this or the other stone be a true diamond or a counterfeit whether this or the other piece of money be pure gold or adulterate metal I must consider whether it have the properties of pure gold and whether the stone have the properties of a right diamond or not So upon a spiritual account If I would know whether I am one with Christ and in the state of grace I must enquire whether I be made partaker of such things as are the properties and concomitants of that estate and peculiar thereunto These we call marks and signs because they denote and signifie what spiritual condition a person is in * Signum est quod seipsum aliquid praeter se potentiae cognoscenti repraesentat I know there are some who have spoken very slightly and contemptibly of this way of procedure They would have us only depend upon the immediate witness of the Spirit without making use of these marks and signs But my Brethren this is the way which the servants of God have taken in passing a judgment upon themselves who are left upon record in the Scripture as patterns for our imitation And if you would not be deluded you must take this course likewise For else how shall we know that such an immediate testimony as they speak of is from the Spirit of God and not a delusion of Satan or a fond perswasion of our own deceitful spirits but by bringing it to the touchstone of these marks and signs See 1 Joh. 2.3 And hereby we know that we know him if we keep his commandments Mind it saith the Apostle we are acquainted with Christ and interested in him and through grace we may come to the knowledge of it How or by what means Why by this mark or character if we keep his commandments that will be a certain sign or evidence of it 1 Joh 3.14 We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren As if he had said By this mark or character we discern our translation into the state of grace Psal 119.94 I am thine save me for I have sought thy precepts Mark it David had not only a title to the favour of God but he was able to plead that title I am thine How do you prove it Why by this mark or evidence Because I have sought thy precepts My brethren the soul of a man is not acted in this work by way of Enthusiasme nor are we to depend upon a special revelation but the work is to be carried on by way of spiritual reasoning or argumentation Thus he who hath respect to all the commandments of God hath the Son and is united unto the Son Now saith the soul through grace I find upon a diligent search of my self that I bear a respect to all Gods commmandments and from thence I conclude that I have the Son of God and am ingraffed into him Again He that loveth the Brethren is in the state of grace translated from death to life And through mercy saith the soul I find this property in my self So that hence I gather that I am in the state of grace Take an instance on the other hand Whosoever walketh in darkness hath no fellowship with Christ My conscience tells me saith the sinner that I walk in darkness Hence it evidently followeth that whilst I remain in this condition I have no fellowship with Christ So that the convictions of conscience on the one hand as to the sad estate of a sinner are rational convictions and the witness of conscience on the other hand in behalf of the Saints that they are in Christ is a rational witness and the Spirit of God doth joyn in a concurrent testimony therewith Rom. 8.16 The Spirit it self beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God Mark it not only to our spirits but with our spirit They joyn together in giving evidence of a Believers union with Christ This is the fourth conclusion That the way of procedure in this business of self-examination is by marks and signs For my part I do not question but the holy Ghost may please at some peculiar seasons to dart comfort as it were into the heart of a Believer and in a kind of immediate way to signifie to him that he is in favour with God and in a state of reconciliation without any express or sensible reflection at that instant of time upon the gracious qualifications which are the marks of that estate But then remember that in the conclusion it must be reduced to marks and signs For else how shall a Christian be satisfied that it was indeed from the Spirit of God unless he prove it by such evidencing properties as are given to that end Concl. 5. The special marks and signs or evidential properties and characters by which we should examine our selves touching our union with Christ and from which we may be able to judge most clearly whether we are in him are such as are adaequate and proportionate to that estate Such marks of union as are appropriate thereunto and run exactly parallel therewith that are of the same exâ—ent and latitude as union with Christ is and in no wise appertain or belong to any other whomsoever Such marks as these Logicians call properties in the strictest acception that belong only to such as are in Christ and are to be found in all that are in him at all times and seasons * Proprium quarto modo quod omni soli semper convenit speciei cum eâ reciprocatur This will be cleared up to the apprehensions of the meanest capacity by giving you a distinction of three sorts of marks and signes as to a mans spiritual state or relation to Christ and by shewing you the several use that is to be made of each of them in the business of self-examination or trial of our union with Christ There are 1. Exclusive or Negative markes and properties 2. Inclusive or Accumulative markes and properties 3. Adaequate and proportionate markes and properties 1. There are exclusive or negative marks and signs as to union with Christ Properties of the first rank as they are commonly stiled that is such as belong to all who are ingraffed into the Lord Jesus but do not solely or peculiarly appertain to them They are of a greater extent and latitude than union with Christ is To make it plain by instances These are properties of the first rank viz. To have an enlightened understanding and competent knowledge of the mysteries of godliness To be convinced of the evil of sin and to have the conscience awakened in the sense of it To believe the word of God to be true To perform external duties and to carry on a reformation in the life and practise and the like These are properties to be found in all who are knit unto Christ but not in them only An unregenerate person may partake of them likewise And what is the use
