covered them with skin, and breathed life in|to them. For te&s;timony to this truth, take in the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> in <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.10. <HI>And if Chri&s;t be in you the body is dead becau&s;e of &s;in, but the &s;pirit is life becau&s;e of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e.</HI> He gives us this truth as it were upon his experience, as if he had &s;aid, I have found this, that ever &s;ince I have bin in union with Chri&s;t, the body of &s;in hath bin a dying, &amp; the &s;pirit of life hath carried me forth to the fruits of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, I am dead now to the commands of &s;in and fle&s;h, by which I have formerly binned captive, and am made alive in my &s;pirit to the workes of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; and if you aske me a rea&s;on of this, it is Chri&s;t in me: And i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> Chri&s;t be in you, it will be &s;o with you too, your bodies will be dead to the commands of &s;in, and your &s;pirits alive in the fruits of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, you will finde Chri&s;t a living Chri&s;t, the &s;econd man from heaven <HI>heavenly;</HI> and as a living Chri&s;t, &s;o hee makes life where ever he comes, and the life he brings is heavenly; Chri&s;t makes the new creature, &amp; therefore can never be with|out the new creature; <HI>What hath its being from Chri&s;t cannot be without Chri&s;t;</HI> Now the new creature hath its being from Chri&s;t
<PB N="108" REF="65">it could not be but in Chri&s;t, and by Chri&s;t: &s;o that it mu&s;t needs follow it is alwayes with Chri&s;t; where Chri&s;t is there is the new creature indeed, the new creature is nothing el&s;e but Chri&s;t po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing him&s;elfe of a &s;oule, living in it, and reigning over it by his &s;pirit, as Satan doth in the meere naturall man. A Saint he dies with Chri&s;t and he lives with Chri&s;t; Chri&s;t dies for him and lives in him, and wee &s;hall finde the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> in <HI>Gal.</HI> 2.20. making this confe&s;&s;ion and acknowledgment, <HI>I am crucified with Chri&s;t, neverthele&s;&s;e I live, yet not I but Chri&s;t liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the fle&s;h, I live by the faith of the &s;on of God, who loved me and gave him&s;elf for me.</HI> He doth acknowledge him|&s;elfe to be dead, crucified to him&s;elfe in the death of Chri&s;t, and then laies hold of another life, but it is out of &s;elfe, by faith in Chri&s;t, this is my very life now whil&s;t I am in the fle&s;h &s;aith he, and truly this my life is Chri&s;t in me, &amp; it is not I but Chri&s;t that lives in me, that faith which is in me is not &s;elfe but Chri&s;t; as if he had &s;aid, my life is a new life, and that life is the new crea|ture, and that new creature is Chri&s;t in me, I am that Temple which you &s;ee Chri&s;t lives in, but Chri&s;t is the life of that Tem|ple; <HI>Without me</HI> (&s;aith Chri&s;t) <HI>you can doe nothing:</HI> True Lord &s;aith <HI>Paul,</HI> but through thy &s;trength I can doe all things, as if Chri&s;t had &s;aid, you cannot be new creatures till you be in me and I in you; I finde that true &s;aith <HI>Paul, for in me that is in my fle&s;h, there is no good:</HI> But I have al&s;o experimented this truth, if once in thee I can be no longer an old creature, as he tells us in <HI>Gal.</HI> 1.15, 16. <HI>So &s;oone as ever God had called me by his grace, to re|veale his &s;onne in me, that I might preach him among the heathens, im|mediately, I obeyed and did not &s;tand to confer with fle&s;h and blood.</HI> Not to &s;ee by his old eyes, nor to act upon his old principles, fle&s;h and blood mu&s;t no longer teach and lead <HI>Paul</HI> when God had called him by his grace, and revealed Chri&s;t to him, as if <HI>Paul</HI> &s;hould &s;ay, I am now united to the Lord Je&s;us, and I cannot but be a new creature, the Kingdome of God is within me, and it will bur&s;t out, it is like new wine in old bottles, as my fle&s;h was not able to act the new creature without Chri&s;t, no more is it able to conceale the new creature now Chri&s;t is borne in me; I am now led by the Spirit and I walke in the Spirit; and the fruits of the Spirit is, <HI>love, joy, peace, &amp;c. And &s;uch are they that are in Chri&s;t, for they have crucified the fle&s;h with the lu&s;ts thereof.</HI> That
<PB N="109" REF="65">is Chri&s;t in them hath crucified the fle&s;h, and they are dead to it, &s;o that their life is in the &s;pirit, and they both live and walk in the &s;pirit, becau&s;e Chri&s;t lives in them, and they live and act meerly from Chri&s;t: Saints in Chri&s;t are branches in the Vine; And if Chri&s;t be the root, then holine&s;&s;e will be the fruit; for no other fruit can grow from that roote.</P>
<P>The demon&s;tration of this truth may be found in the parti|culars following, the fir&s;t demon&s;tration is this;</P>
<P>That it is Gods de&s;igne from eternity, that &s;uch as are united to Chri&s;t, &s;hould be made new creatures in Chri&s;t, that Chri&s;t &s;hould worke holine&s;&s;e in Saints, and that Saints &s;hould worke holily, as created unto holine&s;&s;e in Chri&s;t. For proofe to this take that full place of Scripture in <HI>Ephe.</HI> 2.10. <HI>For we are his work|man&s;hip created in Chri&s;t Je&s;us unto good workes, which God hath be|fore ordained that we &s;hould walke in them.</HI> In the foregoing ver|&s;es, he tells us that we are &s;aved meerly of grace, and though God makes faith the hand to lay hold upon this free-grace of his in Chri&s;t; yet that faith is the free gift of God, as well as Chri&s;t which faith layes hold on; &amp; &s;o wrappes up all &s;alvation in free-grace, and in ver&s;e 9. excludes workes wholely upon that ac|count: But now lea&s;t the wicked naturall heart of man &s;hould conclude thus, my &s;alvation is onely upon free-grace, good workes addes nothing to it, therefore as my &s;alvation is left to Chri&s;t &s;o my conver&s;ation is left to my &s;elf, If I beleeve in Chri&s;t for to be &s;aved, I may live as I li&s;t. I &s;ay to an&s;wer this in full, arguing of our naturall hearts, the Holy Gho&s;t tells us that though holine&s;&s;e and good workes are not under the account of j&s;tuification, yet that the conver&s;ation of Saints in truth is as purely out of their owne hands as their ju&s;t fication is, for &s;aith the Text, <HI>Wee are his workman&s;hip</HI> (that is Gods) <HI>created in Chri&s;t Je&s;us unto good workes; which God hath before ordained that we &s;hould walk in them.</HI> The holy Gho&s;t &s;peakes methinkes very ful|ly to this truth in this place, that it is ordained and decreed by God from all eternity, that &s;uch as are &s;aved by Chri&s;t &s;hould be &s;anctified in Chri&s;t; as it was the de&s;igne of God from all eternity to &s;ave &s;oules meerly of his grace through Chri&s;t, &s;o is it the &s;ame de&s;igne of God to &s;anctifie every &s;oul whom he &s;aves through Chri&s;t, now this is the decree of God, that if any man be in Chri&s;t, and Chri&s;t be his ju&s;tification, that Chri&s;t &s;hall be
<PB N="110" REF="66">in him and his &s;anctification: <HI>&s;o that if any man be in Chri&s;t, he is a new creature;</HI> for the one is as fully the de&s;ign &amp; de&s;ire of the free grace of God as the other; holine&s;s it is the worke of God, com|mitted (as I may &s;ay) to the hands of Chri&s;t. The &s;ame Apo&s;tle tels us <HI>That Chri&s;t is made to us of God, wi&s;dome, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;anctifica|tion, &amp; redemption.</HI> And God carries on this decree of his, when he calls a &s;oule to lye in his bo&s;ome, and to have communion with him&s;elfe through the Lord Chri&s;t. The Apo&s;tle makes it an ar|gument in 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 4.7. <HI>For God hath not called us unto uncleanene&s;&s;e but unto holine&s;&s;e.</HI> His bu&s;ine&s;&s;e in the fore-going ver&s;es is to exhort them to holine&s;&s;e, and to avoid the lu&s;ts and concupi&s;cence of the Gentiles, which &s;aith he, knew not God, and makes this the ar|gument to his exhortation; for God hath called us to holine&s;&s;e, God hath united us to Chri&s;t, and in that union he hath decreed that we &s;hall be &s;anctified as well as &s;aved, &s;o that to me this is a full demon&s;tration, <HI>that if any man be truly in Chri&s;t he is a new creature;</HI> for this is the decree of God from all eternity, and &s;hall abide to all eternity.</P>
<P>A &s;econd demon&s;tration of this truth may be this; That the teachings of Chri&s;t in tho&s;e that are truly taught by him, is to put off the olde man which is corrupt, according to the deceitfull lu&s;ts of the fle&s;h, and to put on the new man, which is to be re|newed in the &s;pirit of their minds, after the image of God in righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e and true holine&s;&s;e. The proofe of this doth appeare in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.20, 21, 22, 23, 24. <HI>But you have not &s;o learned Chri&s;t. If &s;o be that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Je&s;us: That yee put off concerning the former conver&s;ation the olde man, which is corrupt according to the deceitfull lu&s;ts of the fle&s;h, and be renewed in the &s;pirit of your minds: and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and true holine&s;&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>By this Scripture it appeares, that &s;uch &s;oules as have learned Chri&s;t, and truths as they are in Je&s;us, they are thereby renew|ed in the &s;pirit of their mindes, &s;o as that the olde man which is after the fle&s;h is put off, and the new man put on, <HI>which is after God created in righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and true holine&s;&s;e.</HI> Chri&s;t teacheth with power, and his teachings make a change from fle&s;h to &s;pirit, and from the carnall conver&s;ation of the old man to the image of God in the Spirit, according to righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and holine&s;&s;e. Chri&s;t he renewes the mind and the conver&s;ation; when hee teacheth,
<PB N="111" REF="66">his teachings reacheth the internals; the roote receives life from him, &s;o that the fruit is the image of God in righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and true holine&s;&s;e; not a bare form all profe&s;&s;ed holine&s;&s;e, but a true holine&s;&s;e, that is holine&s;&s;e in truth, which is in Chri&s;t the truth it &s;elfe: &s;o that the demon&s;tration is full; Chri&s;t and the new crea|ture alwayes goe together: but as if the Apo&s;tle had &s;aid, there may be many formall, carnall wretches that may profe&s;&s;e Chri&s;t, and lay claime to him: but this is a &s;tanding truth, they have not been taught truths as they are in Je&s;us, and for their formality and carnality, they have that from the old man what ever they profe&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t; for &s;ure I am they have not &s;o learned Chri&s;t: his teachings are &s;pirituall, and his renewings are in the minde, which makes the image of God in righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and true holi|ne&s;&s;e in the conver&s;ation; not only a naked profe&s;&s;ed holine&s;&s;e, for if Chri&s;t, then the new creature.</P>
<P>A third Demon&s;tration may be this: That God is light, and in him is no darkene&s;&s;e, &s;o that whoever hath fellow&s;hip with God and Chri&s;t, walketh in the light as God is light; for proof of this take a Scripture or two, 1 <HI>John</HI> 1.5, 6. <HI>This is the me&s;&s;age which we have heard of him, and declare unto you that God is light, &amp; in him is no darkene&s;&s;e at all. If we &s;ay that wee have fellow&s;hip with him, and walke in darkene&s;&s;e, we lye and know not the truth.</HI></P>
<P>This is the me&s;&s;age which the holy Gho&s;t brings, that God is infinitely light and purity in him&s;elfe, and if any man have uni|on with him, he walkes in the light: and if he walke in the darke, and profe&s;&s;e union with God and and Chri&s;t, hee lyeth, and the truth is not in him. <HI>Now by light and darkene&s;&s;e often in Scripture-language is meant the olde and the new man; the regenerate, and the unregenerate man.</HI> As in that Scripture; <HI>The night is farre &s;pent, &amp; the day is at hand, walke as children of the day, or children of the light.</HI> Children of the Go&s;pel, &s;uch as Chri&s;t by his Spirit hath taken po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of; this Go&s;pel-light the Spirit of God teaching, it teacheth to deny all ungodline&s;&s;e and worldly lu&s;ts, <HI>and to live &s;o|berly, righteou&s;ly, and godly in this pre&s;ent world.</HI> God is this light in him&s;elfe, and he makes this light where ever he dwels; that &s;oule which truly hath God, hath this light, and that &s;oule which acts from God, acts from this light. Now &s;ayes the holy Gho&s;t, it is a lye for you to &s;ay you live in God, and God in you, and yet
<PB N="112" REF="67">walke carnally as doe others. Sayes God in the P&s;almes, <HI>I am not &s;uch a one as thy &s;elfe. Where there is union betweene God and a &s;oule, God is not brought over to the &s;oule, but the &s;oule to God.</HI> If any &s;oul owneth union with me, &s;ayes God, know that I am light, and in me is no darkene&s;&s;e: &s;o as I overcome the darkne&s;&s;e of dark &s;ouls, which have fellow&s;hip with me by my light. I finde all &s;oules in darkne&s;&s;e, but I keepe no &s;oule in darkne&s;&s;e. I finde every &s;inner in his blood, but I purge as well as pardon. It is true, regenerati|on is not in every &s;oule alike for mea&s;ure and degree: but God leaves no &s;oule as he finds it, his light is alwayes expelling darke|ne&s;&s;e; the olde man dyeth daily, and &s;o is the new man renewed, Chri&s;t that &s;tronger man &s;o &s;oon as ever he po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth a &s;oule, &s;ets upon that worke of ca&s;ting out the &s;trong man of &s;inne: and as he told <HI>Paul,</HI> &s;o he tels and makes it good to every Saint, <HI>my grace &s;hall be &s;ufficient for you, &s;inne &s;hall not reigne in your mortall bodies.</HI> Chri&s;ts pre&s;ence is manife&s;ted by his power, where he lives, &s;inne mu&s;t dye, &s;o that &s;inne, Sathan, and the &s;oule &s;hall know it. You &s;hall know (&s;aith Chri&s;t) <HI>if you be in me I will make you new crea|tures.</HI> It &s;hall be your meate and drinke to doe my will, as it was mine to doe my Fathers, and my commands &s;hall be &s;weete to you as the honey and the honey-comb; <HI>my yoke &s;hall be ea&s;ie, and my burthen light</HI> to you, 1 <HI>John</HI> 2.29. <HI>If you know that he is righte|ous, you know that every one that doth righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is borne of him.</HI> This is the effects of union with God and Chri&s;t, God in Chri&s;t; to doe righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, that is, to walke in the light as hee is light, to walk by his light the light of his Spirit, which doth both teach and lead Saints into all the will, worke, and wayes of God: So that this Demon&s;tration doth farther cleare the truth, that who ever are in Chri&s;t they are new creatures. Chri&s;t and the new creature are in&s;eparable, they alwayes goe together.</P>
<P>A fourth Demon&s;tration may be this, That &s;uch as are truly Saints in union with Chri&s;t, they have all their life from him; their buddings forth is from the &s;ap which they receive from the Lord Chri&s;t; we may receive truth from our Saviour him&s;elfe in <HI>John</HI> 15.5. <HI>I am the vine, yee are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the &s;ame bringeth forth much fruit; for without mee you can doe nothing.</HI> Now if this be truth, which none but the &s;pirit of untruth can deny, then I argue thus from hence. That if Saints
<PB N="113" REF="67">be in union with Chri&s;t, as the branches are in the Vine, and have all their &s;ap and life from Chri&s;t, then the life, and actions of life in Saints, mu&s;t all beare the image of Chri&s;t: <HI>in nature like be|gets like;</HI> that which is begotten, is like that which doth beget, as we &s;ee in the bringing forth of all creatures: &s;o is it with the new creature, Chri&s;t he begets it, and the begotten is Chri&s;t, &s;o that the new creature is Chri&s;t in the &s;oule, as that Text. <HI>Know you not that Chri&s;t is in you, except you be reprobates? And yee are the temple of the holy Gho&s;t.</HI> And if this be granted, we that Chri&s;t be|gets after his owne image, then none with colour of rea&s;on can deny that who ever is in Chri&s;t is a new creature; for who ever is in Chri&s;t is as the branch in the Vine. He is not his own, but the rootes, his life and his fruit is not his owne but the rootes; for if the branch be &s;eparate from the root, it hath neither life nor fruit; well then, if in union with Chri&s;t we are not our own but Chri&s;ts, and our fruit not our owne, but the fruit of Chri&s;t, then tell mee how can any man be in Chri&s;t and not a new creature; is Chri&s;t a dead Chri&s;t in any &s;oule? No, he is not only a living Chri&s;t in every &s;oule u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ed to him, but he is the life, and putteth forth all the effects of life in &s;uch &s;oules; then if Chri&s;t be all, that all mu&s;t be Chri&s;t, and whoever is in Chri&s;t they are new creatures, &s;o that Chri&s;t and the new creature is un&s;eparable.</P>
<P>Take this 5^t^h and la&s;t Demon&s;tration; That where ever Chri&s;t is, he is chiefe in command, <HI>Lord Paramount,</HI> he rules and governs what ever &s;oule he lives in. Now the Scepter of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> is a Scepter of holine&s;&s;e &amp; righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; where <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> is King, his love makes lawes, and his Spirit gives light and life. <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> &s;ubjects <HI>they are a willing people in the day of his power.</HI> The powrings forth of his Spirit makes his will their will, &s;o that to all his will they are a willing people; then &s;urely where the power of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> over-pow|ers any &s;oule, that &s;oule acts by the power of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> in him, and mu&s;t therefore act according to the will of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> who gives the power, and that will and work is the new creature in &s;uch a &s;oul. The power of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> in &s;oules is &s;utable to his owne walking on earth. <HI>I come to doe thy will O Father,</HI> &s;ayes <HI>Chri&s;t:</HI> &s;o when he o|verpowers any &s;oule, the effect of his powerfull pre&s;ence is to frame &s;uch a &s;oul in obey&s;ance to the will of God. One Text tels us, <HI>he that is borne of God &s;innes not.</HI> So much of the regenerate
<PB N="114" REF="68">part that is in any man, &s;o much that man is above the commit|ting of &s;inne: and we find the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> di&s;tingui&s;hing between a law in his members and a law in his minde, and <HI>he thankes God through Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that with the minde he &s;erved the law of God, though with the fle&s;h the law of &s;inne.</HI> The Lord <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> he ruled and governed in the mind of <HI>Paul,</HI> and he doth acknowledge it; for he thankes God through <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t, he &s;erved the law of God with his minde,</HI> and &s;o beares witne&s;&s;e to this truth, that where <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> commands and governes, there Gods law is obeyed. And the &s;ame Apo&s;tle in the next chapter, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.2. <HI>For the law of the Spirit of life in Chri&s;t Je&s;us hath made me free from the law of &s;in and death.</HI> As if he had &s;aid, I was in bondage under the law of &s;in in the condemning and the reigning power of it, till <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> came to command in my &s;oule by his Spirit, and then I found delive|rance, &s;o that now I can &s;ay, <HI>It is not I, but Chri&s;t that lives in mee.</HI> The olde man, the law of &s;inne, was in command till <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> came: <HI>but now we that were &s;ometimes darkene&s;&s;e are made light in the Lord,</HI> and that light is the light of life: and the love of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> &s;hed abroad in our hearts is both roote &amp; &s;trength to a new life. So the &s;ame Apo&s;tle; <HI>I can doe all things through Chri&s;t that &s;treng|thens me.</HI> Though the new creature be a worke too hard for my fle&s;h, yet it is not too hard for <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> in the Spirit. Nay, it is the certaine, and the con&s;tant worke of the Lord Je&s;us to make the new creature; Hee is made to us of God Sanctification as truly as Redemption: &s;o this is an undeniable truth; That if any man be in <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> he is a new creature.</P>
<P>In this meditation there is much to informe us, exceeding u&s;e|full for a chri&s;tians knowledge.</P>
<P>As fir&s;t, it informes all of the holine&s;&s;e and purity of God; that <HI>though his grace call, pitty, and pardon the wor&s;t of &s;inners, yet his pu|rity will imbo&s;ome no &s;oule but in Chri&s;t:</HI> and in <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> he makes them new creatures. The Lord <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> him&s;elfe tels us in one Text, <HI>That no man commeth to the Father but by him.</HI> And this Text tels us, <HI>That if any man be in Chri&s;t he is a new creature:</HI> So that &s;uch &s;ouls as come and lye downe in the bo&s;ome of God, come through Chri&s;t in whom they are made new creatures, as God in him|&s;elfe is that perfection to whom there can be no addition; &s;o he is that perfect purity which cannot have communion with any im|pure
<PB N="115" REF="68">thing; God is that light which di&s;covers all darkene&s;&s;e, and that fire which burneth up all dro&s;&s;e, &s;o that if filth approach his pre&s;ence, his light di&s;covers it, it cannot be hid from him; all thoughts and things are alwayes naked before his pre&s;ence, and his fire con&s;umes it; for God out of Chri&s;t is a con&s;uming fire; truly he knows not God which &s;aith in his heart, that God and <HI>Belial</HI> may live together. Our God is a God of glory, and the glorious God; he is not a God which hath eyes and &s;eeth not, eares and heareth not, hands and handleth not; <HI>exclude &s;inne, and then there is nothing, he is not;</HI> he is the all of all, the fir&s;t, the fountaine, and the fulne&s;&s;e of all, but &s;inne: &s;o that God is &s;o in|finitely pure, that he is all but what is impure; hee is pure in the fountaine, and the fountaine of purity. Purity flowes only from God, and that only returnes to God; nothing but purity can dwell in God, for God is pure.</P>
<P>And if thus, then <HI>&s;econdly this informes us of the riches of Gods free-grace, which hath not only given us a ju&s;tifying, but al&s;o a &s;ancti|fying Je&s;us.</HI> That Chri&s;t &s;hould not only deliver his Elect from the condemning power, but al&s;o from the reigning power of &s;in; not only deliver from the ju&s;tice of God in &s;atisfying Ju&s;tice for them, but &s;o carrying them in his owne righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, into the bo&s;om of God, where he biddeth them all <HI>eate my beloved, feed a|bundantly and be &s;atisfied.</HI> A Saints life is bound up in God, &amp; his ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e is to have communion with God. Now con&s;idering the purity of God, and the impurity of fallen man; if free-grace had not made Chri&s;t our way, and our Sanctification as our Re|demption, we could never have been ble&s;&s;ed in communion with God. If the bo&s;ome of God be a place of re&s;t? If the love of God be the foode of eternall life? If that glory at Gods right hand be more exceeding and eternall weight of glory? Oh then what ri|ches is that riches of free-grace which hath given all this freely, and Je&s;us Chri&s;t in whom wee have the&s;e and all the fulne&s;&s;e of glory, not only freely, but full, and that to all eternity. If this be the fruit of grace, then &s;urely it mu&s;t be rich &amp; glorious grace, the fountaine mu&s;t needs be precious, the &s;treames are &s;o full of glory. If we be &s;aved, &s;anctified and glorified meerely by grace, then it mu&s;t be rich grace that gives forth &s;o richly to all eternity.</P>
<P>Thirdly, this informes us of the &s;ad and mi&s;erable condition
<PB N="116" REF="69">of prophane carnal wretches; the fruit of &s;uch lives tels us plain|ly that Chri&s;t is none of their roote. <HI>The fruits of darkne&s;&s;e are di&s;|covered by the light, but cannot be the proceeding or i&s;&s;ue of the light.</HI> The fle&s;h hath workes as proper to it, and floweth as naturally from it, as any the Spirit hath. And the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> in <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.5, 6, 7, 8. <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 5.8, 9. <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.17. to the end, doth di&s;cover both the rootes and the fruits of fle&s;h and Spirit, which are as clearely to be di&s;tingui&s;hed between as light and darkne&s;&s;e, and is in no nearer union then the &s;eede of the Serpent and the &s;eede of the woman. <HI>If any man be in</HI> Chri&s;t <HI>he is a new creature, olde things are pa&s;&s;ed away, behold all things are become new.</HI> Truly this is but &s;ad tidings for &s;uch poore &s;oules that are yet old creatures, not yet re|newed in the &s;pirit of their minds. It &s;peaks very loud and plain|ly to them that they are not yet united to Chri&s;t; for were they in him, he would &s;oon make them new creatures. The Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.17, 18, 19. &s;peaking of the Gentiles: <HI>Walking in the vanity of their minds, having their under&s;tandings darkned, being ali|enated from the life of God through the ignorance and blindne&s;&s;e of their hearts, who being pa&s;t feeling, had given them&s;elves over unto all la&s;ci|viou&s;ne&s;&s;e, to worke all uncleanne&s;&s;e with greedine&s;&s;e.</HI> In ver&s;. 20. <HI>But ye have not &s;o learned</HI> Chri&s;t. As if hee had &s;aid, &s;uch a life as that is the proper fruit of a naturall condition, a man out of Chri&s;t, for Chri&s;t he teacheth no &s;uch things: but on the contrary, as in <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 22, 23, 24. of that Chapter: Chri&s;t he teacheth; <HI>To put off concer|ning the former conver&s;ation the olde man which is corrupt according to the deceitfull lu&s;ts, and to be renewed in the &s;pirit of our minds, and to put on the new man, which after God is created in righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and true holine&s;&s;e.</HI> It is &s;ad indeed for poor &s;oules to gather that which &s;inne and Sathan is the roote, and to plea&s;e it &s;elfe with that which is &s;weet only to the pallat, but bitter in the belly, and car|ries a cur&s;e with it where ever it goes. Now this is the &s;ad condi|tion of Chri&s;tle&s;&s;e &s;oules, &s;uch poore wretches as have given over them&s;elves to worke all uncleanne&s;&s;e with greedine&s;&s;e; the&s;e poor &s;oules <HI>walke according to the cour&s;e of the world, and the power of the Prince of the Aire, the &s;pirit that now worketh in the children of di&s;o|bedience, fulfilling the lu&s;ts and the de&s;ires of the fle&s;h,</HI> Ephe&s;. 2.2, 3. And if this be not a mi&s;erable condition, I know not what can make up mi&s;ery. As it is the ble&s;&s;ing of Heaven to live in Chri&s;t,
<PB N="117" REF="69">and Chri&s;t in us: &s;o it is the mi&s;ery of Hell upon earth to be ful|filling lu&s;ts and the de&s;ires of the fle&s;h, in which the poore &s;oule is ruled by the Prince of the aire, led captive by Sathan at his will. This is the &s;ad condition of prophane, carnall, Chri&s;t-le&s;&s;e &s;oules, &s;uch as are not new creatures; <HI>For if any man be in Chri&s;t he is a new creature.</HI></P>
<P>Fourthly, This informes us of the de&s;perate wickedne&s;&s;e and hypocri&s;ie of tho&s;e wretches, which with their lips lay claime to Chri&s;t and free-grace, and yet are not new creatures: but make a profe&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;t to be a protection &amp; covering of the old man in them; this is the growing and thriving &s;inne of the&s;e la&s;t and evill times which wee are fallen into. If the &s;ingle witne&s;&s;e of the lip may be taken, Chri&s;t had never more followers then in the&s;e our dayes: but this is a truth &s;o pretious, and of &s;o great a con&s;e|quence, that it well de&s;erveth two witne&s;&s;es, I meane the life as well as the lip. Our Saviour tels us at the time of his being upon earth, of many <HI>belly,</HI> and <HI>eye-followers;</HI> that he had &s;uch as follow|ed him for the loaves, and to &s;ee the miracles that he did: but for lip followers of Chri&s;t, I believe our pre&s;ent age out-&s;trips all that went before it: and as the Lord Chri&s;t did di&s;cover the hy|pocri&s;ie that was in the former, &s;o doe I verily believe he will this generall profe&s;&s;ion of him in our dayes. God hath gone a great way in this worke already, and I verily believe the earth-quake we are in will not cea&s;e till God have perfected this good work he hath begun; men deceive them&s;elves when they entitle their wick|edne&s;&s;e to Chri&s;t, he is too bright a glory to be vail'd over, and too clear a light to be deceived by any darkene&s;&s;e; profe&s;&s;ion can|not dazell the eyes of perfection. Chri&s;t is perfect, and can di&s;|cerne and di&s;cover the &s;ecret hypocri&s;ie of the heart; mans eyes may be deceived with a bare profe&s;&s;ion, but when Chri&s;t is intit|led to a lye, <HI>as the God of truth;</HI> he is engaged to di&s;charge him|&s;elfe of tho&s;e branches which are only in him by profe&s;&s;ion, and &s;o leave them to a withering &s;tate, as being without the &s;ap of life: And that I think is the meaning of our Saviour in <HI>Joh.</HI> 15.2. <HI>Every branch in me</HI> (meaning Chri&s;t) <HI>that beareth not fruit,</HI> he (meaning God) <HI>taketh away.</HI> That is, Chri&s;t hath many which profe&s;s him, and bring not forth the fruit of union with him, which is the new creature, and them (God to clear up his owne power and purity)
<PB N="118" REF="70">takes away, as if the Lord had &s;aid, the evill heart of man thinkes to hide the olde man of &s;inne under a profe&s;&s;ion of mee: but if you looke into the fruits and lives of &s;uch men, you will find them only branches in profe&s;&s;ion, which in the fitte&s;t time for lifting up the power and purity of God, God will take away, and Chri&s;t will di&s;charge him&s;elfe of them.</P>
<P>The holy Gho&s;t methinkes is very full to this purpo&s;e, in 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> chap. 3. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 11, 12, 13. <HI>For other foundation can no man lay then that is laid, which is Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Now if any man build on this foundation, gold, &s;ilver, precious &s;tone, wood, hay, &s;tubble.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Every mans workes &s;hall be made manife&s;t; for the day &s;hall de|clare it, becau&s;e it &s;hall be revealed by fire, and the fire &s;hall try eve|ry mans worke of what &s;ort it is.</HI></P>
<P>Every man would be &s;aved, and there is no foundation which is or can be laid but Chri&s;t; this is a generall rule.</P>
<P>Now upon the foundation &s;ome lay gold and precious &s;tones, others lay wood, hay, and &s;tubble; the former have Chri&s;t in truth, the latter only in profe&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>But Chri&s;t hee deales with all alike, hee is re&s;olved to make all manife&s;t, and therefore hee brings all to the fire, by which gold appeares to bee gold, &s;ilver to be &s;ilver, and precious &s;tones to bee &s;uch, becau&s;e they abide the fire. And this fire makes wood, hay, and &s;tubble to appeare to be &s;uch, becau&s;e the fire con&s;umeth them.</P>
<P>If wee under&s;tand here by fire, the fire of affliction and per|&s;ecution, why under that &s;ence the truth will &s;tand firme, for &s;uch as have not learned truths as they are in Je&s;us, will de|ny truths and Je&s;us too if affliction come.</P>
<P>Unfound profe&s;&s;ion is &s;oone burnt up in the fire of per&s;e|cution, it is too hot a fire for wood, hay, or &s;tubble to con|tend with. Wood may la&s;t longer then hay, or &s;tubble: but all the time it la&s;ts it con&s;umes; It is not like gold and &s;ilver that is refined and made more pure then it was before it came into the fire. Not like that &s;eede which had on|ly the &s;hallow rooting of profe&s;&s;ion, that withered &s;o &s;oone as the &s;corching beames of the Sunne came upon it.</P>
<PB N="119" REF="70">
<P>The Apo&s;tle had more then naked profe&s;&s;ion, <HI>Rom.</HI> Chapter 8. the latter end, when under this fire of per&s;ecu|tion; <HI>Killed all the day long, and counted as &s;heepe for the &s;laughter.</HI> Yet hee profe&s;&s;ed in all his &s;ufferings, <HI>Hee was more then a Conquerour through Chri&s;t that loved him.</HI></P>
<P>Hee was true gold indeed, that was a gaine by this fire: and what ever is but bare profe&s;&s;ion will &s;oon con&s;ume when it commeth to this fire. And truly God is now &s;haking not only the Earth but the Heavens al&s;o; not only carnall wret|ches, but even all profe&s;&s;ors, and this &s;haking will &s;hake off all that are not one with Chri&s;t. This &s;haking is that tho&s;e which cannot bee &s;haken may appeare to remaine.</P>
<P>But I rather thinke by fire here is meant the fire of the Spirit, tho&s;e bright beames of the glorious pre&s;ence of GOD. As if the LORD &s;hould &s;ay; You wood, hay, and &s;tubble, that build by profe&s;&s;ion upon my Chri&s;t, and deceive the World by your formes, empty of the power of Godline&s;&s;e, you &s;hall know that Chri&s;t is the only and pro|per foundation for gold, &s;ilver, and precious &s;tones to build upon; And I am re&s;olved to make a di&s;covery of the diffe|rence betweene them and you. I will powre out my Spi|rit, and that precious fire will enflame their love and your hatred to Chri&s;t, Saints, and truth. That light &s;hall try and di&s;cover your darkene&s;&s;e; for till that light appeares, your darkene&s;&s;e will be taken for light: but when that light doth appeare, it will di&s;cover your darkene&s;&s;e in hating the light.</P>
<P>Bare formall profe&s;&s;ion is &s;o true an enemie to nothing as to &s;pirituall light, and an empty form enraged again&s;t nothing more then the power of godline&s;&s;e, and therefore God makes tryall of all profe&s;&s;ing and profe&s;&s;ors by the powrings forth of his Spirit.</P>
<P>Truly if God did not looke that &s;uch as wor&s;hip him &s;hould wor&s;hip him in &s;pirit &amp; truth, he might have wor&s;hippers all the world over. If the &s;pirit and power of godline&s;&s;e were not the di|&s;tingui&s;hing character between profe&s;&s;ors. Chri&s;t would have all to follow him, and Saints and truth none to oppo&s;e them: but when the Spirit of truth gathers up Saints into truths
<PB N="120" REF="71">as they are in Je&s;us, above this or the other naked forme, and into the power of godline&s;&s;e, bringing forth the fruits of holi|ne&s;&s;e; then not only carnall wretches, but al&s;o naked formall profe&s;&s;ors ri&s;e up again&s;t them, and thus by this fire of the Spi|rit God doth di&s;cover all profe&s;&s;ors that build upon this founda|tion the Lord Je&s;us, whether they be gold, &s;ilver, and pre|cious &s;tones, or whether they be wood, hay, or &s;tubble, by their abiding or con&s;uming. Truly, formes or no formes can give no good te&s;timony to this new creature. I judge of form &amp; no form, as the Apo&s;tle of circumci&s;ion and uncircumci&s;ion, that they avail nothing but the new creature: And I believe as the power of god|line&s;&s;e &s;hall encrea&s;e, the contendings in the world about formes will decrea&s;e; that I am troubled at is this, when men are rigidly zealous for formes; yet then negligent of the power of godline&s;&s;e in them&s;elves, and oppo&s;ite to it in others, e&s;pecially if they differ in formes, which makes it evidently to appeare, that their forme is their God, and they have no God but forme.</P>
<P>And on the other &s;ide it is as &s;ad, if not more &s;ad, to behold &s;uch as pretend to higher communion with God then others have which walke in the u&s;e of formes, and yet in their lives as loo&s;e, as vaine, and as empty of God as tho&s;e which have nothing but forme.</P>
<P>That I contend for is the power of godline&s;&s;e, and I would all the contentions in the world were &s;wallowed up in this, <HI>name|ly</HI> who &s;hould live up mo&s;t of Chri&s;t, to exceede each other in the power of godline&s;&s;e; this contention would kill none but our lu&s;ts; love to Chri&s;t, Saints, and truths would live indeed, and 'twould be our life to live in this love.</P>
<P>But there is another &s;ort of people in the world which this truth informes us of, that is &s;uch as talke much of the grace of God, and yet turne that grace into wantonne&s;&s;e; &s;uch wret|ches did never &s;piritually under&s;tand this Text, <HI>That who ever is in Chri&s;t is a new creature.</HI> Nor doe they con&s;ider how they en|gage the purity of Chri&s;t to di&s;cover their impurity. The Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> in <HI>Rom.</HI> 6. makes it matter of abhorrency <HI>to continue in &s;inne,</HI> upon this con&s;ideration, <HI>becau&s;e grace did abound in God,</HI> and tru|ly God doth more abhorre to own them under a notion of grace; <HI>be not deceived, God is not mocked,</HI> he will make his word appear
<PB N="121" REF="71">truth again&s;t all the wretches in the world, they &s;hall know that &s;uch as are in Chri&s;t they are new creatures.</P>
<P>I have heard it reported, that there be &s;ome which deny the Scriptures; <HI>That which is under&s;tood by the titles of the old and new Te&s;tament to be the word of God.</HI> I can &s;ay no &s;uch thing knowing|ly: but &s;ure I am, that many thou&s;ands which acknowledge it with their lips, deny it with their lives, and that in this one Text; <HI>That if any man be in Chri&s;t hee is a new creature;</HI> for they will lay claime to the one, and deny the other; talke of their in|tere&s;t in &s;aving grace, but deny his &s;anctifying grace. Such wret|ches as the&s;e bring an evill report upon the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t, and the Chri&s;t of the Go&s;pel. The Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t it is glad tidings, being the proclaiming of Chri&s;t crucified, as the gift of free-grace for poore &s;inners.</P>
<P>Now when &s;uch as hate to be reformed talke of the free-grace of God, they put di&s;honour upon it, and a &s;tumbling-blocke before weake Chri&s;tians; It makes them &s;tagger at grace to &s;ee grace-le&s;&s;e men profe&s;&s;e it: and grace in truth hath harder thoughts of many, and is le&s;&s;e e&s;teemed of becau&s;e of this fal&s;e profe&s;&s;ion of grace, and I feare me it makes poore legall &s;oules to make a God of their duties, when they &s;ee the&s;e vilde creatures to abu&s;e the grace of God. I know not what is more vilde then this, to live in &s;inne under a profe&s;&s;ion of grace; The&s;e are &s;eared con&s;ciences indeed, that can &s;inne and name it grace, and then call the God of truth to witne&s;&s;e to that lye: nay to make God him&s;elfe a lyar; for he &s;aith <HI>who ever is in Chri&s;t is a new creature:</HI> but they &s;ay they are in Chri&s;t, and yet are olde creatures. God will unmaske this hypocri&s;ie, and prove him&s;elfe the God of truth. Chri&s;t hath no fellow&s;hip with the unfruitfull workes of darkne&s;&s;e; &s;uch as are in Chri&s;t, their fellow&s;hip is with the Fa|ther &amp; with the Son: &s;uch as have fellow&s;hip with Chri&s;t are tho&s;e that live in Chri&s;t, and Chri&s;t in them, that live by the faith of the Sonne of God, and in the &s;pirit of the holy God, &s;o that they are changed into the image of God. This is the new crea|ture, this is the gracious &s;oule indeed; &s;uch as have the power of their lives. <HI>It is not every one that &s;aith</HI> Lord, Lord, <HI>&s;hall enter into the Kingdom of heaven, but he that knoweth my Fathers will and doth it</HI> (&s;aith Chri&s;t.) 'Tis grace in truth and act that con&s;i&s;ts with
<PB N="122" REF="72">union and communion with Chri&s;t; if in Chri&s;t then a new crea|ture: and all profe&s;&s;ion of grace without the new creature, will appeare our owne fancy of grace, and not the grace of God in truth, for that alwayes produceth the new man; <HI>If any man be in Chri&s;t he is a new creature.</HI></P>
<P>La&s;tly, This informes Saints indeed of their duty and privi|ledge; for truly it is both, and it is this; <HI>That wee live to no other end, but to live up Chri&s;t</HI> who is our life: and if Chri&s;t be our life, then we are new creatures, and the life of the new creature is to live up Chri&s;t which is its life. Children of the day &s;hould walke as &s;uch in the light of the Lord, in the power and might of his Spirit. It is the Apo&s;tles exhortation, in <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.25. <HI>If we live in the Spirit, let us al&s;o walke in the Spirit.</HI> As if hee had &s;aid, it is not only our bu&s;ine&s;&s;e as Saints to live in the joyes of God, but al&s;o to live up the God of our joyes; not only to live upon God in the Spirit, but to walke with God in the Spirit; that is, in the fruits of the Spirit; for that is the Apo&s;tles &s;ubject in the ver&s;es ju&s;t before this. Chri&s;t is a living Chri&s;t, he appeare where ever he is. The Apo&s;tle <HI>James</HI> in his 2^d chap. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 17. tels us, <HI>that faith without workes is dead.</HI> That is, I know not that you believe in Chri&s;t if you &s;hew not the fruits of faith; for I know Chri&s;t is a living Chri&s;t, and if you live in him, then he will ap|peare in your life. It is the life of tho&s;e which live in Chri&s;t, to declare Chri&s;t to be their life in living him up. A Saints glory ly|eth in this, that Chri&s;t is his life, and therefore counts it his on|ly bu&s;ine&s;&s;e to advance the glory of Chri&s;t which is his life and his glory; <HI>Whom have I in heaven bus thee</HI> &s;ayes the Prophet <HI>Da|vid, and I have none in earth in compari&s;on of thee.</HI> So &s;ayes a Saint in truth, when I come to heaven God is all my glory, now I am on earth God is all my glory; I have no other to glory in, and no other glory to lift up but God and Chri&s;t, and God in Chri&s;t, the free-grace of God making Chri&s;t to be <HI>wi&s;dome, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;anctification, and redemption</HI> to me, to be my all, and all I am to be his; this is a Saints glory here, and to all eternity, and the declaring this in his life is all his bu&s;ine&s;&s;e upon earth. The Apo|&s;tle <HI>Paul,</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.10. Tels us this, <HI>By the grace of God I am what I am.</HI> He had all his life from grace: &s;o it is with every true believer, grace in God is the fountaine of his life, and that grace
<PB N="123" REF="72">&s;hed in his heart makes all the motions &amp; actions of life, therefor this conclu&s;ion flows naturally from it, that it is the only end and bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of a Saints life to live up the free-grace of God, and Je|&s;us Chri&s;t the gift of his grace: And the &s;ame Apo&s;tle in <HI>Gal.</HI> 2.20. tels us, <HI>he is crucified with Chri&s;t; neverthele&s;&s;e I live, yet not I, but Chri&s;t in me.</HI> As if he had &s;aid, I am crucified with Chri&s;t to &s;inne, world, and &s;elfe, and yet I live (but it is not to that which I am crucified to in Chri&s;t, but to Chri&s;t) for he is my life and all my bu&s;ine&s;&s;e in the world is to live up him. I am dead to all but Chri&s;t, and what life you &s;ee in me, it is not my &s;elfe, but Chri&s;t in me, not the olde, but the new creature. The Apo&s;tle in <HI>Phil.</HI> 1.21. <HI>For me to live is Chri&s;t:</HI> In all my life my bu&s;ine&s;&s;e is to live up Chri&s;t. This is generall; what doe you meane by li|ving up Chri&s;t?</P>
