to him for righteousnesse For the promise that he should be the heire of the world was not given to Abraham or to his seed through the Law or his righteousnesse that hee had obtained by the workes of the Law but through the righteousnesse of faith for if they that are of the Law be heires faith is made voyd and the promise is made of no effect for the law causeth wrath because we cannot keep it for where no Law is there is no transgression it is the Law that discovers sinne unto us Romans 7.7 therefore it is by faith that it might come by grace Rom. 3.23 13 14 15.16 For by faith the righteousnes of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written The just shall live by faith Rom. 1.17 Know that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ even we I say have beleeved in Iesus Christ that wo might be justified by the faith of Christ and noâ— by â—he works of the Law because that by the workâ— of the Law no flesh shall be justifie Galat. 2.16 If there had been a law given which could have given life surely righteousnesse should have been bâ— the Law but the Scripture hath concluded all under sinne that the promise by the faith of Iesus Christ should be given to them that beleeve but before faith came we were kept under the Law anâ— shut up unto the faith which should afterwards 〈◊〉 revealed wherefore the Law was our Schoolmastâ—â— to bring us to Christ that we might be made rigâ—teous by faith but that after faith is come we 〈◊〉 no longer under a Schoolmaster Galat. 3.21 22 23 24 25. Now the Law is not our School master to bring us to Christ for Christâ—come and the Ministers ought to preach tâ— aâ—l people what Christ hath done for then that they might beleeve and how can they beleeâ—â— in him of whom they have not heard Rom. 1â— 14. They must fiâ—st heare what he hath doâ—â— for them before they can beleeve and Chriâ—â— hath commanded his Apostles and Disciplâ—â— to preach the Gospel to all Matth. 28 1â— and what is the Gospel but glad tidings 〈◊〉 peace and good things Rom. 10.15 How beautifull upon the mountaines are the feet him that declareth and publisheth peace thâ— declareth good tidings and publisheth salâ—tion saying to Sion Thy God reigneth Isai 5â— They are to publish and make knowne to all â—orts of people what Christ hath done for â—hem how he hath made peace with God for â—hem in taking upon him all their sinnes and making full satisfaction for them and hath wrought a perfect salvation for them and 〈◊〉 perfect righteousnes for them and all things â—s already finished for them Iohn 19.30 and â—ll things are ready come to the marriage Matth. 22.4 that Christ hath made all â—hings ready for us there is nothing to be â—one by us for our salvation but for us to â—ome to him and he will give us all things â—reely and he will teach us all things and â—ead us in the way that we should walk in for 〈◊〉 am the Way saith Christ the Truth and the Life no man cometh to the Father but by me Iohn â—46 As soon as Christ was born there was an Angel came and declared to the Shepheards in â—he field and said to them Be not afrayd for â—â—bold I bring you glad tidings of great joy that â—hall be to all people that is that unto you is born 〈◊〉 Saviour which is Christ the Lord Luke 2.10 â—1 God sent his Angell to declare this to the â—hepheards that they should declare it to others And this shewes unto us that those â—hat God hath made known his love unto by â—heir enjoyment of it they must make it â—nown to others that they also may be partakers of it and the Angel fell a praising God aying Glory be to God in the high heavens anâ— peace in earth and good will towards men at thâ— 14. verse Christ being born into the world was â—â—ceeding to Gods glory and by his comiâ—â— he hath made it known to us that he is glorified and he hath made our peace with God and hath made known to us that he is at peaâ— with us what love and good will God had to us in Christ and the Angel could doe nâ— other but declare this that all might knoâ— this and beleeve And this is the Gospel thâ— Christ hath commanded should be preacheâ— and his Apostles did preach it and Paul saith there is a constraint laid on me woe be to 〈◊〉 if I preach not the Gospel I am not ashamedâ— the Gospel of Iesus Christ for it is the power 〈◊〉 God to salvation to every one that beleeveth Tâ—â— comes with power and overcomes the chiefeâ— sinners as it did Paul to heare of the love 〈◊〉 God to them and what Christ hath done aâ—â— suffered for them and hath obtained a pardoâ— of his Father for them and calls every one tâ— come to him and receive their pardon of hiâ— This will worke more upon them then 〈◊〉 preach the law and judgements to them aâ— tell them that