and treachery in the conscience For as that is the faculty which doth eye and observe a man in his wayes so whereby he is impowred to take an account of those wayes and to acquit or condemn himself according to the merits of the cause and as the matter doth require You read of the Apostle Paul that he had a witness on his side that he was a servant of God and walked in sincerity before the Lord whereupon his heart was filled with joy and gladness And what was that witness Why his conscience had examined and found it to be so 2 Cor. 1.12 For our rejoycing is this the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity godly sincerity not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God we have had our conversation in the world And both the business of accusing and absolving a sinner is attributed thereunto namely to the workings of conscience Rom. 2.15 Their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another Joh. 8.9 They went out one by one being convicted by their own consciences This you are sometimes to understand by the heart and spirit of a man when it is said to take cognizance of the things which are within him The heart knoweth its own bitterness Prov. 14.10 What man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man which is in him 1 Cor. 2.11 Again Eccl. 7.21 22. Also take no heed to all words that are spoken lest thou hear thy servant curse thee For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thy self likewise hast cursed others That is If you would set your consciences awork they would declare plainly what is the filthiness that cleaveth to you and the abominations that have been committed by you So that your care must be to keep life and vigour and activity in your consciences and you must take heed to your selves that no mistakes or falshoods or practical errors settle within your consciences Concl. 3. Although it be the conscience of a man by which he doth examine himself touching his union with Christ and passeth judgment upon himself in that case yet this work can never be performed effectually and to purpose without the concurrent assistance of the Spirit of God and the powerful inflâ—ence of the holy Ghost It is the Spirit of God by whom the conscience of a sinner is excited and stired up unto this work and directed and guided therein that it may see clearly into matters and may pass a right and convincing sentence thereupon It is the same Spirit alone which converteth a sinner from his natural estate that can convincingly shew him his sad estate in order to conversion And the same Spirit alone which planteth grace into the soul can discover that grace where it is planted that so a Believer may take comfort therein and conclude from thence that he is ingraffed into Christ And therefore when we attain any comfortable evidences of our estate Godward we are said to be sealed by the Spirit because it depends upon his assistance and testimony Eph. 1.13 14. In whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance It is a manner of speech taken from the practise of men who for confirmation and assurance of a deed or grant give writings under seal so hath the Lord been pleased saith the Apostle to deal with you you have not only the promises of acceptance and pardon and eternal life made unto you but these promises are sealed How Why by the testimony of the Spirit Again in making of a bargain men are wont to give earnest to confirm it which is not only a part of payment but for assurance of the whole This earnest saith he you have received which is the witness of the holy Ghost It is not the testimony of conscience alone can make a man effectually to know his relation to Christ or separation from Christ without the concurrent operation of the Spirit There is a famous Text in reference to both Rom. 8.15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but ye have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba father Mark it If a man be brought into bondage by the knowledge of his undone condition by seeing himself to lie under the guilt of his sins and obnoxious to the insupportable wrath of God it is through the operation of the Spirit And if he be able to plead his adoption and to look up unto God as his Father in Christ it is by the efficacious workings of the same Spirit So that for the examination of your selves concerning your union with Christ and finding out whether you are knit unto him your work in this respect lieth in two things 1 In being earnest petitioners and supplicants at the throne of grace for the special assistance of the holy Ghost to make this discovery to you to strike in with your consciences in bearing witness unto your spiritual estate That the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of glory may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him that the eyes of your understandings being enlightned ye may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints Eph. 1.17 18. 2 Your business lieth in a careful attendance upon the dictates of the Spirit and taking heed that you resist not the holy Ghost in these actings For it is an ordinary thing in many of the people of God to be accessary to the disconsolateness of their own souls by opposing the spirit of consolation They go on without that comfort which they might have in the knowledge of their union with Christ because they refuse to be comforted as the Psalmist speaketh of himself Psal 77.2 This is a common distemper in times of strong temptations As the ungodly resist the spirit of conviction and conversion so believers themselves are apt to withstand and strive against the spirit of consolation And therefore your work is to give diligent attendance upon the Spirit and to hear attentively what he shall speak unto you Concl. 4. The way of procedure in this business of self-examination or the means whereby it must be found out whether we are united to Christ is By consulting and enquiring into those marks and signs which are the evidencing characters and properties of that union For Sirs the change wrought upon a Believer by his oneness with Christ is a relative change and cannot be seen immediately in it self and of it self But it is discerned and discovered unto the spirit of a man by its properties and concomitants which are as certain characteristical marks and tokens whereby the state of union with Christ is differenced and distinguished from that of being strangers unto him As it is in natural things If I would know whether