<P>I meane this to be nothing, to doe nothing, nor de&s;ire any thing, but in all which the glory of Chri&s;t may be lifted up, in the beauty of holine&s;&s;e, and the power of godline&s;&s;e. 1. That the name of the holy God may plainly appeare in all we be, doe, or de&s;ire to doe; that in all wee are, <HI>Holine&s;&s;e to the Lord</HI> may be written upon it. But this is yet &s;omething in the darke? Why then more particularly; He that lives up Chri&s;t, mu&s;t be &s;ingle in his heart to Chri&s;t, the profe&s;&s;ion of his lips mu&s;t have its com|mi&s;&s;ion from the &s;inglene&s;&s;e and &s;incerity of his heart. Chri&s;t be|gets his owne image; it mu&s;t be Chri&s;t within which truly makes Chri&s;t without. The more Chri&s;t is in any &s;oule, the le&s;&s;e &s;elfe is there, and the le&s;&s;e &s;elfe, the more &s;ingelene&s;&s;e of &s;oule, and it is the want of this that makes &s;o much profe&s;&s;ion of godline&s;&s;e, without the power of it in the world. It is ea&s;ie to talke and pro|fe&s;&s;e up a Chri&s;t, but it is very hard to live up a Chri&s;t, and fol|low him where ever hee goes: and the rea&s;on is this, becau&s;e the &s;oule mu&s;t be &s;ingle, it mu&s;t be an un&s;elfed &s;oule that will follow Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>The young man in the Go&s;pel found this a hard thing to &s;ell all, and to be un&s;elfed for to follow Chri&s;t; truly this &s;inglene&s;&s;e of heart is the rare&s;t thing in the world to be found in the&s;e days, and it makes me feare indeed, that notwith&s;tanding all the large profe&s;&s;ion of our dayes, there is but very little of the power of godline&s;&s;e of this living up the Lord Chri&s;t in truth: and as &s;in|glene&s;&s;e of heart, &s;o lowline&s;&s;e and meekne&s;&s;e. <HI>Learn of me</HI> (&s;ayes
<PB N="124" REF="73">Chri&s;t) <HI>for I am lowly and meeke.</HI> Who ever lives up a Chri&s;t mu&s;t be lowly and meeke; the proud man GOD abhors, and truly he knows that God abhorres pride in all, but mo&s;t in him&s;elfe, for by knowing GOD hee comes to know him|&s;elfe, and there findes no cau&s;e to be lifted up, but to be aba&s;ed. Selfe and Chri&s;t are contrarieties, both cannot be lifted up at once, &s;o that the proud man which lifts up him&s;elfe, cannot lift up Chri&s;t; the proud mans bu&s;ine&s;&s;e is to hold out him&s;elfe to the world, not Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Pride lifts up it &s;elfe above all others, and cannot endure that any other &s;hould be lifted up above it; therefore the proud man can never live up Chri&s;t, becau&s;e hee that truly lives up Chri&s;t, mu&s;t not only make him uppermo&s;t, but all. Chri&s;t al&s;o owns meekene&s;&s;e as an Embleme of him&s;elfe; <HI>I am meeke</HI> (&s;aith Chri&s;t) and when any &s;oule is mo&s;t meeke, it is mo&s;t like me; this is the con&s;tant A&s;&s;ociate to a lowly &s;oules meekene&s;&s;e, they goe hand in hand together, and Chri&s;t goes with them both, and where ever they goe they &s;peake Chri&s;t to be pre&s;ent. It is the meeke &s;oule that lives up Chri&s;t the Lambe of GOD; Chri&s;t had &s;ome followers that called for fire from Heaven to ravenge them|&s;elves: But our Saviour rebukes them, and tels them they know not what &s;pirit they were of. As if hee had &s;aid, you doe not in this follow mee, my Spirit is meeke, but your &s;pirits evill in this. If you will live like your Ma&s;ter, and live up your Ma|&s;ter, you mu&s;t be lowly and meeke. Chri&s;t in this reproofe &s;peakes to the fiery &s;pirits in all ages; what is written is written for our in&s;truction, the more heate in the fle&s;h, the le&s;&s;e of the fire of the Spirit; the more cruelty, the le&s;&s;e Chri&s;t. Meeke|ne&s;&s;e and Temperance are the fruits of the Spirit of GOD, <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.23. And &s;urely that &s;oule lives mo&s;t of Chri&s;t, that lives mo&s;t in the &s;pirit.</P>
<P>Againe, To live up Chri&s;t is to be doing good to the &s;oules and bodies of all we meete with, as Chri&s;t did, and as his word exhorts us, <HI>doe good to all men.</HI> A Saint &s;hould have no eye of re|venge to &s;ee evill withall: but to render good for evill; his eye &s;hould be to watch over &s;oules and bodies for good, to watch o|ver &s;oules where and when he may drop in information, exhor|tation, brotherly reproofe and con&s;olation, when to cut dead
<PB N="125" REF="73">fle&s;h, and when to binde up greene wounds, and be ready to all this, to tell forth its experiences of GOD to others; a Saint &s;hould &s;o live up Chri&s;t, that where ever he comes, tho&s;e &s;oules hee meetes with may ble&s;&s;e GOD for him, and that of GOD which they learn by him. A Saint &s;hould be a living monument of Chri&s;t, in whom may be beheld a Chri&s;t crucified in a &s;oul, cru|cified to &s;inne, &s;elfe, and world, and a Chri&s;t ri&s;en in a &s;oule, ri&s;en with Chri&s;t; <HI>Seeking tho&s;e things which are above, where Chri&s;t fitteth on the right hand of GOD. Having its affecti|ons on things above, and not on things on the earth,</HI> Col. 3.1, 2. As Chri&s;t, &s;o Saints in the world have no other bu&s;ine&s;&s;e but to doe the will of their Heavenly Father.</P>
<P>Now truly the con&s;ideration of this may well put all Saints upon that great work of &s;elfe-examination: We are apt enough to &s;ee a mote in our brothers eye, when wee overlooke the beame that is in our owne: But it is the onely bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of every Saint to live up Chri&s;t; then it is worth the looking into our lives how much of Chri&s;t wee can find there, what &s;inglene&s;&s;e of &s;oule is in us to all the wayes, will, and worke of Chri&s;t, whether we follow Chri&s;t for love, or for the loaves? For what hee is, or for what hee gives? Whether it be his love that con&s;traines us to deny ungodline&s;&s;e and worldly lu&s;ts; or whether feare of Hell, &s;hame, or puni&s;hment, &s;tops the eyes pur&s;ute, and &s;tops the prracti&s;e of &s;inne? Or whether our pro|fe&s;&s;ion of godline&s;&s;e, under what forme &s;oever, be to lift up Chri&s;t or &s;elfe? Whether if Heaven and Sinne might goe together, we would not rather have &s;in live in our &s;ouls then Chri&s;t? Whether that the profe&s;&s;ion of godline&s;&s;e which we &s;eem &s;o much to delight in, be not a burthen to us in the power and life of it? Whether that day in which Chri&s;t is mo&s;t, and &s;elfe lea&s;t in our &s;ouls, be be&s;t to the &s;ouls content? Whether it be the &s;ouls de&s;ire &amp; petition at the throne of grace to be un&s;elft in every thing, and that Chri&s;t may be all in all? whether the &s;oul doth indeed count that a lo&s;t day, hour, or moment, in which he doth not in &s;ome mea&s;ure lift up Chri&s;t, and declare the in-dwelling of Chri&s;t in his &s;oule, by the out-goings of Chri&s;t in his life. It is worthy a &s;oules examination, how the olde man dyeth, and the new man is renewed in him day by day, how pride and pa&s;&s;ion
<PB N="126" REF="74">is brought under the feete of Chri&s;t in our &s;oules, how through Chri&s;t that loves us, we are more then conquerours over &s;in and &s;elfe by the love of Chri&s;t that conquers them in us, and enableth us by his love to live like conquerours, rejoycing and glorying in the free grace of our God; the new creature is Chri&s;t in truth, and truths as they are in Je&s;us; godline&s;&s;e in power, and the pow|er of godline&s;&s;e; holine&s;&s;e in its beauty, and the beauty of holi|ne&s;&s;e; God in the Spirit, and the Spirit of God; heavenly mind|edne&s;&s;e, and a mind in heaven; it is living and walking in the Spi|rit; it is a &s;oule united to Chri&s;t, Chri&s;t in it, and it in Chri&s;t; <HI>Therefore if any man be in Chri&s;t he is a new creature.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. X. Vanity and vexation of &s;pirit com|pa&s;&s;eth all things under the &s;un.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> Chap. 1. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 14.</BIBL> I have &s;eene all the workes that are done under the Sunne, and behold all is vanity and vexation of &s;pirit.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THIS Scripture is the te&s;timony of the Wi&s;e man, concerning all things under the Sunne, and it is &s;o upon &s;eeing and trying all the&s;e things. In the ver&s;e before this he tels us, hee gave his heart to &s;eeke, and to &s;earch out by wi&s;dome concerning the things that are done under heaven. He hath attained the beholding of what he gave hie heart to &s;eeke: &s;o that both &s;eeking and &s;eeing in wi&s;dome, he findes all to be vanity and vexation of &s;pirit. <HI>The vanity of the whole creation is the &s;ubject matter of all his booke.</HI> He begins it thus in this fir&s;t Chap. and 2^d ver&s;. <HI>Vanity of vanities</HI> (&s;aith the Preacher) <HI>Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.</HI> His heart is &s;o full of the matter, that hee doubles the
<PB N="127" REF="74">&s;entence, and as he begins with it in the generall, &s;o in his whole booke he followes the &s;ame &s;ubject in the particulars of it, &amp; con|cludes his booke with the &s;ame generall, in <HI>Chap.</HI> 13. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 8. <HI>Va|nity of vanities</HI> (&s;aith the Preacher) <HI>all is vanity.</HI> The P&s;almi&s;t in <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 144. ver&s;. 4. Bears witne&s;&s;e to this truth in the top-branch of all the creation: <HI>Man</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>is like to vanity:</HI> and he proves it; <HI>for his dayes are as a &s;hadow that pa&s;&s;eth away.</HI> And in <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 62.9. takes in men of high and low degree in the proofe of this gene|rall truth: <HI>Surely men of low degrees are vanity, and men of high de|grees are a lye;</HI> to be laid in the ballance, they are altogether ligh|ter then vanity; the vanity of the creature is a &s;ubject well wor|thy the &s;tudy of a wi&s;e chri&s;tian, and truly none but Chri&s;t our wi&s;dome can give us light into this vanity; for method &s;ake wee will draw out one generall truth which I thinke is vi&s;ible in this Scripture;</P>
<P><HI>That upon true di&s;covery and knowledge of all things under the Sunne, we &s;hall finde them vanity and vexation of &s;pirit.</HI> For the proofe of this truth let us &s;earch the Scripture and our owne experience; the wi&s;e man to prove this truth, begins with man in his labour in his fir&s;t <HI>Chap.</HI> ver&s;. 3, 4. <HI>What profit hath a man of all his labour under the Sunne; for he &s;tayes not to keepe any fruit of his labour, but pa&s;&s;eth away; one generation goeth, and another commeth.</HI> So in Chap. 2. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 22, 23. <HI>Man reapeth no content from all his labours under the &s;unne.</HI> They fill him full of &s;orrow, travell, and griefe, and at la&s;t he cannot lye downe and re&s;t in them. They are a bed of thornes, unfit for re&s;t; yea when the poore creature comes to lye down in|deed, and &s;leep that &s;leep of death, it find <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">s no re&s;t in all its la|bours under the Sun of what kinde &s;oever. So in Chap. 1.6, 9.17, 18, 19. <HI>ver&s;es.</HI> He tels us mans labour under the&s;e vanities is &s;o great, that he cannot utter it, and that without any &s;atisfa|ction, though what is pur&s;ued be enjoyed. <HI>For though the eye &s;ee, yet it is not &s;atisfied with &s;eeing: and though the eare doe he are, yet it is not filled with hearing.</HI> The creature can never give &s;o long, and &s;o much, till that which receives from it &s;aith it hath enough; though it give objects to the eye, yet the eye wants more objects then it can give: and though it offers to fill the eare, yet the eare is not filled with all that it can give; there is no new thing under the Sunne, but that which hath been &s;hall be, and that
<PB N="128" REF="75">which is done, is that which &s;hall be done: <HI>So that though I give my heart to know all things, wi&s;dome, madne&s;&s;e, and folly, yet I find nothing new in them.</HI> And in &s;tead of content in all this variety of knowledge, I found vexation of &s;pirit; for I will tell you the be&s;t, and then judge you the re&s;t. <HI>In much wi&s;dome is much griefe, and he that encrea&s;eth knowledge encrea&s;eth &s;orrow.</HI> And if this be the be&s;t of the be&s;t, who can tell what is the wor&s;t of the wor&s;t; he comes to particulars in Chap. 2. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 1. he intends to prove his heart with mirth, and the enjoying of plea&s;ure: and in the pro|ving, his heart doth experience tho&s;e things, and findes them vanity, and behold! This al&s;o is vanity; ver&s;. 2. <HI>I &s;aid of laugh|ter that is madne&s;&s;e, and of mirth, what doth it.</HI> 1. It doth not &s;a|tisfie, therefore it is vanity: So in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 4. and &s;o forward, he tels us; <HI>That he made him great workes and buildings, planted vineyards, made Gardens and Orchards, planted trees in them of all kindes of fruits, got him &s;ervants and maidens, &s;ervants borne in his hou&s;e, &s;o that he had great po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions of great and &s;mall Cattell above all that were in Jeru&s;alem before him. He likewi&s;e gathered up &s;ilver and gold and got men-&s;ingers and women-&s;ingers, with the delights of the &s;onnes of men, as mu&s;icke-in&s;truments, and that of all &s;orts, &s;o that hee was greater then all that was before him in Jeru&s;alem.</HI> And in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 10. <HI>He gave out his heart to take joy in all this, and kept not his eyes from any thing that they de&s;ired.</HI> But in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 11. he gives in this report of all this fulne&s;&s;e, and his full experience of it. <HI>Then I looked on all the workes that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had la|boured to doe: And behold all was vanity and vexation of &s;pirit, and there was no profit under the &s;unne.</HI></P>
<P>I cannot imagine a fuller proofe then this Scripture; here is wi&s;dome po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing and trying all things under the Sunne, and findes no profit in any, or all of them. 1. They yeelded no return of benefit to his labours, there was more &s;orrow and travell then enjoyment; nay not only no profit, but vanity and vexation of &s;pirit in all; yet he tels us, <HI>He po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed more then all that went before him, and none that commeth after him &s;hould exceede him;</HI> For (&s;aith he) <HI>what can the man doe that commeth after the King.</HI> He may not thinke to g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;pe more of the world then I have done? and when he hath all, he hath but &s;o much vanity, and with it vexation of &s;pirit. The wi&s;e man gives an in&s;tance of this vanity in Chap. 4.
<PB N="129" REF="75"><HI>ver&s;.</HI> 8. <HI>There is one alone, and there is not a &s;econd; yea, hee hath nei|ther childe nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour: neither is his eye &s;atisfied with riches, neither</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>for whom doe I labour, &amp; bereave my &s;elfe of good? This is al&s;o vanity, yea, it is a &s;ore travell.</HI> As if hee had &s;aid, I will make you judge of all the labours of man in the things of the world; for looke upon a man that &s;pends all his time in labour after the world, he encrea&s;eth daily in riches, but not in content; hee is not the more at ea&s;e for the more hee po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth: but more creature he hath, the more de&s;ire and tra|vell encrea&s;eth. Nay (&s;aith he) this is a great vanity, he doth all this to encrea&s;e his labour, of which there is no end; though hee have no &s;atisfaction in his riches, nor any to leave them too, he is like the barren womb that is never &s;atisfied, nor bringeth forth any to be &s;atisfied after it. Man may find creature to love, and va|nity enough in the world to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e: but in all his love &s;hal be lo&s;t, and &s;hall not finde &s;atisfaction in any abundance under the Sun, <HI>Ch.</HI> 5. <HI>v.</HI> 10. <HI>He that loveth &s;ilver &s;hall not be &s;atisfied with &s;ilver, nor hee that loveth abundance with encrea&s;e; this al&s;o is vanity.</HI> And if vaine man &s;hould gather up a content (as hee thinketh) in the&s;e vaine things: &s;o that with the foole in the Go&s;pel, he <HI>bids his &s;oule take ea&s;e, he hath goods laid up for many yeares;</HI> yet the Wi&s;e man &s;aith, <HI>joy and laughter, it &s;hall be as the crackeling of thornes under a pot, this al&s;o is vanity,</HI> Chap. 7. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 6. So he telleth us that in re&s;pect of the world, men and bea&s;ts dye alike; <HI>Chap.</HI> 3. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 19, 20. <HI>For that which befalleth the &s;onnes of men, befalleth bea&s;ts, even one thing befalleth them; as the one dyeth, &s;o dyeth the other, all goe unto one place, all are of the du&s;t, and all return to du&s;t again.</HI> So <HI>Chap.</HI> 2 vert. 16. <HI>The wi&s;e man and the foole dyeth both alike.</HI> Thus the wi&s;e man hath given in his experimentall te&s;timony to this truth, both in the life and death of man; for further proofe let us looke upon <HI>Job,</HI> both in his full and his empty conditions, they were both under the Sunne, and therefore a certainty in neither; hee that had &s;o much of every thing, in a few moments had nothing but his body full of &s;ores, and a pot-&s;heard to &s;crape them with, and this low condition had the uncertainty of the world in it; for that pa&s;&s;eth away, and his latter end was greater then his be|ginning.</P>
<P>I cite it only to this purpo&s;e, to demon&s;trate the vanity of all
<PB N="130" REF="76">outward conditions under the Sunne, whether they be full or empty. <HI>Jonas</HI> had plea&s;ure in the gourd, but it was &s;hort-liv'd plea&s;ure, for in one night the gourd withered, and his plea&s;ure turned into anger; This gourd is a true embleme of the whole world, the momentary delights they give produce nothing el&s;e but anger at their parting.</P>
<P><HI>Jonas</HI> &s;aid he did well to be angry: &s;o doth every poore crea|ture when the world withers and dyes like it &s;elfe, &s;aith it doth well to be angry with God, becau&s;e it &s;elfe is no wi&s;er, then to thinke the groud would la&s;t alway: This is the world, and this is vanity and vexation of &s;pirit. The <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> in the Wilderne&s;&s;e which are Saints in the world, found vanity in every &s;tep they took, their Quails and Manna had vanity in them; nay, the fle&s;h they carried about had vanity in it. <HI>Your Fathers</HI> (&s;ayes Chri&s;t) <HI>John</HI> 6.58. <HI>did cate Manna in the Wilderne&s;&s;e and are dead.</HI> The world hath vanity enough in its owne wombe to eate up all its fulne&s;&s;e, witne&s;&s;e <HI>Jo&s;eph'e</HI> &s;tore-hou&s;es at the end of the &s;even yeares famine; there is a time for the leane Cattle to devoure the fat; the flouri&s;hing&s;t world hath a grave in it &s;elfe to &s;epulchre it &s;elfe in, though here be enough to prove this truth; yet it wil not be ami&s;&s;e to adde our owne experiences, let health &s;peak for &s;ick|ne&s;&s;e, and &s;ickne&s;&s;e for health, the &s;trong man for the weak, and the weake man for the &s;trong; when they have changed each o|thers condition, &s;ickne&s;&s;e tels health, thus I thought when I was &s;icke, that if I could but be in health as you are, it would have beene a gourd that I &s;hould have had content in: but when I had it I found it wither, &amp; then I &s;aid I did well to be angry. Health tels &s;ickne&s;&s;e, I thought I &s;hould never have beene in your condi|tion, but now I finde there was vanity in my health, becau&s;e it withers. The &s;trong man tele the weake, I thought my &s;trength had been my owne, and I could have kept it, but now I am weak as you are; I finde I was vaine in my thoughts, and my &s;trength is vanity: &s;o &s;ayes the weake man to the &s;trong, I thought if I could have &s;tood upon your legges, I might have &s;tood &s;trongly, but now I find that &s;trength is weakne&s;&s;e, and the worm of vanity is at the roote of that tree which knowes it till it dies. Aske the rich man if a pillow &s;tuffed with gold could make him &s;leep; nay doth not his bags of gold keepe him awake? Aske the great man
<PB N="131" REF="76">whether all his greatne&s;&s;e could &s;atisfie his &s;pirit; nay, is not the &s;pirit of <HI>Haman</HI> there which is re&s;tle&s;&s;e if <HI>Mordecay</HI> bow not his knee; aske him that hath conquered all the World what hee wantt, and he will tell you he wants more worlds to conquer.</P>
<P>After asking let us come to offering, &s;et dainty and delicious food in the abundance of it before a ficke and a lo&s;t &s;tomack, and bid it eate to &s;atisfie; he will tell you hee is be&s;t &s;atisfied, for in &s;tead of loving, he loaths it; Then &s;et it before a &s;trong and heal|thy &s;tomach, and bid him eate and be &s;atisfied; he eates to &s;atis|fie, till he de&s;troyes both health and &s;tomach, &s;o that he which eates not is not &s;atisfied with emptine&s;&s;e, nor he which doth eate made glad by his fulne&s;&s;e; for both conditions are under the Sun, and there is vanity in them; man lives not by bread alone, nor by any thing below God, for all things under the Sun are vanity. Offer a man that ga&s;peth for breath goodly buildings and glori|ous apparell; no &s;ayes he, my coffin and my winding-&s;heet is of neare&s;t relation to my conduion, they mu&s;t be my apparrel and my dwelling; your offer is vanity, I now finde the world to be &s;uch: but vanity will not &s;atisfie my living &s;oule, which is now bidding adieu to my dying bodie; the worlds vanities may dazell and deceive a man that lives in plea&s;ure, but they can never plea&s;e nor &s;atisfie the eye &amp; heart that is going to &s;leep the &s;leep of death, and lie downe in the bed of the grave; the whele world is but a world of vanity, and therefore to all that re&s;t upon it, mu&s;t fir&s;t or la&s;t prove vexation of &s;pirit; the proofs of this truth are a cloud of witne&s;&s;es. Every moment of our pa&s;&s;ing through this wilder|ne&s;&s;e of the World, brings forth &s;inne. Now becau&s;e what is written for our in&s;truction, it will be wi&s;dome in all to make u&s;e of this truth which the Wi&s;e man holds out to us upon his owne experience, and which all Saints in their experience mu&s;t and do beare witne&s;&s;e to.</P>
<P>And fir&s;t we may improve it thus; It giveth us a di&s;covery of the fruitle&s;&s;e labours and contentions of all tho&s;e that labour and cond contend meerely for the World in part or in whole. For if this be truth that all things under the Sunne be vanity, then it mu&s;t needs be fruitle&s;&s;e labour and contention; which if it attain what it &s;eekes, yet findeth nothing but varity, and in it vexation of &s;pirit. If this were truly &s;et home upon our &s;pirits by the Spi|rit
<PB N="132" REF="77">of God, Sathan would have fewer to wor&s;hip him upon that temptation which he a&s;&s;aulted our Saviour with, in &s;hewing him the World in all its glory. As wee come more to know God in the &s;pirit, &s;o that we by that &s;pirit know the world in its vanity and emptine&s;&s;e, then &s;hall we labour and contend le&s;&s;e for the vanities of the World, and the World of vanities; then &s;hall we &s;ee the vanity of our laborious contending for that which is but vanity; till then <HI>wee &s;hall be laying out our money for that which is not bread, and our &s;pirits for that which profits not;</HI> for till God gather up our &s;pirits by his Spirit to him&s;elfe, the World will hold us, and all that while wee are but wrapt up in the armes of vanity, and dandled upon the knees of death; for all things un|der the Sunne are vanity, all that is below God is too low for a Saint to labour after, or contend for. This truth not only con|cernes tho&s;e worldlings that are buried alive in the world, but it may make Saints blu&s;h; yea the be&s;t of Saints, to con&s;ider how they have &s;tretched forth their hands to gra&s;pe the wind, and o|pened their hearts to let in vanity, and upon this regard have been ready to conclude, <HI>'tis good to be here, let us build Tabernacles.</HI> And &s;o have labored to blow up this bladder of vanity with the&s;e plea&s;ing imaginations to our fle&s;h, of honour, profits &amp; plea&s;ures of this world, till God prick the bladder, and let out this wind, &s;o that then wee &s;ee it vanity. But truly &s;o much of this old man as is in Saints makes a very uncomely &s;ight, that heirs of glory, joynt-heirs with Chri&s;t in glory, &s;uch as have a more exceeding and eternall weight of glory prepared for them, &amp; waits to &s;wal|low them up to all eternity, &s;hould be pur&s;uing after vanity; it be&s;t becomes Saints to be always upon the wing of faith for hea|ven, above tho&s;e vanities; there is no footing in the World for a Saint, the World is an ocean of uncertain waves, that goeth one way, &amp; the other way, as the wind drives them, &s;o that the Dove can have no re&s;t for the &s;ole of her foote, till &s;he comes to the Arke from whence &s;he went out; a Saint &s;hall find re&s;t in nothing but in God his originall, it is vanity in all to pur&s;ue vanity, but e&s;pecially in Saints, <HI>for their lives are hid with Chri&s;t in God.</HI> It is great folly for an empty &s;tomacke to &s;ucke in the winde for its &s;atisfaction, and this title wee may give to the wi&s;edome of the wi&s;e&s;t worldling, which makes the Prodigals choi&s;e to feede on
<PB N="133" REF="77">huskes if he could have had enough of them; this winde may fill, but it can never &s;atisfie: but &s;ure this is exceeding folly in Saints who have bread enough in their Fathers hou&s;e, and their trea|&s;ure in Heaven, to have their hearts any where but in Heaven where their trea&s;ure is. And it is much to the di&s;honour of God who is the glorious and &s;atisfying intere&s;t of his people, that they &s;hould be running to empty Ci&s;terns, when hee him&s;elfe is an eternall fountaine of love, life, and exceeding glory to them, and doubtle&s;s Saints in truth are very tender of the glory of God, the&s;e children of love are much in love with their Fathers glory, it grieves their &s;pirits to &s;ee prophane wretches di&s;honour him, but it doth exceedingly wound them if they be found actors in &s;uch a worke them&s;elves: and if &s;o, then wee &s;hould be very watchfull le&s;t wee be under the fruitle&s;&s;e labour and contentions of tho&s;e that labour &amp; contend for the World in part or in whole. If this truth were &s;piritually under&s;tood, &s;urely Saints would be more carele&s;&s;e of the worlds frownes, and le&s;&s;e &s;olicitous for their &s;miles and favours, their be&s;t gifts, and their &s;owre&s;t lookes are all comprehended under this terme <HI>vanity,</HI> and hee that hath their &s;miles hath no le&s;s of vanity then he that hath their frowns, for they are vanity them&s;elves, and the fruit can be no other then the tree is, and it is the darkne&s;&s;e of that fle&s;h which is in Saints that keeps them from a cleare di&s;cerning of that truth, and makes them &s;mile when the world &s;miles on them, and be &s;ad when the world frownes on them: Vanity could not un&s;ettle our &s;pirits, if vanity were not in them; It is that vanity which is in our fle&s;h that puts a value upon the vanity that is in the world: but truly it is our exceeding &s;hame, that having the Lord to glory in, we &s;hould glory in any thing but the God of our &s;alvation: and ha|ving &s;o &s;ure and abiding glory, that any frownes from vanity &s;hould make the lea&s;t damp upon our glory; Saints are of an eter|nall glory and &s;ub&s;tance, and therefore &s;hould not labour for, nor glory in any thing but what is &s;utable, that which will abide for ever, and upon this con&s;ideration the whole World, that lumpe of vanity is cut off at once, it withers in the u&s;ing, and certainly dyeth either before or with our fle&s;h; it is not able to &s;atisfie either out &s;oules or bodies, therefore unworthy to be la|boured or contended for by any, but e&s;pecially by Saints, that have God to live and delight in.</P>
<PB N="134" REF="78">
<P>Againe, the Wi&s;e mans di&s;covery is, <HI>that all things under the Sunne is vanity;</HI> Carries along with it this coun&s;ell, <HI>that we &s;hould u&s;e the world as if we us'd it not,</HI> (i.) value it no higher then vanity, let it be &s;o in our eye and hearts; let Gods end in creating of the world be our end in u&s;ing of it. He made the World to &s;erve man, and man only to &s;erve him&s;elfe: &s;o may we u&s;e all things not &s;in|full, moderately, and with thanke&s;giving, making the who&s;e Creation our &s;ervants and our foot-&s;toole: &s;o that in all and with all we &s;erve our God, and live in his bo&s;ome of love which is &s;o bright a glory, that it &s;walloweth up all the glory of the World, and makes that &s;omething or nothing meerly as God appeares in them, or not in them. God is &s;o perfect a glory, that he makes the darke&s;t lanthorn of the creature, when he appeares in it, to &s;hine glorious; and when he withdrawes his pre&s;ence, the Lant|horn is dark again, &s;utable to its owne nature; this &s;hould the world be in a Saints eye; what of God is in the whole or any part of the creation, embrace that, keep clo&s;e to that, lift up his name, his power and his glory in all, &s;o u&s;e the world, as to lift up God above it, <HI>My meaning is this,</HI> u&s;e all power, all place, all honours and intere&s;t among the &s;onnes of men, to lift up the Name of God. This is a pretious &s;pirit indeed, that can de&s;pi&s;e the worlds glory, when Gods glory goeth not with it, and can rejoyce in the worlds reproaches, when in that he may more ad|vance the glory of his God: this is to u&s;e the world as if we u&s;ed it not, to take it up and lay it downe onely as it may &s;erve the highe&s;t end of our Being, the lifting up of the glory of our God.</P>
<P>If there were any thing but vanity in the world, I veri|ly per&s;wade my &s;elfe it &s;hould have been part of the Saints por|tion; but as it is it is too low a Region for the Saints to live in. God giveth full ble&s;&s;ings to his children, and therefore hath given him&s;elfe to be his peoples inheritance, &amp; hath done them no inju|ry in binding up the whole world under vanity; for it is not their portion, it is at mo&s;t but their <HI>Wilderne&s;&s;e, foot&s;toole,</HI> Chri&s;t is their Rock of Ages, Heaven their more exceeding and eternall weight of glory: Saints would &s;oon have low thoughts of the world, if their hearts were lifted up to their intere&s;t, the King and Kingdome of glory, it will then appeare that we u&s;ed it as if we u&s;ed it not, that when we have it, it is no part of our life
<PB N="135" REF="78">and glory; &s;o when it is gone we have no want of it: for God is our all, and we have at all times all in God. It is not the crea|ture, which is vanity, that maketh a Saints joy, but God in the creature, and if that vanity vani&s;h away, yet the comfort doth not, becau&s;e that is bound up in God, who liveth for ever: God doth often vary in his di&s;pen&s;ations to his children, but not in his love, which is their life, though in reference to the world, he leads them through good and bad reports, through fickne&s;&s;e and health, high and low, honorable and di&s;henorable e&s;teem of the world; yet in all this his eternall love is alwayes the &s;ame, and Saints knowing this, are as full of life and joy in the one condi|tion as in the other; becau&s;e God and his love is their life and joy in all conditions. And hence it comes, that Saints u&s;e the world with &s;o much &s;lightne&s;&s;e, becau&s;e not any of their life and intere&s;t is bound up in it; if the Gourd be green and flouri&s;h, yet God and not that, is their life and glory: if the Gourd wither and die, yet they doe not, for they have lo&s;t nothing in the Gourds being nothing; becau&s;e God who is all, is their all. Oh that the Spirit did live more in Saints! then &s;hould we live more in God, and le&s;&s;e in the world: then &s;hould wee truly u&s;e the world as if we u&s;ed it not. This truth doth al&s;o &s;hew us the glo|rious intere&s;t of Saints that have a God to live and glory in, though there be vanity in all things under the Sunne. Sure it could not but be amazement to that Tyrant, to behold the 3 chil|dren in the fiery furnace, and not con&s;umed. And were it well con&s;idered, it would be as great an amazement to the world, to &s;ee Saints full of re&s;t, joy, and peace in their &s;pirits, though the world be full of changes, and altogether vanity. Put the&s;e toge|ther, and we &s;hall finde the cau&s;e to be one and the &s;ame in <HI>Daniel</HI> 3. ver&s;e 25. The Text telleth us, <HI>That foure men walked in the mid&s;t of the fire, and the form of the fourth is like the Sonne of God.</HI> The Text gives us the rea&s;on why the fire could not con&s;ume them ac|cording to its own nature, becau&s;e the pre&s;ence of God was there; the rea&s;on is the &s;ame, though the Saints have their being among the vanities under the Sunne, yet they have their reall being and their life in the bo&s;ome of God, and his Spirit lives in their bo|&s;ome, &s;o that it is his pre&s;ence which makes that re&s;t, joy and peace that is in their &s;oules. A Rock that giveth forth water in a dry and long Wilderne&s;&s;e, hath its double beauty; &s;uch is God to his
<PB N="136" REF="79">children in this wilderne&s;&s;e of vanity; he is Rock and Water of life both; and &s;uch as experiment him, can tell they have meat to eat &s;uch as the world kowes not of, and when the world &s;hall be forced to confe&s;&s;e that their food is <HI>buskes,</HI> and not enough nei|ther, then can &s;uch as have an intere&s;t in God, make this their boa&s;tings, that they live upon the living God, that to them <HI>it is Chri&s;t to live, and gain to dye,</HI> that they want <HI>nothing</HI> here, and have this a&s;&s;urance in their bo&s;omes, that there waits to &s;wallow them up to all eternity, a more exceeding and eternall weight of glory. The vanity of all things urider the Sunne, doth onely make them mi&s;erable, who&s;e lives are &s;o low: but for &s;uch as have their inte|re&s;t in God, and live upon him, they live in the Sun of Righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e that is above all vanity, and in the love of God which hath not the &s;hadow of change in it; contrarieties &s;ets forth each other; the mi&s;ery of that &s;oule which hath nothing but a vaine world to live on, &s;ets forth the glory of him which hath the God of glory to his portion; only herein they differ, the world is not &s;o perfect an emptine&s;&s;e as God is fulne&s;&s;e; there is more in God to &s;atisfie then can be in the world to di&s;&s;atisfie. If all the vanity and emp|tine&s;&s;e of the world appeare at once, to di&s;quiet and di&s;tract a &s;pi|rit, yet if at that moment one glimp&s;e of Gods love doe but ap|peare, it &s;tils and quiets all; this &s;hewes how glorious an intere&s;t God is to his peop&s;e, that a world of vanities is not able to di&s;|quiet where his love appearer.</P>
<P><HI>The loving kindne&s;&s;e of God is better then life;</HI> it is all our life, it is life in death, and above death, it puts the &s;oule upon this tri|umph; <HI>nothing &s;hall &s;eperate me from the love of God and Chri&s;t, nei|ther life nor death, things pre&s;ent or things to come, or any thing,</HI> be|cau&s;e God is my intere&s;t, my life, and my glory.</P>
<P>That can never come to nothing, which made all things out of nothing; now that is God, He made all things out of nothing, but can never be made nothing him&s;elfe, all powers &s;prings from him, therefore no powers can be above him. Hee &s;aid, <HI>let there be light, and it was &s;o; let the Sunne rule the day, and the Moone the night, and it was &s;o.</HI> It is this power and glory that is the intere&s;t of Saints, &s;o that an empty world can neither take from, nor adde to their felicity, <HI>becau&s;e their lives are hidde with Chri&s;t in God, and when Chri&s;t &s;hall appeare, then &s;hall all his appeare with him in glory.</HI></P>
<P>Furthermore, It will be the wi&s;dome of Saints to learn from the Wi&s;e mans experience;</P>
<PB N="137" REF="79">
<P>Fir&s;t, not to tru&s;t in the World or any thing under the Sun, becau&s;e all is vanity; hee that re&s;ts upon a broken reed doth not only lo&s;e his hopes and his ends, but is wounded by that which he tru&s;ted in. The world is this broken reed, it makes a &s;how, but can beare no weight; the &s;oule that tru&s;teth it mu&s;t find it &s;o, becau&s;e 'tis vanity, and in the experience of this vanity there is not only hopes lo&s;t, and di&s;appointments in their roome, but al|&s;o vexation of &s;pirit; 'Twas &s;o with <HI>Jonas</HI> when the Gourd failed him, hee &s;aid <HI>hee did well to be angry.</HI> Di&s;appointments have a mighty weight upon a naturall heart; the hopes of the world do puffe up like a bladder, which is filled only with wind, but the di&s;appointments of the world come like a mil-&s;tone that pre&s;&s;eth down to the du&s;t; nay the hopes of the world have &s;o many fears mixed with them, that it is hard to di&s;cover which is mo&s;t, the hopes or the feares: but when the di&s;appointment comes, then the former hopes encrea&s;e the pre&s;ent griefes, and the complai|nings then are as the Prophets were. <HI>My friend that lay in my bo|&s;ome hath betrayed mee: I neither knew it nor feared it to be a broken reede, till I had placed my hopes and confidence in it, and that weight di&s;covered it.</HI></P>
<P>Indeed &s;aith this poore heart, though I had no mind to think of dying, yet I could not tell how &s;hort my life was, but I well hoped this, that the plea&s;ures, profits, and honours of the World would not leave mee in this life, therefore I gave out my heart to them, bound up my &s;pirit in them, lay downe to re&s;t by them, and expected they &s;hould be a Gourd to &s;helter mee from &s;unne and &s;tormes: but the poore &s;oule which thus tru&s;teth in the World, doth not &s;ee it vanity, is not knowing of the worm that is at the roote of the Gourd to con&s;ume it; his heart &s;aith as the foole in the Go&s;pel: <HI>Soule take thine ea&s;e, thou ha&s;t goods laid up for many yoares:</HI> but doth not heare that voice that &s;aith, <HI>thou foole this night &s;hall thy &s;oule be taken from thee.</HI> It is a great burthen to be di&s;appointed for the pre&s;ent: but to be di&s;appointed to e|ternity is more mi&s;ery then can be expre&s;&s;ed: and thus mu&s;t eve|ry &s;oule be that tru&s;teth the world, and layeth out it &s;elfe upon it. All things under the Sunne have their creation and their be|ing from God, therefore mu&s;t needs be what God intended them to be (i.) a created being which mu&s;t returne to its fir&s;t nothing; The world is a map of vanity, never intended by its originall to
<PB N="138" REF="80">be an object of faith or hope. It is the Earth that mu&s;t be &s;haken untill it be crumbled to nothing, therefore very unfit to be tru|&s;ted or re&s;ted in: the vanity under the Sun will be no better &s;ati&s;|faction to &s;uch &s;oules as tru&s;t in them, then the fig-leaves were a garment to cover the nakedne&s;&s;e of our fir&s;t Parents, neither of both can beget confidence enough to come into the pre&s;ence of God; where the &s;pirit &s;eales up this truth to any &s;oule, &s;ure there will be no more tru&s;ting of, or in the world, or in any thing un|der the Sun, becau&s;e vanity comprehends it all, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 61.9. <HI>Men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lye, altogether lighter then vanity.</HI> So that tru&s;t man or men of what degreee &s;o|ever, they mu&s;t deceive becau&s;e they are vanity; the man of high degree in his out-&s;ide promi&s;eth more then him of low degree, but he will prove a lye; there is a worme at his roote, hee will wither to nothing. Methinkes the Prophets coun&s;ell, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 2.10. commeth in very &s;utable to this purpo&s;e. <HI>Be wi&s;e now therefore O yee Kings, be learned yee that are Judges of the earth; &s;erve the Lord with feare, and rejoyce in him with reverence. Ki&s;&s;e the Sonne le&s;t he be angry, and &s;o yee peri&s;h from the right way; If his wrath be kind|led (yea but a little) ble&s;&s;ed are all they that put their tru&s;t in him.</HI></P>
<P>Ob&s;erve it, and it amounts to thus much; That the highe&s;t and greate&s;t among&s;t men re&s;t not in them&s;elves or any other piece of vanity, but to clo&s;e with Chri&s;t and tru&s;t in him; For &s;aith the Prophet, <HI>there will appeare a day of bla&s;ting all the&s;e lower vanities, and then you will finde them to be ble&s;&s;ed that put their tru&s;t in him.</HI></P>
<P>On that Kings and Judges, Parliaments and people had lear|ned this heavenly wi&s;dome, <HI>to ki&s;&s;e the Sonne,</HI> to clo&s;e with Chri&s;t, to doe his worke, to lift up his Scepter and his glory, to tru&s;t under the &s;hadow of his wings, to renounce &s;elfe aims and ends, and glory, to be wi&s;e for Chri&s;t, and not for &s;elfe, to u&s;e more piety and le&s;&s;e policie, to look upon all things under the Sunne as vanity, not to be &s;o vaine as to &s;pend their precious time and &s;pirits in going about to make peri&s;hing things permanent, not to build Tabernacles, and thinke it is good to be here; for the Tabernacle that they build withall is peri&s;hing, and hath but a few moments to be here. <HI>Ob therefore be wi&s;e, and whil&s;t it is called to day clo&s;e with Chri&s;t.</HI> All things below this Sunne is vanity, if you tru&s;t the World you'l finde it &s;o; The Wi&s;e man he tryed the
<PB N="139" REF="80">World, and found it &s;o; &s;uch as love the World will finde it loft love, and tho&s;e that &s;erve the World mo&s;t, will finde they &s;erve nothing but vanity, and truly that is a very ill Ma&s;ter, the latter end of that &s;ervice will be wor&s;e then the beginning; it is great pitty then that the World hath &s;o many &s;ervants, &s;eeing it is &s;o unfaithful a Ma&s;ter; how many is there that &s;erve the world as they &s;hould &s;erve God, with all their &s;oules, their &s;pirits, and their &s;trength, improving their lives, liberties and intere&s;ts to &s;erve vanity, and to lift up fli&s;h, though in that worke they do their utmo&s;t to wound Chri&s;t in his Members. It is a &s;ad employ|ment to blow up tho&s;e flames that &s;hall burne him that bloweth it to a&s;hes; This is the evils of that worke to &s;erve the intere&s;t of the World again&s;t the intere&s;t of God, they digge their owne graves, they wound their-owne &s;oules, and heighten the fury of tho&s;e flames, which will make them cry out for a drop of wa|ter to coole their lungs; this work in the end will not only make the heart ake, but the con&s;cience roare, this worke indeed will prove vanity and vexation of &s;pirit. To winde up this &s;ubject; It is God and Chri&s;t only that is worthy to be tru&s;ted, &s;erved, loved, and delighted in; there is vanity in all below God, but no vanity at all in God, we may tru&s;t him, for hee is faithfull, all that ever have tru&s;ted him have found him &s;o; witne&s;&s;e the <HI>I&s;|raelites</HI> at the Red Sea, hee bid them by <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to &s;tand &s;till, to <HI>tru&s;t in him, and they &s;hould &s;ee his &s;alvation,</HI> and he proved him|&s;elfe a faithfull God: God is worthy to be &s;erved, becau&s;e hee commands that which is worthy the &s;ervice of a holy &s;oule, and then he giveth &s;trength to performe the &s;ervice he requires: He gi|veth his Spirit both to teach and to lead. and his &s;ervice hath life and glory both in the way and end; he &s;pirits the &s;oule, and then commands &s;pirituall &s;ervice, this is a &s;ervice worthy to be owned and obeyed.</P>