God is angry with them thâ— drives them from Christ and the messengeâ— of Christ must doe the message of Christ and not any thing to drive them from Christ but to set them on beleeving in Christ So now ye may see that the Law is not now our Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ now Christ is come the law must not be preached to us except it be to tell us how Christ hath fulfilled it for us but to tell us that we must doe thus and thus or else God will not doe thus and thus for us what is this but to be justified by the workes of the law and in so doing they make God a liar and take the honour from God and give it to themselves for we are wholly justified by faith alone and not by works and it is not our faith that justifies us but it is the faith of Jesus Christ Know that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ even we have beleeved in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ Galat. 2.16 and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Sonne of God Gal. 2.20 By grace are â—e saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of Gad not of workes lest any man should boast Ephes 2.8 9. It is not our faith that can justifie us if it could then should we boast that we are justified by our faith and â—o make our workes the cause of our justification but here Paul tels us that by grace we are saved that is by the grace of Christ for 〈◊〉 hath justified us freely by his grace througâ— the redemption that is in Iesus Christ so it 〈◊〉 alone by Christ that we are redeemed saw and justified
hast given mee bee with mee where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me for thou lovedst mee before the foundation of the world His love is so great to us that he must have us with him wheresoever he is so he carrieth us in his bosome upon his heart and he is gone into heaven and we are there with him though we see it not and we are glorified with him And the glory which thou hast given mee I have given them that they may be one even as we are one I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thoâ— hast loved me John 17.22 23. There is not any thing that Christ thinke too deare or too good for us hee bestows alâ—â— his excellent things upon us hee loves us 〈◊〉 dearly he cannot keep them from us His lovâ— to us passeth the love of women to their chilâ—dren yea the greatest love that they can beâ—â— to them Isa 49.15 16. Can a woman forgâ—â—â—ber sucking childe that she should not have 〈◊〉 passion on the sonne of her womb yea they 〈◊〉 forget yet will I not forget thee Behold I haâ—â— graven thee upon the palms of my hands and thy wayes are continually before me He would have us to take notice of his love Behold I have graven thee upon the palmes of my hands he hath done it and wee must behold it and take good notice of it it is done already it is not to be done by us but God saith I have done it And there is not any thing in us that can hinder his love to us I have loved you with an everlasting love therefore with loving kindnesse have I drawne thee These are expressions of God to us that we are set upon his heart and arme and hand is to shew us how neare we are to him and hee would have us to know it therefore he comes himself and declares it to us by his Spirit Fear not for I am with thee be not affraid for I am thy God Isa 41.10 Man naturally is affraid of God and it is because of our sins and ever since Adam fell wee have beene affraid of him some affraid of his anger and some affraid of punishment Gen. 3.9 10. And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him where art thou And be said I heard thy voyce in the garden and I was affraid because I was naked and I hid my selfe The righteousnesse of God which Adam had before his fall did cloath him he saw no nakednesse he was not ashamed of the nakednesse of his bodie that was nothing he could see nothing but what was of God and he was cloathed with him and there was a sweete communion betweene God and him hee was not affraid of God and there was no cause of fearing any thing else for all things below God were under Adam they had no power to doe him any harm But after Adam fell his falling stripped him of the righteousnesse of God and so he became naked and then hee was affraid of God And thus by nature wee are naked and are affraid of God and it is our nakednesse that causeth our feare and makes us affraid of every thing below God as well as of God and there is not any covering that can cover our nakednesse and so take away the cause of our fear for Adam did what he could to hide his nakednesse Gen. 3 7. And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig-leaves together and made themselves aprons They