may be ready at hand upon all occasions for your guidance and direction in the way to heaven If Truth as * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plut. one saith is of the number of the greatest gifts which the God of heaven could confer on the children of men or they are capable of receiving from the Lord of glory And if those Truths are most worthy of all acceptation which are in their own nature and tendency of the greatest weight and importance Then I hope I may justly expect your loving Reception and diligent Perusal of these Divine Instructions Especially when I call to remembrance your fervent mind and more than usual respect which many of you have formerly expressed towards me If I detain you longer than is customable by way of Preface impute it wholly to the earnestness of my desires of being useful to the promoting your everlasting salvation For I can truly say that since my removal from amongst you I have had you frequently in my thoughts much in my affections and fervently in my Prayers Give me leave to be your Remembrancer That you are a people under manifold Obligations and Ingagements to serve the Lord and to stick fast unto his testimonies 1. You have some of you for a long time made a Profession of Godliness and openly avowed your selves to be the servants of the most High And will you not labour to walk answerably to that Vocation wherewith ye are called If the Principles you own be good they ought to be practised And if they be evil why are they professed When King Alexander had a cowardly Souldier of his own name he is reported to have called him aside and thus to have spoken to him Friend either change thy name or leave thy cowardise The like may be fitly said to Professors of Religion Either sh w forth the power of godliness in your lives or do not take upon you the profession of Godliness Why call ye me Lord Lord if ye do not the things which I say Luk. 6.46 2. You are many of you I am apt to think a people under convictions The clear light of the Gospel which hath shined amongst you hath left at least such impressions on your spirits That you cannot but approve the things that are excellent You cannot but acknowledge the wayes of God to be right and the service of sin to be abominable Ask your consciences to whom I appeal in this case if it be not thus So that I may speak to you as the Apostle Paul to the King Act. 26.27 King Agrippa Believest thou the Prophets I know that thou believest My brethren Do you believe the absolute necessity and incomparable worth of Holiness Do you believe That the fear of the Lord is the best wisdom and the favour of God the chiefest portion That Godliness is great gain and ought to have the supremacy and preheminence above all worldly enjoyments Do you believe that the pleasures of sin are folly and madness and will end at length in everlasting destruction I am perswaded many of you believe it Now Sirs it is a dreadful thing to sin against convictions to disown that in your conversations which you subscribe to in your consciences Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth Rom. 14.22 To him that knoweth to do good and doth it not to him it is sin Jam. 4.17 3. You are most of you a people of low estate and poor in the world And will you not secure an interest in the true riches If you have little or no treasures upon earth should it not quicken you to be the more industrious to lay up treasures in heaven that you may not be poor in every respect When Bishop Hooper as I remember was led to his Martyrdom there came to meet him a poor boy that was blind but had received the knowledge of the truth To whom the Martyr spake to this effect See to it that you continue to serve the Lord and that you lose not the knowledge of God for then thou wouldest be blinde both in soul and body So let me say to those of this rank amongst you Well is it if you have chosen the good part which cannot be taken away if you have in heaven an enduring substance else you are poor both in this world and in relation to that which is to come Study to shew your selves men and women approved of God that it may appear you are of the number of those whom the Apostle James makes mention of Chap. 2.5 Whom God hath chosen the poor of this world but rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him 4. You are all of you a people of signal and eminent mercies And if the mercy of God rise up in judgment against you what will be able to plead for you If mercy condemn you how sore will be your condemnation Will ye trample upon the bowels of the compassion of God And tread under foot his loving kindness Deut. 32.6 Do you thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise Is he not thy father that hath bought thee Hath he not made thee and established thee I will not multiply the mention of Particulars only there are two mercies principally come at present into my thoughts which I would have you never to forget 1. Remember the dayes of old consider the years of some generations at the least Ask your Fathers and they will tell it your Elders and they will shew it That you have been remarkably blessed with Gospel-priviledges and advantages for attendance upon God and communion with him You have had for some good while together a succession of faithful and painful Ministers who rightly divided the word of Truth When some other places were comparatively in darkness you dwelt in Goshen a place of light Keep therefore an holy suspicion and jealousie over your hearts and lives lest you be found guilty of receiving the grace of God in vain 2 Cor. 6.1 And to that end let me beseech you often to read and meditate with seriousness and self-application upon these awakening Texts Mat. 11.20 21 22 23 24. 