<P>God is al&s;o worthy to be loved of all his, becau&s;e he loved us fir&s;t, and that fir&s;t was when wee lay in our blood, and no eye could pitty us; He is the originall of our love, therefore wor|thy to be loved by that which floweth from him&s;elfe; he hath all loveline&s;&s;e in him, and therefore worthy to have all loves center in him; that which is the fountaine of love, may ju&s;tly claime to be the object of love.</P>
<P>Saints may well &s;ay of God and Chri&s;t as the Spou&s;e did of
<PB N="140" REF="81">Chri&s;t, <HI>that there was no beloved like her beloved</HI> for love and love|line&s;&s;e; the be&s;t way of expre&s;&s;ing this, is to let God and Chri&s;t have all our loves. By this we plainly tell, that there is no object our eyes can looke on &s;o lovely as God and Chri&s;t. Communion and fellow&s;hip with the Father and the Sonne is a place of de|light for the &s;oules of Saints; Love takes delight in God and Chri&s;t, for there is banquets of love, and banners of love, bo|&s;omes of love and words of love, electing love, and redeeming love, ju&s;tifying, &s;anctifying, and glorifying love, the&s;e are objects of delight indeed; here we may feede abundantly and be &s;atisfied, but can never be cloyed. O be wi&s;e then, &s;tand a&s;ide peri&s;hing world; away with all tho&s;e vanities under the Sunne, there is a brightne&s;&s;e out-&s;hines it, and a glory that &s;walloweth it up; there is no beauty below God, nor any excellency out of God, and who ever hath a &s;pirituall knowledge thus of God, will by the &s;ame light be able to &s;ay as the Wi&s;e man; <HI>I have &s;eene all the workes under the Sunne, and behold all is vanity and vexation of Spirit.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="141" REF="81">
<HEAD>CHAP. XI. A Saints excellency is to have no will in him&s;elfe, but the will of God.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Luke,</HI> Chap. 22. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 42.</BIBL> Saying, Father if thou be willing remove this cup from me, neverthele&s;&s;e not my will, but thine be done.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THe&s;e are our Saviours words when hee was ente|ring into crucifying worke; his fle&s;h would have &s;hrunke, but his Spirit bore it up, and makes this the re&s;ult of all the thoughts within him, to have no will but the will of God, and to de&s;ire that no other will &s;hould be done and fulfilled but the will of God.</P>
<P>Chri&s;t is the head of Saints, and <HI>it is the glory of Saints to be made like their head;</HI> this work is too hard for fle&s;h and blood: b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> as it was not too hard for Chri&s;t, no more will it be for a Saint when Chri&s;t is in him; though it be hard to learn, yet it is very &s;weete in the attaining, the paines of the travell will be &s;wallow|ed up in the birth of this beautiful man-childe: <HI>The &s;cope of our Sa|viour in this Scripture,</HI> to me, &s;eemeth to be this; <HI>That what ever his fle&s;h might de&s;ire, yet his Spirit leaves all to God, and not any will to be done but Gods will.</HI> Our Saviour in this doth, <HI>and &s;o &s;hould e|very Saint in conformity to him,</HI> re&s;igne up the whole &s;oule and bo|dy unto the will of God, to be and to doe in all times &amp; things, according to his will, &s;o as that in every thing his will may be done.</P>
<P>That &s;uch as read may the better under&s;tand; take the&s;e two heads as a ground-works of the en&s;uing treaty.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>That it is the duty of Saints in conformity to Chri&s;t their head, to have no will but the will of God.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>So farre as Chri&s;t liveth in any &s;oule, it is the de&s;ire of
<PB N="142" REF="82">&s;uch a &s;oule, that the whole will of God, and no other but the will of God, may be done in all times and things.</HI></P>
<P>And fir&s;t to the fir&s;t of the&s;e.</P>
<P>That it is the duty of Saints in conformity to Chri&s;t their Head, to have no will but the will of God.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t Scripture makes this cleare, that the Lord Chri&s;t our Head, would own nor &s;tick to no other will but the will of God: If there be in my fle&s;h any thing which is not in thy will, let it not be done; for he confe&s;&s;eth he came to doe the will of his Fa|ther. So in the fourth of <HI>John,</HI> ver&s;. 34. Chri&s;t telleth us, <HI>That his meat is to doe the will of him that &s;ent him, and to fini&s;h his work.</HI> As if the Lord Chri&s;t had &s;aid, My work and will is bound up in God, and it is my joy and content to be doing his worke, and fulfilling his will. And in the fifth of <HI>John,</HI> ver&s;e 30. <HI>I &s;eek not my own will, but the will of my Father which hath &s;ent me.</HI> I pur&s;ue the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e that I came about, to perfect the will of him I came from. from, <HI>John</HI> 6.38. <HI>For I came downe from heaven, not to doe my owne will, but the will of him that &s;ent me:</HI> &s;o that in all the&s;e Scriptures it appeares, that Chri&s;t owneth nor doth no will, but the will of God.</P>
<P>Now as it was the Lord Chri&s;ts work to doe the wil of God in all <HI>things;</HI> &s;o is it Saints duty in conformity to Chri&s;t their Head, to be willing and doing no other will but the will of God. If the Lord Chri&s;t will allow in <HI>him&s;elfe</HI> no other will but the will of God, then certainly he will not doe it in his members: it is both the duty and priviledge of Saints to be made conformable to Chri&s;t their Head. As the branches in the vine receive that &s;ap which cometh from the root, and bringeth forth &s;uch fruit as that fap produceth: &s;o is it with Saints united to Chri&s;t, they have their li&s;e and fruit from union, and he owneth them to be u|nited to him, <HI>that heare the word of God and doe it,</HI> Luke 8.21. This is &s;o cleare a truth, &s;o much of God in it, that I cannot doubt, but it carries its proofe and commi&s;&s;ion with it into the bo&s;omes of all &s;uch as owne God and Chri&s;t, &s;o that <HI>the improving will be more edifying then the proving.</HI> Therefore confider the <HI>&s;econd head,</HI> name|ly, <HI>That &s;o farre as Chri&s;t liveth in any &s;oule, it is the d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;ire of &s;uch a &s;oul, that the whole will of God, and no other but the will of God may be done in all times and things.</HI> What Chri&s;t is in him&s;elf, that he is in his members, he is in him&s;elf one with the wil of God; &s;o where
<PB N="143" REF="82">Chri&s;t lives in any &s;oule, &s;o much Chri&s;t, &s;o much onene&s;&s;e with, and conformity to the will of God. Such a &s;oul &s;peaks in Chri&s;ts &s;trength, and &s;o &s;peakes Chri&s;ts language to God, <HI>Not my will but thy will be done.</HI> There is in the be&s;t of Saints on earth, as in <HI>Paul,</HI> a double Law, one in the members, and another in the minde; one of the fle&s;h, and another of the &s;pirit; but as that Apo&s;tle, <HI>Rom.</HI> 7. <HI>la&s;t. Through Chri&s;t he &s;erved God with the mind.</HI> Where Chri&s;t po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;eth, there God is obeyed, if he lives and reignes in any &s;oule, that &s;oule &s;o farre knowes no will to obey, but the will of God; and if any part of that man know any other will, it is the fle&s;hly part, which Chri&s;t hath not fully &s;ubdued to him&s;elf: but where Chri&s;t liveth, there he &s;uffers no other will, but the will of God to beare rule. And as the fire of Gods Spirit doth con&s;ume the lu&s;ts of the fle&s;h in Saints, &s;o doth the will of &s;uch Saints runne more and more into the wil of God, they are lo&s;t unto them&s;elves, and found in God, they will and doe every day le&s;&s;e of Selfe, and more of God, they are crucified with Chri&s;t to the world, and the world to them, and the life that they then live, is by the faith of the Son of God in conformity to the will of God. Chri&s;t makes the de&s;ires, &s;hapes and formes the will in &s;uch &s;oules as he lives in, to God; and God is &s;ure to have that which Chri&s;t new makes; For it is his bu&s;ine&s;&s;e to doe his Fathers worke. When ever Chri&s;t new makes, or makes the new creature in any &s;oule, his end is to make for God, and to lift up his own name in lifting up God: for he telleth us in the 17. of <HI>John,</HI> ver&s;e 21, 22. <HI>That him&s;elfe and his Father are one;</HI> and as there is but one will in God and Chri&s;t, &s;o there is onely that one will in every &s;oul that Chri&s;t powerfully liveth in, &s;o farre as he doth live in it by his Spirit: For it is the property of the Spirit as fire to burn up, and con&s;ume all but &s;ub&s;tance, what ever is dro&s;&s;e is con&s;umed, where that holy fire comes: now all fle&s;h and &s;elfe is dro&s;&s;e, both in will and work, and that the Spirit burnes up, and leaves <HI>nothing</HI> remai|ning in &s;uch a &s;oule where it liveth, &s;o farre as it hath overcome, but the &s;ub&s;tantial and holy wil of God. And from hence it is that any &s;oul comes to be changed in its de&s;ires, becau&s;e it is chan|ged in it &s;elfe, or more properly out of it &s;elfe, from fle&s;h to &s;pirit, from &s;elfe to Chri&s;t, from its own wil to the wil of God.</P>
<P>But now if any &s;hall object and &s;ay, This is a hard &s;aying, who can beare it? This makes Chri&s;tianity to be &s;uch a burthen&s;ome thing as the world reports it to be, that a man mu&s;t be alwayes
<PB N="144" REF="83">cro&s;&s;ing and denying him&s;elfe of any will or content of his own, &s;o as by this rate the way to heaven is to have no plea&s;ure upon earth.</P>
<P>To this I an&s;wer, It is ignorance of God and his wayes that makes this objection; this &s;ounds like the an&s;wer of <HI>Nieodemus</HI> to our Saviour in the third of <HI>John,</HI> ver&s;e 4. when Chri&s;t had been &s;hewing him the nece&s;&s;ity of regeneration, and &s;pake in the Spirit to him of being born again, he under&s;tood not the Spirit, and as he under&s;tood him &s;o an&s;wered him in the fle&s;h, <HI>How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the &s;econd time into his mothers womb and be born?</HI> Chri&s;t &s;pake in the Spirit, but <HI>Nicodemus</HI> un|der&s;tood him onely in the fle&s;h, and therefore judgeth it hard, or impo&s;&s;ible, that there &s;hould be a regeneration, or new birth, though Chri&s;t had told him the nece&s;&s;ity of it. So doe all that are ignorant of God and his wayes thus conclude of him as they under&s;tand him, &s;o that when he &s;peakes in the Spirit, and they under&s;tand him in the fle&s;h, they conclude according to the light they are under, that what is impo&s;&s;ible with man, is &s;o with God to them, becau&s;e they have no other knowledge of God but in the fle&s;h. But let &s;uch as are &s;pirituall con&s;ider.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t, God gives what he commands,</HI> and then commands what he gives. God that commands to be wor&s;hipped and obeyed in &s;pirit, gives his Spirit to wor&s;hip and obey him in. God is no hard ma&s;ter, he takes not up where he layes not down, he covenants freely and makes it fully good, to put <HI>his law in the inner parts of his people, and to write it in their hearts,</HI> Jerem. 31.33. <HI>And to give them his Spirit of truth to dwell with them, and be in them, and to teach them all things,</HI> John 14.17.26. Now none but a fle&s;hly under&s;tan|ding can condemne God for a hard ma&s;ter, and his will &s;wallow|ing up our will, to be a joyle&s;&s;e, comfortle&s;&s;e, burthen&s;ome thing, when as hee gives his Spirit to doe that in us, which hee requires of us.</P>
<P>And this the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> found when hee made that holy boa&s;t, <HI>I can doe all things through Chri&s;t that &s;trengthens me,</HI> I have from God all that I returne to God, God hath my will, and I have my will &s;piritualized by God; Gods Spirit lives in my will, and I thereby live in the will of God, that which is impo&s;&s;ible with man is not &s;o with God; though of my &s;elfe I could not give up my wil to God, yet God of him&s;elfe can give me his Spirit, and by that
<PB N="145" REF="83">&s;wallow up my wil into his. When God bid <HI>Abrabam</HI> leave his Fathers Hou&s;e and goe into a &s;trange Land, the whole frame of the de&s;igne was again&s;t fle&s;h; yet God gave him a &s;pirit to goe through with the work. Nay, when hee commanded him to offer up his &s;onne, his only and his beloved &s;onne <HI>I&s;aac:</HI> again&s;t which work fle&s;h might have found arguments enough, yet to this &s;o ex|ceeding hard work to fle&s;h and blood, God gave him in &s;uch an a|bundant mea&s;ure of faith, that he &s;tuck not at it, his own will was &s;wallowed up into Gods, becau&s;e God had given him &s;utable &s;trength to &s;o hard a worke. The Apo&s;tle &s;peaking of faith, tells us 'tis <HI>the gift of God;</HI> now if we con&s;ult the Scriptures, we &s;hall finde <HI>Abraham</HI> did all the&s;e great workes by faith, <HI>Hebr.</HI> 11.8, 9, 18. &s;o that in one Text he is called <HI>the Father of the Faith|full.</HI> Now if Saints doe the will of God by faith in his Spirit, and he gives both faith and the &s;pirit; then God is no hard ma&s;ter, but a gracious God, in commanding what he gives, &s;eeing he gives what he commands, and it is nothing but ignorance of Gods way and working, that begets hard thoughts of God and his wayes.</P>
<P>Secondly con&s;ider, <HI>God leads his children, he doth not drive them;</HI> he wins and overcomes them by his love, he doth not force them but as his love con&s;traines them, by converting and changing the Old man into the New, God appears in the &s;oft and milde voyce, God makes choyce of a meeke <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to be his me&s;&s;enger to his people, to call them out, and to lead them after him. When God de&s;ignes, he u&s;es (if any) the very quinte&s;&s;ence of meanes to effect his de&s;ign: Now in this de&s;ign of Gods, to bring his peoples wil over to his, &s;o that they may be dead to their own will, and alive onely to his, he makes his love the meanes. That is a notable text to this purpo&s;e, where it is &s;aid, <HI>God was in Chri&s;t reconciling the world to him&s;elfe,</HI> that is, God was manife&s;ting his love to his own in the world by Chri&s;t, and the appearance of that love reconciles them to God; that is, makes them to have good thoughts of God, &amp; &s;eeing how he loves them, it makes them willing to re&s;ign them&s;elves wholly up to him. If I would &s;eek a bo&s;ome to take up my re&s;t in, to re&s;ign my &s;elf over to, &s;o as to be wholly led and ru|led by it, I would above all things el&s;e, be &s;ure to chu&s;e a bo&s;ome of love, one in whom I was &s;ure of a full intere&s;t of love; for then I could &s;atisfie my &s;elfe, that what ever was willed for me, or to me, it was the be&s;t that could be for me, becau&s;e love
<PB N="146" REF="84">con&s;trained, willed, and wrought it for me; and we know the commands of love are ea&s;ie both in the commander and the com|manded. Now this is Gods way in bringing over his peoples will to his, he opens his bo&s;ome of love to them, hee makes knowne a Chri&s;t crucified, and in him, wi&s;dome, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;anctifica|tion and redemption, and in all this his love, nay his love as the ground of all this, he makes known that he pardons iniquities, tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions and &s;innes for his own name &s;ake, and he calls him|&s;elf the God of love, the Apo&s;tle tells us, Ephe&s;. 2.8. <HI>That it is by grace we are &s;aved,</HI> that is, originall love is all in our &s;alvation. Now by the di&s;coveries of Gods love to the &s;oules of his people by his Spirit, he overcomes them; and whereasbefore they were at enmity with God, looking upon God as an enemy, <HI>(as all doe that &s;ee God onely in the fl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;h)</HI> but the Spirit opening their under|&s;tandings, now they become reconciled to God, we love him be|cau&s;e he loved us fir&s;t, and tru&s;t in him becau&s;e we &s;ee he loved us from all eternity, gave Chri&s;t and pardon, heaven and glory in this love, and to re&s;igne up our &s;elves into the bo&s;ome of God, to be pre&s;erved, directed and ruled by his love. The &s;oule by di&s;|cerning the love of God in the &s;pirit, is convinced that what ever it hath, flowes from this love, and it is ever be&s;t in this love, and therefore re&s;ignes up all to the love of God, its whole will and af|fections, which makes and rules all its motions. The love of God God him&s;elf, &amp; when this is u&s;ed as a meanes, it mu&s;t needs effect its end, God cannot be fru&s;trated, but what he wills he workes; if he wils his love to conquer the love and the wills of his people, it &s;hall &s;urely doe it; and this is Gods certain and &s;weet way of melting his peoples will into his own. <HI>My people,</HI> &s;ayes God, <HI>&s;hall be a willing people in the day of my power:</HI> when God powres forth his Spirit upon any &s;oule, and in that Spirit manife&s;ts and reveals his own love to that &s;oule, then is the day of Gods power upon &s;uch a &s;oul, and it becomes a willing &s;oule, it is melted into Gods will, and ownes no wil for it &s;elfe but the wil of God; and upon this foundation of love Chri&s;t commands his Di&s;ciples, <HI>Joh.</HI> 14, 15. <HI>If yee love me keep my commandement.</HI> And in the 23, 24. <HI>If any man love me he will keep my words. And he that loveth me not, keeps not my &s;ayings,</HI> as if he had &s;aid, it is my love &s;hed abroad in your hearts that is your ability to doe my wil, and this will demon&s;trates that I have given you my love, if you obey my words. God ownes no
<PB N="147" REF="84">&s;ervice but what flowes from love, and the fruits of love, as the fruits of God, for God is love. Now I never heard any complai|ning of the conque&s;t of love, <HI>Where love overcomes, the conque&s;t is &s;o lovely, that the overcomed admires, but never repines.</HI> And &s;ure I am, that wil in man which is overcome by Gods love to deny it &s;elf, &amp; onely to own God for its directer and commander, will be al|wayes admiring the power and the glory of that love, but never be found repining that it is captivated by the loving kindne&s;&s;e of God: and this is the way of Gods working upon the &s;oules of his people; therefore let &s;uch as are under the darkne&s;&s;e of the fle&s;h, be &s;ilent, and not &s;ay, that to have our wils melted into Gods will, is a burthen&s;ome thing, and to be cro&s;&s;ing and deny|ing &s;elfe and fle&s;h, is to make the way to heaven without joy on earth: for &s;o &s;aying, they onely di&s;cover this, that they are in the fle&s;h, and neither di&s;cerne nor &s;avour the things of God.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> when God brings in the wil of his people to his own will, there he <HI>changes the objects and the affections of &s;uch &s;oules</HI> &s;o that the will chu&s;eth God and his will as its centre to re&s;t in. That which the Apo&s;tle in the third to the <HI>Colo&s;&s;ians, begin.</HI> ex|horts to, God by his Spirit works in, and enables the &s;oule to, it is, <HI>That &s;uch as are ri&s;en with Chri&s;t, &s;hould &s;eek tho&s;e things that are above, where Chri&s;t &s;itteth at the right hand of God, that our affecti|ons &s;hould be there;</HI> becau&s;e Chri&s;t that is our life is there. Now when Gods Spirit commeth, and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth any &s;oule, it &s;ets upon this work immediatly, carries the &s;oule upward above the world, &s;hewes it God and Chri&s;t; the love of God in Chri&s;t &s;hewes it its glorious union with God and Chri&s;t here, and in glory to all e|ternity, darkens all the world by revealing but one glimp&s;e of this more exceeding and eternall weight of glory, and in chan|ging the object, the affections &s;oon alter. This more exceeding glory carries away the &s;oules love from the world of peri&s;hing glory. When the Prodigall but con&s;idered the fulne&s;&s;e of bread in his fathers hou&s;e, he &s;oon re&s;olved to leave his empty Trough of Huskes, and his &s;wini&s;h company: but &s;urely, when hee had been embraced in his Fathers Armes, and ta&s;ted the love in his Fathers bo&s;ome, when hee had po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of what hee longed for, and was in the vi&s;ion of his Fathers kindne&s;&s;e and glory, hee then quite forgot the <HI>Swine,</HI> and the huskes, his affections and wi&s;hes, did not then runne to obtain enough of them, no, the
<PB N="148" REF="85">object was changed, and the affections with it, and having been taken up into his Fathers glory, he doth not chu&s;e to goe backe, and feed with &s;wine any more, now he chu&s;eth to centre in God. Thus doth God bring in all his prodigals, when they have ta&s;ted the worlds peri&s;hing love, then by his Spirit hee makes known his eternall love to them: when they have tryed, tru&s;ted, and looked upon the world &s;o long, till they finde it empty, then he by his Spirit &s;hews them his own fulne&s;&s;e: when they have had the plea&s;ure of &s;inne for a &s;ea&s;on, and the bitterne&s;&s;e of &s;inne hath &s;ea&s;ed upon them with the vi&s;age of eternity, then God by the &s;ame Spirit makes known him&s;elf to be a God of grace, that par|dons freely, nothing to move him but his own love, and how great that love it, he makes manife&s;t by a crucified JESUS, and now &s;ayes the &s;oule, <HI>I</HI> know where to centre, where to &s;it downe, &amp; where to give up my &s;elf even into the bo&s;ome of Gods love. This is Gods way of conquering the &s;oules and wils of his peo|ple; He alters the object that alters the affections, and centres the will in God: the object is according to the eye, if the eye bee fle&s;h, it di&s;cernes no object but in the fle&s;h; &s;o if the eye be &s;piri|tuall, it &s;piritualizes every object: the Spirit of God enquires for God in all it &s;ees, and where God is made the onely object, there he is &s;ure to gain the affections: for he hath all love and loveli|ne&s;&s;e in him&s;elfe; and the affections being taken, the will goes where ever they go: he that lives in love, hath his wil in that he loves, not in him&s;elfe; &s;o the &s;oule that hath his affections drawne into God by his love made known unto it in the Spirit, hath no will in it &s;elfe, but in God, in whom it lives by love. Thus God doth &s;weetly gain and win into him&s;elfe the will of his people, by revealing the glory of his grace and love to them in the Spi|rit, till by that Spirit they make choyce of God to give up their wills unto, and &s;ay as Chri&s;t their head, <HI>Not my will but thy will be done.</HI></P>
<P>Fourthly, God when he gathers in the will of his people to his owne will, <HI>he gives in higher and fuller joyes and contentments into their &s;oules then ever they had at any time, or in all times and things before.</HI> The Prophet <HI>David</HI> in <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 4. <HI>latter end,</HI> given in light in the&s;e truths, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 6. <HI>There be many</HI> (&s;ayes he) that &s;ay <HI>Who will &s;hew us any good.</HI> Now mark his an&s;wer in the &s;ame ver&s;, <HI>Lord li&s;t thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.</HI> As if hee had
<PB N="149" REF="85">&s;aid, doe they enquire for any good? Lord doe thou but &s;mile upon us, looke graciou&s;ly on us, and there is all good in that; nay in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 7. he tels us his experience of it; <HI>Thou ha&s;t put glad|ne&s;&s;e in my heart more then in the time that their corne and their wine encrea&s;ed.</HI> This &s;peakes to the very thing; here is a time of more fuller joy and gladne&s;&s;e in the heart of Gods people, then under the enjoyments of the World; for I judge the termes of Corne and Wine comprehends the whole: but ob&s;erve when is that time? why, when the Lord lifts up the light of his countenance, when God by his Spirit makes knowne him&s;elfe to be their Fa|ther in Chri&s;t, then is the &s;oule filled with gladne&s;&s;e: but in the la&s;t ver&s;e ob&s;erve the effects of this upon <HI>Davids</HI> &s;oule, <HI>I will lay me downe in peace, for thou Lord only make&s;t me dwell in &s;afety:</HI> As if he had &s;aid, I will now re&s;igne all up to thee, and take my peace in thee, and expect my &s;afety from thee, thou ha&s;t &s;o filled my &s;oule with thy joyes, that I cannot leave thee, but leave my &s;elfe with thee; continue but to lift up the light of thy countenance upon me, and then leade me where thou wilt, and doe with mee what thou wilt, for I will lay all downe before thee, my will and my wayes, thou &s;halt be my peace and my &s;afety.</P>
<P>Ob&s;erve the working: of the Spirit of God in the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul's</HI> &s;pirit; when God had brought over <HI>Paul's</HI> will to his, to goe upon hard and &s;uffering work, &s;uch a work as he was told he &s;hould meete with &s;ufferings in, <HI>Acts</HI> 21. When hee would needs goe to <HI>Jeru&s;alem, Agabus</HI> the Prophete&s;&s;e prophe&s;ies to him, <HI>that the Jewes &s;hould binde him, and deliver him to the hands of the Gentiles.</HI> And in ver&s;. 10, 11, 12. <HI>The people be&s;ought him not to goe up to Jeru&s;alem:</HI> but in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 13. he an&s;wers them, <HI>what meane you to weepe and to breake my heart; for I am not only ready to be bound, but al&s;o to dye at Jeru&s;alem for the name of the Lord Je&s;us.</HI> As if he had &s;aid, you only with a fle&s;hly eye looke at the diffi|culty of the worke, you know not the inwa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">d &s;upply of joy in God that I have to doe this and the whole w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ll &amp; work of God; doe you thinke God is a hard task-ma&s;ter, to command bricke, and give no &s;traw? Doe you thinke the work God gives is more then the &s;trength he gives? If &s;o, you are mi&s;taken, for I am &s;upplyed with joyes and in comes of God, not only to goe through binding worke, but al&s;o dying worke for Chri&s;t; I
<PB N="150" REF="86">goe in Gods &s;trength to doe his work, in the light of his coun|tenance, and the g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ory of his love; let me goe whether he wil, and into what worke he plea&s;eth, my &s;trength to performe all is him&s;elfe; therefore my will &s;hall be his, his love is my life in his worke, therefore I love only to live in doing his worke, and whether his worke for mee be to live or dye, God &s;hall choo&s;e for me, not I for my &s;elfe, becau&s;e hee hath given mee the joyes of his love, in which I am able not to be bound only, but to dye for the name of the Lord Je&s;us. So the &s;ame Apo&s;tle, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4.7. <HI>to the end,</HI> tels us of the troubles, per&s;ecutions, and afflictions that him&s;elfe and the other Di&s;ciples with him &s;uffe|red daily, for owning and preaching Chri&s;t; ye<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">n <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 16. <HI>We faint not: but though our outward man peri&s;h, yet the inner man is renewed day by day;</HI> For the&s;e are light afflictions, and but for a moment, but the Spirit of God through them carries up our &s;pirits to live upon a farre more exceeding and eternall weight of glory. As if he had &s;aid, in all this hard and &s;uffering worke for God, we have more comes in from God; then we lay out, wee have a full &s;upply of joyes in God, &s;o that it is no hard thing to dye day by day in the outward man; for the inward man is borne up by a more exceeding and eternall weight of glory, So in <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. <HI>latter end. What &s;hall &s;eparate us from the love of Chri&s;t: &s;hall tribulation, or di&s;tre&s;&s;e, or per&s;ecution, or fa|mine, or nakedne&s;&s;e, or perill, or &s;word.</HI> No &s;ayes hee, this can|not doe it, for we &s;uffer all this for the name of Chri&s;t; <HI>Nayin all the&s;e things wee are more then Conquerours through him that loved us.</HI> If we con&s;ult with fle&s;h and blood, this will be found very hard work for to give up our wills to Gods will-ing; but when in the &s;pirit we come as the Apo&s;tle, to under&s;tand the love of God, and to live in it, to under&s;tand aright the tribulations of the World; we &s;hall finde that in Gods love wee are more then Conquerors, <HI>we have more &s;trength then worke;</HI> we have love e|nough from God to overcome more tribulation then the world hath: and not <HI>all the&s;e tribulations, di&s;tre&s;&s;es, per&s;ecutions, fa|mines, nakedne&s;&s;es, perills and &s;words, nor death, nor life, nor Angels, nor Principalities, nor Powers, nor things pre&s;ent, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, &s;hall be a|ble to &s;eparate us from the love of God which is in Chri&s;t Je&s;us our Lord.</HI> So that God by his love gives into the &s;oules of his peo|ple
<PB N="151" REF="86">greater and fuller joyes then they part with in the World, when they give up their wils to this will. In <HI>Phil.</HI> 3. the Apo|&s;tle tels us what value and e&s;teeme he put upon all his externall endowments and enjoyments; after God had made known his love to him in Chri&s;t, he tels us, <HI>Hee had as much in the fle&s;h to glory in as any other,</HI> and &s;hews in what: <HI>circumciz'd the eight day,</HI> and &s;o forward: but in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 7. <HI>What I counted gaine, I now count lo&s;&s;e for Chri&s;t; yea doubtle&s;&s;e, and I count all things but lo&s;&s;e for the excellency of the knowledge of CHri&s;t Je&s;us my Lord, for whom I have &s;uffered the lo&s;&s;e of all things, and doe count them but dung that I may winne Chri&s;t, and be found in him.</HI> Ob&s;erve it, and we &s;hall find this clearly in the Text; that <HI>an enjoyment of Chri&s;t, makes a low e&s;teeme of all things below Chri&s;t;</HI> all his legall righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e hee counts it dung, and de&s;ires never to be found in it, but for e|ver to be found in Chri&s;t: It proves the thing in hand, that when God makes known him&s;elfe to a &s;oule in Chri&s;t, and by that brings over its will to his owne will, in that God doth not bereave the &s;oule of joyes and contentments: but gives in more in giving him&s;elfe, then he takes the &s;oule from in taking it out of the world and it &s;elfe: and this wee &s;ee the Saints ac|knowledge. As <HI>Paul</HI> here; after hee had knowne Chri&s;t, all but Chri&s;t was dro&s;&s;e and dung with him. When God gives to his people, he gives to them as he requires of them; hee gives in the Spirit, <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.22. <HI>The fruits of the Spirit is love &amp; joy.</HI> The &s;pirit reveales the love of God to his people, and &s;eales them up to that love, and this makes joy in God: &s;o that all his ways are plea&s;ant, and his paths &s;weet to &s;uch &s;oules; it is not k<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">l|ling work to the &s;oule, when God comes to winne over the will to him&s;elfe. Doubtle&s;&s;e <HI>Abraham</HI> had more joyes in God then in his Fathers hou&s;e, otherwi&s;e hee would never have left his Fathers hou&s;e to haue followed God, nor have given up his will to the will of God, that hee might lead him where hee plea&s;ed; nor would he have &s;laine his &s;onne <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> the &s;onne of his love at Gods command, if he had not lived in a higher regi|on, the bo&s;ome of Gods love; and if Gods love had not been in his bo&s;ome, if he had not found more joy and love in God then in <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> he would never have &s;laine <HI>I&s;aac</HI> to have plea&s;ed God; <HI>No man will crucifie his highe&s;t joy;</HI> therefore it is, till Chri&s;t come into a &s;oule the World is never crucified, becau&s;e till then the
<PB N="152" REF="87">world is the chiefe and highe&s;t joy the &s;oule hath: &s;o that if <HI>A|braham</HI> had not had <HI>a</HI> higher joy then <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> he could never have beene willing to offer up his will in his &s;onne <HI>I&s;aac</HI> to the will of God. It is the union of better and higher joyes, that makes a &s;oule for&s;ake its lower joyes, and give up it &s;elfe and its will to God. The three Childrens choi&s;e in chu&s;ing <HI>Nebuchadnezars</HI> fiery furnace, rather then to wor&s;hip his golden Image, &s;peaks the truth of this thing; for if they had not had a better life in God then in the world, they would not have cho&s;en God ra|ther then the world: Nay they had &s;o much joy and life in God, that they believed the flames of fire could not de&s;troy it, there|fore they were not carefull to an&s;wer the King; all their care was to keepe clo&s;e to God, in whom doubtle&s;&s;e they had a more exceeding and eternall weight of joy and glory, otherwi&s;e they could never have given up their wills to the will of God in the flames of a fiery furnace. So likewi&s;e <HI>Paul</HI> and <HI>Silas,</HI> after they had endured many &s;tripes, and were ca&s;t into pri&s;on, and their feete fa&s;t in the &s;tockes, <HI>Acts</HI> 16.23, 24, 25. yet for all this, <HI>Paul and Silas prayed, and &s;ang pray&s;es unto God:</HI> What doth this &s;peake, but that the joyes of God in the &s;oules of his people doe exceede all their &s;ufferings, and that though God in conforming the will of his people to his owne will, doth bring them into &s;ufferings, yet <HI>hee giveth greater incomes of his love by his &s;pirit, then the affliction needeth:</HI> that they are not only able to beare them all, but to joy in God though under tribu|lations, this is to be more then Conquerers. This is the way that our Saviour tooke with his Di&s;ciples, when he was to leave them, &s;o that they could have no more of his fle&s;hly pre&s;ence, his de&s;igne was to comfort them, and give in that which might beare up their &s;pirits; therefore <HI>John</HI> 14.1. <HI>Let not your hearts be troubled, but believe in God through me, behold the love of God in &s;ending me, and your intere&s;t in that love; then con&s;ider that in my Fa|thers hou&s;e are many man&s;ions;</HI> fulne&s;&s;e of glory enough for all Saints. <HI>And my going from you is but to prepare a place,</HI> to take po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion for you as your head: <HI>And I will come againe and renew you to my &s;elfe;</HI> for heaven can never part mee and my members. <HI>And I will pray the Father that in my ab&s;ence he &s;hall give you another Comforter; even the Spirit of truth, which &s;hall dwell with you, and abide with you, and teach you all things:</HI> And if in that &s;pirit <HI>you
<PB N="153" REF="87">aske any thing in my Name I will doe it,</HI> I will effect it for you. And in <HI>John</HI> 15.9. <HI>As the Father hath loved me, &s;o have I loved you, continue in my love.</HI> And in <HI>John</HI> 17. Chri&s;t prayes for his Di&s;ci|ples and all his members, telling God, <HI>All mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorifie<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> in them.</HI> And therefore after hee had prayed God to keepe them in the World, and from the evil of the World: In <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 24. he prayes that they may be with him in glory. <HI>Father I will, that all whom thou ha&s;t given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou ha&s;t given me;</HI> So that he gives in &s;pirituall joyes and comforts to &s;upport and carry them through the feares they were under, and the tribulations they &s;hould find in the world: he gives in the joyes of heaven to carry them through the &s;orrowes on earth, and the joyes exceed the &s;orrowes, as Heaven doth Earth. If God deale thus with his people, that when he leads them into &s;uf|fering and difficult worke, yet then they have a greater income of &s;trength then &s;ervice, of joy then &s;orrow, of re&s;t in God, then trouble from the world: then &s;urely this way of Gods working the will of his people over to his will, is not a hard, but a plea&s;ing worke, and all the&s;e Scriptures makes this good; <HI>That God when he brings over the will of his people to his owne will, doth not make them a comfortle&s;&s;e, joyle&s;&s;e people, but gives in heights and fuller joyes and contentments into the &s;oule:</HI> &s;o that the &s;oule makes choi&s;e of God, to delight it &s;elfe in, and give it &s;elfe up too, with this re&s;ignation; <HI>Not my will, but thy will be done O Father.</HI></P>
<P>Fifthly, and la&s;tly, <HI>When God brings over his peoples will to his owne, he convinceth them, and makes them to believe, that their owne pre&s;ent, future, and eternall good is bound up in this will:</HI> So that as God workes his will upon his people, it is not &s;o hard a worke as the world thinks, for Saints to &s;urrender up their will unto the will of God; GOd dealt thus by <HI>Noah,</HI> it was his will that <HI>Noah</HI> &s;hould build an Arke, to &s;ave him&s;elfe and his Family from pe|ri&s;hing with the olde World. God convinceth him, and makes him to believe, that the pre&s;ent and future good of him&s;elfe and family was in the thing, &amp; immediately <HI>Noah's</HI> will was as God's will; <HI>for hee being warned of God by faith</HI> (&s;ayes the Text) <HI>he buil|ded an Arke,</HI> Heb. 11.7. So <HI>Peter,</HI> though at fir&s;t hee denyed our Saviour to wa&s;h his feete; yet when Chri&s;t told him, <HI>that if hee
<PB N="154" REF="88">wa&s;hed him not be had no part in him;</HI> nay then &s;ayes he, <HI>not only my feete, but al&s;o my hands and my head,</HI> John 13.8, 9. This fully proves the thing in hand, <HI>Peter's</HI> will oppo&s;ed Chri&s;ts; now our Saviour to bring over <HI>Peter's</HI> will to him&s;elfe, takes this cour&s;e, &s;hewes him and convinceth him, that his owne good was in &s;ub|mitting to his wil. The Apo&s;tle no &s;ooner believes this, but our Saviour hath his end; nay then Lord, <HI>not my will, but thy will be done; not only my feete, but al&s;o my hands and my head.</HI> The Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> in <HI>Phil.</HI> 4.12, 13. tels us, <HI>he knew both how to be aba&s;ed, and how to abound, to be full, and &s;uffer hunger, to abound, and &s;uffer neede. I can doe all things through Chri&s;t that &s;trengthens me.</HI> That is, he could in all conditions give up his will to God: not di&s;|pute with any of GOds will, but &s;ubmit to all. And methinkes the &s;ame Apo&s;tle in <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.28. gives us the ground of this &s;weete and heavenly frame of &s;pirit in him; <HI>For</HI> (&s;ayes he) <HI>we know that all things worke together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpo&s;e.</HI> That is, the good of Gods Elect is in all the will of God; God wils nothing, but what &s;hall worke together for this good: &s;o that my &s;oule believing of this, I can give up my whole will to God. I know what ever he doth, my good is in it, therefore whether God in this life make me to want or abound, I am content in both, and choo&s;e his will for my will, becau&s;e I am convinced. and doe verily believe that my good is in it; I have this faith in Chri&s;t, that my good is in all God doth, therefore I can &s;ubmit to Gods will, <HI>and doe all things through Chri&s;t that &s;trengthens me.</HI> Thus God in Chri&s;t enables his people to give up their wils to him by convincing them and making them believe that their owne good is in his will: So that gather up all the&s;e together, and it will plainly appear, that it is ignorance of God and his wayes in any &s;oule that &s;hall make this objection, that Gods wayes upon the &s;oules of his people are hard and burthen&s;ome wayes, &s;uch as if a man once enters into, and gives up his will to Gods will, then he mu&s;t be ever cro&s;&s;ing and denying him&s;elfe, making the way to heaven with|out any plea&s;ure or joy on earth. This is fal&s;e; for,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, God gives what he commands, then his commands cannot be hard.</P>
<P>Secondly, He leads his children, he doth not drive them, hee winnes and overcomes them by his love, he doth not force them.</P>
<PB N="155" REF="88">
<P>Thirdly, Hee changes the objects and affections of the &s;oule, and &s;o overcomes the will.</P>
<P>Fourthly, He gives in higher and fuller joyes and content|ments into the &s;oules of his people when he melteth them into his owne will, then they had at any time, or at all times before.</P>
<P>And la&s;tly, God convinceth and maketh the &s;oules of his peo|ple to believe that their good is bound up in his will. This way of working mu&s;t needs convince, that the worke, the way, and the end of God is &s;weete, &s;afe, and plea&s;ant to the &s;oules of his people when he brings them to this frame of &s;pirit to &s;ay in &s;ince|rity; <HI>Not my will, but thy will be done, O Father.</HI></P>
<P>Doubtle&s;&s;e it will be worthy of our paines to con&s;ider the be|nefits that doe accrue to the &s;oules of Gods people in having their wils involved into the will of the holy God.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, This giving up our wils to the will of God, it lifts up, and magnifies the glory of God in his love, power, and wi&s;dome, upon our own &s;oules, and in the World.</P>
<P>By this Saints declare to all the World, that they have found more &s;weetne&s;s in Gods love then in theirs, becau&s;e they have given them&s;elves from the world, to be ruled by, and &s;atisfied with his love.</P>
<P><HI>Abraham</HI> did this in an eminent manner, when he left his Fa|thers hou&s;e to follow the will and command of God; It &s;peakes plainly this, there is mo&s;t love in God, therefore the &s;oule loves alwayes to be with God, and to that end hath given it &s;elf who|ly up to God, and that it re&s;teth upon the power of God to defend it, and therefore gives up him&s;elfe and his will to Gods worke, and leaves his protection in all his worke to Gods pow|er; Sure <HI>Abraham</HI> did &s;o, for the Text tels us, <HI>bee knew not the place to which be went;</HI> then hee could not know the dangers hee &s;hould meete withall: but he knew whom he had tru&s;ted, and under what protection hee was, namely the power of the Al|mighty God, to whom hee had committed his owne will and way; this al&s;o doth much manife&s;t the glory and wi&s;dome of God, when his people give up their wils to his, what is it but adeclaring; Lord, wee are folly, but thou art wi&s;dome, &s;wal|low us up into thy &s;elfe, that wee may be wi&s;e in thy wi&s;dome; let our fooli&s;h wils appeare no more, but thy will and thy wi&s;|dome; Let Chri&s;t be our wi&s;dome, lift up thy &s;elfe in us, the
<PB N="156" REF="89">&s;oule gives up it &s;elfe to God, becau&s;e it would appeare no more in it &s;elfe but in God: as <HI>Paul,</HI> not in his owne righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e which is of the Law, but in Chri&s;t the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God; Now doth not this plainly appeare that the &s;oule judgeth Gods love better then all other love? His power above all other pow|er, and Gods wi&s;dome to exceede all his owne, and the wi&s;e|dome of the World, el&s;e why doth the soule in its will give up it &s;elfe to the will of God. So the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul; I through Chri&s;t can doe all things.</HI> He would not &s;o much as mention him&s;elfe; I have given my &s;elfe up to Chri&s;t (&s;ayes hee) and what is done Chri&s;t doth it in me, I have found his love, his power, and his wi&s;dome better then my owne, or any be&s;ides; therefore I have given my &s;elfe up to him, and I act in him.</P>