saw but some part of their nakednesse and so far as they saw it they made a covering to hide it and it was of the leaves of a fig-tree faire great leaves and that tree grew in the Garden of Eden where Adam was put and that was the best covering they could get yet they were affraid and hid themselves from God for all that covering This Garden of Eden was a type of the â—hurch of God which is the Spouse of Christ â—â—â—t 4.12 15. and chap. 5.1 6.2 And this Garden in the midst of it is the tree â—life which is Christ Rev. 2.7 To him that â—â—reommeth will I give to eate of the tree of life â—â—ich is in the midst of the Paradise of God Joel 〈◊〉 27. And ye shall know that I am in the midst Israel and that I am the Lord your God and â—e else and my people shall never be ashamed â—â—d he is that water of life that runneth in the â—idst of the garden Revel 22.1 Whosoever â—â—nketh of the water that I shall give him shall â—â—er thirst But the water that I shall give him â—â—ll be in him a well of water springing up into eâ—lasting life John 4.14 Jesus stood and cryâ—â— saying If any man thirst let him come unto 〈◊〉 and drinke He that believeth on me as the â—â—ipture saith out of his belly shall flow rivers of â—â—ing water John 7.37 38. And this is that â—â—e of life that whosoever eates thereof they â—all live for ever And this the Saints feed upâ—â— but Adam did not eate of this And out of 〈◊〉 ground made the Lord God to grow every tree 〈◊〉 is pleasant to the sight and good for food â—â—en 2.9 So in the garden the Church of God out 〈◊〉 the ground of the love of God for he is the â—ound of all our happinesse hee causeth to grow every tree that is pleasant to the eâ—â— and good for food which is a comfortaâ—â— enjoyment of all temporall things and gooâ—nesse hath a promise of all things in this 〈◊〉 for temporall things so far as it is for Goâ— glory and for our good and for things come which is spirituall but the trees of 〈◊〉 ward mercies doe grow by the high way◠〈◊〉 all sorts of people to eate of as well as the châ—â—dren of God But this is but by the way 〈◊〉 shew you that wee have the enjoyment of oâ—â— ward things by the enjoyment of spiritual 〈◊〉 in the garden of God so farre as Christ 〈◊〉 peareth in it it brings forth good fruits sâ—â—ble to him for hee is a Spirit and the frâ—â— that grow in this garden are spirituall and have not this fruit by nature for except 〈◊〉 are in the Vine we cannot bring forth frâ—â— sutable to God and we by nature are nakeâ— and we seeing our selves naked and knowâ— there is no appearing before God so we taâ—â— of the broadest and fairest leaves of the shew godlinesse that we can get and sew them handsomely together as wee can and coâ—â— that part that we see naked but there is a gâ—â— deale of our nakednesse that we doe not 〈◊〉 and that wee cannot cover yet God sees our nakednesse both that as we cover 〈◊〉 as we doe not cover When God doth appâ—â—◠〈◊〉 we are affraid of his seeing us
towe is broken when it feeleth the fire And then shâ—e tooke new ropes and bound him therewith that so the Philistines might destroy him him but he was so strong that they could not overcome him except hee were bound and there lay his enemies in wait to destroy him when they saw him bound but he brake the ropes from his arms like a threed Jud. 16.9 12. So doth Christ there is not any thing can bind him or hinder him from rising when his time is come Christ is called a fire â—ev 1.14 Heb. 12.29 It is the nature of fire to burn and consume all things that are not one with it so doth Christ to burn up that which hindereth us from seeing him and keepeth us from that sweete enjoyment of him which 〈◊〉 our sins and our righteousnesse so he comes with flames of fire to render vengeance on that 〈◊〉 us which knowes not but is an enemie to God and kept us from God but now Christ â—ill destroy these spirituall enemies hee will wallow them up in the victory of himself and â—urn up the drosse in us that keeps us from seeâ—â—g that pure gold so farre as he doth manifest â—imselfe in us he discovereth which is drosse â—nd which is gold for in thy light wee see light â—or we cannot discerne of our selves which is â—old which is the righteousnesse of Christ â—nd which is drosse which is our righteousâ—â—sse but so farre as Christ doth discover this â—â—osse to us he burns it up Christ is the founâ—ation whereon this spiritual building is built â—â—d all the building must be one and the same â—ith the foundation Now if any man build upon â—is foundation gold silver precious siones wood â—â—y stubble Every mans works shall be made maâ—ifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be â—â—ealed by fire and the fire shall trye