2 Cor. 4.3 4 5 6. 2. Consult your late experiences of the goodness of God That was a special preservation which I would have you to keep fresh in your Memories and constantly to retain the sense of it upon your hearts When it pleased the Lord in the late dreadful year to contend with the Nation by the destroying Pestilence you were as a fire-brand pluckt out of the burning You were exposed to the contagion as well as other places where it violently raged Nay more upon several accounts than some other Towns which it laid almost desolate And the Lord was pleased only to give you thereby an awakening call to Repentance and to suffer the destroying Angel to proceed no further One house amongst you was infected and it swept away all that dwelt therein
brought to light wherein the way is revealed for restoring fallen sinners to their primitive happiness or conducting souls to everlasting bliss God hath graciously pleased to declare this way by the Scriptures and to leave it upon record in the Word of the Gospel and here we have the substance or summary of that Record viz. That God is the giver of eternal Life and that this life is in his Son c. If you examine the connexion or dependance which the words of the Text have with and upon the foregoing passages of the Chapter You will evidently find our Apostle is herein giving a succinct account of the great foundation-truths which are proposed to be the object of a Christians Faith by closing with which we do eminently and signaly advance the glory of God and by disbelieving whereof we are said to make him a lyar Our faith is to be built upon the word of the Lord to be bottomed upon the Record which God hath given concerning his Son And this saith the Apostle is the Record That God hath given us eternal Life c. The better to clear this coherence and so the genuine import and scope of these words let us a little cast our eyes back upon the context or the verse immediately preceding the Text wherein we may note two things 1. The nature and excellency of the grace of faith or believing on Christ ver 10. former part He that believeth on the Son hath the witness in himself 1. For the nature of Faith it is a believing on the Son so it is usually set forth in the dialect of the Holy Ghost Act. 16.31 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thine house Joh. 3.36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life This is the saving act of Faith which will bring a soul to Heaven a believing on the Son And therefore I might touch by the way on that common distinction as useful to be considered that there is a threefold act of Faith or three waies of Believing in reference unto Christ There is a believing 1. That Jesus is the Christ Credere Christum Christo. In Christum 2. Jesus Christ 3. On the Lord Jesus Christ 1. There is a believing that Jesus is the Christ an assent unto the truth of this principle that he who was born of the Virgin Mary is the true Messiah and Mediator sent of God to be the Saviour of Mankind So the very Devils believe As they know there is one God so they acknowledg this principle that Jesus is the Son of God and the only Redeemer of lost sinners Hence it is that they are so unwearied in their endeavors to hinder poor souls in closing with Christ and that they labour by all manner of false suggestions to draw their affections from the Lord Jesus Mark 1.24 The unclean spirit cried out Let us alone thou Jesus of Nazareth I know thee who thou art the Holy one of God And that herein the Father of lies spake the very truth you will find by the testimony of the Spirit of God himself v. 34. He cast out many Devils and suffered not the Devils to speak because they knew him 2. There is a Believing Jesus Christ i.e. a subscribing to the truth of the Doctrines that he delivered which are contained in the Scriptures the Word of Christ and Preached by Ministers of the Gospel in his name Thus a Simon Magus may believe he may own the verity of Christs Word though in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity Acts 8.12 13. When they believed Philip Preaching the things concerning the Kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ then Simon himself believed also Thus Nicodemus believed before he was instructed in the necessity or acquainted with the grace of regeneration he was convinced by the Miracles wrought by Christ that he was a teacher sent of God and consequently that the Doctrines which he taught were the truths of God Joh. 3.2 As a carnal person who never tasted of saving grace may have much knowledg in his understanding of the will of Christ so he may be under such convictions upon his judgment as in a sort to approve the Word of Christ Rom 2.17.18 3. But lastly there is a believing on the Lord Jesus When a man is so powerfully convinced of the evil of sin and his own obnoxiousness to the wrath of God and the heart so fully perswaded of the excellency of Christ and the sufficiency of his Righteousness together with the utter insufficiency of all other wayes of deliverance that thereupon he doth actually close with Christ upon Gospel terms and make application to him casting himself upon the Son of God for Salvation and renouncing all things for the enjoyment of him Although believing on Christ doth not alwayes signify a saving faith as see Joh. 2.23 yet for the most part it doth and so may fitly be made use of by way of distinction It being