<P>How exceedingly doth this frame of Spirit declare the glory of God; this frame of will to Gods will was in the Di&s;ciples, <HI>Luke</HI> 5.5. When Chri&s;t bid them ca&s;t their nett into the Sea a|gaine; they told him <HI>They had toyled all night and caught nothing; yet neverthele&s;&s;e at thy word wee will let downe the nett&punc;</HI> How doth this manife&s;t their love to Chri&s;t in obeying him contrary to all their rea&s;on and experience of that nights labour, al&s;o it mag|nifies the power of Chri&s;t: <HI>As if they had &s;aid,</HI> wee will ca&s;t in at thy command, for thou ha&s;t power to make our labour &s;ucce&s;&s;efull: &s;o it doth the wi&s;dome of Chri&s;t, thou art wi&s;er then all wee, therefore wee will obey, not di&s;pute thy com|mands; marke that clau&s;e <HI>(yet neverthele&s;&s;e) at thy word wee will let downe the net.</HI> As if they had &s;aid, &s;hould wee owne our wills to be our owne, we &s;hould finde arguments enough in our fle&s;h to di&s;pute thy commands. <HI>Yet neverthele&s;&s;e,</HI> that there be &s;o many fle&s;hly arguments again&s;t thy command, yet our wils being thine we readily obey: this <HI>neverthele&s;&s;e</HI> gives the more glo|ry to the love, power, and wi&s;dome of God.</P>
<P><HI>A &s;econd Benefit</HI> of the will of man given up to the will of God, is this, That it takes the &s;oule off from vain and needle&s;&s;e pur|&s;uits and enquiries, and wholly puts it upon &s;eeking after the will of God: when the &s;oule is brought to this, to &s;eek and have all its <HI>light, life,</HI> and <HI>&s;trength</HI> from God, it then &s;eekes no where el&s;e; &s;o when it hath given it &s;elfe up wholly to be acted and di&s;po&s;ed of by God, then it lookes for nothing but God to manife&s;t his will in what the &s;oule or body &s;hould doe or &s;uffer. This &s;ingle
<PB N="157" REF="89">object is a mighty advantage to a beleeving &s;oule: how mi&s;era|bly are &s;uch poore hearts puzled, which have more then this &s;in|gle object to look to for rules to act by, &s;uch as when God by his providence brings them to a triall, that they mu&s;t act or declare for or again&s;t him, own him or deny him before men, then they have &s;truglings within them&s;elves. Fir&s;t, to know (after the men|ner of men) which is the &s;tronge&s;t &s;ide; and if they find that, yet they feare le&s;t it &s;hould not continue: &s;o they would &s;eemingly own God, but yet dare not let goe the arm of fle&s;h; they know not how to tru&s;t Gods power and wi&s;dome above the power and wi&s;dome of the world, and this makes them &s;ay one thing one day, and another the next: this uncertainty and perplexity in mens &s;pirits, ari&s;eth from hence, that God is not their &s;ingle ob|ject, they would doe that which cannot be, &s;erve God and Mam|mon too, they are ambidous, and would be alwayes uppermo&s;t, therefore they keep their wils in their own hands, that they may as they think, be able alwayes to gratifie the &s;tronge&s;t party. But this makes mi&s;erable worke in the &s;oule, and altogether unfixes the motions: <HI>You &s;hall never tell where to have that man, that can|not tell where to be him&s;elfe.</HI> He mu&s;t turn with the wind; and un|le&s;&s;e you can tell where and when the wind will change, you &s;hall never know how to find him. This is mi&s;ery enough for any man, and it is great pitie that any &s;uch man, or men, &s;hould have power to make <HI>more</HI> mi&s;erable then them&s;elves: But the mi&s;ery of this man &s;ets forth the beauty and the benefit of that wil which is wholly given up to God, and to whom God is the &s;ingle ob|ject it looks after. When God brings forth the &s;oule to di&s;cover it &s;elfe to the world, it goes to God and begges of him to di&s;cover and manife&s;t his will concerning its motion: For, &s;ayes he, Lord thou knowe&s;t I have no will of my own, my will is in thee, thou mu&s;t di&s;cover thy will, before I can know or doe my duty. Now when the &s;oule is fixed upon this &s;ingle object, it is free from all tho&s;e poore and low di&s;tracting con&s;iderations; and though he be made to wait a while to know Gods way, yet hee waits pati|ently, becau&s;e he knows he hath pitched upon an object that can|not deceive him, and upon a faithfull God that will make known him&s;elfe to him, &s;o that both waiting and working, hath a &s;et|ledne&s;&s;e in it, where God is the &s;ingle object of any &s;oul, and God is &s;o when the will of man is brought over to his will, it hath
<PB N="158" REF="90">then nothing to enquire after but the will of God, and what e|ver &s;oule hath that &s;ingly in his eye, &s;hall never want a cleare ob|ject; for God will never hide him&s;elfe from that heart which he inclines to enquire after him, much le&s;&s;e to &s;uch a &s;oule as hath re|&s;igned it &s;elfe wholly up to God, to &s;ee with his eyes, to hear with his eares, and to work with his hands, to know nor doe nothing but Gods will in his Spirit. God can never leave that &s;oule to it &s;elfe, which hath given it &s;elfe up to God. And this is the lan|guage of &s;uch a &s;oule, when as duty, wor&s;hip, and &s;ervice is requi|red of it, Shew me the will and command of my God in what you require, and I &s;hall &s;oon obey, otherwi&s;e I mu&s;t deny what you require, untill I &s;ee it be the will of my God, for there is my will bound up; and truly where God appeares not, I mu&s;t deny my &s;elfe to you and all fle&s;h: For I am not my own, but Gods, and cannot act but by the command and in the &s;trength of my God, it is not my will nor your will, but Gods will that my &s;pi|rit can yeeld obedience to, for God is my &s;ingle object upon whom I look, and from whom onely I can receive light in what I &s;hould doe, and &s;trength to act according to that light. This is a great and glorious benefit which comes into that &s;oule who&s;e will is given up to the will of God, it enquires for God, and pur|&s;ues after the knowledge of his will in all things; for this is the breathing of his &s;pirit to God, Not my will but thy will bee done.</P>
<P><HI>A third Benefit</HI> of our wils given up to Gods will, is this, It carries the &s;oule re&s;olvedly and &s;tedily to its duty, and leaveth the i&s;&s;ue and &s;ucce&s;&s;e to God. If God make knowne his will to this &s;oule, it doth not protract its obedience till God hath made known unto him in particular what &s;hall bee the i&s;&s;ue of that hee requires, but makes this conclu&s;ion, The duty is mine, now God hath declared him&s;elfe in it, and the &s;ucce&s;&s;e is Gods, it is in a &s;afe hand, and I know in the general it &s;hal be good, becau&s;e it is in God, and comes from God; but let God take his owne time to declare that, he hath at pre&s;ent made known his wil concerning my work, my enquiry is now at an end, and I will obey. <HI>Queene He&s;ter</HI> is an eminent example in this, when as God by <HI>Mordecai</HI> had &s;hewed his wil and her duty in that great and weighty bu&s;i|ne&s;&s;e of her interceding with King <HI>Aha&s;uerus</HI> for altering of his decree that was to take away the life of <HI>Mordecai,</HI> and all the <HI>Je|wi&s;h</HI>
<PB N="159" REF="90">Nation, though in the performance of this work &s;he mu&s;t go in to the King without his &s;ending for her, which was not ac|cording to the law, and in which &s;hee hazarded the lo&s;&s;e of her life as well as her petition; yet duty being made known, &s;he re|&s;olves to obey, though ignorant of the &s;ucce&s;&s;e, &s;hee takes up the duty with the&s;e words in her mouth, <HI>If I peri&s;h, I peri&s;h.</HI> This is a re&s;olved duty that comes from a &s;tedy &s;oule which hath given it &s;elfe up to God; as if &s;he had &s;aid, If the i&s;&s;ue bee to peri&s;h, I &s;hal willingly take up that when God declares him&s;elfe in it; but at the pre&s;ent God hath declared his will that I &s;hould goe, and that will of God I &s;hall obey though I peri&s;h; &s;he doth not &s;tay to know the i&s;&s;ue before &s;he goes, whether peri&s;h or not peri&s;h, but &s;he obeyes the command, &amp; leaveth it to God in his own time to make known his will in the &s;ucce&s;&s;e as well as the work, whether it it be peri&s;hing or not. It was a pretious &s;pirit, yea it was the &s;pi|rit of God in her, and it is the &s;ame &s;pirit that brings over the wil of Saints to the will of God, and makes them to be &s;tedy and re|&s;olved in their duty. It was thus with <HI>Paul,</HI> he could not forbear his going to <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> though his friends begged him with tears, and he knew bonds &s;hould take hold on him there, yet neverthe|le&s;&s;e God had declared his will for him to goe, and goe he mu&s;t, his will was as Gods will, and that manife&s;ted his obedience is &s;tedy and re&s;olved. So it is reported of <HI>Luther</HI> that he &s;hould &s;ay, he would goe and preach the Go&s;pel, though he met with as ma|ny Devils as tiles on the hou&s;e. <HI>Difficulties cannot hinder duties in &s;uch a &s;oule as hath given it &s;elfe and its will up to God,</HI> when God doth but declare his will; for that is all which &s;uch &s;oules look after, and when God hath declared that, the &s;oule takes it up re|&s;olvedly to obey it: and ca&s;ts it &s;elfe and whole worke and wayes upon God, that he would own him and his work, &s;o as to carry the &s;oule through it, according to the glory of his mighty power, whereby hee is able to work all things to him&s;elfe, and leaves the i&s;&s;ue in Gods hand to the &s;ame end, the glory of his Name, &s;ay|ing to God, <HI>Not my will, but thy will be done.</HI></P>
<P><HI>A fourth Benefit</HI> of our wils being &s;urrendred up to the will of God, is this, It &s;anctifies and beautifies the life and conver&s;a|tion of Saints with the image and pre&s;ence of God. If the wil of God bee that fountaine which giveth life to all our motion, then &s;urely that motion will be the life of God: that &s;oul which
<PB N="160" REF="91">will take up no practice upon tru&s;t, but doth try all, and make Gods will the touch-&s;tone to try them, &s;hall be &s;ure never to be deceived with copper in &s;tead of gold: that &s;oule which wil em|brace nothing but what God &s;hal fir&s;t approve of, is in a &s;ure way of keeping it &s;elfe pure and undefiled. Now this is the frame of Spirit which is in &s;uch &s;oules as have given up their wils to Gods wil; for their wils being in God, they wil be &s;ure to &s;ee his will in all they doe, they can take up no practice but what they have his precept for, and they will give you this for an unan&s;werable rea&s;on, They have no wil but what is in God, therefore can take up nor obey no worke, nor wil, but what is the worke and wil of God. And &s;uch as walk by this Rule, &s;ayes the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Peace be to them, and to the I&s;rael of God.</HI> God is &s;uch a Rule as can pro|duce no other end, and what ever &s;oule takes it work onely from Gods wil, mu&s;t needs be doing the will of God, <HI>which is</HI> in a few words, <HI>to be holy as God is holy;</HI> to bring forth the fruits of righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, becau&s;e what that &s;oule receives, is from a righteous God; that &s;oule which hath all from God, is alwayes with God, and the pre&s;ence of God changes &s;oules into his own image, and that &s;oule which hath its wil in God, mu&s;t needs have God in his wil and work, which wil certainly make a holy wil and a ho|ly work, becau&s;e both are made by a holy God.</P>
<P>The new Creature is the mo&s;t glorious being on earth, for it is God in the Creature: now this is the wil of man &s;wallowed up in the will of God, put forth in the &s;oule and life of man: And this is the &s;oule that &s;peakes to God truly in the &s;pirit, <HI>Not my will but thy will bee done, O Father.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Fifthly and la&s;tly,</HI> When our wils are melted into the wil of God, it puts the &s;oule and &s;pirit into a quiet, peaceable, re&s;tfull, and &s;erene condition, and it mu&s;t needs be &s;o upon this con&s;ide|ration. For what can make it otherwi&s;e, when all things worke according to the de&s;ires of that &s;oule; every thing di&s;tinct, and all things together, perfects the end that this &s;oule drives at, and the &s;oule knowes it, therefore mu&s;t needs be at re&s;t: the proper|ty of this &s;oule is, it hath its will in God, and de&s;ires the fulfilling and accompli&s;hment of no others wil, but the wil of God. Now tell me, what can di&s;turb the peace of this &s;oule? Nothing but what is able to fru&s;trate God of his wil, and that can be no crea|ted being, becau&s;e God that made it, can when he plea&s;es, make
<PB N="161" REF="91">it return to its fir&s;t nothing: that &s;oule hath its peace above di|&s;turbance, which hath in it the fulfilling of the will of God: For all the working in Heaven and Earth, doe but fulfill the wil of God, and make up the peace and re&s;t of that &s;oule which is bound up in the wil of God. And upon this con&s;ideration our Saviour tels his people, <HI>That their joy &s;hall no man take from them,</HI> becau&s;e their joy and re&s;t is in God, above the reach of man or men: and this is the main rea&s;on of that va&s;te difference that is in the &s;pi|rits that live in him, and the men of the World that live in the World, in regard of the re&s;t and peace that is in the bo&s;omes of the one, and the perplexing di&s;tractions that are in the hearts of the other. Sayes the Soule that hath given up his wil to God, I am at re&s;t, for I know in all the workings in the world, he is per|fecting his own will, and &s;etting up his owne glory; and his wil it my wil, if Gods will be done, I have all done that my &s;oule de|&s;ires, therefore nothing can di&s;turb my re&s;t. But now ask the worldling how is it with him in point of re&s;t? O (&s;ayes he) ne|ver wor&s;e, the world is &s;o unquiet, &s;o full of trouble, hazards, and change, that a man cannot tell where he is &s;afe, nor when hee is wel, nor doe we know when it will be better, when &s;ome hopes of re&s;t appeare, then new troubles nip that in the bud, &s;o that I am hopele&s;&s;e of any re&s;t in the world. That is very true, &s;ayes the the gracious &s;oule, for the earth that mu&s;t be &s;haken, and is ever &s;haking, was never made for a place of re&s;t: but did you enjoy God, and live in the fulne&s;&s;e of that love which &s;oules live in that have given them&s;elves up to God, your mournings would be tur|ned into joyes, and your &s;ad complainings into high admirings of the power and wi&s;dome of God, that makes all things, perfects his ends, and lifts up his glory. Truly, &s;ayes this &s;oule, I remem|ber the time when it was with me as with <HI>David,</HI> my heart repi|ned to &s;ee the wicked fat and flouri&s;h; but &s;ince my wil hath been moulded into the will of God, I can repine at nothing, becau&s;e now I know all things &s;hall fulfill the wil of God. I have knowne the time when my &s;pirit hath been di&s;turbed if God &s;hould &s;eeme to &s;et me a&s;ide, and u&s;e others in my place to doe his work; but truly no &s;uch thing di&s;turbs me now, my wil is in Gods wil, for it is the wil and work of God to be done, that I mind; not the in|&s;trument that doth it: nay, Gods wil in altering of his in&s;tru|ments, &s;atisfies me as much as any other part of his will: for it is
<PB N="162" REF="92">the doing of his will that I re&s;t in, and this makes me alwayes at re&s;t, becau&s;e God is alwayes accompli&s;hing his own will: there|fore, &s;ayes the P&s;almi&s;t, in the 45 P&s;alme, <HI>I will not feare nor be di&s;|quieted, though the earth be removed, and the mountaines carried into the mid&s;t of the Sea, though the waters thereof roare and bee troubled, though the mountaines &s;hake with the &s;welling thereof.</HI> No, why not? What is the rea&s;on of it? Why? <HI>The Lord of Ho&s;ts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.</HI> This is the rea&s;on, He lived in the power, love, and faithfulne&s;&s;e of God, and &s;o could not be moved; that which could move the earth, and carry away the mountaines, the great men &amp; powers of it, could not di&s;quiet him, becau&s;e not re|move him from his God. Our Saviour intimates thus much unto his Di&s;ciples, <HI>John</HI> 14. <HI>Let not your hearts be troubled, you beleeve in God, beleeve al&s;o in me.</HI> (i.) Beleeve in God, live in God, and re&s;t on God through me, and your hearts will be at re&s;t. When the wil of Man centres in the wil of God, the peace of God centres in the bo&s;ome of that man: When God makes any &s;oule to &s;it down in his wil, he doth al&s;o make that &s;oule to be at re&s;t in his wil, and his love, till he take it up for ever into the fulne&s;&s;e of his glory.</P>
<P>This is an unparallel'd benefit which that &s;oule enjoyes that hath given up his will to the will of God. Wee have an example of this in <HI>David,</HI> 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 12.16. whil&s;t the child was &s;icke, he be|&s;ought the Lord for it; but when he knew the childe was dead, <HI>He aro&s;e from the earth, wa&s;hed and anointed him&s;elf, wor&s;hipped God, and went to his own hou&s;e, are bread, and refre&s;hed him&s;elfe,</HI> 19, 20. And in the 22, 23. ver&s;es, he tels us the rea&s;on of it, While the child was living, he be&s;ought God for it, he could not tel but it might be his will that the child &s;hould live; but when God had declared his will in the death of his child, that &s;atisfied <HI>David,</HI> &s;o that we &s;ee clearly, it was the will of God hee looked after, and that being revealed, the heart is at re&s;t; and its only a heart that is thus bound up in God and his will, that can be at re&s;t. Gods will is either the re&s;t or the trouble of every &s;oule: where it is the re&s;t, that &s;oule mu&s;t needs be at re&s;t, becau&s;e his wil &s;hal alwayes be done: but where it is the trouble, that &s;oule mu&s;t ever bee in trouble, becau&s;e his will is ever fulfilling. Now it cannot but bee the re&s;t of that &s;oule which hath its will in God, and di&s;quiet|ments of &s;uch wils, as are out of, and contrary to God: that &s;oul mu&s;t needs be at re&s;t, which hath his wil in Gods, becau&s;e let God
<PB N="163" REF="92">&s;trip it of what he plea&s;eth, yet it finds more in God, then it can lo&s;e for God, more love, more life, more joy, more riches, more honours, and more plea&s;ures; then it mu&s;t needs follow, more peace and quiet in &s;uch &s;pirits. <HI>The onely way to be at peace and qui|et, is to be out of our &s;elves, and the world in our wills, and in God.</HI> This &s;oule gaines its will by lo&s;ing of it, he hath what he de&s;ires, that in all times and things Gods will mu&s;t bee done on Earth as it is in heaven.</P>
<P>But if our hearts &s;hould ask this que&s;tion, If there be &s;uch great benefits that doe accrew to the &s;oules of Gods people, in having their wils moulded into the wil of the holy God; then what hin|ders that this work is not wrought upon the wil of every man?</P>
<P>To this I an&s;wer, There be three things e&s;pecially which hinder.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Ignorance of God.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Unbeliefe.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. Love of the world.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>It is ignorance of God,</HI> in his love, and the working of his love, that makes the &s;oule long to give up it &s;elfe and its will to God, and this appeares clearly in what hath gone before. The blind man cannot judge of colours, &amp; he that knows not an ex|cellency, can never clo&s;e with it: it is all one to a &s;wine whether he tramples upon pearles or peble-&s;tones, hee cannot di&s;tingui&s;h. There is not a greater evidence of ignorance, then in &s;uch a que|&s;tion as was put to the Jewes, <HI>What is there in thy beloved more then in other beloveds?</HI> It is a &s;igne they were ignorant of her beloved, that &s;hould make que&s;tion what was in him more then in other beloveds; had they known him as &s;he did, they would have con|fe&s;&s;ed he had been the faire&s;t among ten thou&s;and, and admired his excellency, not compared it by a que&s;tion to poor low emp|ty things. Now from this ignorance it ari&s;es, that men keep their wils to them&s;elves, and doe not &s;urrender them up to God, be|cau&s;e they know not God, nor what gainers they &s;hall bee in &s;o doing.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly, &V;nbeliefe,</HI> and this is the grand cau&s;e; for though men may have a fle&s;hly knowledge of God and Chri&s;t, yet if they know not God and Chri&s;t in &s;pirit, there will be no tru&s;t|ing in them, nor beleeving on them: and there can never be a re|&s;igning the will over to God. All the eminent examples which
<PB N="164" REF="93">we have in Scripture of this giving up the wil to Gods wil, we &s;hal find it the fruits of faith, <HI>Heb.</HI> 11.7. <HI>By faith Noab obeyed the will of God, and builded an Arke,</HI> 8, 9 ver&s;es. So by faith <HI>Abraham</HI> gave his wil up to God, in leaving the place he was in, to goe to a &s;trange countrey which he did not know, and &s;ojourned in the Land of promi&s;e as a &s;tranger. And in the 17. ver&s;e, when God tried <HI>Abraham</HI> in that &s;uperlative &s;treight to the fle&s;h, whether he had given up his wil to Gods wil in commanding him to offer up his &s;onne <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> the Text &s;aith, <HI>By faith he did it;</HI> he had by faith re&s;igned up his own wil to Gods, &amp; did beleeve Gods wil bet|ter for him then his own, &s;o by faith he obeyed. ver&s;e 23. It was by faith <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> parents hid him three moneths, that their wil was Gods wil, comes from faith. So by faith <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> when hee came to yeares, obeyed Gods wil, and left <HI>Pharaohs</HI> Court. And by faith the children of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> gave up their wils to God, and followed his wil through the red &s;ea and the long wilderne&s;&s;e into <HI>Canaan.</HI> Thus it is beliefe in God that centers the wil in God; and &s;o con|&s;equently unbeliefe that keepes off the will from centering in God.</P>
<P>Thirdly and la&s;tly, <HI>inordinate love to the world</HI> keeps off the wil of man from clo&s;ing with Chri&s;t; they are afraid to lo&s;e &s;ome|thing of the world, if they give up their wils to Chri&s;t. This made the <HI>Gaderens</HI> to de&s;ire Chri&s;t to depart out of their Coa&s;t, <HI>Mark</HI> 5.17. becau&s;e in the fulfilling of his wil when as he ca&s;t the Legions of Devils out of the man, and &s;uffered them to goe into the &s;wine, &s;o <HI>that the &s;wine ran into the Sea and were drowned;</HI> they de&s;ired no more of his will to be done, if it took away their &s;wine. This worlds love is &s;wini&s;h love, it loves not that Gods wil &s;hould be done, if in the fulfilling of it there bee but a cropping of any creature bud. This love puts a great value upon the things and e|&s;teem of the world, and therefore refu&s;eth to give up its wil to God, becau&s;e he &s;eeth that the wil of God commands the offering up of an <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> and he not being acquainted with the &s;piritual in|coming of God to his &s;oule, nor beleeving the love and faithful|ne&s;&s;e of God, refu&s;eth to re&s;igne up his wil to God: but as the un|ju&s;t Steward would make friends of the <HI>unrighteous Mammon,</HI> gives up his will to the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing and e&s;teem of an empty world, values them more then God, loves them better then God, and therefore give up their will to the world, and not to God, reading
<PB N="165" REF="93">this le&s;&s;on backeward, and &s;ay to God, <HI>not thy will, but our will be done.</HI></P>
<P>This truth is full of beauty in its information, but in the ap|plication of it, and the &s;oules clo&s;ing with it, it makes an excee|ding glorious Chri&s;tian.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>It informes us whence all trouble and re&s;t both within us &amp; without us do ari&s;e:</HI> and that is clearly in this from our wils out of God, &amp; our wils in God; that will which is not in God, is in op|po&s;ition to God, &amp; &s;o is God to it; now hence it is that all trou|bles ari&s;e both within &amp; without the &s;oul, becau&s;e God is always fulfilling his owne will; and this is a continual cro&s;&s;ing &s;uch a wil as is out of God, that wil that lives in it &s;elfe is tortured every moment of &s;elfe-di&s;appointment, which doth follow it all its dayes, and in all its de&s;ignes, becau&s;e it wils and de&s;igns contrary to God; Di&s;appointments are dreadfull things to &s;uch a man as wils for him&s;elfe, and lives in his will, his will being di&s;ap|pointed, in which his life was bound up, the man mu&s;t needs be a life-le&s;&s;e miserable man; this was the grond of <HI>Pharoah's</HI> trou|bles about the children of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> his will was in oppo&s;ition to Gods will, in their going to wor&s;hip God in the Wilderne&s;&s;e; God in every act of his providence was fulfilling his will, and this eate up the very bowels of <HI>Pharoah:</HI> and this is the very cau&s;e that makes tho&s;e tyrants over the con&s;ciences of Gods people in the&s;e dayes &s;o re&s;tle&s;&s;e, becau&s;e in oppo&s;ition to them God is fulfilling his owne wil; Hee wil have his people free from their wils to wor&s;hip him in his Spirit: and though they pur&s;ue with all their might to hinder this wil of God in his Saints, yet they imagine but a vaine thing, and &s;hall compa&s;&s;e nothing in the conclu&s;ion but their owne ruine: God may &s;uffer them &s;o far to have their owne wils, as to drive Saints to the Red Sea: but all that &s;hal fulfil Gods wil, not their wil; for then wil God bring their greate&s;t di&s;appointment, and certaine ruine. This was al&s;o proud <HI>Hamans</HI> ca&s;e, his wil was to de&s;troy the whole Nation of the <HI>Jewes,</HI> as we may &s;ee in <HI>E&s;ther</HI> 3. But this was not Gods wil, <HI>Haman</HI> hee de&s;ignes according to his will: but it being without God, ob&s;erve the fulne&s;&s;e of his di&s;appointment, and the Ju|&s;tice of God returned into his own bo&s;ome. In <HI>E&s;ther</HI> 6. &amp; <HI>E&s;ther</HI> 7. and <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 10. of Chap. 6. <HI>The King asketh</HI> Haman <HI>what &s;hould be done to the man the King would honour?</HI> Doubtle&s;&s;e <HI>Haman</HI>
<PB N="166" REF="94">thought the King meant him&s;elfe, and therefore makes him this an&s;wer in <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 8. <HI>Let the royall apparrel be brought which the King u&s;eth to weare, and the hor&s;e that the King rideth upon, and the Crowne royall which is &s;et upon his head, and let his apparell &amp; hor&s;e be delivered to the hands of one of the Kings mo&s;t noble Princes, that they may array the man withall whom the King delights to honour, and bring him on hor&s;e-backe through the &s;treets of the City, and proclaim before him, thus &s;hall be done to the man whom the King will honour</HI> It appeares cleare by this coun&s;ell, that &s;elfe was in his heart: but ob&s;erve in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 10. the mi&s;erable di&s;appointment of this proud &s;elfi&s;h man. <HI>Then the King &s;aid unto</HI> Haman, <HI>make ha&s;t, take the Apparell and the Hor&s;e as thou ha&s;t &s;aid, and doe even &s;o to</HI> Mordecai <HI>the Jew that &s;itteth at the Kings gate: let nothing faile of all that thou ha&s;t &s;poken.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>Haman</HI> is di&s;appointed in that he is not the man.</P>
<P>Secondly, To aggravate his mi&s;ery, <HI>Mordecai</HI> whom he ha|ted he is the man: (for whom hee had beene inventing death and di&s;honour) God makes him the in&s;trument to invent honours, and to compleat this mi&s;erable di&s;appointment. <HI>Haman</HI> him&s;elfe mu&s;t be the Kings &s;ervant to honour <HI>Mordecai</HI> whom hee hated; we &s;ee by <HI>Hamans</HI> an&s;wers to the King, what proud and &s;elfi&s;h men &s;eeke after: but their wils being out of God, the higher they clime, the lower they fall, and the greater their expectations be, the fuller of mi&s;ery is their di&s;appointment; Yet the ju&s;tice of God left not this proud cruel man, but brought him to be han|ged upon the Gallowes of fifty cubits high, which he had in his wil appointed for <HI>Mordecay.</HI> This is the fruit of having our wils out of Gods wil: So <HI>Jonah,</HI> his wil was the gourd &s;hould conti|nue: but that was not Gods wil, therefore dye it mu&s;t; now how doth this di&s;quiet the man, even &s;o much that he &s;eemes to ju|&s;tifie his anger; there was no cau&s;e of his di&s;content, but that his wil was not in Gods wil.</P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>This doth informe us whence this re&s;t and quiet that is in the bo&s;omes of Gods people doth ari&s;e;</HI> namely in this, that their wils are in Gods wil; therefore when God declares his wil under any di&s;pen&s;ation in the World, they are at re&s;t; for the appea|rance of his wil makes their re&s;t; all things be&s;ides this brings di&s;|quietments upon the &s;pirit: but when the wil of God appeares, it &s;ilences all di&s;putes, and quiets all thoughts in the heart of him
<PB N="167" REF="94">that hath given up his wil to Gods wil; this &s;oule doth not quar|rel with, but ki&s;&s;eth the feete of God: when the wil of God lays it there, it is in &s;pirit at re&s;t upon a &s;icke bed, becau&s;e of the wil of God there. Di&s;appointments in the outward man do not cea&s;e upon this man to di&s;turbance, becau&s;e the wil of God is in them, and that is his re&s;t; he is be&s;t at re&s;t in that wherein he &s;eeth mo&s;t of Gods wil di&s;covered to him, what ever it be in its owne na|ture; this &s;oule can &s;ay with <HI>David,</HI> when Gods wil appeares in it: <HI>It is good for me I have beene afflicted,</HI> and makes this the di&s;co|very of the good and evil of all he meddles with; namely, the wil of God. If Gods wil appeare in it, he acknowledgeth it to be good: but if he &s;ee not that, he cannot own it as his good, or a|ny thing for him to re&s;t in; for he re&s;ts only in God, and it is nothing but the appearance of Gods wil that makes his Spirit at re&s;t under every di&s;pen&s;ation of God, and from thence this &s;oule hath a quiet being.</P>
<P>But againe, <HI>This truth doth informe us as Saints of our duty, to en|quire after Gods will in all we doe, or require others to doe.</HI> The will of Chri&s;t was, <HI>that the will of God &s;hould be done:</HI> &s;o is the wil of Saints in conformity to the wil of Chri&s;t their head; and if to be done, then &s;urely to be known: Nay, Saints ought to doe no|thing before they know the wil of God in it. If this rule were ob|&s;erved, there would not be &s;o much doing and undoing as this uncertaine age affords. If God led men into what they doe, hee would &s;o owne them that they &s;hould not be a&s;hamed of it; this is the true rea&s;on why men doe and ondoe, becau&s;e in what they doe they &s;eeke their owne wils, not Gods wil: but hee that hath given up his wil to Gods wil, before hee works he will &s;ee Gods wil, this is the true rea&s;on why the men of this World with all their power and policy cannot make Saints wor&s;hip as they doe (the unknowne God) or at lea&s;t wi&s;e in &s;uch a manner as they know not, whether it be the wil of God or no. I &s;ay this is the rea&s;on, becau&s;e they are bound up in the wil of God, &s;o that they cannot wor&s;hip any unknowne God, nor the God they know in any manner, but what he makes known to them, to be his wil that they &s;hould wor&s;hip him in. If men be truly zealous for the wor&s;hip of God, it can goe no farther then this; That &s;uch as know him and his wil, &s;hould wor&s;hip him according to his wil made knowne to them; for any thing el&s;e cannot be the
<PB N="168" REF="95">true wor&s;hip of the true God. Now &s;uch as know God and his wil in truth, the &s;pirit of truth, they are a willing people, to wor|&s;hip God according to his wil made known to them by his Spirit, in which they wor&s;hip him. If this were &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;idered in the Spirit of God, it would appear to be the beauty of Saints not to act before light, to know Gods wil, and &s;o to doe it, there|fore Saints &s;hould be teaching one another in the Spirit, but not to force any where the Spirit hath not taught, then there is no neede of forcing; for the Spirit of God that teacheth, doth al&s;o leade his people into obeying of his truths and wil. The Saints in truth &s;peak thus in the &s;pirit of truth to God: <HI>Not my will, nor the will of any man or men, but thy will be done.</HI> Therefore Lord, &s;hew me thy wil, and it &s;ufficeth; he that rules &s;hould enquire af|ter the will of God to rule by: and he that is ruled, for the will of God to be the rule of his obedience. Oh that our Rulers did enquire after, and finde out this rule to rule by; <HI>Then would righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e flouri&s;h in the Land as a greene Bay-tree, and the branches of it would cover the Land, with that much de&s;ired peace.</HI> It is the want of this which makes the want of peace: did Governors and governed &s;eeke Gods wil and not their owne, both they and the Land would &s;oone be at peace in the righteous wil of God. If men did truly enquire after Gods wil, that they might loo&s;e their owne wils in his, the contending for our owne wils would be at an end, true re&s;t and peace would come into our &s;oules and this Nation; for this is only true re&s;t to re&s;t in God and his wil.</P>
<P>But then how excellent is this in that &s;oule, which doth in the Spirit of God truly apply it, and clo&s;e with it, that hath indeed its wil only in the wil of God, and de&s;ires nothing to be done for it but the wil of God, nor in it, but Gods wil, nor to it but Gods wil; that de&s;ires to thinke, &s;peake, nor doe nothing but Gods wil; that hath but this one &s;ingle object to looke after, the wil of God, and finding that, hath found its joy, hope, peace, riches, glory, aimes and ends, with all the good can be named, to that the &s;oule can joy in the Lord alwayes, have this hope al|wayes lively, his peace continually within him, his riches con|&s;tantly by him, his glory certaine, becau&s;e above him&s;elfe in the wil of his God, and his aimes and ends certainly accompli&s;hed, becau&s;e he hath all the&s;e in God, his wil being only in the wil of God. The workings God in the World, which perplexes other
<PB N="169" REF="95">men, &s;atisfies this man, becau&s;e the wil of God is done in them, and by them; this is indeed the very top-branch of Chri&s;tianity; this was Chri&s;ts le&s;&s;on when he was going out of the World, and that &s;oule which learns this le&s;&s;on is going with Chri&s;t out of the World, I meane not bodily, but &s;piritually; not the fle&s;h dying in the World, but his &s;pirit dead to the World, as <HI>Paul</HI> crucified to the World, and the World to him, both agreed; hee had as little &s;pirit for the World, as the World had &s;atisfaction for his &s;pirit; his &s;pirit was bound up in God, and that mu&s;t needes make an excellent &s;oule, which hath its all in God, and from God, its wil &s;o in God, that it can wil nothing to be done, but the will of God: <HI>Not my will, but thy will be done.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XII. No man exceeds another in excel|ency but by received mercies.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL>1 <HI>Cor.</HI> Chap. 4. <HI>part of the</HI> 7^t^h <HI>ver&s;.</HI></BIBL> For who maketh to differ from another: and what ha&s;t thou that thou did&s;t not receive.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THis Scripture is to my under&s;tanding, one of the mo&s;t humbling pieces to the fle&s;h, and fle&s;hly pride of all men and women, that the whole Booke of God affords; humility is the generall &s;cope of the Apo&s;tle in it, and he hath very fit|ly &s;uited his arguments to his end; the Apo&s;tle both argues and proves his Argument in this Scripture by way of que&s;tion.</P>
<P>This Scripture may fitly be called <HI>a paire of que&s;tions,</HI> or a two|fold que&s;tion, and it &s;peaks mo&s;t properly to <HI>a paire of grand lu&s;ts and &s;innes,</HI> that are in the hearts of all men &amp; women by nature;
<PB N="170" REF="96">Namely, pride and <HI>peevi&s;h</HI> repining; Now to the finding out, and an&s;wering of the&s;e two in the Apo&s;tles language, I &s;hall bend my medications.</P>
<P><HI>And fir&s;t, the proud heart:</HI> Now if you aske me a definition of a proud heart, I &s;hall fir&s;t an&s;wer in generall; the tree is knowne by the fruit, and the fruits are &s;o many that they cannot be ga|thered all into &s;o narrow a compa&s;&s;e: but &s;o farre as God doth enable mee, I &s;hall give light into it by the&s;e words following; namely,</P>
<P><HI>A proud heart</HI> is a heart lifted up in it &s;elfe, de&s;pi&s;ing all that are below it, and envying all that are above it. <HI>Pharoah</HI> is a full te&s;ti|mony of this truth, <HI>Exod.</HI> 5.2. when <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Aaron</HI> went in and told <HI>Pharaoh; Thus &s;aith the Lord God of I&s;rael, let my people goe, that they may hold a fea&s;t with me in the Wilderne&s;&s;e.</HI> Mark his an&s;wer: <HI>And</HI> Pharoah <HI>&s;aid, who is the Lord, that I &s;hould obey his voyce to let I&s;rael goe:</HI> As if hee had &s;aid; doe you tell mee of the Lord? is there any above me that &s;hould require this people out of my hands?</P>
<P>Here is an exact embleme of a man lifted up in him&s;elf, and de&s;pi&s;ing of all below him and above him too: But when God by his judgements had forced him to let his people goe, in which God and his people were above <HI>Pharaoh,</HI> &s;ee then how full of envy this proud man is to God and his people; that hee mu&s;ters up all his &s;trength to hinder God in his de&s;igne, and to de&s;troy his people, &s;o that <HI>Pharaoh</HI> is a full proofe to all the&s;e particulars of a proud heart.</P>
<P>That poore wretch <HI>Herod</HI> was al&s;o lifted up in him&s;elfe, who when he had made his Oration, and the people cryed out, <HI>the voyce of God and not of man,</HI> he tooke it to him&s;elfe, for that was his end to lift up him&s;elf; this is the foundation principally of all proud hearts.</P>
<P>So <HI>Nebuchadnezar</HI> in <HI>Dan.</HI> 8.15. when he had threatned <HI>Sha|drach, Me&s;hech,</HI> and <HI>Abednego,</HI> what hee would doe to them, <HI>if they &s;hould not at his command fall downe and wor&s;hip the golden I|mage which he had &s;et up, that he would ca&s;t them into the fiery fornace, And who is that God that &s;hall deliver you out of my bands.</HI> This is indeed <HI>&s;uperlative pride,</HI> the man in his owne thoughts had &s;et up him&s;elfe above God. So he that builded <HI>Babell</HI> tels us his de|&s;igne, that he might &s;ay in the conclu&s;ion; <HI>Is not this great Ba|bel
<PB N="171" REF="96">that I have built.</HI> His proud heart was lifted up in him&s;elf, and that made his worke &s;utable to his heart, to lift up his own name, &s;o as he might call <HI>Babel</HI> which hee had built: The&s;e al&s;o are the proper characters of proud <HI>Haman,</HI> he was &s;o lifted up in him&s;elf, that if poore <HI>Mordecai</HI> bow not his knee, the man is re&s;tle&s;&s;e, de|&s;pi&s;eth him, plots his ruine, and with him all the Nation of the <HI>Jewes;</HI> yea even <HI>E&s;ther</HI> the Queen that was above him. The proud man to &s;et up &s;elfe, de&s;pi&s;es and envies all below him and above him; a proud heart is boundle&s;&s;e in &s;eeking to &s;et up it &s;elfe: So proud <HI>Goliah</HI> de&s;pi&s;ed little <HI>David,</HI> thought him fit for nothing but to trample upon. The&s;e proofes of Scripture with the &s;piri|tuall di&s;coveries of this &s;inne in our &s;elves and others hearts and lives, wil be te&s;timony enough to prove the definition of a proud heart. <HI>That a proud heart is a heart lifted up in it &s;elfe, de&s;pi&s;ing all below it, and envying all above it.</HI></P>
<P>It wil wel become humble Saints to con&s;ider how fully the ho|ly Gho&s;t by the Apo&s;tle doth an&s;wer and &s;ilence this proud fle&s;h and &s;pirit in every part of it, and that by way of que&s;tions which can receive no an&s;wer but in the plucking up of pride by the roots. As if the Apo&s;tle &s;hould &s;ay; you that are lifted up in your &s;elves, and make your boa&s;ts of your owne wi&s;dome, riches, &s;trength, power and greatne&s;&s;e above others, come you forth and an&s;wer me this que&s;tion; <HI>Who maketh thee to differ from another. And what ha&s;t thou which thou ha&s;t not received.</HI> Do&s;t thou call the wi&s;dome, &s;trength, power, and greatne&s;&s;e that God hath be&s;towed on thee thy owne? And is it thy bu&s;ine&s;&s;e to lift up thy name by the&s;e? This is thy mi&s;take; thy pride is thy owne indeed, thou maye&s;t call thy &s;elfe and the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> thy owne originall for all &s;in and evill: but God is only the original of all good; now if thou ex|ceed theirs in evill, it will be no advantage to lift up thy &s;elfe by; for the more &s;inful, the more mi&s;erable thou art: but if thou ex|ceed others in good, as knowledge and the like, thou ha&s;t in this little rea&s;on to lift up thy &s;elfe, for thou art not the originall that thou glorie&s;t in. It is what thou ha&s;t received that makes thee to differ from another: wilt thou lift up thy &s;elfe as if thou wert ful, becau&s;e God is ful? I tell thee <HI>O proud man,</HI> thy diffe|rence is from donation; thou art more then another, becau&s;e God gives thee more then another, not becau&s;e thou art more in thy &s;elfe, therefore &s;hew me a rea&s;on why thou art lifted up in thy
<PB N="172" REF="97">&s;elfe; wilt thou be proud of thy &s;ins, for thou ha&s;t nothing el&s;e of thy owne? Nay, it is thy &s;inne to be proud of any thing thou ha&s;t received: Wilt thou lift up thy &s;elfe in that which is ano|thers? Robbe God of his glory to cover thy owne face with it? Nay, wilt thou be &s;o wicked as to make thy &s;elfe as it were God? His wi&s;dome thine, and thy &s;elfe the originall of his gifts? Thou forgette&s;t and &s;eeme&s;t to deny that thou ha&s;t received that which makes thee to differ, when as thou goe&s;t about to &s;et up thy &s;elfe.</P>
<P>Againe, &s;hew me thy rea&s;on why thou de&s;pi&s;e&s;t all that are be|low the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">, and envie&s;t &s;uch as are above thee; is the one too low, and the other too high? Why con&s;ider who 'tis that makes the difference in them, it is the &s;ame powerfull God that maketh thee to differ, by what thou ha&s;t received more then tho&s;e below thee, and le&s;&s;e then &s;uch as are aboue thee. Now thou can&s;t neither de&s;pi&s;e the one, nor envy the other, but thou do&s;t it to God in both; for the &s;ame wonder-working God which makes thee to differ in excellency and glory from them, makes them al&s;o to dif|fer from thee in the &s;ame; what thou ha&s;t thou ha&s;t received, &s;o have they; when thou can&s;t make one of thy hairs black or white, thou maye&s;t have &s;ome &s;eeming good to lift up thy &s;elfe, and expect other channels to runne into thee: but till then be &s;ilent, and if thou can&s;t not an&s;wer the&s;e que&s;tions, <HI>who maketh thee to differ from another, and what ha&s;t thou that thou ha&s;t not received?</HI> Then for &s;hame lay downe thy &s;elfe at the feete of that God from whom thou received&s;t all that good and excellency which makes thee to differ from the lowe&s;t degree of &s;inne and mi&s;ery. This Scripture to a proud &s;pirit is like tho&s;e words of our Saviour to him that came to the marriage fea&s;t without a wedding garment. <HI>Friend</HI> (&s;ayes Chri&s;t) <HI>how came&s;t thou in hither, not having a wed|ding garment?</HI> And the Text &s;ayes <HI>the man was &s;peechle&s;&s;e:</HI> So tru|ly I believe will every proud &s;pirit be, that God puts to an&s;wer the&s;e que&s;tions, have nothing to &s;ay, but lye &s;ilent under this conviction, <HI>That God is all good, and him&s;elfe nothing but a &s;pring of evill.</HI> From whence comes his pride, but in that hee differs not from other fle&s;h in a &s;tate of nature: and I wi&s;h it could be truly affirmed, that pride were not in any but &s;uch as are in their na|turall condition: but this I dare affirm, that &s;o much pride which is in any man or woman, &s;o much of the old <HI>Adam</HI> is &s;till remai|ning
