Satan under every one of your feet Be not troubled for want of Assurance This is your Assurance That you believe in the Son of God I demonstrate comfort Thus 1. God is Faithful that hath Promised he can never fail 2. Christ is faithful in whom and to whom the Promises are made and he can never fail for the Promise is sure to all the Seed 3. The Holy Ghost is faithful that Seals the Promises of God to our Souls and he can never fail The Spirit of promise to all the Seed 4. Therefore the faithful that receive and rely upon these Promises shall never fail for they are in Christ the Promised Seed As for flesh and blood though that be weak and afflictions very grievous to it yet let the spirit be but honest and willing and then fear nothing For to him that hath though never so little true faith shall be given full measure pressed down and running over shall God give into his bosome To him that is never wanting to himself God will never be wanting Do but desire and God will help do but seek and thou shalt find ask and have knock and it shall be opened unto thee If we that are evil know how to give good things to our Children how much more shall our heavenly father give good things to them that ask him And hath he not promised that whatsoever we shall ask of him in the Name of his Son he will give it us and having given us Christ how shall he not with him also give us all things that he in his wisdome and goodness knows to be necessary for us And having our Portion let us therewith be content Look therefore Sin Misery and Death in the face and Trust in God still Look only upon Sin and Misery and Death and Hell with the Eye of Sense and dye for fear and despair but look with the Eye of Faith beyond all these at the glory that shall be revealed and live for evermore Consult not with flesh and blood for if you do you will droop and fall but consult with the Spirit by Faith in Gods Promises and he shall strengthen thine heart I have nothing to comfort and satisfy me and assure me in life or Death but my honest and faithful desires If I be a Hypocrite I can have no comfort but if I be true and upright to God to the World and to my own soul and do all I can to please God and to keep my Conscience void of offence towards God and towards men though I am clothed with innumerable frailties and imperfections yet I am sure God will pardon all for Christ his sake only let me be valiant and of a good courage And though I see no comfort coming to me in this life or very little let me not be disheartened for this nor judge of Gods favour by what I see or feel but by what I believe and hope for for the things which are seen or felt are but Temporal but the things which are not seen nor felt here are Eternal And what I see not and enjoy not now by sense I do see and enjoy by Faith and shall see and enjoy by sight And till then I content my self with the sight and fruition which I have which is to me an Evidence and full Assurance of what I shall have Therefore Deerly beloved Brethren be ye stedfast and unmoveable alwaies abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as ye know that your labour shall never be in vain in the Lord for faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen Amen GAL. 3.6 Abraham believed in God and it was accounted to him for Righteousness EXPLICATION THis Apostle saith Righteousness cometh not of the Law Gal. 2.21 Gal. 3.18 And the Inheritance is not of the Law but by Promise and faith in that Promise Both these sayings carry the same sense that is The right of an Inheritance which is the best Right cometh not of the Law but of Faith And both these sayings carry the same Reason because they argue the same Conclusion viz. That a man is not Justified by the Law but by Faith For if a man be Justified by the Law or if his Right of Inheritance be by the Law Ro◠4.14 then Faith is made void and the Promise void But being justified by his Grace Tit. 3.7 we are made heirs to the hope of Eternal Life So that to be justified by Faith and to be made an heir of God are all one in effect or the latter is but the property or consequent of the former In like manner to be counted Righteous or as in the Text for Faith to be counted for Righteousness is all one as to be justified For St. Paul alledgeth these words to prove the Doctrine of Justification by Faith and to have Right accounted to any person is to justify that Person Rom. 4.6 Gal. 2.16 Therefore this great saying That Abraham believed in God and it was accounted to him for Righteousness is to this effect That Abraham was justified by his Faith The Subject is Justification The Points 1. God 2. Account 3. Thing 4. End God the Cause of Justification Chap. 1. God justifi s. Rom. 8.33 Gen. 15.6 It is God that justifieth so the Hebrew Text Abraham believed in God and he imputed it to him for Righteousness God was the Agent that imputed Faith to Abraham for Righteousness St. Paul follows the Septuagint but the sense is all one For if actually God imputed Abrahams Faith unto him for Righteousness then it must needs follow passively that Abrahams Faith was imputed to him for Righteousness 2. The Account Cap. 2. Accounting The Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is rendred reasoning concluding numbring reckoning imputing The great Arts of counting are Logick and Logistick 1. Logick is the counting of Sayings according to their rations or reasons as they are composed into their Conclusions and resolved into their Principles 2. Logistick is the counting of Numbers according to their rations or rates as they are composed into their Powers and resolved into their Roots And as in Logick the Conclusion is the effect of two Sayings rightly figured when one of those Sayings is the cause of that effect and the other Saying is the reason or mean between the Cause and the Effect So in Logistick The Power is the Product of two Numbers rightly multiplyed when one of those two Numbers is the Root of that Power and the other is the Rate between the Root and the Power Both these Countings or Reckonings or Reasonings do manifest the ration or Rate of a Saying to a Saying and of a Number to a Number So that to Account is to conclude by Reasoning or Numbring by arguing to find the Conclusion by addition to find the Total by Multiplication the Product by Division the Quotient The Word is used thus in several places Rom. 6.11 Reckon your selves to be
for Right the same is expressed in the other by the special word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the best kind of Rights Also to have Right by the Law Rom. 4.14 or to have the Inheritance by the Law is the same in sense And then the Promise is frustrate For if they which be of the Law be heirs Faith is made voyd and the Promise made of no Effect Chap. 5. Right The word Righteousness is taken in this last sense jurally for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jus or Right supposed in all Acts of Justice Equity and Righteousness opposed to Injustice Iniquity and Unrighteousness For whensoever any of these Acts are done to any person that person is supposed to have some Jus or Right otherwise we can do him no Injustice Injury or Wrong For as where there is no Law there is no Sin so to him that hath no Right there can be done no wrong as to Slaves Reas 1 Because Right signifies the effect of Gods Promise God promised a Right of Alliance Issue Inheritance and therefore Abraham had a Right Title and Interest to all these else the promise had been unjust and of no effect Reas 2 Because the New Testament so expresseth it But to him that worketh not Rom. 45.6 but believâ—th in him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for Righteousness Even as David also describeth the Blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth Righteousness without Works So also in the 10 11 12 13 22 23 24 verses of this Chapter Reas 3 Because the Old Testament so expresseth it Ps 106.30 31. Then stood up Phinehas and executed Judgment and so the Plague ceased And this was counted to him for Righteousness to all generations for evermore This gave him a Right to the Fee-simple of the Priesthood to him and to his Heirs for ever for so the Charter runs Num. 25.10 11 12. And the Lord spake unto Moses saying Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the Priest hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel while he was zealous among them that I consumed not the Children of Israel in my jealousy Wherefore behold I give unto him my Covenant of Peace and he shall have it and his seed after him even the Covenant of an everlasting Priesthood because he was zealous for his God and made an atonement for the Children of Israel He had a Right to the Priesthood before by Reas 4 his Birth but this was a Corroboration for ever Because all Rights consist in accounting which is their Essence As that the use fruit or propriety of such a thing is accounted or reckoned to such a person as belonging to him and not to another Thus God by his promise accounted to Abraham a Seed to be multiplied into the higher Powers of Numbers As into Squares Cubes Squares of Squares Squares of Cubes and Cubes of Squares i.e. into Tens Hundreds Thousands and hundred Thousands and thousand Thousands till they were numberless as the Starres of Heaven And the Root unto all these Powers was but the Binary of Abraham and Sarah old dry and dead in Body but young and lively in Faith Illustration Thus the working servant hath Right to his wage by the meanes of his work The Son that worketh not hath right to his maintenance by his Birth The first born Son hath right to his Inheritance by his Majority or Primogeniture The Believer hath no Right by Birth nor by Works but by Faith only of Grace not of Debt This Faith is but a personal Act Rom. 4 4. but the right thereby is a real permanent and hereditary Benefit Thus Right to Blessedness was the effect whereof Gods Promise was the Cause and Abrahams Faith the means whereby that Cause wrought this effect The summe is God by his Promise counted to Abraham a Right and accounted his Faith for a means to obtain that Right So his Faith was accounted for his Right and his Right was accounted to him for his Faith Abrahams Rights were Issue Inheritance and chiefly Alliance with God Chap. 6. Blessedness therefore