observed by some that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a phrase peculiar to the Holy Ghost and not used by prophane Authors This is the saving act of Faith A believing on or in the Son Joh. 11.25 26. He that believeth in me though he were dead yet he shall live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never dye For mark it Sirs that assent of the Judgment unto the great truths of the Gospel which is required of the Lord and is well pleasing in his sight is not a bare naked lifeless assent but a compounded and operative assent such as doth ingage the heart to comply with those truths and brings the whole Soul in subjection unto them Rom. 10.10 With the heart man believeth unto righteousness That 's for the nature of Faith It is a believing on the Son 2. For the excellency and preciousness of thus believing He that doth so hath the witness in himself i.e. in his own Soul and Spirit and Conscience He hath it graven upon the very tables of his heart But what is this witness which a Believer hath in himself Answ You may understand it either of these three waies 1. In relation to his spiritual state He hath a fundamental evidence that he is a child of God and in covenant with him here is sufficient matter if rightly improved whereupon to raise a testimony of this thing It is faith which brings a man under the favor of God and the act of believing is a sure token that the person is endowed with the grace or habit of Faith Spiritual actions as they must proceed from a Divine principle so they are evidences of that principle from whence they do proceed 1 Joh. 5.1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ not with a bare assent of the Judgment but he that believeth it with the heart as before * When a particular duty is produced as an evidence of a state of Salvation or hath a promise of grace and
to it that you study this Doctrine and judge aright concerning it for if the foundation fail upon which our comfort is bottomed all the superstructure must of necessity vanish that is erected upon that foundation All other attainments are as nothing without this If the leading mercy fail upon which others depend we must undoubtedly fall short of those other mercies which have their dependance hereon Why sirs Union with Christ is the very Basis of consolation and the leading mercy Joh. 15.6 If a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned The meaning is this A mans profession is nothing and all his common indowments and priviledges are nothing they will not signifie a jot as to save him from destruction he cannot escape the damnation of hell except he get into Christ and abide in him 3. It is dangerous to be ignorant of this mystery and it much concerneth us to get a sound knowledge hereof because this Doctrine of late hath been notably corrupted and perverted It hath been abused to the countenancing of some mens even blasphemous assertions which they have vented under the notion of high attainments They have endeavoured to break down that distinction which is between Christ and his people and to turn the whole substance of the Gospel into Allegories upon pretence of opening this Union And it concerneth us to be well instructed and established in present truths as the Apostle Peter phraseth it in 2 Pet. 1.12 truths which are mostly perverted in the present time or that need special vindication in the present age wherein we live in the defence whereof God calleth us to stand up against the adversaries If we would not be led aside by the error of the wicked and fall from our own stedfastness as we must labour to grow in grace so to increase in the knowledge of Christ 2 Pet. 3.17 18. So much for the second Conclusion to be premised 3. Concl. 3. Instead of curiously prying into and over-much inquisitiveness after this Mystery and the manner of this Union further than is revealed in the Scriptures of truth it should be the great design of mens souls to secure it unto themselves and to make it evident that they are sharers therein Herein lieth the marrow and fatness of this glorious priviledge when we can personally appropriate it to our own souls and say This is a mercy whereof we are partakers Else what sweetness can we tast in the contemplation thereof whilst our selves are strangers thereunto This is the very counsel of the Apostle in another case to his Corinthians 2 Cor. 13.3 4 5. They were enquiring after a proof of Christ speaking in him Why saith he your business lieth in reflection upon your selves to prove that Christ is formed in you The like advice I would give in this present affair And we should the rather give diligence herein upon a threefold account 1. Because hereby we shall be the better inabled to perceive the real meaning of what is delivered in the unfolding of this Mystery We shall easier discern the import of all the particulars mentioned in the opening of it when we have found it made good upon our own souls and feel somewhat wrought within us answerable to the doctrines which are taught concerning it For Sirs Postquam coelitus spiritu houste in novum me hominem nativitas secunda reparavit mirum in modum protinus confirmare se dubia patere clausa lucere tenebrosa c. Cyp. Ep. 2. ad Donat. a little experience of the power of godliness will notably help a man to discern clearly into the mysteries of godliness it will serve instead of many Commentators for the unfolding of divine truths If a Scholar should make a large and eloquent Oration to set forth the sweetness of honey a little taste of it would contribute more to a right understanding thereof than many learned Lectures without it So when persons have tasted the grace of God in this Union matters will be plain and easie unto them that seem dark and intricate and full of obscurity unto others In what a puzzle was Nicodemus as to the Doctrine of Regeneration in his understanding for want of feeling the work of Regeneration upon his heart So that he cried out How can these things be Joh. 3.4 9. And therefore David