<PB N="173" REF="97">in that &s;oule; for pride is a fruit of the fle&s;h, and is that which God hates, and &s;ets him&s;elfe again&s;t. I may &s;ay of pride, it is the originall of the Devill, and there is no &s;inne in the &s;oule of man or woman which gives the Devill more &s;ervice then this doth.</P>
<P>We have in what hath gone before had &s;ome weake di&s;coveries of the principles of it. If the Spirit of God be our light, it will not be lo&s;t time nor paines to looke into the practi&s;es of tho&s;e principles in the&s;e few following particulars.</P>
<P>As fir&s;t, <HI>The proud man he &s;eekes to rai&s;e up him&s;elfe, and not in all to lift up God higher then him&s;elfe;</HI> His worke is all <HI>climing worke,</HI> hee cannot endure to have any man above him; this is that hee plots for and acts for, namely to lift up his owne name, and his owne will. He is very indu&s;trious to build <HI>Babell,</HI> that hee might &s;ay, <HI>this is great Babell that I have builded.</HI> He &s;eekes to be upper|mo&s;t, that all law and rule may come from his lips: and if this be oppo&s;ed, the man is abundantly enraged, as appeares by <HI>Ne|buchadnezar, when his vi&s;age was changed by his wrath, and be com|manded the fiery furnace to be heat &s;even times <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">tter then before, and that</HI> Shadrach, Me&s;hech, <HI>and</HI> Abednego <HI>&s;hould be ca&s;t into it,</HI> be|cau&s;e they di&s;obeyed his commands, and would not fall down to wor&s;hip the Image he had &s;et up; this very thing is the practi&s;e of all proud hearts &s;o farre as they can reach: God chaines up &s;uch &s;pirits as hee did Sathan from <HI>Job:</HI> but this is properly their hearts, and &s;o farre as their chaine will goe, they practi&s;e; the proud man makes u&s;e of one &s;tep to advance him to another, but not in any to lift up God above him&s;elfe, for that is a contradi|ction to the principles he acts by; where God is lifted up, there the fle&s;h is throwne downe: but the proud mans glory is his fle&s;h, not God, and that is really his bu&s;ine&s;&s;e where ever he is, to lift up him&s;elfe, and it is the di&s;quiet ment of his &s;oule when this de&s;igne doth not pro&s;per: but let &s;uch &s;pirits take the Apo&s;tles que&s;tions to an&s;wer; <HI>Who maketh thee to diffen, and what ha&s;t thou that thou ha&s;t not received.</HI> Do&s;t thou know thy originall, and by what power thy progre&s;&s;e hath been made from &s;tep to &s;tep? Ha&s;t thou mounted with thy owne wings, &amp; climbed up to what thou art with thy owne hands? Or ha&s;t thou received that by which thou differe&s;t from another? Looke upon dead bones, and tell me if they can live; If you &s;ay no, I &s;ay it is your ignorance, they can
<PB N="174" REF="98">live by the &s;ame power you live, you that were dead clay, live by what you have received, &s;o can the&s;e dead bones. Where the Spi|rit of God &s;ets home the&s;e que&s;tions upon any &s;oule., it will not onely &s;ilence, but crucifie this principle and practice of pride in it.</P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>a proud mans practice is to keep others under him,</HI> that he may keep up him&s;elfe, to make the comforts of other men, the foot&s;toole of his pride, to trample others into nothing, that he might make him&s;elfe all. So did proud <HI>Haman</HI> in his heart and de&s;igne again&s;t poore <HI>Mordecai,</HI> and the whole nation of the Jewes. Pride is a lu&s;t that burnes up others to maintain it &s;elf, and builds upon tho&s;e a&s;hes, it mu&s;t either have the knee or the life of all that &s;tand before it, he that will not bow mu&s;t breake, when a proud man is &s;upream in power. For this is the improvement of his power, to keep others under that he may keep him&s;elfe up: the proud man is &s;o malicious, that hee would have none happy but him&s;elfe, and threfore makes the proprieties of other men a &s;acrifice to this his lu&s;t, and &s;o plea&s;eth him&s;elfe for a few mo|ments, like tho&s;e that have the crackling of thornes under a pot for their joy; but the Apo&s;tles que&s;tion <HI>(Who maketh thee to dif|fer, and what ha&s;t thou that thou did&s;t not receive?)</HI> will bee as hard to the proud man in this practice, as in the former: for he that onely differs by what he receives, wil but ill ju&s;tifie his trampling upon another, that hath not received &s;o much as him|&s;elf. When God that gives the talents, makes enquiry after the improvement of them, and findes it to be onely &s;o, he wil not give the te&s;timony, nor the tru&s;t of <HI>Well done good and faithfull &s;ervant,</HI> to &s;uch a &s;oule. God makes it his glory to lift up his people, to make them heirs of him&s;elfe, joynt heires with Chri&s;t in glory. Therefore the proud man that keeps others under, that hee may keep up him&s;elfe, hath not his precept, principle, practice nor ex|ample from God, and therefore hath no rea&s;on to expect, that in his way of pride God &s;hould either own him, or pro&s;per him; but that God in lifting up of his own glory, &s;hould trample the proud man under his feet, as he doth others for the keeping up of him&s;elf.</P>
<P>Thirdly, a <HI>Proud man he &s;cornes and &s;lights &s;uch as are below him,</HI> becau&s;e he is above them, he &s;corns &amp; &s;lights them in their coun|&s;els, in their kindne&s;&s;es, and in their reque&s;ts. A proud man &s;corns
<PB N="175" REF="98">that hee which hath le&s;&s;e power and greatne&s;&s;e then him&s;elfe, &s;hould advi&s;e him, and from hence &s;lights the coun&s;ell: and if the poore man &s;erve the proud man with kindne&s;&s;e, he takes it as du|ty, &s;o &s;lights the love, and &s;cornes the man and his &s;ervice. And if he make reque&s;t to him, nay though it be for ju&s;tice, if he doe not admire him, he mu&s;t keep off, and know his di&s;tance, and he &s;hall be heard at lea&s;ure, hee is not of magnitude enough for his con&s;ideration, hee is above low per&s;ons and things in his thoughts, he cannot look upon any thing below him, with any o|ther eye then an eye of &s;corn, as the <HI>proud Phari&s;ee</HI> upon the <HI>poore Publican.</HI> This practice in proud men &amp; women, doth better di&s;co|ver it &s;elfe then any pen can doe it: but to &s;uch I &s;hall al&s;o give the Apo&s;tles two que&s;tions, <HI>Who maketh thee to differ? and what ha&s;t thou that thou did&s;t not receive?</HI> And when they &s;hall be an|&s;wered, I beleeve both the principle and this practice of pride will be rooted out of the heart, when the &s;oule is made to confe&s;&s;e that God makes it to differ: and it hath received all its excellen|cies from God, it will then &s;corne none below it &s;elfe, but by &s;uch an object con&s;ider from what God hath rai&s;ed it, and admire that power and goodne&s;&s;e which hath be&s;towed excellencies upon it, pitying not &s;corning any below it &s;elfe.</P>
<P>Fourthly, <HI>A proud man when he hath any power, will &s;oon be impo|&s;ing beyond the ju&s;t limits of his power.</HI> A proud manis in nothing more di&s;covered, then by his impo&s;itions, it is the pride of his heart, puts his power upon impo&s;ing; el&s;e &s;ayes that heart, my power will not be known. Now when pride &s;ets power on work; it carries it quickly beyond its bounds: pride is a &s;welling lu&s;t, ve|ry hard to be bound; but where it is chiefe in the heart, and gives rule to the power which it in the hand, that hand and heart &s;oon forgets it bounds. We have an example of this in the decree of <HI>Darius</HI> the King, <HI>Daniel</HI> 6. his pride, though his power had no|bounds becau&s;e he was King, therefore he makes a decree, accor|ding to the advice of his wicked Councell, which was &s;utable to his own proud heart: <HI>That who&s;oever &s;hall ask a petition of any God or Man for thirty dayes, &s;ave of him&s;elfe, &s;hould be ca&s;t into the Lyons Den.</HI> The ground of this decree was to make a &s;nare for <HI>Daniel,</HI> whom they confe&s;&s;e (in the fourth ver&s;e) to bee faithfull to the Kingdome, and that they had no hopes though they &s;ought to de&s;troy him, but they knew he was as faithfull to his God, as to
<PB N="176" REF="99">the Kingdome, &s;o that if a decree were made again&s;t his wor&s;hip|ing of God, that would reach him. I &s;hall forbeare to open this Scripture in this place, becau&s;e it is not &s;o proper to the thing in hand, though I beleeve the doing of it would open the hearts and practices of many men in our dayes; but onely make u&s;e of it thus farre, to prove that pride in men of power makes them to im|po&s;e beyond their power to &s;et them&s;elves above God, and make decrees again&s;t God, in &s;tead of defending the prai&s;e-worthy, to make lawes again&s;t that which is prai&s;e-worthy, becau&s;e God hath &s;et or &s;uffered them to be in the throne among&s;t men, they put forth their power into the throne of God: namely the con|&s;cience of his people, that power w^c^h pride &s;ets to work, &s;tickes at no decrees: if men that would lay &s;nares for the people of God to de&s;toy them, come and de&s;ire this power to make lawes and de|crees how Gods people &s;hall wor&s;hip him, or that they &s;hall not wor&s;hip him at all; the&s;e decrees &s;hall &s;oon have their hand and &s;eale. The Devill doth make power by pride fit and ready to op|po&s;e any thing of God, and to impo&s;e any thing upon the people of God: it is the property of pride to &s;eeke the ruine of &s;uch at beare the image of the humble God. Now if nothing can bee laid to their charge of unfaithfulne&s;&s;e to the place or people where they live, then a decree concerning the wor&s;hipping of their God mu&s;t be made to reach them, though &s;uch as make it, goe beyond their power, that &s;hall not be &s;tuck at where pride guides the hand, pride &s;eekes power to make that its &s;ervant; that which pride wils, the power it hath, &s;hal work: power in the hand &s;erves pride in the heart, and therefore keeps not within its bounds, be|cau&s;e it is the &s;ervant of pride. But to this al&s;o the Apo&s;tles que|&s;tions are very proper, <HI>Who makes thee to differ? And what ha&s;t thou that thou ha&s;t not received?</HI> Is thy power thy own, or mu&s;t thou account for it? When the Lord calls his &s;ervants to give an account of their Talents, do&s;t thou differ in this that thou ha&s;t more power then others, tell me? <HI>Who made thee to differ?</HI> Is thy power originally in thy &s;elfe, or did&s;t thou receive it from God? Thou wilt not &s;ay thou art thy own originall, becau&s;e thy peri&s;hing condition will di&s;prove thee; well then, God is: now tell me how thou wilt an&s;wer God in going beyond thy received power, e&s;pecially when the &s;ame hand that gave the power, gave thee al&s;o a rule to bound that power by, <HI>That thou &s;hould&s;t not be a
<PB N="177" REF="99">terror to good workes, but to evill: Therefore hee that doth good, &s;hould not be afraid of the power.</HI> For the end of power is from God, to protect and defend tho&s;e that doe good, and walke prai&s;e-wor|thy. Now that proud heart which puts forth the power that is in its hands, beyond the&s;e bounds, will have a &s;ad appearance be|fore God at the day of account. His pride that over-acted his power, will not then excu&s;e him, but condemne him; and it will then be his chains of mi&s;ery to con&s;ider how his pride hath in his power out-run the bounds that God hath &s;et him, and exceeded the latitude of that commi&s;&s;ion which he had received. But this is the effect of power when it is in the hands of a proud heart.</P>
<P>Fifthly and la&s;tly, <HI>A proud heare is proud of it &s;elfe, of what it is, amd what it hath,</HI> of its gifts, ornaments and qualifications, you &s;hall finde &s;ome proud of beauty, that at mo&s;t is but skinne deep, and &s;ome &s;o wicked as to paint their skinnes, to make a &s;ubject for their pride. Such as have their beauty by nature, without art, mu&s;t know this, that they have received it, if in that <HI>they differ from o|thers,</HI> and that one &s;torme of &s;ickne&s;&s;e can bla&s;t it, which their fle&s;h is capable of, and as &s;ubject to as any others, and that there is a certaintie of time for pale and grim death to take up its habi|tations in tho&s;e faces, &s;o that they have little rea&s;on to be puffed up with peri&s;hing beauty, that which mu&s;t as certainly fade as the flower in the field. You &s;hall &s;ee another proud of his honorable Titles, as he calls them; and truly this is the emptie&s;t of all bub|bles, it is but a breath, it co&s;te him but little that gives it, hee wil &s;pend as much breath upon the lowe&s;t &s;ubject that affords him matter of di&s;cour&s;e, the&s;e Titles are indeed the plea&s;ing dreams of deluded fancies, if put in one equall ballance, and held by a &s;teady hand, <HI>Sir,</HI> will weigh as heavy as <HI>your Honour.</HI> But if honour be given where honour it due, according to Gods rule in his word, their honour is more then a title. I but there it will be no &s;ubject of pride, but humility: for &s;uch as are honorable in &s;pending, and being &s;pent for God (and other true honour I know none) &s;uch I &s;ay doe well know they have received all from his fulne&s;&s;e, which maketh them to differ from others, and therefore their bu&s;ine&s;&s;e is to lift up God, and not them&s;elves, and if to glory, to glory in the originall of their honour, which is God him&s;elfe.</P>
<PB N="178" REF="100">
<P>Another it may be, is proud of his wealth, which he hath, as he thinkes, in his own hands, more glittering clay then his poor neighbours have, and therefore he thinkes him&s;elfe great, Lord of all, and to be &s;erved and ob&s;erved by all: he forgets that it is uncertain riches, which make them&s;elves wings and flye away, he remembers not the ca&s;e of <HI>Job,</HI> that was &s;tript of all his great po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions in a few moments. Sure I am, &s;uch as are proud upon this account, did never &s;piritually under&s;tand and con&s;ider the Apo&s;tles que&s;tions in this Scripture, <HI>Who maketh thee to differ? And what ha&s;t thou that thou ha&s;t not received?</HI></P>
<P>Another man he is proud of his wit, good language, lear|ning, and good education. I confe&s;&s;e the&s;e are very good when &s;anctified to &s;uch as attain them; but exceedingly abu&s;ed when they are made the &s;ubjects of pride; thou can&s;t not deny but the&s;e are received gifts and qualifications, where then is the ground for pride, why do&s;t thou glory as if thou had&s;t not re|ceived them? Thy wit thus abu&s;ed, may ju&s;tly be called home again, and thou left a foole for thy paines. Hee that is proud of his wit forfeits his wi&s;dom, &amp; is no better then a witty Foole in the eye of a humble wi&s;e man, who ju&s;tly counts him a Foole that is proud of his wit and parts, becau&s;e he that is truly wi&s;e, is humbled by what he receives, and not made proud by it, This root of pride hath a numberle&s;&s;e number of branches, but this one Scripture cuts them all off, and tells the proud man plainly, You have nothing to be proud of, whatever you have you have received, and if you differ from others, it is becau&s;e you have received more then they. It is reported of the Popi&s;h Religion, that they hold ignorance to be the mother of Devotion, <HI>I</HI> may truly &s;ay, becau&s;e <HI>I</HI> can make it good, that ignorance is the mo|ther of pride. For who&s;oever is proud, mu&s;t needs be ignorant <HI>That what they have it is received.</HI> Were this truth &s;piritually un|der&s;tood, it would pluck the wings of pride, and make the pea|cockes plume to fall, to con&s;ider that he &s;tands upon anothers legges, &s;ees with anothers eyes, acts by anothers &s;trength, and is nothing but what he receives from a fountain which he cannot command (and that is God) who makes of all clay what he plea|&s;eth, and gives to all according to his own good plea&s;ure: The proud man is proud of his &s;inne, for he hath nothing el&s;e of his own, that which he pretends to, he is debter for.</P>
<PB N="179" REF="100">
<P>Having thus farre looked into the principles, and &s;umme of the practi&s;es of pride, it will become wi&s;e Chri&s;tians to improve what God di&s;covers to us.</P>
<P>And fir&s;t, <HI>Me thinkes this &s;hould put an odious vi&s;age upon pride, in the eyes of every under&s;tanding Chri&s;tian,</HI> and make the &s;inne to be abhorred where ever it is found, and mo&s;t of all in our own bo|&s;omes and practices: For pride makes a man a foole what ever he thinkes him&s;elfe; in it he boa&s;ts of that which is not his own, as though it were his owne, and &s;o no truly wi&s;e man will doe. The folly of a proud man is to &s;et up and advance him&s;elfe, when him&s;elfe is nothing but an empty ve&s;&s;ell, to be full or empty as it plea&s;eth God.</P>
<P>I know no greater folly under Heaven, then this. The con|fu&s;ed Chaos at the creation, might have pretended to as good a title of glory in it &s;elfe, as proud man can doe: if God withdraw him&s;elfe, and his gifts from man, I know not what title to give that which is left, but a &s;crap or peecemeale of the fir&s;t Chaos, and hath no more right to glory, then the lump or heap of Confu&s;i|on which it came from.</P>
<P>Pride in the heart doth not onely make a man to be a fooli&s;h man, but it al&s;o makes him a wicked man; if hee can but get power to &s;hew him&s;elfe in his owne colours, this man will not &s;tick to crucifie the lives, liberties, con&s;ciences, and all that is in|deed deare to others, to make a Sacrifice for his lu&s;t of pride; though he hath no power but what he hath received, yet he hath &s;o much cruelty as to make u&s;e of that power, beyond and con|trary to that end hee received it for: Otherwi&s;e the impo&s;itions upon the people of God, in the matters of their God, and the per&s;ecution of them <HI>(for not obeying men rather then God)</HI> would finde no footing in the World. If pride in men doe not make them act further then they have received Rule and Commi&s;&s;ion from God, his people would not complaine as they doe at the Throne of Grace, for being per&s;ecuted; becau&s;e the Rule of God is, <HI>That every man be fully per&s;waded in his own bo&s;ome: for what&s;o|ever is not of faith, is &s;in, Rom.</HI> 14.5.23. But the proud man puts forth his power beyond the bounds which God hath &s;et him, and is &s;o cruell that he cannot heare the cryes of the poore people of God, which onely plead for Chri&s;tian forbearance, and doe profe&s;&s;e in &s;inglene&s;&s;e of heart, as in the pre&s;ence of God, they
<PB N="180" REF="101">are ready to obey their commands to the utmo&s;t, &s;o farre as God &s;hall fully enlighten and per&s;wade them it is his will, &s;o that in what they doe, they may not &s;inne through unbeliefe. And &s;ure I am, nothing but pride and cruelty can &s;top an eare to the&s;e cryes.</P>
<P>How ugly now mu&s;t pride needs look to the eye of a godly &s;oul? And how doth &s;uch a &s;oule ob&s;erve the folly and cruelty of pride? This &s;hould make every &s;oule exceeding earne&s;t at the Throne of Grace, that the Lord would by the fire of his own holy Spirit, de&s;troy the lu&s;t of pride in them: It is the throne of the Devill, O be&s;eech the Lord to de&s;troy that throne; it is the very flames of hell in the &s;oule, O begge of the Lord to quench them, and wholly to extingui&s;h them by his Spirit. Pride in the Soule is the Devils Banner of defiance again&s;t God, O be earne&s;t with the Lord of Ho&s;ts to make him&s;elfe in thee a Conquerour over this lu&s;t. Where pride reignes, God abhorres; where that is King, Chri&s;t is an enemy, O therefore implore the power of Heaven to keep this under, to de&s;troy it, and root it out of all its &s;trong holds in the &s;oule: All the Devils in Hell without the &s;oule, are more ea&s;ie enemies then pride within the &s;oule, that man is a perfect &s;lave, which hath pride for his Ma&s;ter; and untill the Sonne and Spirit make a &s;oule free, it will never bee free in|deed.</P>
<P>We &s;hould be therefore often with God, be&s;eeching him that Chri&s;t may live in us by his Spirit, to make us free from the &s;inne and &s;lavery of pride: That &s;oule which begges of God the death of pride in it &s;elfe, hath a promi&s;e attending its petition: for it is according to the will of God, God having declared him&s;elfe an enemy to pride, O that all Saints were like God in this, open declared enemies to pride in them&s;elves and others, improving all their intere&s;t at the throne of Grace, that God would de|&s;troy this peece of Selfe and Satan root and branch out of the Soule, that neither Fruit nor Branch may ever grow upon it more.</P>
<P>Againe, From this di&s;covery of a proud man in his principles and practi&s;es, I have learned thus much; That if ever I &s;hould be called to put power into the hands of any man or men, and to entru&s;t all tho&s;e liberties which I could commit to tru&s;t into &s;uch hands, I would make this a generall rule, <HI>of all men to avoid a proud
<PB N="181" REF="101">man;</HI> for I would never tru&s;t a foole with power, nor a cruel man with my liberties, and I am &s;ure a proud man is both the&s;e: &s;o that &s;urely that per&s;on or Nation &s;hal never but be mi&s;erable that committeth power and tru&s;t into &s;uch hands, &s;uch men <HI>as &s;ingle per&s;ons</HI> are the burthen of a Land: but put power in their hands, and they will be &s;o farre as their power will reach, the ruine of that Land. Though men as Gods in&s;truments give a proud man his power, yet he &s;oone forgets that he hath received the power, by which he differs, and &s;o Tyrant like makes u&s;e of his power to plucke downe them that &s;et up him, and to &s;acrifice tho&s;e rights and liberties which he is intru&s;ted to pre&s;erve, to his own pride; this I am &s;ure he can never be true to me, that is faulty to God: but a proud man is &s;o, becau&s;e in &s;ub&s;tance he denyes God to be the originall of his power; for did he acknowledge him&s;elf to receive that by which he differs, he would never be proud of his debt and his duty, nor u&s;e his power contrary to, or beyond the rule of God, who gives both rule and power.</P>
<P>It is the humble heart which only hath a hand fit to put power into, and to intru&s;t any thing that is deare and precious withal, becau&s;e there is acknowledgements in receiving that wherein it differs; this man is mo&s;t like to be a faithfull Steward, to give an account of his tru&s;t: for he acknowledgeth him&s;elfe to be a Stew|ard, a Tru&s;tee, or indeed a tru&s;ted &s;ervant, for the good and happine&s;&s;e of them that have tru&s;ted him; the weight of his work &s;anctified by the Spirit of God, keeps this man humble; <HI>It is this humble man which will be a ble&s;&s;ing to them that tru&s;t him.</HI> Hee that God makes humble, is a &s;it man to make honourable, and by putting tru&s;t in &s;uch hands will Nations and Kingdoms be made happy.</P>
<P>And now I mu&s;t crave leave to be plain and &s;ingle hearted with men in power, only in asking them the Apo&s;tles que&s;tions. <HI>Who maketh thee to differ from another, and what ha&s;t thou that thou ha&s;t not received.</HI> Have you more power then others; yet remember you have received that power from God as the fountaine, from men as the &s;treames, and it is onely in what you have received, by which you differ from other men: and pray remember this, your account will be as great as your power, becau&s;e your power is received. Let me begge you to con&s;ider what is Gods end and mans end in tru&s;ting you, and putting power into your hands;
<PB N="182" REF="102">Gods end is his owne glory, that you &s;hould lift up his Name in all you doe, defend his people with all your power, to be a de|fence to all that is prai&s;e-worthy, and a terrour only to evil do|ers, to make his will your worke, not your owne wills a law, his Word and Spirit your rule, his &s;ingle glory your end, the people of the Covenant of his free-grace your beloved ones; that you &s;hould e&s;tabli&s;h righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, ju&s;tice and judgement in the Land, which will be the firme end and la&s;ting pillars of peace; this is Gods end in giving you power, and according to the&s;e ends will God have from you an account of your u&s;ing that power hee hath committed to you, and that you have re|ceived from him. Mans end in putting power into your hands is their owne good, that you &s;hould by that power defend them in all ju&s;t and righteous wayes, maintaine to them their pro|prieties, and not to dimini&s;h, but encrea&s;e their ju&s;t liberties, &s;uch in which all ju&s;t men may be happy, and no &s;ort of men e|nabled by your authority to intrench upon, or violate the peace|full rights and liberties of others. You that are tru&s;ted by the whole &s;hould have no &s;quint eyes, nor cea&s;ing of hands when you give forth your ble&s;&s;ings, but carry the whole in your hands heart, and eye; you &s;hould be as <HI>Melchi&s;edech,</HI> without Father and Mother, related to no party but the whole. This is man's end in committing that to your tru&s;t, which is in their power to commit to tru&s;t; now who ever ca&s;ts up this account, will finde no cau&s;e to be proud of his employment or his power, but to lye low at the feete of God for his continuall pre&s;ence, that you may have the &s;trength of Chri&s;t to di&s;charge this duty and tru&s;t received, for nothing le&s;&s;e will carry any &s;oule wel through his worke. The di&s;charge of this tru&s;t wil be judged by an im|partial Judge; before whom all things are naked; &s;uch as God &s;hall acquit may walk and lye down in peace: but if God charge any &s;oule of mi&s;u&s;ing and abu&s;ing this received tru&s;t and power, it wil be with &s;uch a &s;oule as with <HI>Belie&s;hazar,</HI> when he percei|ved the hand-writing upon the wall, <HI>his countenance was chan|ged, and his thoughts troubled him, &s;o that the joynts of his loynes were loo&s;ed, and his knees &s;mote one again&s;t another.</HI> Yea and con|&s;cience will be wounded too, that which none can beare, will be the weight to pre&s;&s;e downe &s;uch a mi&s;erable &s;oule. I judge no per&s;ons, nor &s;hall I entee into particulars, only profe&s;&s;e my
<PB N="183" REF="102">&s;adne&s;&s;e to heare &s;o many complaine: &s;ome for want of ju&s;tice, others of inju&s;tice; mo&s;t men &s;ay the eye is not &s;ingle, it is de|vided into parties, &s;o that the whole is neglected, all mens mouths are op<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">n, and God hath at one time or other made them to di&s;cover their hearts: but when they rip up, 'tis &s;ome for <HI>Paul,</HI> and others for <HI>Apollo,</HI> and a third for <HI>Cephas,</HI> when in|truth all &s;hould be for Chri&s;t; it is this divi&s;ion of the fle&s;h which divides the Land, and &s;owes &s;eedes of warre to de&s;troy this, and after Generations, if the Lord prevent not by the powrings forth of his Spirit, to unite us again in that common roote and head of all Saints, the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t. <HI>The Ma|gi&s;trates worke</HI> (as I humbly conceive) to effect this happy union, is this, &s;ingly to eye Chri&s;t, &s;o as to give forth their power for protection to all that in the beauty of holine&s;&s;e and the pow|er of godline&s;&s;e doe live up his Image, leaving Chri&s;t his own Throne, the con&s;ciences of his people; this &s;o farre as I can &s;ee is according to the tru&s;t committed both by God and man, I thinke the want of peace doth ari&s;e from the want of this righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, ju&s;tice, and judgement to runne downe in the Land, and till God give this Spirit and practi&s;e among&s;t his people, I &s;hall have but little hopes of la&s;ting Peace; for &s;ure I am, what ever Peace &s;hall be made upon other terms, the foundation will be too weake to beare its burthen, &s;o that the building cannot long &s;tand. I thinke this is the controver&s;ie God hath with all the Nations of the Earth at this day, and <HI>till God have his will we &s;hall not have peace.</HI> Oh that all which de&s;ire peace would take Gods way to e&s;tabli&s;h it. Peace is the common theame of all men: but this way of God to it is the practi&s;e of very few, if a|ny; this Peace to &s;ome, and warre to others, protection to &s;ome, and de&s;truction to others of the people of God, is mans peace, not Gods; for Chri&s;t takes care of the whole body, the hand and foote as well as the eye, and that peace which man makes without God, God can and will &s;oone de&s;troy, by or without man: and if men &s;hould prove fal&s;e to that tru&s;t they have received from God and man, yet God will never faile his people, nor be faithle&s;&s;e to his Covenant; they &s;hall finde him his peoples God, not protecting part only, but the whole: and when men act according to what they have received from God they will doe &s;o too.</P>
<PB N="184" REF="103">
<P>Such as have the pre&s;ent tru&s;t have another weighty con&s;ide|ration lyes upon them; &s;eriou&s;ly, and in the feare of God con|&s;ider how many times God hath given you your lives, when you have been appointed by men to be a &s;acrifice to their lu&s;ts, and in the will and end of the&s;e de&s;ignes, the knife hath often|times been almo&s;t at your very throats, when you have not &s;een nor known it: but the All-&s;eeing eye of God hath di&s;covered, and his all-powerfull armes prevented for the mo&s;t p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">rt in the very nicke of time, when cruelty thought to have effected his ends, to have made glad their hearts with wa&s;hing their hands in your blood; The&s;e life &s;av<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ng kindne&s;&s;es of God &s;ure will make deepe impre&s;&s;ions upon graciou and n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">enuous &s;pirits: but this is not all, you have yet <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">urt<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">er to con&s;ider, how many thou|&s;ands of tho&s;e which cho&s;e &amp; tru&s;ted you with their lives, tem|porall liberties and e&s;tates, have to maintaine you in being for the&s;e ends, &s;pent their e&s;tates, denyed them&s;elves of their li|berties, and have lo&s;t their lives. Oh looke upon the cripled limbs, the bleeding wounds, the Widowes and the Fatherle&s;&s;e, <HI>Rachel weeping for her children becau&s;e they are not:</HI> I have told you before what is the end of a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">l this both in God and man, many thou&s;ands have given you their lives already, and others goe on &s;till in this &s;elfe denying worke: and all they cry for is this, that the living may have their ju&s;t rights, liberties and privi|ledges, for which ends only th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">y have called you, and put pow|er into your hands, and have obeyed your call to take up arms, in which they have laid downe their lives, and doe daily drop away, that you may be pre&s;erved to make good the&s;e ends, and in them to be a ble&s;&s;ing to this bleeding and di&s;tre&s;&s;ed Land. You have had the prayers of Gods people for you at the Throne of grace, take heede you returne them not evill for good; For if the&s;e prayers be once turned again&s;t you, they will &s;oone over|turne you. I cannot tell what to call this faithfulne&s;&s;e &amp; kind|ne&s;&s;e from God and man to you, it is &s;o great: but &s;ure I am, where it finds unfaithfulne&s;&s;e in any, it will beget a heavy ac|count: remember this. you act upon received power, and mu&s;t give an account of your Steward-&s;hip; the longe&s;t day is hard by, in a little time death will clo&s;e your eyes, and then you can be no longer Stewards; that by which you differ now, will leave you then; your bones and du&s;t will not be known in the grave from others.</P>
<PB N="185" REF="103">
<P>But you may remember in the beginning, I told you that this Scripture by its double que&s;tion did &s;peak properly to two grand lu&s;ts, peevi&s;h repining as well as pride, and I promi&s;ed to en|quire after them both, and to apply the Apo&s;tles que&s;tions by way of an&s;wer to them; to define a peevi&s;h repining heart and &s;pirit, I &s;hall do it thus. <HI>It is that which earne&s;tly de&s;ires every thing, but likes and is plea&s;ed with nothing, &s;hapes out its owne happine&s;&s;e, and pre&s;ently mi&s;likes its owne handy worke, thinkes all things &s;weete which it cannot reach, and therefore pines after them: but nothing &s;weete which it doth enjoy, and therefore is peevi&s;h, and not content with what ever it po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth.</HI> This is a foule &s;tomack, that which will nouri&s;h another, doth annoy and burthen it; he is like a &s;ick man that findes fault with every bed, becau&s;e his di&s;ea&s;e is in his body, and he carries it with him from bed to bed; hee repines that &s;ome others have more then him&s;elfe, but is not content though he have more then many others; he &s;uckes the &s;weete out of every thing before he comes at it by his earne&s;t de&s;ire to it, and his over-prizing of it: &s;o that when hee doth reach the thing, it reaches not his ends, therefore the heart is alwayes repining: This eye multiplies things at a di&s;tance, but dimini&s;hes when neare at hand; this man forgets what he hath, and only remem|bers what he would have; this repining heart mu&s;t needes be an unthankefull heart; for &s;uch as ble&s;&s;e God doe acknowledge that they receive ble&s;&s;ings from God: &s;o doth not the repining heart, for he cannot count that a ble&s;&s;ing which he repines at; this is a &s;ore evill among the &s;ons of men, and <HI>it ari&s;eth from this two-fold ignorance of God and our &s;elues.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Ignorance of God, that all fulne&s;&s;e is in him, and that hee is a free agent to di&s;pen&s;e, when, where, and how hee plea&s;eth.</P>
<P>Secondly, Ignorance of our &s;elves, that in our &s;elves we are meere empty nothings, and that what ever wee have or enjoy, it is received; God makes us pa&s;&s;ive to receive what he gives, and that is the top-glory of &s;elfe. Now to this heart the Apo&s;tles que&s;tions comes very clo&s;e and home: Tell me O peevi&s;h repining heart, <HI>Who maketh thee to differ from another, &amp; what ha&s;t thou that thou ha&s;t not received.</HI> Can&s;t thou give mee a rea&s;on why thou wert not created a worme to crawle upon the earth, a fit &s;ubject for every foote to tread upon, rather then a rea&s;onable and de|fen&s;able
<PB N="186" REF="104">creature. Wert thou clay in the Potters hands, and do&s;t thou quarrel at what thou art made? Ha&s;t thou received a tongue, and &s;hall it &s;peak again&s;t the giver? Doth thy heart live by life received, and yet murmure again&s;t the hand that gave thee life? <HI>It ill becomes &s;uch as are beholding for every thing, to pine at any thing.</HI> It is nothing but meere mercy, kindne&s;&s;e, bounty, goodne&s;&s;e, and free-grace in God, that makes thee to differ from the mo&s;t wick|ed&s;t wretch on Earth, from the verie&s;t foole alive, from the mi&s;erable&s;t man or woman in the World; yea, that makes thee any title beyond the lowe&s;t &amp; mo&s;t de&s;pi&s;able&s;t piece of the whole Creation, or not being left in thy fir&s;t lump of confu&s;ion. Now quarrell, if thou can&s;t ju&s;tifie thy &s;elfe in it, with the di&s;pen&s;ati|ons of God to thee; If thou had&s;t made thy &s;elfe, why did&s;t thou not doe it to thy owne content: but if God have made thee any thing out of nothing, why do&s;t thou quarrel with God; if God be free in him&s;elfe, and have freely ble&s;&s;ed thee, thou &s;hewe&s;t an ill heart and &s;pirit, to quarrel with, and repine at the free workings and ble&s;&s;ings of his owne grace; Con&s;ider man, The whole family in Heaven and Earth is Gods, he gives thee day by day thy daily bread; thou do&s;t weare his cloaths, and breath in his aire; thou walke&s;t in his &s;trength, and lye&s;t downe to &s;leep on his bed; thou ha&s;t received all from him, and he gives nothing, &s;o as to put the propriety out of him&s;elfe; Hee that gives all, can take all away when he plea&s;eth, and then murmuring heart thou mai&s;t know the want of that which thou did&s;t not prize the enjoyment of; thou that repine&s;t mu&s;t repine at this, that the will of God is done: Now doe but con&s;ider the exceeding evill of that &s;pirit, which can be angry, becau&s;e God is plea&s;ed, when at the &s;ame time this man lives, moves, hath his being, and his wel-being from the good plea&s;ure of this God, God is plea&s;ed to doe good to him, but he thinks it not good that God &s;hould be plea&s;ed, for he is not plea&s;ed with the good will of God; hee that repines at the workings of God, doth by that imply, he thinkes him&s;elf wi|&s;er then God, and if he had power, could mend the workings of God in the World. <HI>Thou ha&s;t nothing but what thou ha&s;t received;</HI> therefore thou can&s;t not be di&s;plea&s;ed with what thou ha&s;t, and art, but thou mu&s;t finde fault with the giver as well as the gift, and art thou not in this an ignorant and unthankefull wretch? This is not the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul's</HI> frame of &s;pirit, for he makes this
<PB N="187" REF="104">acknowledgement, <HI>It is by the grace of God that I am what I am:</HI> And upon this account wee finde the &s;ame Apo&s;tle content in all conditions; he knew both how to want and abound, and in all e&s;tates to be content, for Chri&s;t had taught him. That grace in God di&s;pen&s;ed all conditions to him, hee knew that hee received all from free-grace, and that the free-grace of God was in all that he did receive; and this made his &s;oule to be &s;atisfied, and kept repining from his heart and lips: Sure if God by his Spirit reveale and &s;et home this truth upon the hearts of any, though murmurers and repining proud ones before, yet then they will lay their hands upon their lips, and lye downe at Gods feete, confe&s;&s;ing that they are fooles, and in this as ignorant as bruit bea&s;ts; that they have not knowne all this while that they have lived upon free-grace, and &s;pent upon received mercies &amp; kind|ne&s;&s;es from God, and then the &s;treame will be turned, from repi|ning to admiring, as he did: <HI>Lord what am I and my Fathers hou&s;e. What is man that thou thus regarde&s;t him;</HI> Nay, what was I, before thou mad'&s;t me what I am; I have received all from thee, even my fir&s;t being. <HI>Oh how wonderfull is the Lord, and his wayes pa&s;t fin|ding out</HI> (&s;ayen this &s;oule.) Nay, <HI>I</HI> have had continued to me abu|&s;ed mercies, I have wronged God with his owne mercies, and yet he hath continued to be gracious, he hath &s;illed my bo&s;ome with tho&s;e kindne&s;&s;es that I have unkindely throwne in his face. Oh now breake heart, melt &s;oule, and fall fle&s;h before the ever|living God, who&s;e eternall love thou ha&s;t lived upon, and abu|&s;ed; thou ha&s;t re&s;i&s;ted God with his owne &s;trength, turned his grace into wantonne&s;&s;e, the gifts and parts thou ha&s;t received from him, to the oppo&s;ing of his will, &amp; the abu&s;ing of his mem|bers. Blu&s;h then, and be a&s;hamed, O proud heart, be &s;ilent and complaine not, O repining &s;oule, Finde no fault, for thou art a debter, thou ha&s;t beene all this while a receiving, and ha&s;t no cau&s;e to make mention of the returnes thou ha&s;t made; admire thou art not in Hell, that God &s;hould not choo&s;e rather to glo|rifie his ju&s;tice then his grace upon thee. Admire his goodne&s;&s;e, and admire his patience; it was not want of power in God to de&s;troy thee; which hath beene thy pre&s;ervation; for had hee but with-held what he hath given, thou had&s;t peri&s;hed in that; thou ha&s;t lived all this time upon what thou ha&s;t received, and ha&s;t &s;inned with nothing but received mercies; thy per&s;on, thy
<PB N="188" REF="105">parts, thy riches, thy honors, thy power, and thy all, are but thy receits, <HI>thy tru&s;ted talents, not thy inheritance.</HI> Thou ha&s;t all this while beene proud of that which is not thy owne, and ha&s;t re|pined again&s;t free-grace; for nothing el&s;e could have borne with thee all this time, and not de&s;troyed thee. I hope you can make no other u&s;e of all this loving kindne&s;&s;e but this; to looke upon thy &s;elfe as pre&s;erved to prai&s;e the Lord. O tell forth the fulne&s;&s;e of his love, the greatne&s;&s;e of his power, and the exceeding ri|ches of his grace to thy &s;oule and body. Take up <HI>Davids</HI> re&s;olu|tion, <HI>all that is within thee, and all that comes from thee to prai&s;e the Lord,</HI> becau&s;e all this thou receive&s;t fir&s;t from him. If ever thou be asked this que&s;tion, <HI>who maketh thee to differ from others,</HI> acknow|ledge God: Nay, if thou art not asked it, yet declare it by thy humble, ju&s;t, and holy conver&s;ation, and by a &s;weete contented|ne&s;&s;e of &s;pirit, with all the di&s;pen&s;ations of God; let the World know from thy lips, that it hangs by the power of God, <HI>who can as &s;oone make it nothing, as hee made it what it is;</HI> that it is the &s;ame power which keepes all that made all, and that God is alwayes giving, otherwi&s;e the whole World would cea&s;e being. Declare this fulne&s;&s;e of God, and thy receiving all from him, by thy full relying on him; let thy tru&s;ting him declare to the World that thou ha&s;t tryed him, and by experience found that thou receive&s;t all from him: and having &s;o &s;ure a fountain to &s;upply thy wants, which can never be drawn dry, therefore let thy hopes be always greene, and thy faith ever flouri&s;hing; thou live&s;t not upon thy owne &s;tocke, but upon Gods fulne&s;&s;e. <HI>This Scripture is as reviving as humbling; for though it throwes a man out of him&s;elfe, yet it throws him into the kindene&s;&s;e, faithfulne&s;&s;ee, goodne&s;&s;e, mercy, and grace of his God.</HI> Wee are no loo&s;ers though, neither in &s;pirituals nor temporals; we cannot live by the works of our own hands, &s;o long as all is bound up in the grace of God, and from this fountain we receive that wherein we differ, not only from others, but from be|ing nothing; for it is with us as with <HI>Paul,</HI> only <HI>by the grace of God that we are what we are:</HI> and this is the an&s;wer that Saints have to make to this Scripture: <HI>Who maketh thee to differ from another, &amp; what ba&s;t thou that thou did&s;t not receive.</HI> Truly nothing; <HI>For by grace are yee &s;aved through faith, and that not of your &s;elves, it is the gift of God,</HI> Ephe&s;. 2.8. <HI>And it is only by the grace of our God that we are what we are.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="13" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="189" REF="105">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIII. None but God can be a proper &s;ub|ject for a Saint to glory in.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL>1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1. <HI>la&s;t clau&s;e of the</HI> 30^t^h <HI>ver&s;.</HI> </BIBL> He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THE great and &s;upreame end of God in all things, ought to be the &s;ame in all his people; now the great end of God in all the works and workings of his eternall love, free-grace, mercy, holine&s;&s;e, power, ju&s;tice and judgment, is for to manife&s;t, declare, and lift up his own glory, <HI>this &s;hould al&s;o be the &s;ingle end of all Gods people</HI> in all their workes and workings; namely, <HI>to manife&s;t, de|clare, and lift up the Glory of God,</HI> in his eternall love, free grace, mercy, holine&s;&s;e, power, ju&s;tice and judgement, to follow all glory to its originall, which is God; then to manife&s;t and de|clare the glory of the Lord by glorying in the Lord. The holy Gho&s;t by the Apo&s;tle gives us in the foregoing ver&s;es of this chap|ter, &s;ome di&s;coveries of the way of Gods workings in the World, in the 26, 27, 28. ver&s;e. <HI>For you &s;ee your calling brethren, how that not many wi&s;e men after the fle&s;h: not many mighty, nor many noble are called. But God hath cho&s;en the fooli&s;h things of the world to con|found the wi&s;e. And God hath cho&s;en the weake things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and ba&s;e things of the world, and things which are de&s;pi&s;ed, hath God cho&s;en; yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.</HI> Wee &s;ee here, when God makes u&s;e of in&s;truments to doe his will, and to declare his glo|ry; he doth not choo&s;e after the manner of men, or accor|ding to the cour&s;e of the World, the wile, mighty, and noble af|ter thefle&s;h, but the fooli&s;h, weake, and de&s;pi&s;ed of the World doth God choo&s;e, to confound the wi&s;e and the mighty, and