God is called the God of Abraham which is blessedness in the Abstract i. e. Heavenly blessedness not expresly so mentioned but contained in the Promise which wise Abraham in his reasoning well understood though a farre off Heb. 11.19 and made a right reckoning of it accounting that God was able to raise from the Dead And that God was bountiful so to do to be his exceeding great reward every way for Issue for Inheritance but especially for Eternal Life Heb. 11.10 For he looked for a City which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God Heb. 11.16 And he desired a better Country then the Land of Canaan was even a heavenly and a better life then this For God is not a Benefactor to the Dead while they are dead He is not the God of the Dead but of the Living And therefore that he may again become to them a God he raises them from the Dead unto Eternal Life Because that is the great Blessing which they want and he only can gives and it is fitting only for his children to receive and therefore he hath prepared for them a City even Jerusalem which is above which is the Mother of us all Luc. 20.35 36. Christ reasoneth just so They which shall be counted worthy to obtain that World and the Resurrection from the Dead neither marry nor are given in marriage Neither can they die any more but are equal unto the Angels and are the children of God being the children of the Resurrection Now that the Dead are raised even Moses shewed in the Bush when he calleth the Lord The God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob For he is not a God of the Dead but of the Living for all live unto him Now the Title that Abraham had to all these Rights was not his generous Birth nor his Righteous works but his acceptation of Faith Jus Fidei 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 3.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 4.11 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 9.30 Faith-right opposed to Birth-right and Work-right Reas 5 Because accounting is the common Genus to both Justifying and Condemning for Accounting is a Word larger then Justifying or Condemning and therefore is the common Genus to them both being acts of accounting To Justify is to acquit as just to some reward To condemn is to adjudg as sinful to some Punishment For I will not justify the Wicked Eâ— 23.7 The Lord will not leave him in his hand Ps 37.33 nor condemn him when he is judged Rom. 4.8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin Reas 6 Because Abrahams Tenure to hold this Right was the obedience of the Faith by which he had that Right Therefore he was accounted Righteous only by his Faith but he kept his Righteousness by his Love and
Faith but made shipwrack of it by their evil deeds and therefore could not enter into the Temporal Rest provided for them because of their unbelief Heb. 3. ult Let us therefore draw neer with a true heart in full assurance of Faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our bodies washed with pure water Heb. 10.22 23 24. Let us hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering for he is faithful that hath promised And let us consider one another and provoke one another unto Love and good works c. 4. For comfort Why should Believers quarrel Chap. 14. Peace 1. We have all the same Cause of Right which is Gods Promise 2. We have all the same Right the effect of Gods Promise Justification 3. We have all the same means reason or Title whereby the same cause becomes effectual for the obtaining of that Right which is Faith Therefore we all agree in the main and may and ought to be comforted thereby How vain then and sinful are those questions and doubts about the manner of Gods Promise and our Right thereby and the means of Faith for the conveyance of that Right unto us Brethren and fellow-heirs of the same Promise have no Reason to fall out about the way and manner how they come by them it is sufficient that they are sure of them and God be thanked for that Let them love one another Unjustly therefore do we hate and separate one from another seeing we all trust in one God for the same common Salvation And why should we be disheartned Chap. 15. Courage or doubt any more of the Truth which is so evident God is Faithful which hath promised our Right is sure which is promised the Means to joyn both these together and give us this right is sure even our Faith Therefore do but believe do not dispute All things are possible to him that believeth Do but accept and ye shall have Take what is offered unto you An easy Yoke A light Burden A noble way A rational way to be drawn by the cords of a Man by Love for Love To suffer our selves to be wrought upon and perswaded by Love To believe that God is That he is a Rewarder of all such as fear him That all that will accept of this Reward shall have it upon this reasonable and easy condition of Faith and Repentance That a new Life and Holiness is a most pleasant thing of its self if there were no other Reward That if there be another Reward it ought in reason being so great as Eternal Life to be enjoyed by them only that believe it and that labour for it That if there be no