exhorteth us to tast and see Psal 34.8 that is endeavour to taste that you may the better know and understand the goodness of the Lord. 2. This is to employ these excellent truths which God hath graciously revealed to the end for which they are revealed to us The Lord hath not opened the treasures of his Wisdom in declaring these mysteries only to feed mens fancies and to fill their heads with speculations but to excite and extimulate us to get an interest in these mercies that we should personally apply them to our selves and make sure our claim and title thereto You will find this apparently to be the end of the promulgation of this very Doctrine 1 Joh. 5.13 These things have I written to you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life These things that is these high mysteries of salvation afore-mentioned that it is in the Son and to be enjoyed by vertue of our union with the Son I have written them that you may take them home to your own consciences and pass judgment upon your selves according to the tenour of these words 3. If we learn the nature of this priviledge and do not secure it to our selves it will but tend to the heightning of our condemnation So that better for us we had never known it or heard a word concerning it for this very thing will aggravate our contempt of the grace of God and the reflection upon it will be a continual torment upon our spirits What a cut will this be to a mans conscience when he cometh to die to bethink himself I knew that there was such a glorious priviledge prepared for the children of men and yet would never press after the enjoyment of it I preferred the pleasures of sin and satisfaction of some base lusts before it I was offered the Son and life and redemption through his blood and would not labour to secure it unto my self so that now I am undone eternally and irrecoverably See how Christ sets forth mens wickedness on this account Prov. 1.24 25 26. And it is evident conscience will take advantage from hence to be a tormentor to be a worm gnawing upon the very entrals of a mans spirit How have I hated instruction and my heart despised reproof O what madness have I been guilty of to know these things and not to make them sure unto my self Prov. 5.11 12 13. CHAP. III. Union with Christ distinguished and the branches of the distinction explicated HAving laid down these things
See Rev. 2. â— The Christians were at first reckoned by the Heathen as Jews vid. Suet. in vita Claud. Judaeos imgulsore Christo assidue tumultuantes Roma expulic So that the Christians seem to have goâ—e under that name and to haâ—â— been banished with them by the decree mentioned Act. 18.2 though they were no savingly instructed nor taught the truth as it is in Jesus yet they had some knowledge of the mind of God and were convinced of the truth and excellency of the Law of the Lord so as to subscribe to it and to own and approve it as such This made them Christ's people at large by way of profession And this must needs be one of the ligatures of that Union for such as avowedly reject the fundamental doctrines of Christianity are not so much as Christ's seeming friends but open enemies to his crown and dignity 2. There must be an external subjection to the Ordinances of Christ so as to afford their presence at them and outward compliance with them and attendance upon them For Sirs Gospel Ordinances are the badges of Christ's followers Sacramenta ut alia insti uta divina sunt figna piotestativa fidei as well as means to convey his grace into their souls And if a people belong to him at all they must at least wear his livery So that when persons live in the open neglect or contempt of the Ordinances and Institutions of the Lord Jesus or think they are arrived at so high a pitch as to be above Ordinances they do thereby declare themselves to be so far from the truth of grace that they are not arrived to a serious prosession Above Ordinances and below Christianity Such have not so much as Christ's livery upon them for this is one of the bonds of a common union Thus Simon Magus was baptized into Christ and for a while held fellowship with the Disciples and so in a sort did belong to Christ till afterwards he apostatized and discovered his rottenness Act. 8.13 So far the lowest rank of hypocrites ordinarily go It is true they have no spiritual communion or fellowship with Christ in his Ordinances but they are many times pretty-constant in attendance upon Ordinances So those carnal Israelites whom God owneth in this respect to be his people Isa 58 1.2 And therefore the Apostle calls men off from trusting in this to mind the grace of Regeneration and Conversion upon their hearts for these priviledges avail not to a saving union with Christ but a new creature Gal. 6.15 3. There is usually some common workings upon their hearts and spirits as now convictions in the conscience of the evil of sin sometimes an inclination upon their souls to give up themselves to be the Lords only a beloved lust hindereth the performance of it Possibly many common graces of the Spirit are conferred upon them in which respect they are said to be made partakers of the holy Ghost for so far a carnal Professor may arrive Heb. 6.4 5. The holy Ghost may strive with a professed enemy to the Kingdom of Christ There are some Converts external from the world to the Church who yet stick in their naturals and are not in the sense of sin fled unto Christ for refuge nor converted from nature to saving grace Dicâ—â—s but when he shall moreover work some remarkable effects upon a sinner as terrors in apprehension of the wrath of God desires to be sheltered under the wings of Christ that he may escape that wrath so that he joyneth himself outwardly to his people then he becometh a seeming friend though he proceed no further 4. The last bond which I shall mention of this common union with Christ is some degrees of reformation in the life and practise When persons live and lie weltering in gross pollutions of the world they do apparently belong