<PB N="190" REF="106">things which are not, to bring to naught things that are. The 29. ver&s;e gives the rea&s;on of it, <HI>That no fle&s;h &s;hould glory in his pre|&s;ence.</HI> As if the holy Gho&s;t had &s;aid, God hath wrapt up all glo|ry in him&s;elfe, &s;o that no fle&s;h &s;hall glory neither in what they are, nor in what they doe but in him.</P>
<P>So in the 30 ver&s;e he &s;trips all fle&s;h from glorying in it &s;elf con|cerning &s;pirituals; for (&s;ayeshe) Chri&s;t as the gift of God, is wi&s;dome, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;anctification and redemption to us. And then he quotes this place of Scripture out of the Prophet <HI>Je|remy, He that glories let him glory in the Lord.</HI> So that the Apo&s;tles premi&s;es, and the conclu&s;ion he drawes from them, runnes all in|to this one generall, That as God makes it his great end in all he doth, to lift up his own glory, &s;o &s;hould his people make it their work and end, onely to glory in the Lord.</P>
<P>This Scripture is a <HI>directing exhortation,</HI> it exhorts to glory, and directs to the proper &s;ubject &amp; centre of glory, namely the Lord; as if he had &s;aid, you &s;oules that glory, make the Lord the only &s;ub|ject of your glory, and then glory on.</P>
<P>For edifications &s;ake, and that the lowe&s;t capacity may gather its portion of Gods Manna in the wilderne&s;&s;e of this world, I &s;hall from this Scripture draw up two general ob&s;ervations, upon which &s;hall depend what followeth.</P>
<P><HI>The Ob&s;ervations are the&s;e:</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, God is, and ought to be, the &s;ubject of all his peoples glory.</P>
<P><HI>Or thus:</HI></P>
<P>That the people of God &s;hould glory in none but God.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> That in God there is fulne&s;&s;e of glory for all his people.</P>
<P><HI>Or thus:</HI></P>
<P>That in God is bound up the fulne&s;&s;e of his peoples glory.</P>
<P>For proofe to the fir&s;t of the&s;e, take notice of the precepts and practices of the people of God declared in Scripture, as fir&s;t, the Lord by the Prophet <HI>Jeremiah</HI> in his 9. chap. ver&s;e 23.24. <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord, Let not the wi&s;e man glory in his wi&s;dome, neither let the mighty man glory in his might: let not the rich man glory in his ri|ches, but let him that glories glory in this, That he under&s;tandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exerci&s;e loving kindne&s;&s;e, judge|ment and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e in the earth.</HI> This Scripture is a full proofe to the thing in hand, both in the Negative and in the Affirma|tive.</P>
<PB N="191" REF="106">
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>in the Negative,</HI> not to glory in any thing out of God, or be&s;ides God, not in Wi&s;dome, Power, Riches, or any other thing of that nature, any thing below God him&s;elf, is too low for the people of God to glory in: if you will glory, here is a &s;ubject fit for your glory, namely <HI>God,</HI> to under&s;tand and know him to bee the Lord which exerci&s;es loving kindne&s;&s;e, judgement and righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e in the earth: he that truly knowes God, may glory in God, who is the onely fit object of glory; God is &s;o glorious, that hee makes the fooli&s;h things of the world to confound the wi&s;e, weak things the mighty, and de&s;pi&s;ed things to bring to naught things that are. Therefore wi&s;dome, power, riches, no|bility in the world, are not proper &s;ubjects for a Saint to glory in; no, God is the onely and &s;ingle vubject of his peoples glory, and when you finde them glorying, it is in the Lord, as in the 30. ver&s;e of this chapter, the Apo&s;tle glories in this, that through the freegrace of God, Chri&s;t is made to his people, wi&s;dome, righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;anctification and redemption, his glory is in God and Chri&s;t, <HI>Chri&s;t as the gift, and God as the giver. Chri&s;t made of God,</HI> and &s;o forth. This is my glory, Gods wi&s;dome, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;anctification and redemption, Chri&s;t is all this to Saints of the free grace of God. <HI>Therefore be that glories let him glory in the Lord.</HI> His &s;elfe is nothing, but Chri&s;t as the gift of God, his <HI>All</HI> and his <HI>Glory.</HI> So the &s;ame Apo&s;tle in <HI>Galat.</HI> 6.15. <HI>God forhid that I &s;hould glory &s;ave in the cro&s;&s;e of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> Hee tels them there be &s;uch which make a fair &s;hew in the fle&s;h, that would have them to be circumci&s;ed, that they might not &s;uffer per&s;ecution. But (&s;ayes the Apo&s;tle) tell not me of the&s;e poore low &s;hifts or glory, for in Chri&s;t Je&s;us neither circumci&s;ion not uncircumci&s;ion avai|leth any thing, but a new creature. And in another place, <HI>Chri&s;t in us the hope of glory.</HI> I can glory in none of the&s;e empty out|&s;ides and &s;hadowes of things, it is the new Creature Chri&s;t in me, the cro&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t, the redemption of free grace, the eternall love of God, that I can glory in, or make the &s;ubject of my glory, as in that mo&s;t remarkable place, <HI>Eph.</HI> 2.8, 9. <HI>For by grace are yee &s;aved through faith, and that not of your &s;elves, it is the gift of God, not of works le&s;t any man &s;hould boa&s;t.</HI> Mark it and we &s;hall find here is a &s;ure provi&s;ion to keep all the glory upon Gods head, &s;o that who ever glories mu&s;t glory in God. Why? becau&s;e the whole mat|ter of &s;alvation comes of, by, and from the free grace of God;
<PB N="192" REF="107">yea, even faith, the hand that layes hold of the free grace of God, is al&s;o the gift of Gods free grace; worke, &s;elfe, is wholly exclu|ded, becau&s;e God will have no fle&s;h to boa&s;t or glory in his &s;ight, or in any thing but him&s;elfe. <HI>Therefore God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he hath loved us, even when we were dead in &s;innes, hath quickned us together with Chri&s;t: therefore it is by grace that we are &s;aved.</HI> He loved us when we lay in our blood, when no eye pitied us: his love is fir&s;t to us, and from hence he makes a co|venant of free grace to be our God, and that we &s;hall be his peo|ple, that he will put his law in our hearts, and teach his people by his own Spirit. What doth all this prove but thus much, That God alone is and ought to be the onely &s;ubject of his peoples glo|ry, and we &s;hall find the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> in this fir&s;t of the <HI>Ephe&s;ians,</HI> not onely in the precept but in the practice of this thing, ble&s;&s;ing of God, and glorying in God in the third ver&s;e, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed be the Lord God, and Father of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who hath ble&s;&s;ed us with all &s;pirituall ble&s;&s;ings in heavenly places in Chri&s;t.</HI> Ob&s;erve it, he ble&s;&s;es and glories in God, he mentions nothing to glory in, but God in Chri&s;t: God in him&s;elfe, when he &s;peaketh of chu&s;ing, electing, love and glory, he doth it in Chri&s;t, <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 4. <HI>Cho&s;en us in him before the foundation of the world,</HI> and &s;o forward in the fifth ver&s;e, <HI>Ha|ving prede&s;tinated us unto the adoption of children by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to him&s;elfe according to the good plea&s;ure of his will,</HI> ver&s;e 6. <HI>to the prai&s;e of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us acceptable in the be|loved.</HI> And in the &s;eventh ver&s;e, <HI>according to the riches of his grace:</HI> ver&s;e 8. <HI>wherein he hath abounded towards us in all wi&s;dome and pru|dence.</HI></P>
<P>Thus the Apo&s;tle &s;pends the whole chapter in declaring the glo|ry of the full love and free grace of God to his in Chri&s;t, he is in a very glorious frame of &s;pirit, full of glory and ble&s;&s;ing, but God is the &s;ubject of all his glory and ble&s;&s;ing. So we may find him in his triumphing Chariot. That <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. ver&s;e 1. <HI>No condemnation to them which are in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, and walk after the Spirit, in which there is freedome from the law of &s;inne and death,</HI> 33. <HI>Nothing to be laid to the charge of Gods elect which God ju&s;tifies, and that nothing can &s;eparate from the love of God which is in Chri&s;t Je&s;us our Lord.</HI> Gods love is the &s;ubject the Apo&s;tle glories in; it was the love of God, and &s;o everla&s;ting unchangeable love; it was ju&s;tification by the free grace of God, therefore above condemnation. Mark it, God is
<PB N="193" REF="107">the &s;ubject of his glory, God ju&s;tifies, and God loves. So in <HI>Rom.</HI> 11. <HI>latter end. O the depth of the riches both of the wi&s;dome and know|ledge of God; how un&s;earchable are his judgements, and his wayes pa&s;t finding out. For of him, and to hins, and through him, are all things, to whom be glory for ever, Amen.</HI></P>
<P>The Apo&s;tle finds all to be in God, and God the onely &s;ubject for him to glory in, and give glory to. What ever God doth him|&s;elfe, is the glory of all his workes, and God is a depth of riches, wi&s;dome, and knowledge, he is un&s;earchable in his judgements, and his wayes are &s;o full of glory, that man cannot trace them, he is &s;o pure a glory, that he can bee di&s;cerned by no light but his own, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2.14. <HI>But the naturall man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e unto him, neither can hee know them, becau&s;e they are &s;piritually di&s;cerned.</HI> God is &s;o grea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> a glory, that he darkens all glory be&s;ides him&s;elfe, &s;o that nothing but him&s;elfe can be a di&s;covery of him&s;elfe; and this the Apo&s;tle de|clares as the glory of God, he is an un&s;earchable and more ex|ceeding and eternall weight of glory: Therefore &s;ayes hee in 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4.7. <HI>God di&s;pen&s;es his Go&s;pel by earthen ve&s;&s;els, that the excellen|cy of the power may be of God, and not of us.</HI> As if he had &s;aid, Wee bring you the revelation of the free grace of God in the letter, but that is the furthe&s;t that &s;uch earthly ve&s;&s;els as we can goe, and God intends to u&s;e us no further; that the glorious revelation of of this in the Spirit might appear to be the excellency of his power exceedingly beyond the power of the weak iu&s;truments he u&s;es, if you ob&s;erve it, he is carefull in keeping the glory in the hands of God, &s;o as hee might make God the onely &s;ubject of his glory, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.17. <HI>But be that glories let him glory in the Lord,</HI> and to this end the Apo&s;tle makes his prayers for the <HI>Ephe&s;ians</HI> in the third Chapter, ver&s;e 16. <HI>That he would grant them according to the riches of his glory, to be &s;trengthened with might, by his &s;pirit in the inward man.</HI> He had preached Chri&s;t to them in the letter, but he know|ing that not to be enough, he prayes the Lord to powre on them his rich and glorious Spirit, that they might be filled with his glory, and &s;trengthened in the inward man, according to the ri|ches of his glory; &s;o that &s;till God him&s;elfe is the only &s;ubject of his peoples glory. The practice of this is very eminently &s;een in the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul, Phil.</HI> 3.7.8. <HI>But what things were gain to me, tho&s;e I counted lo&s;&s;e for Chri&s;t; yea doubtle&s;&s;e and I count all things but lo&s;&s;e for
<PB N="194" REF="108">the excellency of the knowledge of Chri&s;t Je&s;us my Lord, for whom I have &s;uffered the lo&s;&s;e of all things, &amp; do count them but dung that I may win Chri&s;t.</HI> In the foregoing ver&s;es he tels us what it was that he had counted gain, &amp; gloried in, his being circumci&s;ed the eighthday, of the &s;tock of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> &amp; &s;o on: the&s;e were &s;uch things as were without <HI>God,</HI> but when <HI>God</HI> had once made him&s;elf known to him <HI>in Chri&s;t,</HI> then he had found God only to be a proper &s;ubject of glory, and the Apo&s;tle doth acknowledge it: For (&s;ayes he) all that I had before, it was but as dung, compared with God and Chri&s;t for glory, as dung to be abhorred in the pre&s;ence of God, though in the 4. ver&s;e he tels us, <HI>If any other man thinketh he bath whereof hee might tru&s;t in the fle&s;h, I more. And all this more is but lo&s;&s;e and dung</HI> where God appeares to him in Chri&s;t, the &s;cales were then off his eyes, and he could di&s;tingui&s;h of glory in its proper &s;ubject, namely, <HI>God in Chri&s;t,</HI> &s;o that all along we finde the Apo&s;tle the &s;ame, onely glorying in the Lord. To back this, wee &s;hall finde him of the &s;ame Spirit, <HI>Colo&s;&s;.</HI> 2.9, 10. <HI>For in him dwelleth all the fulne&s;&s;e of the Godhead bodily, and ye are compleat in him which is the head of all Principalities and Powers.</HI> He &s;ets up the glory of God in Chri&s;t before the <HI>Colo&s;&s;ians,</HI> for them to glory in. As if hee had &s;aid, your onely true glory lies in your union with Chri&s;t, for the fulne&s;&s;e of the God head is bodily in him, and that is the onely true &s;ubject of glory; for your glory is as you are compleat in him, united to him, then is God your glory, and you have a pro|per &s;ubject to glory in, he is the head of all principality and pow|er, and this is your glory to glory in this your head. And in <HI>Col.</HI> 3.3, 4. <HI>For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Chri&s;t in God: when Chri&s;t who is your life &s;hall appeare, then &s;hall yee al&s;o appeare with him in glory.</HI> Mark it, hee &s;trips them wholly of any glory in them|&s;elves; <HI>For ye are dead,</HI> that is, without any beauty, glory, or ex|cellency in your &s;elves, no more then dead per&s;ons have, but your life of glory is with Chri&s;t in God, &s;o that when Chri&s;t appeares in glory, you as in union with him &s;hall appeare with him in glo|ry; therefore you have nothing el&s;e to glory in, or to glory of, but that your life is hid with Chri&s;t in God, &s;o that God is the onely &s;ubject of your glory. And upon this account the holy Gho&s;t puts a <HI>Behold,</HI> a marke of excellency &amp; glory upon the love of God in making us his &s;onner, in that fir&s;t Epi&s;tle of <HI>John,</HI> chap. 3. v. 1. This love of God it is God him&s;elfe, the perfe&amp;ion of
<PB N="195" REF="108">glory, therefore worthy the <HI>beholding:</HI> Thus we &s;ee al along that the Prophets, Apo&s;tles, and all the &s;ervants of God, make God the only &s;ubject of their glory; the&s;e Texts of Scripture I thinke make up ful proofe to the fir&s;t general ob&s;ervation, the general &s;cope of all Scripture comes into this truth; therefore I cannot expect it to be denyed by any that know and acknow|ledge God and his Word.</P>
<P><HI>The &s;econd generall ob&s;ervation is this.</HI> That in God there is ful|ne&s;&s;e of glory for all his people:</P>
<P><HI>Or thus;</HI></P>
<P>That in God is bound up all the fulne&s;&s;e of his peoples glory; this wil be in word I thinke denyed by none: but indeed it is de|nyed by all &s;uch as &s;eeke &s;omething el&s;e to glory in be&s;ide the Lord; Nay many times without and again&s;t the Lord, therefore this truth as the other I &s;hall endeavor to prove from the nature of God, and the declared experiences of his people.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>from the nature of God:</HI> God is &s;uch an infinite glory in him&s;elfe, that no fle&s;h can behold his glory and live: <HI>Nor bath ony &s;eme the Father at any time but the Sonne, and tho&s;e to whom the Sonne hath revealed him.</HI> God is too bright a glory for a created being to &s;ee immediately: therefore free-grace made Chri&s;t a Mediator, to make known and di&s;cover God in his glory to his people, and through this gla&s;&s;e Saints <HI>with open face beholding the glory of the Lord are changed into the &s;ame Image,</HI> 2 Cor. 3. Ia&s;t.</P>
<P>I know not how better to expre&s;&s;e the nature of God then thus; That hee is the fir&s;t, the fulne&s;&s;e, and the all of all true glory and excellency. If you call mercy, ju&s;tice, holine&s;&s;e, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, purity, power, infinitene&s;s &amp; eternity to be glo|ry; This is God, all this is God, and God is all this, and more then all that man can comprehend, much le&s;&s;e declare; he is the fir&s;t, and the fulne&s;&s;e, and the all of all this; there is not a glimps of glory, but it is a beame of God, all ve&s;&s;els of glory receive what they have from him, hee is that fulne&s;&s;e which filleth all things with him&s;elfe; the whole created being &s;peakes nothing more plaine then this, the infinite fulne&s;&s;e of glory that is in the Creator. And the holy Gho&s;t by <HI>John</HI> in his <HI>Revel.</HI> 21. Ch. 23. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> &s;peaking of the glory of the new <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> hath the&s;e words: <HI>And the City had no neede of the Sunne, neither of the Moone to &s;hine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light
<PB N="196" REF="109">thereof.</HI> Whether this new <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> be looked upon in the type or the things typified; yet it holds forth this, that God is the glo|ry of it, God in Chri&s;t the light thereof. Exceeding much may be written upon this head, but I hope this little will fully &s;atisfie all but Athei&s;ts: <HI>That God is the fir&s;t fulne&s;&s;e and all of all glory.</HI> But what advantage this is to Saints how their glory is in God, is next under con&s;ideration. And for this, fir&s;t con&s;ider the pray|er of our Saviour to his Father and our Father in <HI>John</HI> 17.24. <HI>Father I will, that tho&s;e whom thou ha&s;t given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou ha&s;t given me, for thou loved&s;t me before the foundation of the World.</HI> And in ver&s;. 22. <HI>The glory which thou gave&s;t me I have given them.</HI> This is truly the end for which Chri&s;t was given of the Father, that in him, namely Chri&s;t, the people of God might be made partakers of his glory. Chri&s;t prayes according to the will of God, that God would perfect in his elect body the worke of his Mediator&s;hip; namely, that God and his people might have full communion in that glo|ry which Chri&s;t had with the Father before the World was, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 5. For I conceive that to be the glory which Chri&s;t cals [my glory] that to which he was a&s;cending. Our Saviour &s;eemes to make the&s;e the grounds of this prayer: <HI>I in them, and thou in me,</HI> ver&s;. 23. <HI>And the glory which thou gave&s;t me I have given them; therefore let them behold my glory</HI> (i.) Let them be filled with thy &s;elf, for thou art my glory; For there is no other way of beholding God the glory of Chri&s;t, but by being made partakers of God, and filled with his fulne&s;&s;e. There is another full Text to this purpo&s;e, in <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.17. <HI>And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joynt-heirs with Chri&s;t.</HI> Marke it; fir&s;t every childe of God is an heir. 2. God him&s;elfe is the inheritance of all his Children, heirs of God: but how doe Saints enjoy this their inheritance? namely God; the Text tels us, joyntly with Chri&s;t, <HI>we are joynt|heirs of God with Chri&s;t.</HI> So that God communicates him&s;elfe in his glory to Saints as to Chri&s;t: Saints full of God as Chri&s;t their elder Brother is: This is as full a proofe as words can make, That in God there is fulne&s;&s;e of glory for his people, becau&s;e him|&s;elfe is the inheritance of his people, which Saints enjoy as fellow heirs with Chri&s;t, having their lives bound up with God in Chri&s;t, their glory appeares with Chri&s;t in God; the experi|ence of this made the Apo&s;tle to glory, in <HI>Phil.</HI> 1.21. <HI>For to me to
<PB N="197" REF="109">live is Chri&s;t, and to dye is gaine.</HI> The free-grace and eternall love of God in Chri&s;t is my life; wherefore to dye to this body wil be my gaine; for I am an heir of God with Chri&s;t: my glory is with God, and were I out of the body, I &s;hould be fully in God, &s;o againer in glory: but whether to live or dye, God in Chri&s;t is all my glory: And the &s;ame Apo&s;tle in <HI>Phil.</HI> 4.4. gives this exhor|tation: <HI>Rejoyce in the Lord alwayes, and againe I &s;ay rejoyce.</HI> Be glad, and glory in the Lord; &s;urely he had found fulne&s;&s;e of glo|ry in God, otherwi&s;e he would never have given &s;uch an exhor|tation as this, to rejoyce, and rejoyce alwayes; &s;peake this, that there is alwayes fulne&s;&s;e of joy, and glory in God for his people. The Saints of olde living upon God could glory in tri|bulation, that is in God, though under tribulations, as <HI>Shadrach, Me&s;hech,</HI> and <HI>Abednego</HI> in the fiery Furnace, <HI>Daniel</HI> in the Lions Den, <HI>Paul</HI> and his fellow pri&s;oner in the Stocks, when as their &s;tripes were &s;ore. And as the &s;ame Apo&s;tle in <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. <HI>latter end.</HI> though under <HI>tribulations, di&s;tre&s;&s;es, per&s;ecutions, famine, naked|ne&s;&s;e, perill, &s;word, and killings all the day long; yet under all the&s;e more then Conquerours through the love of God.</HI> So that it appeares clearly a Saints glory is in God, becau&s;e when hee enjoyes God in his love, he is more then a Conquerour over all afflictions, more becau&s;e God is his glory, and that glory is greater then all the trouble of the World: It mu&s;t needs be great and communi|cable glory that can keep the head above water, and the &s;oul from being overwhelmed by that &s;ea of afflictions which is before ex|pre&s;&s;ed. And thus we &s;ee God is fulne&s;&s;e of glory for all his peo|ple, and I am confident the experiences of Gods people in the&s;e dayes can produce a numberle&s;&s;e number of te&s;timonies to this truth. I &s;hall adde no more, but leave the Reader to reade the makings forth of the glory of God upon his own &s;oule; the &s;um of all is this, <HI>that in the Lord is all glory;</HI> therefore <HI>he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.</HI></P>
<P>But if any &s;hall &s;ay, I am not edified by this generall theame of glory in God, for his people to glory in; &s;hew me the particulars of this glory, in which the people of God may and doe &s;ingly glory in God?</P>
<P>To this I an&s;wer; I will tell you what God hath &s;hewed mee, but it is only him&s;elfe that can &s;hew it you by his Spirit, for his glory is too great to be beheld in any light but his owne: and to
<PB N="198" REF="110">&s;uch as God gives the light of his Spirit, it will appeare in the&s;e particulars following, wherein Saints may and doe in all their glory, glory &s;ingly in the Lord.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t particular is this; The originall, full, and eternall love of God to all his Elect in Chri&s;t: A &s;oul that glories in God upon this con&s;ideration, may glory &s;ingly in God, and will tell you God is the original of love; for God is love, he is <HI>Alpha</HI> &amp; <HI>Omega,</HI> the <HI>beginning</HI> and the <HI>end.</HI> Nay, his love is as him&s;elfe, from all eternity, without beginning and without end; this &s;oul wil tel you Gods love is full; for the fulne&s;&s;e of all that is lovely proceeds from it, he is the fir&s;t of love, for he is the fir&s;t in love, he loved us fir&s;t, and his originall love is the womb of our love; <HI>we love him becau&s;e he loved us fir&s;t:</HI> It is this originall love of God which conceived and brought forth heires of love; Chri&s;t the el|de&s;t Brother is the gift of this love: and this originall love is &s;o full, that it makes every childe a joynt heire with Chri&s;t, and this love &s;o eternall, that the inheritance is as eternall as God him&s;elfe; for God in the fulne&s;&s;e of his love is his Childrens e|ternall inheritance; this &s;oule will tell you all I have and am to all eterninity, which hath life and glory in it, is the effects and workings of this original, ful, and eternal love of God, the &s;tate of Innocency, the re&s;toration and redemption of grace, the beau|ty of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> before his fall, and the perfection of the &s;e|cond <HI>Adam,</HI> all but that proceeds of this originall love of God, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.4, 5. <HI>But God who is rich in mercy, for his great love where|with he loved us, even when we were dead in &s;innes, hath quickened us together with Chri&s;t.</HI> Marke it, it is love in God, which is the originall of life in Saints, it mu&s;t needs be full love that &s;hould give life to &s;oules dead in &s;innes: and it mu&s;t be eternall love, be|cau&s;e it gives eternall life, for it quickens &s;oules together with Chri&s;t, to live becau&s;e he lives, <HI>John</HI> 14.19. Now &s;ayes this &s;oule, I thus glory &s;ingly in Chri&s;t, which you cannot in any thing be&s;ides. That holy and divine love is originally in God, love in all the dimentions of it is lovely and ful of glory; how ful of glo|ry mu&s;t it then needs be In the original of it, which is God. The Ocean Sea is the glory of all waters, &s;o is love in God the ori|ginal glory of all love: Now &s;ays the &s;oul, give mee leave to glory in my God as the God of love, who is the eternal fountaine of love, to whom I never went to in Chri&s;t, but I found love: and
<PB N="199" REF="110">this I finde, love in God is that which a&s;&s;ures mee, and carries me to him, and truly ever &s;ince I have knowne him in Chri&s;t, I have found him a God of love, and his bo&s;ome of love a place of re&s;t; it is ful love, I never wanted any thing, when I lay downe to re&s;t in it; it is unchangeable love, at no time a bed of thornes. This love of God is &s;o ful of glory in the enjoyment of it, that it is the glory of all I doe enjoy; it is Gods love in every mercy, that makes it a mercy; where Gods love is not, the glory is de|parted from that thing: Love in God is love in the original of it, and there is heights, depths, breadths, and lengths of love, &s;uch heights as none can out-reach; none can love more then God, for he is the original of love, or is originally love, in him are breadths of love enough for all &s;oules to &s;pread them&s;elves on to &s;atisfaction, and yet breadths of love to &s;pare; yea in him are depths of love as deepe as eternity: Original love, no &s;oule can fathom its bottome or beginning, it is &s;uch a deepe &s;o firmly fix|ed, it cannot be &s;haken to all eternity. This love of God is not only the rivers of the waters of life, but al&s;o &s;uch a deepe as can never be drawn dry; I and it is lengths of love too, love without end; he cals it lengths, becau&s;e he cannot tel how long, it exceeds both mea&s;ure and expre&s;&s;ion; this is all the account can be given of the length of it, <HI>it is Gods love, and God is love:</HI> &s;o that what God is, that is this love; now he that can mea&s;ure God may mea|&s;ure love, this is love &s;ingly in God: &s;o in God, as in none be&s;ides God, the fruits and effects of this love wil appear in the next par|ticular: but as love is originally, fully, and eternally in God, &s;o is God the only &s;ubject of his peoples glory; <HI>wherefore he that glo|ries of love, let him glory in the Lord.</HI></P>
<P><HI>The next particular is this,</HI> The freene&s;&s;e of Gods grace.</P>
<P>That grace is free, none wil appeare &s;o ignorant as to deny; for the nature of the thing confirms it, it could nor be grace were it not free: but if that &s;hould not be under&s;tood, yet the fruits and workings of Gods grace wil demon&s;trate it to be free-grace in al the operations of it from fir&s;t to la&s;t.</P>
<P>And fir&s;t, <HI>Let us looke into prede&s;tinating and choo&s;ing grace,</HI> Eph. 1.4, 5. <HI>According as he hath cho&s;en us in him in Chri&s;t, before the foundation of the world, having prede&s;tinated us unto the adoption of Children by Je&s;us Chri&s;t to him&s;elfe, according to the good plea&s;ure of his will.</HI></P>
<PB N="200" REF="111">
<P>Marke how free-grace runnes through, and gathers up this whole worke, prede&s;tinated and cho&s;en, the very termes &s;peaks freene&s;&s;e: but &s;ayes the Text, this is in Chri&s;t, and this makes it &s;till free-grace, for Chri&s;t is wholly without our reach in our &s;elves: but that which puts all out of doubt is this, the Text &s;peaks plainly, this worke is according to the good plea&s;ure of his will, God doth all in and by the freene&s;&s;e of his owne grace, nothing to move him but his owne bowels. It is the A|po&s;tles argument upon this very que&s;tion, <HI>Rom.</HI> 9.18. <HI>Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hard|neth.</HI> That is as I under&s;tand, the &s;cope of the holy Gho&s;t in this place; God choo&s;eth whom he plea&s;eth in his free-grace to make them ve&s;&s;els of mercy in union with Chri&s;t, and the o|thers hee choo&s;eth to leave in the fir&s;t <HI>Adam, dead in &s;innes and tre&s;pa&s;&s;es.</HI> If you aske me the rea&s;on of this, I will an&s;wer you with the Apo&s;tles argument in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 21. <HI>Hath not the Potter pow|er over the clay of the &s;ame lump, to make one ve&s;&s;ell to honour, and another to di&s;honour.</HI> That I mention it for, is to prove the free|ne&s;&s;e of Gods choo&s;ing and electing grace, and to that end it is a very ful Scripture; for if you ob&s;erve one clau&s;e in it, it makes God to be as free in the ve&s;&s;els of honour, as in the ve&s;&s;els of di&s;|honour, that is <HI>the &s;ame lump,</HI> it is out of one and the &s;ame lump of clay that God doth both. Now it mu&s;t needes be free-grace that makes ve&s;&s;els of mercy to be filled with the riches of his glo|ry, out of the &s;ame lump that others remaine ve&s;&s;els of di&s;honor; Thus Gods grace is free in choo&s;ing his owne ve&s;&s;els whom hee will fill with the fulne&s;&s;e of his grace and glory to all eternity.</P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>The grace of God is free in the calling of his cho&s;en ve&s;&s;els out of them&s;elves into him&s;elf.</HI> Whom he prede&s;tinates before all time, he cals in the fulne&s;&s;e of his owne time, and both in his free-grace, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.5. is a full proofe of this: <HI>Even when wee were dead in &s;innes, hath quickened us together with Chri&s;t; by grace yee are &s;aved.</HI> It is this free-grace of God that runs through the whole matter of &s;alvation; ob&s;erve but the time of calling, and it will appeare to be free-grace in God that cals, <HI>even when dead in &s;innes.</HI> What could here move God but his owne free-grace, the &s;oule is dead; there is no beauty in a dead &s;oule to allure a living God, nay, dead in &s;innes; can this move a holy God to call &s;uch a &s;oule to lye downe in his bo&s;ome? No, that which
<PB N="209" REF="111">moves God is in him&s;elfe, the freene&s;&s;e of his owne grace, and the fulne&s;&s;e of his owne bowels of love; God can worke from him&s;elfe to man, though there be nothing in man to invite, but to di&s;ta&s;t God, and this is the glory of his free grace, he cals a <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> out of <HI>Pharoah's,</HI> Court a <HI>Saul</HI> out of the Sect of the <HI>Pha|ri&s;ees,</HI> even when his heart was po&s;ting with his commi&s;&s;ion to per&s;ecute the Saints: and by this call doth not only change his name from <HI>Saul</HI> to <HI>Paul,</HI> but his &s;pirit from a per&s;ecuter to a Preacher of Chri&s;t crucified: What doth this prove, but that God is free in his calling grace, and that it goeth hand in hand with his choo&s;ing; he choo&s;es to call, and cals whom he choo|&s;eth, and is free in his grace in all, for nothing moves God in all this but his own free-grace.</P>
<P>Thirdly, <HI>God ju&s;tifies his elect and called by his free-grace:</HI> See this in that plain Text, <HI>Rom.</HI> 3.24. <HI>Being ju&s;tified freely by is grace.</HI> In three or foure of the next foregoing ver&s;es the Apo&s;tle &s;hewes us, <HI>how that by the deeds of the law &s;hall no fle&s;h he ju&s;tified in the &s;ight of God:</HI> and that it is only Gods righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e (<HI>which is Chri&s;t</HI>) that will be found righteous in the pure eyes of God; for &s;ayes he in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 23. <HI>We have all &s;inned and come &s;hort of the glo|ry of God,</HI> therefore our ju&s;tification is meerly of his free-grace, not by any deed or duty under the law, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 20. <HI>For by the law is the knowledge of &s;inne.</HI> The law condemns, it doth not ju&s;tifie any, it is only free-grace ju&s;tifies. So <HI>Gal.</HI> 2.16. <HI>Knowing that a man is not ju&s;tified by the workes of the law, but by the faith of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> And <HI>Gal.</HI> 3.11. <HI>But that no man is ju&s;tified by the law in the &s;ight of God, it is evident; for the ju&s;t &s;hall live by faith.</HI> By the law and the workes of the law in the&s;e Scriptures is com|prehended all the be&s;t, holye&s;t, and mo&s;t exact performance of any &s;oule, though according to the commands of God, that in none of the&s;e, nor all the&s;e together, is any &s;oule ju&s;tified in the &s;ight of God, for that is only the worke of free-grace: but le&s;t any &s;hould &s;tumble at this, that faith is &s;o much mentioned in the matter of Ju&s;tification; the holy Gho&s;t in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.8. takes off all occa&s;ion of offence in that; <HI>For by grace are ye &s;aved through faith, and that not of your &s;elves, it is the gift of God.</HI> Hee binds up the whole matter of &s;alvation, of which ju&s;tification is a part in the grace of God; <HI>for by grace are yee &s;aved.</HI> Now God hath made faith as the hand to lay hold upon this &s;alvation of
<PB N="202" REF="112">his free-grace, and that it might appeare to be all grace; this is al&s;o the gift of God, the workings of free-grace, it is &s;o much the more free that God gives, both the hand and the gift too: &s;o the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.33. <HI>Who &s;hall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect?</HI> It is God that ju&s;tifieth. I of his owne free-grace; God doth &s;o fully acquit, that nothing can be laid to the charge of tho&s;e whom God doth ju&s;tifie; thus freely doth God acquit &s;uch as cannot ju&s;tifie them&s;elves by any deedes of the law; though there be &s;in in the be&s;t duty, yet there is ju&s;ti|fication in the free-grace of God, though not of the &s;inne, yet of the per&s;on. There might be very much writ of this &s;ubject, but I onely touch it here, becau&s;e it is more fully done in another place.</P>
<P>Fourthly, <HI>God is free in his &s;anctifying grace;</HI> his holy Spirit as the winde bloweth where it li&s;teth; Sanctification mu&s;t needs be a free worke, becau&s;e it is the worke of a holy God in un|holy &s;oules; there is no more in us to move God to clean&s;e us from our blood and pollution, then there is to move him to love us when wee lay in our blood, &s;o that no eye but the eye of his grace could pitty us; that power that overcame &s;elf, mu&s;t needs be freely without &s;elfe; now this is the &s;anctifying grace of God in the &s;oules of his people: and the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> &s;pea|king of the worke of regeneration in his &s;oule, confe&s;&s;eth, <HI>it is meerely of grace that I am what I am;</HI> our &s;tate in the kingdome of glory to be ever with the Lord; that is al&s;o the workings of ori|nall love and free-grace in God, to be heire of God, to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e God, and as joynt-heirs with Chri&s;t to be filled with his glory to all eternity, this is free-grace, it is too bigge to &s;tand upon any other foundation: but as two undeniable te&s;timonies in the free-grace of God in all the&s;e particulars; take Gods covenant of free-grace, and Je&s;us Chri&s;t the gift of his free-grace into con|&s;ideration. Fir&s;t, his Covenant in <HI>Jer.</HI> 31.33, 34. What out of God could oblige God to make &s;uch a covenant as this is, God engaging him&s;elfe, <HI>to put his law in our inward parts, and to write it in our hearts, and that he will be our God, and we &s;hall be his people; that all &s;hall know his way, and that he will forgive our iniquity, and remember our &s;innes no more.</HI> This may well be called the cove|nant of free-grace, for it is the grace of God freely engaging him&s;elfe to doe all this for us and in us; it is too large to open
<PB N="203" REF="112">where it is only brought as a proofe: but this I can truly &s;ay of it, it is in every part, and in the whole, the free-grace of God, hee forgives all iniquity, blots out all &s;innes, writes his holy law in the hearts and inward parts of his people, teacheth them all to know his way, and all this of his free-grace, and to all this freene&s;&s;e of grace he bindeth up him&s;elf by covenant, <HI>not to make him&s;elfe more faithfull, for he is eternally and infinitely faithful: but to make us more believing,</HI> becau&s;e by nature we believe in works, not in free-grace. But con&s;ider the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who is the great gift of Gods free-grace, in whom God filleth his peo|ple with grace and glory to all eternity; whom God prede&s;ti|nates to the adoption of children, hee doth it by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 1.5. Whom he cals and quickens, hee doth it together with Chri&s;t, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.5. <HI>Whom he ju&s;tifieth freely of his grace, hee doth it through the redemption that is in Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> Rom. 3.24. When God in his free-grace gives <HI>wi&s;dome, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;anctifi|cation and redemption,</HI> hee gives it in Chri&s;t, and makes Je&s;us Chri&s;t to be all this to his people, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.30. When God glo|rifies his people with him&s;elfe for ever, he doth it as joynt-heirs with Chri&s;t. After he had &s;uffered in the fle&s;h for us, he goeth to heaven and glory to prepare man&s;ions for us, &amp; comes again to receive us to him&s;elfe. Now upon all the&s;e con&s;iderations, tel me whether all the &s;alvation in part or whole of the people of God be not the only workings &amp; de&s;igne of the eternal love and free-grace of God, I hope none wil be &s;o gracele&s;&s;e as to deny it: and to &s;uch as acknowledge it, to them I &s;ay, <HI>this is a generall full of particulers, for &s;uch as glory to glory in the Lord.</HI> A believing &s;oule wil tel you this, he can glory in his election, through the free-grace of God in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that none is, or &s;hall ever be able to plucke him out of Gods hands; and hee will tell you that he is called into union with Chri&s;t, by that eternall free-grace of God which will &s;urely keepe him, that he can never fall totally away; Chri&s;t mu&s;t have his whole body compleat in hea|ven, not lo&s;e one member; hee wil al&s;o glory through the free-grace of God in this, that Chri&s;t is made his Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and Ju&s;tification, &s;o that hee &s;tands compleate before God in him: Free-grace made Chri&s;t &s;inne for me &s;ayes this &s;oule, <HI>that I might be made the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him,</HI> 2 Cor. 5. la&s;t.</P>
<P>Je&s;us Chri&s;t in the de&s;igne of Gods free-grace hath borne
<PB N="212" REF="113">&s;inne, death, hel, law, and cur&s;e for me; that I am for ever acquitted from the condemning, reigning, or devouring power of any, or of all the&s;e. Now &s;ayes this &s;oule, tel me you that un|der&s;tand; Is nor this God of free-grace the only &s;ubject of a Saints glory? Nay, I wil tel you more, God him&s;elfe is the fulne&s;&s;e of his peoples glory to all eternity; hee lets the World|lings for a little time to glut them&s;elves with the World, but him&s;elfe is the free, the full, and eternal glory of his people in the Ages to come, even to all eternity; hee is filling his people with the exceeding riches of his grace and kindne&s;&s;e in Chri&s;t Je|&s;us, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.7. God doth to all eternity &s;et open his bo&s;om; and not give to &s;uch as are heirs of him&s;elfe, flagons, but oce|ans of love and glory: It mu&s;t needs be glory if it be Gods love. Now this, I and more then this, more then eternity can tel is the free-grace of God, <HI>therefore let him that glorieth glory in the Lord,</HI> for he is God, the only fountaine and fulne&s;&s;e of free-grace.</P>
<P>But if any &s;hould object and &s;ay, if grace be thus free in God, to elect, call, ju&s;tifie, &s;anctifie, and glorifie his people meerely of his free-grace; why then did Chri&s;t take fle&s;h, and in the fle&s;h &s;atisfie the utmo&s;t of Gods ju&s;tice for the &s;innes of his people: It &s;eemes to appeare that God was &s;atisfied in his ju&s;tice, he had the debt paid, how then doe you make it grace?</P>
<P>To this I an&s;wer, that in its proper place I &s;hal make u&s;e of this argument to clear up the glory of God in the exactne&s;&s;e of his ju&s;tice, but it doth no ways dimini&s;h the freene&s;s of his grace to us; for it is free-grace that made Chri&s;t to be the &s;atisfaction of divine ju&s;tice for our &s;innes, and that God &s;atisfies his owne ju&s;tice in him&s;elfe, doth no more make his grace not to be free, then the making his Covenant in him&s;elfe could keepe that from being free, that ju&s;tice is &s;atisfied makes it ful redemption to us, <HI>but that God doth it in Chri&s;t, which is wholly out of our &s;elves, keeps it very exactly to bee the redemption of free-grace. Wee are ju&s;tified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Chri&s;t,</HI> Rom. 3.24. That God doth &s;ati&s;fie his ju&s;tice in Chri&s;t, it is that through him we might be made partake is of the redemption of his grace, it is grace redeemes and ju&s;t fies by Chri&s;t: but Chri&s;t the gift of Gods grace cannot dimini&s;h his grace; that which God gives his people through Chri&s;t, though he &s;atisfies his ju&s;tice in the way, yet he magnifies the freene&s;&s;e of his grace in the work.</P>
<PB N="213" REF="113">
<P><HI>A third particular is this:</HI></P>