Reward yet it is more just and comfortable to hope well and live well then to despair and do all wickedness to the present hurt of our own Peace and the Disturbance and Ruine of others for which they will Curse us even in this World And if there be a Reward as most certainly there is then these men shall be sure to miss it but the Faithful cannot fail to have it Because that reward is promised upon the Condition of Faith and none other As sure as there is a God in Heaven so sure shall there be a Reward in Heaven And as sure as there is a Christ so sure shall all they be rewarded that are in Christ As sure as Christ is born the Son of God by nature and the spirit so sure are the faithful born the Sons of God by Grace and the Spirit As sure as Christ was the promised Seed so sure are the Faithful the Promised Seed in him and by him As sure as Christ is the Heir of all things in himself by the means of his Birth-right so sure are the Faithful the heirs of God by the means of their Birth-right As sure as God hath promised and sworn to Christ so sure hath God promised and sworn to the Faithful This is Gospel God is a Spiritual Father The Faithful are a Spiritual Seed Spiritual Heirs of a Spiritual Inheritance 5. For Distinction of Reckoners true and false and of such as do not Reckon at all 1. Some make no accompt Chap. 15. Kinds of reckoning being without God in the World and having no Hope strangers to the Covenant of Promise dead while they live 2. Some make a false accompt reckoning without Faith Boasting of a Right to an estate when they have no grounds for it Living highly and making a great show to the World of a portion in Heaven when as they have nothing to trust unto being Hypocrites whose hope shall perish and be cut off before God Luc. 13.25 c. Angels and men They shall knock at the door saying Lord Lord open unto us then shall the Master of the house answer and say unto them I know you not whence you are Then shall they begin to say We have eaten and drank in thy presence and thou hast also taught in our streets but he shall say I tell you I know you not whence you are Depart from me ye workers of Iniquity Matth. 7.21 c. Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdome of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven Many shall say unto me in that day Lord Lord have we not Prophecied in thy Name and in thy Name cast out Divels and in thy name done many wonderful works And then will I profess unto them I never knew you Depart from me ye workers of Iniquity 3. Some have a true accompt made by God for them but cannot make a true accompt for themselves but are hindred and puzled being weak and put out of their reckoning 1. By school distinctions without difference and coyned niceties oppositions of Sciences falsly so called 2. By Pulpit marks signs the fancies of idle Brains and multiplication of Words without knowledge 3. By private scornes and Reproaches of Reprobation and Damnation without Wit or Charity But let all such poor true hearted wretches be of good cheer They that cannot reckon for themselves God shall reckon for them and help them to make it out The Spirit within them shall cry Abba Father for them and help them in all their infirmities with sighes and groans which they cannot utter Christ doth plead for their Right in Heaven which he hath obtained for them and knows how to have compassion upon the ignorant and them that are out of the way for that he himself also was one compassed with infirmities As a faithful and kind Steward will reckon to a poor servant his dues to a farthing Heb. 5.2 when he cannot reckon for himself So will Christ do for these poor Creatures and all that are Christs faithful Messengers and dispensers of the mysteries of Salvation The fault is in the false Teachers that fright poor Souls with Hell and Damnation Physicians of no value miserable Comforters such as
cannot or will not shew unto man his Righteousness nor save a Soul from the Pit They are of such evil Natures and so full of spiritual Pride and Malice that they will neither enter into Heaven themselves nor suffer others that would by their good will Such whose Eye is evil because Gods is good and would fain have others to be in no better condition then themselves 4. Some make a true accompt and are able to prove it being strong in the Faith Chap. 17. Demonstration nothing doubting They Demonstrate their Assurance thus 1. The Cause of Salvation is Gods Promise 2. The Effect is Salvation its self 3. The means that makes the Cause to produce this effect is their own Faith So in Logick The Conclusion is the effect of two Propositions rightly figured whereof one is the Cause and the other is the Medium or Mean between the Cause and the effect The major Term in the major Proposition is the Cause The minor Term in the minor Proposition is the Effect And the Medium or middle Term in both major and minor Proposition is the Means that produceth the Effect in the Conclusion As thus A living Creature is Sensible A man is a living Creature Therefore A man is Sensible This last Proposition is the Effect of the two former in which Sensibility which is the Major Term