unto the world they do openly proclaim themselves to be the very children of the devil If a man belong to Christ but by profession there must be some measure of reformation wrought there must be an actual abstaining from those wickednesses whereby the name of Christian is openly contradicted As real holiness and closs walking with God is essential to the being of a Disciple indeed so a cleansing of the outside of the cup and platter as our Saviour calleth it is required to make a man a Disciple but in appearance And thus far they commonly go 2 Pet. 2.20 21 22. They retained their doggish and swinish nature still as is evident from their Apostacy v. 12. The dog is turned to his vomit again and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire and yet they escaped the pollutions of the world and that through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ v. 20. Although the doctrines of the Gospel had not a saving effect upon their souls yet they had a real effect though their natures were not transformed yet their lives in some particulars were reformed their conversations were cleansed from gross and scandalous abominations That 's the first Position touching this matter 2. Pos 2. It is a very great priviledge and mercy considered in it self for a man or woman to be taken thus neer unto Jesus Christ and in this sense to be united to him namely by way of external adhaesion To be separated from the Heathen to be his people and to be made to differ from the profane world and the notoriously wicked who do avow their sins openly in the face of men and declare themselves subjects unto the prince of darkness Though it be not the best of priviledges yet it is a great priviledge though it be not a mercy to be rested in yet it is a mercy thankfully to be acknowledged it is no way to be slighted and undervalued The Apostle speaketh of it as such Rom. 3.1 2. What advantage hath the Jew or what profit is there of circumcision that is what benefit doth arise by being a member of the Church of Christ what profit is it to be a Jew outwardly a Disciple by profession into which relation circumcision did give them solemn entrance it was the Ordinance for initiation Is this nothing or is it a priviledge of a low nature No in no wise saith the Apostle do not thus esteem it It is an eminent mercy there is much advantage by it every way You will say wherein lieth the advantage of being thus in Christ Answ In four things especially 1. Chiefly and primarily because hereupon they are set under the means of grace and tenders of salvation They have eternal life set before their souls and upon the terms of the Gospel offered unto them Hereby they do enjoy the word of Christ the Oracles of God and the Ordinances which are the places wherein the Lord Jesus himself is to be found of them that seek him and which are the conduit-pipes through which he doth use to convey spiritual grace and blessings to such
damnation that will befal and the sore torments that will be inflicted upon such All ungodly sinners will be punished everlastingly but such as seemed to cleave unto Christ but yet served the devil will be punished most severely and made to drink of the dregs of the cup of God's indignation as sinning against most light Gospel-light and under means of grace denied to others which are the main aggravations of sin To them is reserved the myst of darkness for ever Genitivus reflexus super nominativum singularem importat eminentiam Ut coeli coelorum i.e. Altissimi Et sic in Synenimis ut iniquitas peccati i. e. maxime peccaminosa Sic caligo tenebrarum i. e. densissima that is the grossest darkness and sorest destruction 2 Pet. 2.17 You know our Lord Christ pronounceth the most terrible woes on this account Mat. 11.21 22 23. Wo to thee Chorazin wo to thee Bethsaida for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes But I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you And thou Capernaum which art exalted to heaven shalt be brought down to hell c. that is because thou art highly advanced in spiritual priviledges and hast not improved them thou shalt be destroyed with double destruction and made utterly desolate For as our Lord Jesus elsewhere concludes This is the condemnation that men live in sin under Gospel-light light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light Joh. 3.19 And besides I might have added that the torments of such will be the greater because of the reproach and scandal which they bring upon Christ and his ways As they dishonour him actively by their own transgressions so they give occasion to others to speak evil of him and his service For will wicked profane wretches be ready to say when they see the haltings and hypocrisie of these carnal Professors Lo these are your Saints that would be accounted more precise than others Here is their Religion and such they are all of them and the like It is because of the blots and blemishes of these counterfeit Christians that the name of Christ is blasphemed Rom. 2.24 compared with Ezek. 36.20 23. 3. Their condition is sad because of their more than ordinary inexcusableness in their eternal damnation They will have no manner of Apology or defence to make for themselves their mouths will be stopped to purpose for indeed they are condemned of themselves May Christ say unto them if my service were evil why did you call your selves may servants and go under my name and list your selves into my family and if it be excellent indeed why did not you serve me in truth and in sincerity Mat. 22.12 When the King came in to see the guests he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment And he saith unto him Friend how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment and he was speechless q. d. Why didst thou associate thy self with such company if thou wert resolved to continue in thy filthiness what an impudent wretch art thou to enter thy self into my houshold and family unless thou wert purposed to subject to the Laws and Discipline thereof How