<P>The riches of Gods mercy. The Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> glories in God upon this very con&s;ideration in <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.4. <HI>But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith hee loved us,</HI> and &s;o forwards. God to manife&s;t his great love wherewith he loved his people, be|&s;towes on them the riches of his mercy, namely his eternal love, his free-grace, his beloved Sonne, and in him election, calling, ju&s;tification, &s;anctification, and glorification, and his holy &s;pirit in the&s;e, now this will be acknowledged to be rich mercy; ma|ny doe pretend to be givers, though they have nothing but what they fir&s;t receive: but none I am &s;ure but bla&s;phemers can pre|tend to be givers of &s;uch rich mercies as the&s;e. God is the onely fountaine and giver of the&s;e more exceeding and eternall weights of glory. Nay, that which Worldlings make their God (name|ly the World) it was created by him and for him: and though it be a cur&s;e to them that know no other God, yet every piece and parcell of it &s;anctified is a ble&s;&s;ing, and a rich mercy of God to his cho&s;en people; love makes all conditions to be rich mercy of God to them. It was a rich mercy to a darke world, to &s;ay, <HI>let there be light, and it was &s;o:</HI> but then how rich is God in mercy, when he makes known his eternall love, and &s;hines through the wounds of Chri&s;t by his owne &s;pirit into a darke &s;oule, and bids the &s;oule be of good cheere, <HI>its &s;innes are forgiven;</HI> It &s;tands compleat in Chri&s;t, and is an heire of God, a joynt-heire with Chri&s;t; however men may &s;light the riches of the&s;e &s;piritual mer|cies whil&s;t they are glutting their &s;oules with the World, yet let them remember the time is not farre off, when death &s;hall clo&s;e their eyes, and their &s;oules &s;it upod their trembling lips, and then a glimp&s;e of a reconciled God in Chri&s;t will be found a rich mercy. The Apo&s;tle cals the love of God <HI>heights and breadths, depths and lengths</HI> of love: Hee takes in all that hee could reckon up to &s;hew the exceeding riches of it; God is the fulne&s;&s;e of glory and the fountaine of mercy, therefore his mercies mu&s;t needs be rich and full of glory: So then as riches of mercy is a &s;ubject of glory, <HI>let him that glorieth glory in the Lord.</HI></P>
<P>In the next place, <HI>Con&s;ider the faithfulne&s;&s;e of God in making good of his promi&s;es.</HI> God is a free God in all his promi&s;es, he onely in|gages him&s;elfe, no &s;oule can ingage God; for to receive all from God, and yet to oblige God, is a contradiction: the fir&s;t is a
<PB N="206" REF="114">truth of God, what the latter is, I leave the Reader to judge. But as God is free in all his promi&s;es, the whole workings of God in the world is an ample te&s;timony to this truth and faithfulne&s;&s;e of God; but yet for more particular proofe take two or three Scriptures, Fir&s;t, Gods promi&s;es at the fault of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> to give the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t the &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> in <HI>Gen.</HI> 3.15. <HI>That the Seed of the Woman</HI> (namely Chri&s;t) <HI>&s;hould brui&s;e the Serpents head.</HI></P>
<P>This Serpent is the Devill. Now to the making good of this promi&s;e, the whole word of God, and the &s;alvation of his people is a full te&s;timony. For another great promi&s;e, take that of Gods giving his Spirit to his people to teach them, and to lead them into all truth, and by which he doth write his Law in the hearts and inward parts of his people, <HI>Jer.</HI> 31.33. <HI>John</HI> 14.26. Now how God doth make good this promi&s;e, &s;uch as be truly &s;piritu|all can give in their te&s;timony, and I doubt not but God hath many thou&s;and &s;uch witne&s;&s;es in the world, though &s;uch as know him not, doe bla&s;pheme and &s;coff at him, in &s;coffing at his Spirit in his people, yet Saints in truth will tell you, that they in them|&s;elves are darkne&s;&s;e, and God is onely light, and it is the Spirit of God in them that is their light, that they know no truths of Je|&s;us but by the Spirit, nor did they ever truly wor&s;hip, or know how to wor&s;hip <HI>God</HI> in truth, but in &amp; by the Spirit; and until they received this light, they wor&s;hipped the unknown God. Though Gods wil be free in the manner, and mea&s;ure, and time of his di&s;|pen&s;ations, yet he is certainly faithfull to the matter of his pro|mi&s;es, &s;o that all his people &s;hall beare him witne&s;&s;e, that he is a faithfull God in making good his free promi&s;es. In a ca&s;e more particular, take Gods promi&s;es to <HI>Abraham</HI> concerning <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> how fully did God make that promi&s;e good, though from dead loynes, and a dead womb, yet nothing can hinder the living God from being faithfull to his promi&s;es; nay, though God commanded <HI>A|braham</HI> to &s;acrifice this &s;onne of promi&s;e, and to &s;uffer the knife to be almo&s;t at his throat, yet God makes good his promi&s;e, and doth all this but to try <HI>Abrahams</HI> faith, not to break the lea&s;t tit|tle of his own faithfulne&s;&s;e. The wicked that know not God, and de&s;pi&s;e him, &s;hall find him a faithfull God in making good all his judgements upon them. Now &s;ayes the beleeving &s;oule, Here is another particular, the faithfulne&s;&s;e of God in making
<PB N="207" REF="114">good all his promi&s;es, therefore let him that glorieth glory in the Lord.</P>
<P>A fifth particular is this, namely, <HI>The exactne&s;&s;e of Gods Ju|&s;tice.</HI></P>
<P>That one example of our Saviour Chri&s;t, will &s;top the mouthes of all gain&s;ayers to this particular, when Chri&s;t did in the fle&s;h hang upon the Cro&s;&s;e, bearing all the &s;inne of his people upon him, and having the whole debt to &s;atisfie, he did then fini&s;h his &s;atisfaction before he came down from his &s;uffering, our Saviour tells us him&s;elfe that the work was fini&s;hed. So the Author to the <HI>Hebrewes, Chap.</HI> 10. <HI>v.</HI> 14. <HI>For by one offering hee hath perfected for ever them that are &s;anctified.</HI> Chri&s;t by this one offering of him&s;elf did make a perfect &s;atisfaction to divine Ju&s;tice, otherwi&s;e &s;uch as he died for, could not be made perfect, nor could that of the A|po&s;tle be a truth, <HI>That there is no condemnation to them that are in Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</HI> Nay God him&s;elfe by the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> in Chap. 53.11. doth acknowledge &s;atisfactions in the &s;ufferings of Chri&s;t, <HI>He &s;hall &s;ee of the travell of his &s;oule, and &s;hall bee &s;atisfied.</HI> God in Chri&s;t doth behold his divine ju&s;tice fully &s;atisfied for the &s;inne of his people: for that is the whole drift of the Prophet in that chapter, to &s;hew forth the &s;ufferings and &s;atisfaction of Chri&s;t to Gods ju&s;tice; &s;o that we &s;ee the exactne&s;&s;e of Gods ju|&s;tice, that his beloved Sonne, when once made a propitiation for &s;inne, mu&s;t pay the utmo&s;t of the debt, &s;o that he doth per|fectly di&s;charge. There is exceeding much in this for beleevere to glory in God, but I &s;hall forbeare inlargements. I am &s;ure it is a full proofe to that which I produce it for. <HI>Pharaoh</HI> and all his Ho&s;t in the red Sea, is another remarkable te&s;timony of the exact|ne&s;&s;e of Gods ju&s;tice; &s;o were tho&s;e murmurers and idolaters in the wildernes, &amp; Gods dealing with that King which cut off the great toes and thumbs of &s;o many Kings, &s;o that we &s;ee God is ex|act in his ju&s;tice, and exceeding glorious in it: &s;o in this particu|lar, he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord.</P>
<P>In the &s;ixth place, <HI>Con&s;ider God in the perfection of his holine&s;&s;e, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and purity;</HI> &s;o if you can either finde &s;pot or wrinkle in him, nay he will not leave either &s;pot or wrinkle in any he takes into union with him&s;elfe, he makes him&s;elf to be his peoples inheritance, that &s;o they may be holy in his holine&s;&s;e, righteous in his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and pure in his purity. God is &s;o perfect in
<PB N="216" REF="115">holine&s;&s;e, that he abhorres every unholy thing; &s;o exact in righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, that the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the Scribes and Phari&s;ees is no better then dro&s;&s;e and dung when Chri&s;t the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God appeares. God is &s;o full of purity, that he is nothing el&s;e, and yet he is all, but he is all pure in all he is, &s;o that in this con|&s;ideration al&s;o, &s;uch as will glory let them glory in the Lord.</P>
<P>Again, <HI>Con&s;ider the infinitene&s;&s;e of the power of Gods wi&s;dome.</HI> Heaven and earth is full of this glory; by his power he makes and pre&s;erves, gives being and maintaines being to all things. Heaven is his throne, and Earth is his foot&s;toole, <HI>Monarkes</HI> are but wormes under his feet. <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 40.15. <HI>So are the Nations of the earth as the drop of a Bucket, and counted but as the &s;mall du&s;t of the Ballance, when they are counted to God, they are le&s;&s;e then nothing and vanity.</HI></P>
<P>If all created Beings were &s;um'd up in one, they are all but va|nity, and make nothing to be compared with the infinite power of God which created them, God is not onely infinitly full of power to doe what he will, but he is infinitly wi&s;e to know what to doe, how to doe, and when to doe for his own glory. To this of the wi&s;dome of God, I think I &s;hall offer one proofe, will be either convincing or &s;ilencing all that doe acknowledge God, and that is namely this, <HI>The my&s;tery ef godline&s;&s;e, Chri&s;t in the fle&s;h.</HI> It is a mi&s;tery above any wi&s;dome but Gods to reveale; Oh then how great is that wi&s;dome which could make &s;uch a mi&s;tery; this mi&s;tery may be admired by Saints on Earth, but it will never be fully under&s;tood till wee come to Heaven. <HI>The rea&s;on is,</HI> it is &s;o great a mi&s;tery, then &s;urely it mu&s;t be infinite wi&s;dome that is the fountaine of this mi&s;tery; the depths of God are deep indeed, infinitely deepe. My meaning is not to enlarge in the&s;e particu|lars, onely to give a ta&s;t of things wherein God only will ap|peare the proper &s;ubject of his peoples glory: &s;o <HI>that &s;uch as glory may glory in the Lord.</HI></P>
<P>The la&s;t particular I &s;hall mention is this, <HI>the eternity of God;</HI> that God is eternall in all he is, the Lord tels us in one Scripture, <HI>I am God that changes not, hee waxeth not old as doth a garment, hee dwelleth in eternity, God is the &s;ame ye&s;terday, to day, &amp; for ever.</HI> Now this is a fit &s;ubject for Saints to glory in, not only a glorious God, but the God of eternall glory, and a God that is eternally glo|rious.</P>
<PB N="217" REF="115">
<P>Now give me leave to &s;um up all the former, and to adde this to them, and then &s;ee what we can &s;ay for this glory, and for this God the &s;ubject of our glory, who is</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> the God of originall and eternall love.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> the God of free grace, and eternally &s;o.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> a God rich in mercy, and that to all eternity.</P>
<P><HI>Fourthly,</HI> a God faithfull, in making good all his promi&s;es, and in this al&s;o he is an eternall God.</P>
<P><HI>Fifthly,</HI> God is exact in his ju&s;tice, and this to all eternity.</P>
<P><HI>Sixthly,</HI> God is a God perfect in holine&s;&s;e, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and purity. And in all the&s;e God is eternall.</P>
<P><HI>La&s;tly,</HI> a God infinite in power, and wi&s;dome; and in the&s;e e|eternall, his power is eternall power, and his wi&s;dome eternall wi&s;dome.</P>
<P>Now tell me if the fir&s;t Scripture be not a weighty exhortati|on, <HI>He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord.</HI> Take this as a foun|dation, and carry it all along in your eye, That purely what God is in him&s;elfe, is the onely matter and &s;ubject of his peoples glory. For that is the exhortation, <HI>Hee that glorieth let him glory in the Lord.</HI> And I de&s;ire to carry &s;oules home to God him&s;elf, that our &s;oules may drinke the water of life at the fountain of life, there it is eternally the &s;ame. A &s;oule that doth truly and purely glory in God him&s;elfe, will tell you that it findes God to be a God of o|riginall, eternall love and free grace. And therefore &s;ayes this &s;oule, Ble&s;&s;ed be this God, I beleeve all my iniquities are pardo|ned, and my &s;innes blotted out by the blood of Chri&s;t, &s;o they &s;hall never more be remembred, or charged again&s;t me; for the o|riginall love and free grace of God hath laid them all on Chri&s;t, and he hath given exact &s;atisfaction to the Divine Ju&s;tice of God, &s;o that through eternall love and free grace, I am acquitted and ju&s;t fied in the fight of the eternall, holy, righteous, and pure God; and in this eternall love and free grace of God, I am united to Chri&s;t, &s;o that Chri&s;t the <HI>Wi&s;dome, Sanctification, and Redemp|tion</HI> of God, is mine, and I am his, Chri&s;t made &s;inne for me, and I made the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him, &s;o that when I glory in my redemption, I glory in God, in his originall love and free grace. When I &s;ay the Law of God cannot condemne me, I doe not affirme that I have kept the Law in my &s;elfe, and &s;o glory in the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the Law, which is of workes; but I glory in
<PB N="218" REF="116">the original eternal love of God, &amp; his free grace, that hath made Chri&s;t my righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, who hath fulfilled the Law for me, and is daily doing it in me by the power of his grace, <HI>Rom.</HI> 6.14. And give me leave to glory then, &s;ayes this &s;oule, though it bee great things that I glory of, &s;o long as God him&s;elfe is the &s;ubject of my glory; no <HI>Legali&s;t</HI> can hinder God of the Soveraignty of his original love, and free grace, &s;o that when God a&s;&s;ures any &s;oul of this his &s;alvation, and the &s;oule glories in it, this &s;oule glories in the Lord. Come and &s;ee, &s;ayes this &s;oule, the glory of the Lord, I am &s;aved meerly by the free grace of God, his original and eternal love hath plucked me out of &s;inne, &s;elf, eternal death, hell, law, grav, the power of Satan. and eternal condemnation, and made me one with Chri&s;t, and heire of him&s;elfe, <HI>a joynt heire with Chri&s;t in eternall glory.</HI> This is my God, &s;ayes the &s;oule, all this is the fruits of his love, and free grace, riches of mercy, and faithfulne&s;&s;e in his covenant and promi&s;es, the exactne&s;&s;e of his ju&s;tice upon Chri&s;t, is perfection of ju&s;tification to my &s;oule in union with Chri&s;t; the perfection of his holine&s;&s;e, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and purity, is the glory of my &s;oule, who&s;e <HI>life is hid with Chri&s;t in God;</HI> the baptizing of his holy Spirit, in which the elect in Chri&s;t are buried with him to &s;inne, makes the re&s;urrection of Chri&s;t, and the new creature in me, &s;ayes this &s;oule. And all this is God, meerly what God is in him&s;elfe, &s;aving, ju&s;tifying, and &s;anctify|ing glorifying grace, all is Gods grace, all this is free grace, and all this free grace is my God, &s;ayes the beleeving &s;oule: therefore (&s;ayes this &s;oule) come O man, and ta&s;te how good the Lord is, <HI>Here is Milk and hony freely without price, and without money, I&s;ai.</HI> Chap. 55.1. If this &s;oule meets with a beleeving heart, it pre|&s;ently holds forth a bleeding Chri&s;t; and if a &s;oule that argues a|gain&s;t its own &s;alvation, why &s;ayes this &s;oule, con&s;ider grace is free, your &s;alvation hath no other foundation but the original love and free grace of God. <HI>God concluded all under &s;inne, that &s;al|vation might he of grace.</HI> No &s;oule &s;ince the fall of <HI>Adam</HI> could ever plead it &s;elfe before God: the whole frame of &s;alvation &s;tands up|on the free grace of God; now you have nothing to argue a|gain&s;t but free grace, <HI>your not being worthy can neuer make God not to be gracious:</HI> you &s;ee nothing lovely in your &s;elves that cannot hin|der, for God is the original of love, you can in no mea&s;ure keep the Law, the Law it was to convince of &s;inne, not to ju&s;tifie any
<PB N="219" REF="116">&s;oule; but Chri&s;t the gift of free grace, he hath &s;atisfied and ful|filled the Law for all his elect, &s;ay what you can, I will an&s;wer you, &s;ayes this &s;oule with God, that is with eternal love and free grace.</P>
<P>If God &s;hould &s;uffer Selfe, &s;ayes this &s;oule, to have &s;hare in &s;alvation, I were as mi&s;erable as any &s;oule alive; for I am as much under &s;inne in my &s;elfe, as any other &s;oule, but the glory of my &s;alvation is my God, this I beleeve by his Spirit, that him&s;elfe is my &s;alvation, his own eternal Being is my eternal life, his origi|nal love and his free grace which is of him&s;elfe, is the everla&s;ting &s;alvation of my eternall &s;oule. And &s;ayes this &s;oule, upon this a&s;|&s;urance I am able to goe to God him&s;elfe through Chri&s;t, by his Spirit, to plead my intere&s;t in him, to plead my &s;alvation to be e|ternal, becau&s;e it is the &s;alvation of his own originall love and free grace; &s;o that it can never faile and come to nothing, be|cau&s;e in the eternall God: and when Satan would &s;hake me out of my a&s;&s;urance, I carry him to my God and let Satan know, that my &s;alvation &s;tandeth not upon my own legges, but is the worke of the eternal original love and free grace of my God, which is a|bove the reach of Satan, becau&s;e in the very Being of God; for God is love and free grace.</P>
<P>Thus a beleeving &s;oule makes God the onely &s;ubject of his glory: and from this foundation &s;uch a &s;oule can never want a proper &s;ubject to glory in. Saints would be glad to finde loving kindne&s;&s;e, mercy, faithfulne&s;&s;e, ju&s;tice, holine&s;&s;e, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and purity among&s;t men: and truly the&s;e beames of God in his people, makes them very glorious; and the want of the&s;e is not onely a &s;hame, but the mi&s;ery of this our pre&s;ent age. The&s;e &s;parks of God make men truly Noble, and the going out of the&s;e is the innobility of the times we live in; but neverthele&s;&s;e Gods people are not at a lo&s;&s;e for a &s;ubject of glory: For God is this, all this, and eternally this, in the infinite fulne&s;&s;e and glory of it. There|fore what remaines but to pre&s;&s;e home, and to take up the Apo|&s;tles exhortation, <HI>He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord,</HI> in the God of Grace, and that our names are written in the book of life, with the blood of Chri&s;t, the gift of his grace, that we have our inheritance in the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> &s;o that if the&s;e earthly taberna|cles were di&s;&s;olved, we have a building with God, an hou&s;e not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.1.</P>
<PB N="220" REF="117">
<P>This wil be la&s;ting glory, when as the longe&s;t day the world|lings glory lives, is but till the earthly tabernacles bee di&s;&s;olved: their joy and glory amounts to no more then the crackling of thornes under a pot, it is certainly peri&s;hing, becau&s;e it is not God him&s;elfe. It were well if Saints did not &s;uck in too much of this peri&s;hing glory. But there is another glory which Saints too often &s;it down in, and too much make their boa&s;ts of, which is &s;hort of the true &s;ubject of glory; even GOD him&s;elfe. And that is Circumci&s;ion and Uncircumci&s;ion; <HI>Paul, Apollo,</HI> and <HI>Cephas,</HI> externals, formes, out&s;ides, &s;omethings in the way of God, when they &s;hould only glory in the end, God him|&s;elfe; a &s;oule that truly lives in God, &s;ubmits to all the will of God, and walkes in all the wayes of God, revealed to it by the Spirit, but lookes upon them all as below his re&s;t. Hee can fixe and glory in none but God him&s;elfe; it plea&s;eth God through meane things to make known him&s;elfe to his people, and to have communion with his people in: but hee contrives and makes up the &s;alvation, the life, re&s;t, and glory of his people in his owne eternal love and free-grace, and would not have his people lye downe in the &s;treames, but pa&s;&s;e through them into the Ocean of his owne bo&s;ome of love and free-grace; it wil be a &s;mal ad|vantage when Chri&s;t comes to make up his jewels, for any &s;oule to &s;ay, I was of this Church; or of that, known by this name or the other: Circumci&s;ed or not circumci&s;ed availes not at that day; Chri&s;t lookes for the new creature, his owne image, the worke of the eternal love and free grace of God in every &s;oule: <HI>The glory of that day will be, God is mine and I am his:</HI> His free|grace is my &s;alvation, and my &s;alvation is the worke and fruits of his owne eternal love and free-grace. Therefore &s;ayes the A|po&s;tle in 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.22, 23. <HI>Let no man glory in man, for all things are Gods; whether Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things pre&s;ent, or things to come, all are Gods, and yee are Chri&s;ts, and Chri&s;t is Gods.</HI></P>
<P>Glory not in man, nor any thing comes by man, all the&s;e are yours in that great gift the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t; glory in him, then you have a right &s;ubject for your glory, namely God. <HI>Paul</HI> and <HI>Apollo</HI> is yours to u&s;e, but not to glory in: Chri&s;t, and God in Chri&s;t is the only centre for a Saint to re&s;t and glory in. Oh then away with any lower glory then the Lord him&s;elfe, hee is a ne|ver
<PB N="221" REF="117">failing glory, <HI>at his right hand are glories for evermore.</HI> In the 21. of <HI>Revel.</HI> 23. <HI>The glory of God is the light of the new Jeru&s;alem, and the Lamb is the light thereof.</HI> It is only God in Chri&s;t that is the glory of heavenly &s;oules, therefore let &s;uch &s;oules glory in nothing el&s;e. It is very unbecoming the heires of <HI>Canaan</HI> to take up their glory in the Wilderne&s;&s;e provi&s;ion, much le&s;&s;e to hunger after the Onyons of Aegypt. It is not huskes with Swine, but bread in our Fathers hou&s;e that is our portion as children, then &s;urely our glory &s;hould be in God and in Chri&s;t the bread of life; all lower glories are the &s;in and &s;hame of Saints: and when Gods people doe take up lower glories, it plea&s;eth the Lord in much mercy to take away tho&s;e dung glories that his people may be a|&s;hamed to glory in any thing but him&s;elfe, who is the everla&s;ting God, in as much as the riches of the eternal love and free-grace of God hath made him&s;elfe the inheritance of his people and their glory. It is not pre&s;umption, but true intere&s;t and duty for every Saint in point of glory to overlooke al of this &s;ide God him&s;elfe, and not to re&s;t but in the eternal, original love and free-grace of God. I &s;hall conclude with this cordial truth to all the people of God: Your real and proper glory can never be taken from you, becau&s;e 'tis God him&s;elfe; the World may hate and per&s;ecute Saints becau&s;e of this, but they &s;hall never be able to &s;trippe us of our glory; it may be they thinke to doe it when they &s;hal &s;catter Churches and Saints from one another: but this is their darke|ne&s;&s;e, they know not Saints proper glory, God him&s;elfe is their glory, he is the glory of all Church-fellow&s;hip and communion with Saints. Worldlings are mi&s;taken if thy thinke to put out this glory, though God doth many times make u&s;e of mean<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">s in which hee makes knowne him&s;elfe, yet hee is not bound up to meanes. If the men of the World could &s;o &s;catter Saints, as they &s;hould never &s;ee the faces one of another more, yet by this they cannot hinder them from &s;eeing the face of God in Chri&s;t, and this is Saints glory: It is an unexpre&s;&s;able glory, that our glory is in God, and that God him&s;elfe is his peoples glory; though the malice of men &s;eems to be boundle&s;&s;e, yet certainly their pow|er is bounded, they are in fetters and chaines before they come to their owne home; though they may perfectly envy, yet they cannot in the lea&s;t di&s;appoint or de&s;troy Saints in their glory; God can in a moment unpower and de&s;troy them, but they can
<PB N="222" REF="118">never un-God him, they cannot dimini&s;h his original eternal love and free-grace, and rich mercy, they cannot make him un|ju&s;t or unfaithful, (nay they &s;hal feele that he is both.) They can|not &s;trip God of his holine&s;&s;e, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, purity, power, per|fection, infinitene&s;&s;e, and eternity; therefore they cannot &s;trippe Saints of their glory, becau&s;e God in all this, and all he is, is his peoples glory. Saints have this glory above a dying World, therefore above the reach of dying men. Oh then Saints rejoyce in the Lord alwayes, glory in God who is fulne&s;&s;e of glory; let the World &s;ee <HI>we have meate to eate which they know not of,</HI> and a God to glory in which they can never hinder us of. Let them &s;ee <HI>that wee are already ri&s;en with Chri&s;t</HI> into his glory, and do know <HI>that if the&s;e earthly Tabernacles were di&s;&s;olved,</HI> nothing could hin|der us of the ful enjoyment of our God in glory, who is our God and our glory: &s;o that the Spirit of God hath imprinted in our hearts and lives this precious exhortation; <HI>He that gloryeth let him glory in the Lord.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="14" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="223" REF="118">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIIII. Saints have victory through Chri&s;t over Death, and by faith glory in it.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL>1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.55, 56, 57. <HI>ver&s;es.</HI></BIBL><P N="55"><HI>55.</HI> O Death where is thy &s;ting? O grave where is thy victory?</P>
<P N="56"><HI>56.</HI> The &s;ting of death is &s;inne, and the &s;trength of &s;in is the Law.</P>
<P N="57"><HI>57.</HI> But thankes be to God which giveth us the vi|ctory through our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THE &s;ubject-matter of this whole Chapter is Death, and the Re&s;urrection from the Dead. <HI>The generall &s;cope of the&s;e three ver&s;es is Death, and that under a two-fold con&s;ideration:</HI> Death in its &s;trength with its &s;ting, and Death under vi|ctory bereaved of its &s;ting.</P>
<P>Death is a generall &s;ubject, it concernes all fle&s;h, for it reacheth &amp; puts a period to all fle&s;h: &amp; truly as this &amp; other Scriptures holds it forth, it is a very weighty &s;ubject, and is worthy of the mo&s;t &s;erious meditations and con&s;iderations of all dying fle&s;h that is in this life but clay wals and pri&s;ons to im|mortal &s;oules; &s;uch fraile buildings. Death &s;hal certainely cracke, and leave in the grave til they be crumbled to du&s;t, from whence they were taken: but the weight of Death lies not barely in this, as it puts a period to the being and breathing of all fle&s;h, but in <HI>the &s;ting of death which is &s;in, and the &s;trength of &s;in which is the law,</HI> and under the&s;e con&s;iderations the Apo&s;tle takes it in this Scrip|ture, and in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 55. puts a holy triumphing que&s;tion: <HI>O Death where is thy &s;ting.</HI> Not that hee was ignorant what was the &s;ting
<PB N="224" REF="119">of Death; for in the very next ver&s;e he tels us what is the &s;ting of Death, and the &s;trength of that &s;ting: but hee puts the que&s;tion, to let Death know, that in the free-grace of God through Je&s;us Chri&s;t he had victory over him: As if he had &s;aid, Death I know that &s;inne is thy &s;ting, and the law is the &s;trength of &s;inne: but this I know in the Spirit of God, that Chri&s;t hath born my &s;ins, fulfilled the law, and &s;atisfied divine ju&s;tice for my &s;oule, &s;o that now Death thou ha&s;t no &s;ting in thee for me; Chri&s;t in taking &s;in from me, hath taken thy &s;ting from thee: &s;o that now <HI>Thanks be to God which giveth me victory through my Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> I can with glory put this que&s;tion to thee; <HI>O Death where is thy &s;ting!</HI> Death &s;hal certainly &s;it in the bo&s;ome, looke in the face, and clo&s;e the eyes of all fle&s;h: but whether in this pre&s;ence Death appeares a friend or an enemie; whether with, or without his &s;ting, this is the great maine thing to be enquired after; to be re&s;olved in this, the &s;oule mu&s;t look up to Chri&s;t, behold Death fir&s;t in him. To be more di&s;tinct upon this weighty &s;ubject, take &s;ome particular heads and ob&s;ervations from the words.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>That union with Chri&s;t gives Death to &s;inne, gives &s;atis|faction to the law and victory over Death.</HI></P>
<P>The Apo&s;tle doth acknowledge that &s;in is the &s;ting of Death, and that the law is the &s;trength of &s;in: but notwith&s;tanding hee ble&s;&s;eth God for victory over Death through our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t: &s;o as that which giveth victory over Death mu&s;t be the death of &s;in, and the &s;atisfaction of the law: and that is &s;aith the Text, our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, union with, propriety and intere&s;t in Chri&s;t; Chri&s;t by dying for his elect body, did not only &s;ave them from <HI>their &s;innes, in being made &s;inne for them,</HI> 2 Cor. 5. <HI>la&s;t. and redeemed them from the cur&s;e of the law, being made a cur&s;e for them,</HI> Gal. 3.13. But did thereby give us victory over Death; Chri&s;t by taking away &s;in, bereaves Death of his &s;ting, by which Chri&s;t conquers Death; for all that have union with him, and intere&s;t in him: <HI>&s;o that through Chri&s;t that loved us wee are conque|rours over Death.</HI> Death where it hath no &s;ting, can have no vi|ctory, but the death of &s;inne is victory over Death. Chri&s;t he o|vercomes &s;inne and Death by dying, he dyes for his people, and his conque&s;t over Death was for them for whom he dyed, &s;o that a believing &s;oule looking upon Death through Chri&s;t, doth tri|umph as the Apo&s;tle here: <HI>O death where is thy &s;ting!</HI> And doth
<PB N="225" REF="119">with Chri&s;t reigne over Death, as an enemie de&s;troyed, and put under his feete, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 25, 26. The believing &s;oule in its union with Chri&s;t is above Death, as Chri&s;t is above it; not but that the bo|dies of Saints &s;hall for a time &s;leepe in the grave: but Death being without its &s;ting, is in that but a &s;ervant, to put Gods children to bed for a time; <HI>till corruption &s;hall have put on incorruption, and mortality hath put on immortality: and then &s;hall be brought to pa&s;&s;e the &s;aying that is written: Death is &s;wallowed up in victory.</HI></P>
<P>The 2^d. Ob&s;ervation is this: <HI>That &s;uch as dye not in union with Chri&s;t, they dye under the &s;ting and victory of Death.</HI></P>
<P>Death is as I may &s;ay, death only in the &s;ting; when the &s;ting appeares in Death, then and then only hath death a grim coun|tenance, it is &s;inne that puts the terrour into Death: but when the &s;ting of &s;inne was taken away, the Apo&s;tle could glory in, and over Death: but to Chri&s;t le&s;&s;e &s;oules Death comes in its full power; <HI>It is appointed for all men once to dye, and after death to come to judgement.</HI> Now to a Chri&s;t-le&s;&s;e &s;oule death and &s;in appeares together, and the &s;ting of Death which is &s;in will goe along with the &s;oule to judgement; this makes death to be dreadfull to &s;uch poore &s;oules: and here Death is not a &s;ervant to lay the body to &s;leepe, but a Jayler to bring &s;oule and body in &s;inne before the ju&s;t and righteous Judge; to a &s;oule out of Chri&s;t, it is death to thinke of appearing before a righteous and holy God: but when Death comes, and the &s;oule mu&s;t certainly appeare before this tri|bunall, this is death indeed, a thou&s;and deaths in one; to &s;uch a &s;oule it is death to live, becau&s;e the &s;entence will be, <HI>goe you cur&s;ed;</HI> this &s;hall be your cur&s;e, you &s;hall live for ever out of the pre&s;ence and glorious enjoyment of the everliving, holy, &amp; glorious God; <HI>the &s;ting of death is &s;inne.</HI> Where death and &s;inne meets in one &s;oul, there death &s;tings to death, and then it is truly death, becau&s;e it hath its &s;ting, and there &s;inne hath its &s;trength, the law of God to accu&s;e, and the cur&s;e of that law to condemne to all eternity; thus is Death in &s;trength to Chri&s;t-le&s;&s;e &s;oules, &s;oules not in uni|on with Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>I intend not in this meditation to take in all the parts of this &s;ubject, for then I &s;hould be very large. Nor &s;hall I in this place take into con&s;ideration how Chri&s;t hath delivered his people from &s;inne and the cur&s;e of the law, though both are proper to this Scripture, becau&s;e I have done it in &s;ome other parts of this
<PB N="226" REF="120">booke; I &s;hall take that for granted, and confine my meditati|ons to that which I judge to be chiefe upon the Apo&s;tles &s;pirit in this Scripture, which is namely this;</P>
<P><HI>The glory and excellency of Saints, as we may glory in and triumph o|ver Death through our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, a Saint through Chri&s;t may glory over death in the ve|ry nature of it. Death here is no death, the &s;ting being taken a|way, it hath as it were lo&s;t its nature, it is changed, it is not what it was at fir&s;t; it is the nature of Death to devoure and de|&s;troy, that appeares by the &s;ting which is &s;in: but through Chri&s;t Death is bereaved of this power, having lo&s;t its &s;ting, in &s;tead of a de&s;troyer, it becomes a &s;ervant, not only to God, but to Saints al&s;o. Death is through Chri&s;t a &s;ervant to all Saints, to waite on them till they have fini&s;hed their worke on Earth in the will of God, and then layes them to re&s;t in the du&s;t; It waits till all the worke be done, and then doth its worke in the appoint|ment of God, re&s;ting the weary body from its labours, crack|ing the clay walls, that the thir&s;ting &s;oule may meete its Beloved in perfection of glory: &s;o meet, as never to part more, but to be for ever with the Lord, to behold the love of God in glory, and be for ever &s;wallowed up in the glory of that love. Death, which in it &s;elfe is grim and frightfull, is through Chri&s;t to a Saint wel|come and plea&s;ing, becau&s;e it comes without a &s;ting, and hath no other bu&s;ine&s;&s;e but to &s;erve Gods end, in freeing both &s;oule and body, &s;ets the foule free from the body of death, and the bo|dy from a weary and toile&s;ome life; Death is but a &s;leep in which the body lyes, till at the glorious appearance of Chri&s;t it ri&s;eth incorruptible; the nature of death is through Chri&s;t, but to be our Fathers me&s;&s;enger to bring us home, that we may &s;ee his re|conciled face in glory, and enjoy the man&s;ions prepared for us; that wee may ta&s;t the love of his heart, know him in him&s;elfe, reape the full harve&s;t of all our hopes, po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing glory above the life of faith; our fea&s;ting in heaven will be fruitions, not a crown of glory in promi&s;e only, but in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, the joyes, the hopes, the de&s;ires of a gracious &s;oule in all his life, is by death brought in at once; the joy of this &s;oule is, that the day drawes nigh, in which the body &s;hall be di&s;&s;olved, and it &s;hall be with Chri&s;t: It hopes to meete its beloved in perfect glory, and never part more, <HI>it de&s;ires to be ab&s;ent from the body, and pre&s;ent with the Lord:</HI> and in
<PB N="227" REF="120">all, this death is through Chri&s;t a &s;ervant to a Saints death, hath all its poy&s;on in its &s;ting: and Chri&s;t taking away the &s;ting from death, hath quite changed the nature of it: Death with its &s;ting kils where it conquers, but Death without its &s;ting only chan|ges the body of Saints from wormes to cold clay. So <HI>Job,</HI> hee waited all the dayes of his appointed time till his change came; by death Saints change their place, but not their company, where|as before they lived in God, now they live with God. Saints on earth have communion with God and Chri&s;t in the Spirit, and Saints in heaven have the &s;ame company, but in greater glory. Death changes our place of communion, but not tho&s;e wee have communion with: Saints on Earth live upon love tokens from God and Chri&s;t &s;ent to them by the Spirit; but in Heaven upon the originall and fulne&s;&s;e of all that love: here by the Spirit we read the love and kindne&s;&s;e of God and Chri&s;t in a Covenant of free-grace, and many gracious promi&s;es: but in heaven we ta&s;te of love in the fountaine, in the very bo&s;ome of God and Chri&s;t to all eternity: here wee glory that glory waits for us in heaven, there our glory is to be &s;wallowed up into glory, and to be made glorious in the fulne&s;&s;e of that glory. In this Saints glory over the nature of death, it doth not kill them, but change them from a cloudy, <HI>to a more exceeding and eternall weight of glory:</HI> And as for the bodies of Saints, it may be &s;aid of them as Chri&s;t did of the Rulers daughter, <HI>&s;hee is not dead but &s;leepeth.</HI> Death changes them in this, their &s;leep is &s;omething longer then at other times, yet they are not dead, but &s;leepe, for Chri&s;t is the life of Saints <HI>And becau&s;e Chri&s;t lives, they live al&s;o,</HI> John 14.19. Their clay is colder in this &s;leepe then in others, and by degrees crumbles in|to du&s;t; here is a change indeed, and it is no more; <HI>for this cor|ruptible mu&s;t put on incorruptible, and this mortality mu&s;t put on im|mortality,</HI> and then it will fully appeare <HI>that death is &s;wallowed up in victory,</HI> 1 Cor. 53, 54. The nature of Death is changed by Chri&s;ts taking the &s;ting away, from being the King of terrours; it becomes the me&s;&s;enger of glad tidings: Death is now &s;o free from terrours, that it brings tidings of the greate&s;t joy to Saints, it tels the Spou&s;e of Chri&s;t &s;he &s;hall goe and be for ever in her be|loveds armes. Your wilderne&s;&s;e days are accompli&s;hed, in which you went many times to the Watchmen to enquire for your Be|loved, and you found them in the darke as well as your &s;elfe:
<PB N="228" REF="121">but now you &s;hall finde your Beloved, and be filled with his love, and live in the light of the Lord for ever. Death tels the children of God hee is come to fetch them home to their Fathers hou&s;e; yea, to their Fathers Kingdome, in which they &s;hall all reign with him. They &s;hall be as children under-age no longer, they &s;hall now po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e the man&s;ions prepared from eternity to eternity; not only have all teares wiped from their eyes, but to live for e|ver in the beholding and enjoying perfection of glory. Death brings glad tidings both to body and &s;oule; it tels the body, head you &s;hall ake no more, &s;tomacke you &s;hall be &s;icke no more, heart you &s;hall tremble and be affraid no more, fle&s;h you &s;hall bleed and &s;mart no more; I am come to put an end to all the&s;e feares and troubles, God will looke you up in the cabinet of the earth, that you may there &s;leep in peace till Chri&s;t rai&s;e you incorruptible, and carry you into glory. And to the &s;oule &s;ayes Death, you &s;hall have no more time for &s;inne and vanity; per|fect holine&s;&s;e to eternity &s;hall now &s;wallow you up, I come on|ly to put an end to &s;inning dayes; you &s;hall now groane under &s;inne no more, that body which held you, and was &s;ubject to temptations, &s;hall now goe to &s;leepe in the du&s;t till the tempter be chained up in eternall darkene&s;&s;e; in &s;tead of mourning un|der &s;in, you &s;hall now for ever glory over &s;in, your feares &s;hall end, &s;o &s;hall your faith; for in &s;tead of the evidence of things not &s;eene, you &s;hall both &s;ee &amp; enjoy the heighths, breadths, depths, and lengths of the love, grace, kindne&s;&s;e, faithfulne&s;&s;e, and glo|ry of that God you have believed in. Feare not me &s;ayes Death, I come from your Father, &s;o as you m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">y be &s;ure I have no com|mi&s;&s;ion to hurt you: Chri&s;t your beloved Hu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">band, Brother, Head, and Redeemer tooke care that I &s;hould not be able to hurt you, for he tooke my &s;ting from me before I &s;hould come unto you: I am come without a &s;ting to tell you God and Chri&s;t loves you: but that is not all my errand, they love you &s;o well, that they can &s;uffer you no longer to be out of the full enjoyment of their love, and I am &s;ent to cracke the clay walls which is your pri&s;on, that you may flye home, and be at re&s;t; there your re&s;t &s;hall be as high as heaven, and filled with God, where no trou|bles can ever reach you, nor no power be able to unre&s;t you; this is the true nature of death to Saints, Chri&s;t having taken &s;in from them, which is the &s;ting of death: &s;o that in all this, and
<PB N="229" REF="121">exceedingly more may believing Saints glory in the very nature of death.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly, a Saint through Chri&s;t may glory over Death in the time of it, though it be uncertain in the time of its comming, yet that hinders not a Saints glory.</HI> For a beleeving Saint knowes when ever death comes, it &s;hal be without a &s;ting; and this made the Apo&s;tle to glory, in <HI>Phil.</HI> 1.21. <HI>For me to live, is Chri&s;t; and to dye, is gaine.</HI> If death &s;tay longer before it comes, yet I can glory in the length of time: <HI>For to me to live, is Chri&s;t;</HI> and in the &s;trength of Chri&s;t I can wait patiently all the dayes of my appointed time, till in the wil of God my change &s;hal come. And if death be at hand, and &s;ettle it &s;elfe in my bo&s;ome the next moment, yet herein I have glory, <HI>For to die is gain.</HI></P>
<P>A beleeving Saint can tell Death he hath his time as wel as his work appointed him: you have both your time and your power given you by my Father, and though to me it is a &s;ecret when your time &s;hal be, yet in the Spirit of God this is revealed to me, when ever you come, the love of God my Father comes with you, and your work &s;hal be to have me home, that I may feed upon the bankets of love for ever. Therefore &s;ayes &s;uch a &s;oule, I feare not the time of your comming, but wait patiently for it in the wil and Spirit of God; yet in all that time, <HI>thir&s;t earne&s;tly to be di&s;&s;olved, and to be with Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>The uncertain time of death may ju&s;tly be &s;ad and amazing to &s;uch as have their good things, and their portion of good onely in this world, and that by terme of life: for here Death crops all in a moment, and they are left empty, though their barnes be full as the foole in the Go&s;pel: But to &s;uch a foule, <HI>who&s;e li&s;e is hid with Chri&s;t in God; and when Chri&s;t who is its life &s;hall appeare, wee &s;hall then appeare with him in glory.</HI> Here the uncertain time of death can be no di&s;advantage, becau&s;e Chri&s;t to this &s;oule is eter|nal life, &s;o that it lives certainly and eternally with Chri&s;t in God, <HI>Gol.</HI> 2.3, 4. it hath a certain life, and therefore can glory in it, and over the uncertain time of death, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.1. <HI>For wee know, that if our earthly Hou&s;e of this Tabernacle were di&s;&s;olved, wee have a building of God, an hou&s;e not made with hands, eternall in the Hea|vens.</HI> Though we know not the time of di&s;&s;olution to this earth|ly Tabernacle, yet this we know, when it &s;hall be, it will be a time of advantage; for wee leave a tabernacle that may and mu&s;t be