is the Cause and a man is the Effect And a Living Creature is the Means whereby this Cause produceth this Effect For Because man is a Living Creature Therefore he is Sensible So in Logistick The Power or Product is the Effect of two Numbers rightly multiplyed when one of those two is the root of that Power and the other is the Rate between the Root and the Power As 6 is the Cause of 12 12 is the Effect and the Multiplication of the Root 2 is the Means between the Cause and the Effect So Promises are the Cause of Blessedness is the Effect and Faith is the Means between the Cause and the Effect The ground of both these Reasonings and Reckonings is this 1. Those things that agree in one Third do agree among themselves as in Logick As the Major and Minor agree in the Medium therefore they agree among themselves So in Logistick The Multiplicand and the Product agree in the Root by the means of the Multiplication by that Root As 6 and 12 agree together in the Root 2. by the means of the Rate or Multiplication by the Root 2. And into which they are resolved So Gods Promises and our Salvation do agree in Faith 2. Whatsoever is affirmed of the Genus is affirmed also of the Species and all that are under it As whatsoever is affirmed of Abraham the Father of the Faithful is affirmed of all the Faithful the children of Abraham Blessedness is affirmed of Abraham Gal. 3.9 Therefore Blessedness is affirmed of all the Children of faithfull Abraham So then All that believe are Blessed with faithful Abraham This is all the assurance that can be had and this is enough by all Reason to a reasonable Creature from a Reasonable God that reasons with us according to our capacities as reasonable Creatures As for Revelations and Inspirations we may not expect them For God will have us to live here by Faith and not by Sight or Sense that must be hereafter Therefore though I see or feel no comfort Chap. 18. Faith above Hope yet I have Faith and live thereby Though I be in the Dark and lie low in the Dungeon and stick fast in the Mire and Clay and the Waters flow over me and the weeds of Despair are wrapped about my head being gone down to the bottoms of the Mountains and the Earth with her Barrs are round about me for ever so that I say in the Judgment of my weak flesh I am lost I have no hopes Yea though besides all this to keep me down the more that I may be sure never to rise into any hopeful or comfortable condition I see nothing but misery about me and feel it in my own person and hear nothing but Scorns Reproaches and Condemnations yet I believe still I hold my own My house is built upon a Rock I keep me close unto my God I strengthen my self in him I see all and hear all and bear all and say nothing I am prompted often to renounce all hope and to curse God and die in detestation of the failings of his Promises because he hath mocked me And that I might not be altogether miserable here I am bidden to Eat and Drink for to morrow I shall Die To enjoy the good things that are present and speedily use the Creatures as in Youth To fill my self with costly Wine and Ointments Wisd 2.6 and let no Flowr of the Spring pass by me To crown my self with Rose-buds before they be withered not to go without my part of voluptuousness but to leave tokens of joyfulness in every place for this is my Portion and Lot For our Time is a very shadow that passeth away and after our end there in no returning for it is fast sealed that no man cometh again We are all but of yesterday and to morrow we shall not be All this I hear but give no consent I am content to lie still in silence though it be without comfort and wait upon my God and resolve that though he kill me yet I will put my trust in him And this is Faith to believe above Hope and contrary to Hope I speak nothing all this while to Hypocrites for their hope shall perish Hypocrisy cannot consist with faithfulness it makes shipwrack of Faith and of a good Conscience The Lake that burneth with Fire and Brimstone is the portion of Hypocrites even the same that was provided for the Devil and his Angels and for all them that make and love lies I speak nothing to profane Persons Atheists for these have condemned themselves But I speak to the plain True-hearted Believers That between God and their own Consciences they should fear nothing if their cause be good This takes off all Disputes about the Church Chap. 19. Disputes about Baptisme the Lords Supper Faith Justification Merits Infallibility c. We may all comply very well if we hold the same Faith in the prime necessary Principles which are but few There needs no hatred or strangeness to condemn or divide about Circumstances and Superstructures so long as we do all agree in Fundamentals And as for Ceremonies and Forms of outward worship the Law is a Rule to every mans Conscience and this is the safest way to fulfil all Righteousness But it is not safe to Divide or Rebel either in the Church or State for that overthrows the unity of the Faith and the bond of Peace This takes off all blame in God Chap. 20. Excuses and all excuses from our selves and puts every man into a hopeful capacity of Salvation For if we be not