every mans â—â—rke of what sort it is If any mans workes aâ—â—de which he hath built thereupon he shall receive a reward If any mans workes shall be burnt beâ— shall suffer losse but he himselfe shall be saved yeâ— so as by fire 1 Cor 3.11 12 13 14 15. When the day doth appeare then it beginâ— to be light and that light maketh manifest alâ— things and this is Christ and hee being likâ— fire he tries all the works of man yea thosâ— workes that are most excellent that appearâ— as glorious as gold and silver precious stoneâ— they must be tryed and all that is not purelâ— of Jesus Christ and wrought by his Spiriâ— shall be burnt up by him as well as hay anâ— stubble which is sinne and wickednesse Psalâ— 50.3 Our God shall come and shall not keepe sâ—lence a fire shâ—ll devoure before him and it shaâ— be very tempestuous round about him That theâ— our enemies shall not be able to stand againâ— him but he will destroy them by his coming so farre as he reveales himselfe in us for theâ— his enemies in us are now risen up against hiâ—â— to destroy him Isa 9.5 For every battle of tâ—â— Warriour is with confused noise and garments roâ—â—led in blood but this shall be with burning anâ— fewell of fire All the battles that the Devill comes againâ— Christ withall to overcome him is with confusion confuting and contradicting him that if wee were but able to discerne and taâ—â— notice of his weapons that he comes to destrâ—â—â— Christ withall would destroy himselfe but â—ll the Devils weapons are broken in pieces â—nd is fewell for this fire which is Christ and â—e will burne them up by degrees as he reveals â—imselfe in us and thus hee will destroy our â—pirituall enemies for us Mica 7.8 9 Rejoyce â—â—t against me O mine enemie When I fall I shall rise when I sit in darkenesse the Lord shall be a â—ight unto mee I will beare the indignation of the â—ord because I have sinned against him untill hee â—â—ead my cause and execute judgement for me he â—ill bring me forth to the light and I shall behold â—â—is righteousnesse Then shee that is mine enemie â—hall see it and shame shall cover her which said â—nto me Where is the Lord thy God mine eyes â—hall behold her now shall she be troden downe as the mire of the streets The Church of God is called a woman Rev. 12.1 and Anti-christ is called a womâ—n Revel 17.3 And when the Lord brings us forth to the light then wee shall see his righteousnesse then our adversary Anti-christ in the history and that is shee that doth outwardly oppose Christ and in the mystery which is our righteousnesse Christ will tread her under his foot Thus his arme shall save us from our enemies and destroy them for he is very tender over us that are his Spouse and beloved one And although wee are a great while oppressed with the Devill yet at the last Christ will come and make known to us how he hath overcome him for us Isa 27.1 2 3. In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish Leviathan the piercing Serpent even Leviathan that crooked Serpent and he shall slay the dragon that is in the Sea In that day sing ye unto her A vineyard of red wine I the Lord doe keepe it I will water it every moment lest any hurt it I will keepe it night and day Which vine-yard is the Church of God and he keeps it as well in the night that is in our darke condition Hosea 11.3 I taught Ephraim also to goe taking them by the armes but they knew not that I healed them And I have led them but they knew it not And so he keeps it in that darke condition as well as in the day when he manifests himselfe to us so hee will open our eyes as we are Saints that we shall see the things that belongs to our peace Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened Isa 35.5 And the eyes of the blinde shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness Isa 29.18 So far as he revealeth himselfe to us we shall clearly see him and what he is to us when he opens our eyes and wee shall also heare him speak peace to us For the deafe eares shall be unstopped Isa 35.5 And in that day shall the deaf heare the words of that booke Isa 29.18 This â—ooke is that which is spoken of in Revel 5. â—nd I saw in the right band of him that sate on the â—hrone a booke written within and on the backeâ—â—de sealed with seven seales And I saw a strong Angel proclaiming with a loud voyce Who is worâ—â—y to open the booke and to loose the seales thereof And no man in heaven nor earth neither under the â—arth was able to open the booke neither to looke â—hereon Then the lion of the Tribe of Judah which â—as a Lamb that had been slain he was found â—orthy to open the booke ond to breake oâ—en the seales And hee came and tooke the booke â—â—t of the right hand