<PB N="230" REF="122">di&s;&s;olved, to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e a building of God, an eternal Man&s;ion hou&s;e in heaven. Therefore &s;ayes a beleeving &s;oule, <HI>Death</HI> I can glory in thy time Chri&s;t hath made thee my friend by taking my &s;ins, which was thy &s;ting, away from thee, and now I long and ear|ne&s;tly de&s;ire to &s;ee thy face; <HI>O death my friend:</HI> If I mu&s;t waite yet a few dayes or yeares before the appointed time &s;hall come for thee to lay my weary body a&s;leep in the du&s;t, yet I doe &s;ee the beauty of my Fathers will in that, but if thou bee&s;t at hand thou art truly welcome, if the next moment bee thine for me, it is a ble&s;&s;ed moment, the moment of my fir&s;t entrance into the full fruition of ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e, this thy time is the time of wiping all teares from my eyes, and revealing all glory to my &s;oule; of put|ting an end to all mi&s;ery, and the beginning of joyes without end, thy time is my triumphing, <HI>my waited, hoped, longed for mo|ment:</HI> I did tell the World that &s;corned me that I was an heire of glory, had man&s;ions and a crowne prepared and waited for me in my Fathers glory; and art thou now come O death to fetch me home, to bring me to Chri&s;t my head, with whom I &s;hall for ever po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e that glorious inheritance, which I have gloried in, this is a ble&s;&s;ed time and moment, in which I be held thy face, thou art not come before thou art welcome, I have no|thing to &s;tay me here, I have waited long for thee, my God and Father is in Heaven, &s;o is Chri&s;t my beloved there, perfection, purity is onely there, my trea&s;ure is there, &s;o is my heart al&s;o, and art thou now come to &s;et mee cleere of this corrupt empty peri&s;hing World, that I may bee onely there, and for ever there; O ble&s;&s;ed be the Lord that thou art come, thy time is a welcome time, <HI>a time of deliverance from &s;inning in the body, and the body of &s;inne,</HI> thy moment puts an end to all howers of temptation; and though the men of the World may trample over my clay, yet my &s;oule &s;hall tryumph in reall glory, above this imaginary glory; thus may a beleeving &s;oule glory over death in the time of it.</P>
<P>Thirdly, <HI>A beleeving Saint through Christ may glory over the feares of death.</HI></P>
<P>What ever feares there be in death they are onely to Chri&s;t|le&s;&s;e &s;oules, for &s;oules in Chri&s;t may glory over them all, becau&s;e to them death hath no &s;ting, as fir&s;t the grand feare in death is this that it may prove eternall, the haling of &s;oule and body out
<PB N="231" REF="122">of the World, to come before the righteous Judge of quicke and dead, where it &s;hall receive this &s;entence: <HI>Goe you cur&s;ed into e|ternall fire prepared for the Devill and his Angels for ever.</HI> This is more then a feare, for it is really &s;o to Chri&s;t le&s;&s;e &s;oules; where death comes with his &s;ting in him; but when the &s;ting is gone this feare is gone too, and the beleeving &s;oule in Chri&s;t may glory over death as it is bereaved of his &s;ting, and &s;o over death in this great feare, the Scripture tels us, <HI>It is appointed for all men once to dye, and after death to come to judgement:</HI> That is, to come before the righteous Judge, but the de&s;cription which the Word of G<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">d giveth us of that day, is, that there &s;hall be a right hand and a left to di&s;tingui&s;h betweene the Sheepe and the Goates on his left hand, <HI>Depart from me you cur&s;ed into everla&s;ting fire, pre|pared for the Devill and his Angels,</HI> &s;o to the Sheep on his right hand he will &s;ay, <HI>Come you ble&s;&s;ed of my Father inherite the King|dome prepared for you from the foundation of the World:</HI> 25. <HI>Mat.</HI> latter end: The feare in death is a &s;eare of judgement, but the judgement day is a ble&s;&s;ed day to all the members of Chri&s;t; 'tis that day when &s;oule and body &s;hall meet againe to be ble&s;&s;ed for ever, in inheriting of the kingdome prepared for them, it is the day of the bodies full redemption and eternall nuptiall with the &s;oule, this day is &s;o farre from admini&s;tring feare in death to &s;oules in Chri&s;t, that it is the comfort in which tho&s;e earthly tabernacles goe to the du&s;t; beleeving <HI>That what is &s;owne in cor|ruption &s;hall bee rai&s;ed in incorruption, what is &s;owne in di&s;honour &s;hall be rai&s;ed in glory, and what in weakne&s;&s;e &s;hall be rai&s;ed in power, and though it be &s;owne a noturall body yet it &s;hall bee rai&s;ed a &s;piri|tuall body,</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.42, 43, 44. So that the feare of eternall death and judgement is wholy taken away from this naturall death, where Chri&s;t hath taken away away the &s;ting. But &s;econdly, The men of the World will tell you, they are afraid of death becau&s;e it cuts them off from their Worldly delights, they can finde no other fault with the World but that it peri&s;heth, coold they injoy it for ever though there be many bryers in this Wil|derne&s;&s;e, yet they could make their Canaan in it, &s;o that they might never be &s;tripped of it; but they know when death &s;hall once clo&s;e their eyes, they mu&s;t bid adue to all their Worldly delights never to &s;ee or enjoy them more, and upon this con&s;i|deration as well as the former, death is the King of feares and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 span"> unto them.</P>
<PB N="232" REF="123">
<P>But it is quite contrary with the &s;oule in Chri&s;t, he concludes if his hopes and comfort were onely in the World, he were of all men mo&s;t mi&s;erable, hee ble&s;&s;eth God for every wilderne&s;&s;e mercy, but he lives onely in God him&s;elfe, it is his joy to looke upon the World as peri&s;hing and his body a decaying, for the top of his glory and the expectation of his &s;oule, is to be di&s;&s;ol|ved and to be with Chri&s;t; he counts the worldlings choyce of mercy to be the greate&s;t mi&s;ery, <HI>To be ever in the World would bee wor&s;e then ten thou&s;and thou&s;ands of deaths to his body;</HI> his pant|ings are to be ab&s;ent from the body, that he might be fully pre|&s;ent with the Lord, he doth acknowledge God to be glorious in his foot&s;toole but as an heire of God, he thir&s;ts to be in the glory of his throne, if you tell him of plea&s;ure and delights in the World, his an&s;wer is that communion with God is full of plea&s;ure and delight where ever it be, but &s;ayes he, the World cloudeth the&s;e joyes, and eclip&s;eth this communion, therefore O that I were &s;tript of this dying fle&s;h that I might have full communion and fellow&s;hip with God in the &s;pirit that I might drinke freely of the waters of life in the fountaine; this &s;oule reckons all the delights and plea&s;ures of the world to be among&s;t the wi&s;e mans vanities, and having ta&s;ted Chri&s;t the bread of life in his Fathers hou&s;e, and in him the love of his Fathers heart can neither feede upon nor delight in the empty buskes of this peri&s;hing World, if any ambitious worldling telleth him it is ve|ry good to be honourable: I &s;ayes he, <HI>If you meane that honour which floweth from being precious in the &s;ight of God, and having an intere&s;t in his love:</HI> 43 <HI>I&s;ay</HI> 4. He gives this one an&s;wer to the worldling in all his propo&s;als, of plea&s;ure and beauty in this life; &s;ayes he, God is the beauty of the whole creation as the o|riginall fulne&s;&s;e of it, &s;o that it wholy depends upon his will, and that which is our glory is God him&s;elfe, who is the glory of Heaven and earth, though the World withers yet he is for e|ver glorious and he is his peoples glory; therefore the world|lings feare in death upon this account is not a Saints feare, for his glory is out of the World even in God, and <HI>his delight and affections are in things above not in things on the earth,</HI> and that be|cau&s;e <HI>He is ri&s;en with Chri&s;t;</HI> his affections are ri&s;en before his body is dead, the delight of his heart is in Heaven, though the fle&s;h of it be in his body, 3 <HI>Col.</HI> 1, 2. this &s;oule is <HI>crucified with
<PB N="233" REF="123">Chri&s;t to the World and the World to him,</HI> 6 <HI>Gal.</HI> 14. &s;o that nei|ther his joyes nor his feares are with the worldling, if death can onely &s;trip him of the World, he hath no cau&s;e to feare death, nay death commeth too late in that, for hee through Chri&s;t is dead to the World whil&s;t he liveth and is above all the feares of death, becau&s;e <HI>his life is hid with Chri&s;t in God:</HI> I but &s;ayes the worldling I am afraid of death becau&s;e it takes me from all my &s;weet relations here on earth.</P>
<P>I mu&s;t dye to them and they to me, it is true indeed; but herein the beleeving &s;oule is no loo&s;er, he leaveth the drops of corrupted creatures love to be &s;wallowed up into the Ocean of Gods power and eternall love; he leaveth tho&s;e broken Ci&s;terns of love, which in a little time would leave him, and is taken up into the Father, and fountaine of love in the glory of love and free grace for ever; he now comes to ta&s;te love in the originall, and readeth it as it was in the heart of God to him from eterni|ty, and &s;hall be to eternity in the fulne&s;&s;e of Gods love, &s;o full that there will not be the want of any &s;weet or relation for all will be made up in God, there is no complaining in the &s;treets of the new <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> no want of relations, God will be a Father, Chri&s;t will be a husband, Saints glorified our brethren Si&s;ters and a&s;ociates to all eternity, we &s;hall want no relations in Hea|ven, nor &s;hall any relations there want perfection, for all there &s;hall be compleat in Chri&s;t and filled with the fulne&s;&s;e of God, we leave a World of wants, and it is to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e a Heaven of ful|ne&s;&s;e and glory: I but &s;ayes a tender hearted Father or Mother, will not my Children my little babes want me? Truly no, for your worke in the decree of Heaven is done before God &s;uffers death to cut your thread of life, and tis our unbeliefe that tel|leth us it were better either for us or ours that we had more work in the World then God hath appointed us, had we more dayes we could not in them make a haire black or white, we could not in our &s;elves add that little to our little ones, <HI>Our Fathers kind|ne&s;&s;e will bee our Childrens comfort;</HI> and hee liveth when wee are dead to them and alive with him, the pre&s;ence of God with our children will be their ble&s;&s;ed portion though we be ab&s;ent to be|leeve in this his love and faithfulne&s;&s;e will be a ble&s;&s;ed re&s;t to us and ours, we &s;hall leave them well in leaving them with God; and need not feare the leaving them when we are going to God,
<PB N="234" REF="124">death in taking us from our children, to carry us home to our Father will advantage us and not di&s;advantage ours, for though he filleth us with all fulne&s;&s;e of love and glory in Heaven, yet he is neverthele&s;&s;e full, but can al&s;o fill our children on earth, and &s;uch as ta&s;te of his love and grace have no cau&s;e to doubt of the freene&s;&s;e and fulne&s;&s;e thereof. I but &s;ayes the fle&s;h, <HI>it may be of a Saint,</HI> I am afraid of the paines of death in dying; truly this is a feare of our owne creating, for how many thou&s;ands goe out of the World when &s;tanders by can &s;carce tell whether they &s;leepe or dye; but grant it that the paines of death be &s;trong up|on thy fle&s;h, yet take this with thee, it is all the paines that ever thy fle&s;h &s;hall beare, men to live a dying life are oftentimes con|tent to have their limes cut from their bodies which I beleeve is far more paine to the body then when death cracks it to let out the &s;oule, but the gaine farre exceedeth, thus is &s;oule and body at ea&s;e both, when the body is but the dying of one limbe a little before the re&s;t of the body, it is but the deferring of death and it may be many deaths a&s;&s;aults the body in that time, this is but a bugbeare in the fancie to fright children, not worth the name|ing among Saints, let God breake what he will, when he will, and how he will, he makes all good againe to his people in him|&s;elfe, it was Chri&s;ts end in taking the &s;ting from death not to leave any ground of feare for his people, &s;o that beleeving Saints through Chri&s;t may truly glory in and over death, in all the feares of it.</P>
<P>Fourthly, <HI>Believing Saints through Chri&s;t may glory over death in the manner of it.</HI></P>
<P>Whether it be according to the termes we u&s;e for di&s;tinction, either naturall or violent death, yet to a Saint through Chri&s;t it is in both but death without a &s;ting, and that which our fle&s;h cals the wor&s;t of the&s;e, the violent death, God hath and doth make to be the portion of many of his deare Saints; the Prophets, Apo&s;tles, and tho&s;e glorious primitive Chri&s;tians did many (if not mo&s;t of them) drinke of this cup, and did it with &s;o much joy in God, that the <HI>Tyrants of tho&s;e times were more unable to invent cruel deaths, then they were to undergoe them:</HI> and the rea&s;on is vi&s;ible; for though the&s;e deaths had the cruel|ty of man in them, yet there was al&s;o the kindne&s;&s;e of God in them, Chri&s;t had taken away the &s;ting of death, which was &s;in:
<PB N="235" REF="124">and though men might adde to their cruelty, yet they could put no &s;ting into death. The Martyrs of late times as Hi&s;tories tels us, have gone leaping and rejoycing to the &s;take, being joyfull in the embracing of flames: and as one &s;aid to his fellow Mar|tyr, <HI>Be of good cheere; though our break-fa&s;t be &s;owre, yet our &s;upper will be &s;weete in Heaven:</HI> As if hee had &s;aid; though the&s;e flames brings &s;marts with them, yet they will put an end to all &s;m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">rts, this is all the &s;ting that is in death, and it will &s;oon have an end; we &s;hall &s;up with our beloved Je&s;us, and abide in that love for ever; it is &s;in in death that makes it bitter, what ever the man|ner be; but if finne be taken away, there is no &s;ting in death, let the manner be what it wil, it is all one to a Saint where he meets with Death whether in the field or at home in his bed, whether it takes him in his greate&s;t &s;tre~gth, with his bones ful of marow, in his d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ying &s;tate, when his eyes grow dimme, and his o|ther faculties faile: he mindes not the manner of dying, but the matter of death, death is without a &s;ting: &s;o that where, when, or how death comes into his bo&s;ome, that is of little value with him; he on <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> this to find death a friend without its &s;ting, and then through Chri&s;t he glories in and over both matter and manner of death.</P>
<P>Fifthly, <HI>A believing Saint through Chri&s;t may glory over death in the ends of it.</HI></P>
<P>There is two maine ends in Death which is proper to Saints.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is, to put an end to a dying life, to fini&s;h that worke which begins &s;o &s;oone as wee begin to live in the&s;e bodies of clay; man begins to dye, &s;o &s;oon as he begin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> to liv<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">, becau&s;e <HI>the whole life is but a progre&s;&s;e of death,</HI> or a dying life; all the time we live we dye invi&s;ible, and when we dye indeed, it is but v<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;ible death; that which we carry about with us in the world, then appeares to carry us out of the world; that which &s;leepes with us many a &s;hort &s;leepe, now ca&s;teth us into one <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">ng &s;leep, this is properly the end of death in Saints, to put an end to all dying; for it is a reall truth, though a mi&s;tery to the world, that Saints dye whil&s;t they live, and live when they dye: So that this end of death is a Saints glory, not his griefe, not what he feares, but what he hopes for, counting him&s;elfe mo&s;t mi&s;erable of all men, if Deaths end were not to put an end to his dying life.</P>
<P><HI>The other maine end in death is;</HI> To plucke up the flowers of
<PB N="236" REF="125">heaven that growes in the earth by the rootes, that they may be planted in their owne kingdome, and flouri&s;h there for ever. I meane tho&s;e precious &s;ou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">es of Saints which are here enclo&s;ed in tho&s;e earthly m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ulds of our bodies, by which the beauty of tho&s;e heavenly fl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">wers are exceedingly &s;hort of that glory they &s;hall have with Chri&s;t above, and doe many times ta&s;te and &s;a|vour of the earth they grow in; Chri&s;t is the proper roote of tho&s;e branches, and Heaven the only place for them to grow and flouri&s;h in: Now death comes only to tran&s;plant them from Earth to Heaven, to crrumble that clay into du&s;t which holds the&s;e flowers of heaven &s;o fa&s;t, that they cannot get home into their owne kingdome. Now a Saint may well glory over this end of Death, for Death is herein the &s;oules &s;ervant to have it home to glory, and to unpri&s;on it from all the bonds it lyes under:</P>
<P>But la&s;tly, <HI>A believing Saint through Chri&s;t may glory over Death in its victory.</HI></P>
<P>My meaning is, the victory which Saints have over death; death in the wil of God lays Saints to &s;leep in their corruptible bodies: But Saints through their union with Chri&s;t ri&s;e againe, &amp; that in incorruption; though it goe to the du&s;t corrupt and noi&s;ome clay, in di&s;honour and in weakne&s;&s;e like a natural body, yet Chri&s;t will rai&s;e it againe a &s;pirituall body, full of power and glory: There is no lo&s;&s;e to Saints in dying, no not to their corruptible fle&s;h, for that hath an intere&s;t in Chri&s;t, and Chri&s;t having conquered death for his people, though their bodies &s;hal by death be &s;own in incorruption, yet they &s;hall not lye there for ever; the grave &s;hall have no v<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ctory, but &s;hall give up its dead, and &s;uch as ri&s;e in Chri&s;t, &s;hall ri&s;e as Chri&s;t, &s;pirituall bodyes; though the Earth &s;hall have leave to roote the corruption of the body of Saints, yet Chri&s;t will pre&s;erve his intere&s;t, and rai&s;e it as the fruit of his redemption &amp; re&s;urrection, even a &s;pi|rituall body. Death hath its office, and the grave its proper worke: but Chri&s;t hath the command of both; when death hath laid the bodies of Saints in the du&s;t, there is the end of his office, and when the grave hath &s;wallowed up the corruption of tho&s;e bodies, then its worke is done too: but then Chri&s;t hath an eter|nall wo ke in his hands, to rai&s;e it a &s;pirituall body, that the ful|ne&s;&s;e of his redemption may be made up, &s;o as that &s;oule and bo|dy,
<PB N="237" REF="125">both may be filled with the fulne&s;&s;e of his redemption: and in this worke Chri&s;t commands both death and grave to give up their dead bodies, and then he &s;pirits his owne, &s;utable to that eternall life which they are to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e. The Scripture tels us, <HI>That Chri&s;t is ri&s;en from the dead, and become the fir&s;t fruits of them that &s;lept,</HI> 1 Cor. 15.20. That is, Chri&s;t is fir&s;t in the re&s;urrection, but &s;o as hee is the fir&s;t fruits, a te&s;timony of re&s;urrection to all that &s;leepe: and in <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.11. the Apo&s;tle telleth us, <HI>That the &s;ame power which rai&s;ed up Chri&s;t from the dead, &s;hall al&s;o quicken our mortall bodies by his Spirit.</HI> So in 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 4.16. <HI>For the Lord him&s;elfe &s;hall de&s;cend from heaven with a &s;hout, with the voyce of the Arch-An|gel, and with the trumpe of God, and the dead in Chri&s;t &s;hall ri&s;e fir&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>I mention the&s;e Scriptures to &s;hew the victory that Saints have in Chri&s;t over death and grave, and to me they give full &s;atisfa|ction and ample proofe in them to the thing in hand, that nei|ther death can hurt, nor grave hold &s;o much as the body of a Saint in Chri&s;t: but on the contrary, that the very bodies of Saints have victory over death in dying, and that Saints have ex|ceeding cau&s;e to glory over death under this con&s;ideration as well as all or any of the former.</P>
<P>I &s;hall next take into con&s;ideration in &s;ome few particulars the benefits and advantages that believing Saints through Chri&s;t have by death both in our &s;oules and bodies; I will begin with the bodies.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>Death freeth us from all the naturall infirmities and di&s;ea&s;es of our bodies.</HI></P>
<P>One complaines that winde makes a torturing tumult all his body over; the bowels and the body full, and they fill the head, &s;o that there is no free part.</P>
<P>Another he complains that fluxe of water hath filled his veins, chil'd his bloud, and num'd his joynts, &s;o that aches are in all his bones.</P>
<P>A third complains that gravell lyeth in his reines, teares his kidneyes, and &s;tops his bladder, &s;o that his whole life is as it were upon the torturing racke; there be many more complainers be&s;ides the&s;e which goe from man to man to make their moane, and begge their help for a little ea&s;e, though but for a little time; which &s;ometimes they finde, but often returne from fellow-crea|tures as mi&s;erable as they came: but when Death comes without
<PB N="238" REF="126">his &s;ting, he makes a perfect cure of all &s;orrowes and paine for e|ver; among creatures wee &s;eeke ea&s;e with teares, but death hee brings full and la&s;ting ea&s;e, and wipes away all teares from our eyes: Death puts an end to hunger and thir&s;t, to cold and naked|ne&s;&s;e, to labour and wearine&s;&s;e; in &s;hort, to all wants, and to all woes, the grave is quiet, it is the only piece of quiet earth that man can meete withall; though a little above the grave on the earth there be cryings out, and complainings, yet the grave is quiet, nothing can di&s;turb the re&s;t and quiet of that bed, it is not capable of di&s;turbance, therefore exceeding u&s;efull to re&s;t in, this I a&s;&s;ure you is a greater benefit then all the living World en|joyes be&s;ide. Crownes have their cro&s;&s;es, States their crackes, all per&s;ons and things their wants, every per&s;on, &s;tate, condition, and thing under the &s;inne wrapped up in vanity; all wants are buried no where but in the grave of death: The body of man ne|ver bids adiew to all want til it be embraced in the arms of death, and laid to re&s;t in that quiet center of the earth: but when death comes without its &s;ting, it brings this certaine benefit and advan|tage with it.</P>
<P><HI>A &s;econd benefit and advantage of the body of Saints in death with|out its &s;ting,</HI> is this, <HI>It takes from the worlds &s;corne and cruelty.</HI></P>
<P>When the bodies of Saints are in the grave, Worldlings mu&s;t &s;eeke &s;ome other object for their &s;lander, &s;corn, or cruelty; they will finde no &s;ap or moi&s;ture in the du&s;t of Saints to feede the&s;e lu&s;ts withall; the deri&s;ion and per&s;ecution of Gods deare Saints on Earth, is the pa&s;time and practi&s;e of &s;inning &s;oules; like the flye that &s;ports it &s;elfe about the candle till &s;hee have burnt her wings: but God hath his time to ea&s;e his people of this burthen, and if not before, yet certainly and fully when death comes, is this worke effected. Saints whil&s;t they live in the bodie, are with their &s;pirits above the worlds &s;cornes and cruelties: but when death comes, then the body gets beyond them too; &s;o that here is another benefit in death, it freeth them from the &s;corns of fools, and the cruelty of cruell men. The wicked worldlings counts a Saint to be the only troubler of the people and place wherein hee lives: but when death comes to a Saint, he is very willing to leave the world, their portion, and their elbow-roome, hee is not de&s;i|rous to trouble them any longer; all he de&s;ires is a little earth to lye downe to &s;leepe in, and that the world is content withall, wi|&s;hing
<PB N="239" REF="126">that al the re&s;t were there too, this is a benefit which a Saint with &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion to the wil of God de&s;ires many an houre before it comes, he is as willing to be at home in his owne inheritance as the worldling is to have him out of his, now death crownes the&s;e longing in Saints, and brings in the harve&s;t of many pray|ers which the &s;pirit hath made for this very thing, &s;o that in the&s;e and many more particulers is death beneficial and advan|tageous to the body of Saints. But I &s;hal mention two generals in which death without its &s;ting is through Chri&s;t exceeding advan|tagious and benificous to the &s;oules of beleeving Saints.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>It delivers them from a body of &s;inne,</HI> a place of tempta|tions and darkne&s;&s;e which is the whole complaint of Saints, whil&s;t they are in the fle&s;h; the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> complaines of the Law in his members, which rebelled again&s;t the Law of his minde and of the body of death, how often doth the Prophet <HI>David</HI> pray to be kept from temptations, and to be inlightned in his darkne&s;&s;e, that God would &s;hew him the way he &s;hould walke in, and make his pathes &s;traight. Saints de&s;ire to be un|cloathed of the body of fle&s;h becau&s;e they are capable of &s;inning in that body, any it is a body which tempts to &s;inne, and in which the &s;oule is under much darkne&s;&s;e, <HI>And therefore groanes within our &s;elves waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body,</HI> 8. <HI>Rom.</HI> 23. It is very &s;weet to bee delivered from temptations that they get not the upper hand, &s;o as to lead the &s;oule captive at their will, but to be above the reach of all temp|tations where we can never po&s;&s;ible be tempted more, how ex|ceeding precious and glorious is this; a Saint would if it were in his power give the whole World &s;o that he might never &s;inne more, it mu&s;t hten needs be of great advantage to him to be carryed above the reach of any temptation to &s;inne, you &s;hall never meet a Saint at the throne of grace but his breathings are, Lord inlighten me in thy will, make thy minde clearer and clea|rer out unto me by thy &s;pirit, leave me not in the darkne&s;&s;e of my owne fle&s;h; now then how precious mu&s;t it needs be to this &s;oule to be taken out of all clouds, to have all clouds even the clouds of the fle&s;h done away; &s;o that not the lea&s;t &s;haddow of darkne&s;&s;e doth remaine.</P>
<P>Why all this and much more is the advantage of a Saints &s;oul in the death of its body, for this death without the &s;ting of
<PB N="240" REF="127">&s;inne is death to the body of &s;inne that it can be no more a body to &s;inne in, it &s;eparates light and darkne&s;&s;e, the &s;oule and body, that both might goe to their proper place, and then the &s;oule complaines no more of darkne&s;&s;e, it is darke clay that hinders the &s;oules light, when it is quit of that it is perfect in light, and this makes Saints &s;o thir&s;ting to &s;hake off the rags of fle&s;h, their clouds of darkne&s;&s;e, their places of temptation, and their &s;inning body, now when death comes he &s;atisfies all the&s;e thir&s;tings, fils up all the&s;e de&s;ires, and accompli&s;heth the pre&s;ent de&s;igne of God concerning the fle&s;hly body, in which the precious &s;oules of beleeving Saints are through Chri&s;t aboundantly benifited and advantaged, but this is not all the benefit and advantage which death without its &s;ting through Chri&s;t bringeth to the &s;oules of beleevers: <HI>There is another generall, which is this.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;oule ip now taken us into the perfection of Gods eternal love, free grace, full glory, everla&s;ting purity, and thus to be for ever with the Lord.</P>
<P>When I &s;ay this comes in with death, I meane it is then &s;o perfected as it could be never &s;o before, for the bodies of Saints mu&s;t bee &s;owne in corruption before they can ri&s;e in incor|ruption, and the &s;oule is never perfect till it be quit of the cor|ruptible body and this evill World, but this being once accom|pli&s;hed, <HI>Then the &s;oule in God and God in the &s;oule makes up perfection to all eternity;</HI> the &s;oule hath now no let to full injoyment of his Ma&s;ters joy, it is now a childe of full age, nothing can hin|der him in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing his full inheritance in his Fathers love and glory. The man&s;ions prepared from all eternity are now po&s;&s;e&s;|&s;ed to all eternity, the love which lay hidd in our Fathers heart, and was too great to be revealed in the World, is now &s;pred o|pen to the &s;oule, and the &s;oule is bid eate my beloved; O drinke abundantly and be &s;atisfied, this fea&s;t of love will hold out for ever, eternity cannot exhau&s;t it, it is the love of God, this is the &s;upper of the Lambe &s;laine before the foundation of the World in the de&s;igne of Gods free grace, this my&s;tery is now revealed and the &s;oules of Saints filled with the glory of it; Saints in Heaven are in the light of the Lord and all filled with the Lord their Light, perfection is there the portion of every &s;oule; Chri&s;t hath given up the Kingdome to his Father, and God is the perfection and fulne&s;&s;e of all his Children; this per|fection
<PB N="241" REF="127">of glory is Gods end in redeeming his elect that we might be heires of God, fellow-heires with Chri&s;t in his eternall love, full glory, and everla&s;ting purity, never to know &s;inne or &s;or|row more, to be above the breathings of any defilement or the buddings of any vanity, <HI>what we &s;hall then po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e will bee nothing but all God,</HI> it will be all God and alwayes God, God will bee the light of our eyes, the life of our &s;oules, the excellency of our glory, the &s;weet of our &s;weets and the perfection of our purity in Heaven; Heaven is the pre&s;ence of God, the full, perfect, glorious, and the eternall pre&s;ence of God will be our Heaven, when death hath layd our dying bodies a&s;leepe, when the cor|ruptible &s;leepes away its corruption, the incorruptible &s;oule po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth a crowne incorruptible and full of glory, &s;o that the time of death without its &s;ting is through Chri&s;t to a Beleever of great benefit and advantage, both in &s;oule and body: Saints in Chri&s;t ought to improve the joyes and con&s;olations which comes from the free grace of God to their &s;oules, among&s;t which I am &s;ure this truth is very eminent and therefore ought to be well improved, <HI>and fir&s;t this calls upon beleeving Saints,</HI> (to whom through Chri&s;t, death when ever it comes wil be with|out the &s;ting of &s;inne) <HI>that they &s;hould not have &s;add or hard thoughts of death;</HI> we &s;hould not make feare in our fle&s;h or &s;pirits to be the a&s;&s;ociate of the thoughts of death, there is no cau&s;e for it the &s;ting being taken away, by this needle&s;&s;e and unbeleeving feare of death in Saints we doe prejudice our &s;elves and bring an evil report upon our friend; <HI>Fir&s;t wee prejudice our &s;elves,</HI> for through a feareful fancy of evil and danger in death, we many times doe what we &s;hould not, and leave that undone which we ought to doe, how many &s;tretch their con&s;ciences to doe that which they have no rule for and otherwi&s;e would not doe but that they feare it may co&s;t them their lives if they &s;hould not, and how much duty is neglected upon this very con&s;ideration, upon a feare in doing to lo&s;e or indanger life, the feare indeed is to meet with death in doing, therefore chu&s;e rather to omit duty, but it is &s;afe and ble&s;&s;ed through Chri&s;t to meet death in duty, &s;ad and hard thoughts of death I verily beleeve doe much pre|judice Saints in their &s;treight and even walking with God through this wilderne&s;&s;e: it were happy if in reading wee could read our owne hearts.</P>
<PB N="242" REF="128">
<P>But &s;econdly, <HI>The&s;e fle&s;hly feares of Saints bring an evill report upon death,</HI> which through Chri&s;t is our real friend; it is very imbecomming Saints to &s;candali&s;e any, out that we &s;hould do this to death who is &s;o real a friend to us, and the me&s;&s;enger of &s;uch glad tidings as what hath gone before proveth him to be, this is very di&s;ingenious; if Saints looke upon him with a feareful eye he wil then be taken for an enemy to all the World, for to o|thers hee commeth with his &s;ting, &s;o as they have ju&s;t cau&s;e to feare, but to Saints death is a reconciled friend in Chri&s;t, and we doe him injury when ever we looke upon him as other, nay <HI>truly we di&s;honour Chri&s;t to feare death</HI> after hee hath conquered him, the redemption of Chri&s;t for his people is &s;o ful that they may and ought to &s;erve him without feare, the victory over death is part of the redemption of Chri&s;t, &s;o that now, feare of death is no le&s;&s;e then diffidence of that Redemption, therefore Saints &s;hould be very watchful that they harbour no &s;ad nor hard thoughts of death, becau&s;e in &s;o doing wee di&s;honour a true friend, nay Chri&s;t that made death thus to be our friend.</P>
<P><HI>In the next place this cals upon Saints that when death comes to &s;it in our bo&s;omes, wee &s;hould bid him truly welcome,</HI> and give him the entertainement of a friend, that is, be truly joyful to &s;ee him, let him finde by the joy of our hearts that he is welcome to our be|&s;omes, let his countenance be plea&s;ing to us, for though hee be pale death to our fle&s;h yet that fle&s;h &s;hall be a gainer by its pale|ne&s;&s;e, and finde nothing in death but a quiet re&s;t til it &s;hal put on incorruption: But to the &s;pirit death is a me&s;&s;enger from God and Chri&s;t of glad tydings, and the feet of tho&s;e which bring glad tidings &s;hould be beatiful to us, let death when he comes finde he is a long looked for friend, that he is not come before he is welcome, but &s;hould have beene welcome if hee had come much &s;ooner; that thou take&s;t him for &s;o good and &s;o real a friende that thou art heartily willing to goe with him and to leave all thy friends in the fle&s;h, that thou ha&s;t kept them com|pany but til he comes, and now art willing to leave them all to goe with him, Saints may wel bid death welcome as a friende for Chri&s;t is in him and the love of Chri&s;t; when Chri&s;t tooke &s;inne from Saints which was the &s;ting of death, he gave them love in the roome of &s;inne, &s;o as before we had &s;inne in all, now we have love in all, and though death to Saints have not the
<PB N="243" REF="128">&s;ting of &s;inne, yet it hath the love of Chri&s;t, and is worthy to bee bidd welcome and entertained with gladne&s;&s;e, when hee commeth.</P>
<P><HI>But in the next place: This calleth loude to Saints that they be|leeve &s;trongly in that love of Chri&s;t who hath taken away the &s;ting of death,</HI> which is &s;inne, and thereby made death that was an ori|ginal enemy to be a true and con&s;tant friend, the Scripture tel|eth us, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.26. <HI>The la&s;t enemie that &s;hall be de&s;troyed is death.</HI> Now death as an enemy to Saints is de&s;troyed in the death of Chri&s;t, for his &s;ting which is his enmity is taken away by Chri&s;t; that I inferre is this, Saints have much cau&s;e to beleeve &s;trongly in that love, the &s;trength of which hath overcome all enemies for us, Chri&s;t hath overcome death the la&s;t of enemies, why &s;hould we ever then feare the fading of that love which hath left no e|nemies to make us afraide; <HI>Saints feares are of their owne creating,</HI> for what ever might have beene a true cau&s;e of feare hath beene under Chri&s;ts de&s;troying for he hath de&s;troyed all enemies and where no enemy is, there is no true ground of feare; what re|maines then? Why nothing but a firme and la&s;ting foundation of faith, the love of Chri&s;t is a &s;trong foundation for a Saint to beleeve &s;trongly in, what &s;hould we feare, death is our friend the love of Chri&s;t hath made him &s;o, the breakings forth of this love is ground &s;ufficient to bani&s;h all feares, if death be no ene|my then there is no enmity betweene death and us, for death is the la&s;t de&s;troyed enemy, and the love of Chri&s;t hath de&s;troyed that enmity.</P>
<P><HI>Saints have many that hate them but none that can hurt them,</HI> take this for proofe, death is a Saints friend, there can bee no greater te&s;timony of love then the de&s;troying of enemies, for no man will de&s;troy the enemies of him that he is an enemy to him|&s;elfe, <HI>enmitie would make enemies;</HI> it is onely love that de&s;troyes them, and this love is Chri&s;t to his people, his love is &s;o great that he will leave us no enemy; that is, no per&s;on, per&s;ons, or things &s;hall ever be able to de&s;troy a Saint, then &s;urely Saints may and ought to beleeve &s;trongly in the love of Chri&s;t, let worldlings know their nailes are too &s;hort to &s;cratch out this love, their &s;trength too weake to &s;hake this eternall foundation if they &s;uck our bloods they may choak them&s;elves, but doe us no hurt, for through the love of Chri&s;t Saints are conquerers over
<PB N="244" REF="129">death; Saints may believe &s;trongly on the love of Chri&s;t, for a wor&s;e enemy then the World &s;hall never be able to de&s;troy them; even &s;inne; for Chri&s;t hath de&s;troyed &s;in, and in that death, for all that believe in him, &s;o as a Saint triumphs over death in the want of its &s;ting, is in the love of Chri&s;t which hath taken away &s;in, and this is that love which the &s;oules of Saints &s;hould believe in, and re&s;t &s;trongly upon. Saints need not fear, they cannot lay more upon this love then Chri&s;t is able and willing to beare, nay then he hath born already: for he hath borne all the <HI>tran&s;gre&s;&s;i|ons, iniquities, &s;innes, griefes, &s;orrowes, &s;tripes and cha&s;ti&s;ements of his people,</HI> I&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">. 53. So that hee hath redeemed his from the whole of &s;in: and believing Saints may not feare to venture their &s;oules in all upon the love of Chri&s;t; nay doubtle&s;&s;e it is the duty of Saints to live, believing &s;trongly in the love of Chri&s;t, which hath put Death to death, and overcome all enemies for them.</P>
<P>But in the fourth place <HI>Saints &s;hould make this improvement of the&s;e truths to waite upon God patiently in believing.</HI> Death will a&s;|&s;uredly come and deliver them from all their troubles in the fle&s;h. Faith made <HI>Job</HI> to waite patiently <HI>all the dayes of his appointed time till his change did come.</HI> There is an appointed time in which the change &s;hall come, and beyond that time it &s;hall not &s;tay: There can be no lo&s;&s; of faith in this thing; for death waits upon our Fa|thers will, and &s;hall certainly come at his appointed time. I con|fe&s;&s;e it is hard for Saints that are heires of heaven, and know it, willingly to &s;tay longer out of heaven and their Fathers imbra|cings, and in that time to be in a body of &s;in, and a &s;inful world, to beare the infirmities of the body, with the &s;cornes, &s;landers, &amp; per&s;ecutions of the World; yet remember that this is the fulfilling of the will of our God, and all this time death our friend is a comming; every moment bringeth this longed for ble&s;&s;ing nearer and nearer, and we cannot tell but it may be at the doore, that death may be in the next moment is the worlds feare; let it be a Saints joy, and &s;erve to quench immoderate thir&s;t; here is this to an&s;wer all feares, it will certainly come, and cannot be farre off, Chri&s;t longeth more for us, then we doe or can doe for him: and though we thinke him long, yet <HI>he that &s;hall come, will come, and will not tarry.</HI> Remember the body is made of brittle earth, it will be &s;oone cracked, or moulder away, it cannot by its con|&s;titution la&s;t long; the word of truth calleth him a foole that
<PB N="245" REF="129">counted upon many yeares when he was in clay; the flower &s;oon fadeth, the gra&s;&s;e is &s;oone withered, the &s;hadow &s;oone gone, and the Weavers &s;huttle pa&s;&s;eth &s;wift away, &amp; this is the time of our fle&s;h in Scripture account. Con&s;ider againe, the waiting is but a moment, compared with the time of enjoying; the next moment may end the one, but the other is eternall without end, and the fir&s;t entrance into our Fathers glory will take quite away the re|membrance of all &s;orrowes and &s;ufferings here below; nay the ve|ry beholding of Death-without his &s;ting will make ful amends for all our waiting. Now &s;urely Saints have great rea&s;on to wait for Gods time patiently and believingly; though wee be at pre&s;ent in the Wilderne&s;&s;e, yet <HI>Canaan</HI> cannot be farre off, and Chri&s;t will goe with us all the Wilderne&s;&s;e way till he bring us into <HI>Canaan;</HI> he is faithfull which hath promi&s;ed never to leave not for&s;ake his people, the waiting time &s;hall not be wholly without him: but when that time is accompli&s;hed, then we &s;hall be fully and for e|ver with him, therefore our waiting &s;hould be in faith and patience on the will of God, all the dayes of his appointed time for us.</P>
<P>And la&s;tly, <HI>The whole life of Saints &s;hould be a life of holy joy in God,</HI> and a glorying through Chri&s;t over Sin, Death, and Grave, believing Saints &s;hould live up tho&s;e joyes which accompany Death without the &s;ting of &s;in; they &s;hould glory in the grace of God and the God of grace. They &s;hould glory in the redempti|on of Gods free-grace: and as the Apo&s;tle here makes a holy tri|umph over Death without its &s;ting of &s;inne, and over the grave, which hath no victory, but mu&s;t give up tho&s;e bodies which are &s;owen in corruption to be rai&s;ed in incorruption; wee &s;hould let the World know how kind a God we have, that will not leave any &s;ting in death, or victory in the grave, but puts an end to &s;in, and thereby an end to all &s;orrow, which makes death the world|lings feare, to be our friend, and the time of &s;tripping us from the worlds dying beauty, to be the time of filling us with his own glory. Saints may well glory over Death; that have God and Chri&s;t for their life: Saints may &s;afely que&s;tion with Death a|bout his &s;ting; when Chri&s;t hath taken it away for us, wee may &s;afely glory in the times of Deaths approach, and the hour of his comming; when as Chri&s;t hath taken away his &s;ting from him, we may truly &s;ay, <HI>there is no God like our God, no beloved like our be|loved;</HI>
<PB N="246" REF="130">for none but &s;uch as have an intere&s;t in the love of God and redemption of Chri&s;t, can glory over Death; for to all others Death hath his &s;ting, and when ever hee commeth, comes with his &s;ting; the feare of &s;uch hearts to &s;ee the face of death, &s;peakes very much of the glory of Gods eternall love in Chri&s;t to all that believe on him, in taking away the &s;ting out of Death, by which meanes they can glory in, and over death, look death in the face with joy and rejoycing; where death comes with his &s;ting, there is a thou&s;and deaths in one: but to a Saint death is no death, onely a change, or a di&s;&s;olving to be with Chri&s;t; then let us proclaim this to the world, and &s;o glory in our God, that they may know their peri&s;hing idols are no wayes to be com|pared with our reall intere&s;t in God; the day of death that is at hand will fully prove the truth of this, therefore we may boldly &s;ay thus, <HI>we &s;hall make it good both living and dying.</HI> The glory of a believing Saints death doth abundantly exceed the Worldings life, nay indeed his own life; <HI>for though to him it be Chri&s;t to live, yet it is gaine to dye.</HI> It is more Chri&s;t to dye then live: In life Saints glory in Chri&s;t as he dyed for them: but in death they glo|ry in Chri&s;t as they live with him, the fir&s;t is the glory of pur|cha&s;e; but the latter of po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion. In the fir&s;t wee glory that the inheritance is given, but in the latter that it is received, which maketh up perfection of glory. And to Saints this is the next &s;tep to death without its &s;ting, &s;o that they may herein glory and triumph as the Apo&s;tle: <HI>O death where is thy &s;ting? O grave where is thy victory? The &s;ting of death is &s;inne, and the &s;trength of &s;inne is the law. But thankes be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="130">
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