couldest thou for shame rank thy selfe amongst believers whilst thou liest polluted in thine impurity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi capistro injecto obmutuit And he was speechless he was muzzled as the word signifieth he had not a word to say in his own defence his own conscience silenced him For as the Apostle argueth If the light of nature will render the Heathen inexcusable and leave them without apology in the day of judgment how much more inexcusable are those who are brought within the pale of the visible Church of Christ and yet will not have that man to reign over them that call themselves Christians and partake of the priviledges of Christianity and yet serve the devil and are of his Synagogue Rom. 1.20 compared with Chap. 2.1 4. Their estate is sad bedanse of that vexation and horror which the very reflection up on this thing will bring to their spirits everlastingly How will the worm of conscience gnaw upon their hearts from this very consideration and the hypocritical wretches be ready to fear out their own bowels When they shall bethink themselves they were so neer to Christ and yet fell short of salvation by him that then took possibly a great deal of pains in the outward part of Religion to go on in a round of duties yet for want of truth and integrity in the inward parts must lose the benefit of all that ever they did that they were not far off from the kingdom of God and for want of going further must perish amongst the devils and damned for ever and make their bed in hell According to that in Luk. 13.28 There shall be weaping and gnashing of teeth when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God and you your selves thrust out So much more will it bring vexation and anguish upon a mans spirit when he shall see such an acquaintance of his got to heaven that perhaps fate in the same seat with him who was wont to meet at the same religious exercises with him and himself excluded When he shall find such an one received into Abrahams bosom that possibly she fat outstript in commons gifts and qualifications a poor broken-hearted sinner whom he was aâ—â— to despise and himself tâ—rust into the chains of â—arkness amongst dogs and forcerâ—rs and whoremongers amongst professed Atheists and the profanest of men What bitterness will this bring to a mans thoughts O my friends think of this betimes ere it be too late and the Lord a waken your hearts that you may not rest on this side of a saving Vnion with the Lord Jesus So much for the first branch of the distinction viz. An Union with Christ by way of commoâ— profession or exceâ—nal adhâ—sion only 2. There is an Union or Onchess with Jesuâ— Christ my spiritual implantation and ingrature When a person is in him so as to receive life and nourishment from him as a quick fruit-bearing graff is in the stock as a living member is in the body and united unto the head When a soul is not only set upon the foundation but is also cemented to it by the cement of special grace the peculiar work of the spirit of holiness When he is a lively stone built upon the living foundation as the holy Ghost expresseth it 1 Pet. 2.4 5. To whom coming as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house It is this sort of union which the Scripture mentioneth as so great a mystery and to which eternal life
with what spiritualness and faithfulness he doth fill up his particular calling and relations When he doth take a review of all his affairs on a spiritual account As a man that hath lost any thing in his travels he goeth over them back again in his thoughts He considereth where he was such a day and what place he lay in the other night and who was in his company and where he was most likely to leave that which he misseth So doth a Christian who is serious inself-examination he doth traverse his wayes back again in his retired contemplations He bethinketh himself what indowments he hath with what circumspection he hath walked how he hath improved this opportunity and redeemed the other part of his time c. This is the first reflexine act whereof this work is compounded viz. An act of inspection or retrospection into a mans self 2. There is an act of probation and trial of amans self When a person that examines himself hath found out the particulars to be observed touching his heart and wayes he doth not rest there but immediately bringeth all to the test and touchstone that he may see of what sort his qualifications are and of what kind his actions have been whether they are of the right metal and stamp as they ought to be and as he would have them to be whether they be such as will pass for currant in the court of Heaven As a careful Goldsmith when he receiveth a sum of mony doth not only count the pieces but if any of them be suspected or look but suspiciously he trieth them whether they be such as will pass in payment So doth a Christian in this spiritual work of the examination of himself touching his union with Christ First he observeth and takes notice what is within him and what hath been done by him and then he trieth what metal they are of that is whether the graces which appear to be within him are saving graces indeed or only counterfeit coin And whether his obedience be evangelical and spiritual obedience or not And whether the sins which he hath committed be such as may be stiled The spots of God's children or no. And the reason of it lieth in this Because in soul concernments especially there is oftentimes a vast difference betwixt reality and appearance Many things at the first view seem to be right and good When upon a stricter enquiry they are found false and rotten And therefore if we would not be deceived all things must be proved and tried This is mentioned as an act distinct from the former Lam. 3.40 Let us search and try our wayes First we must labour to find out our wayes what they have been and then trie them by the light of the Word of what sort they have been wherein they accord with the rule how we have deviated from it or fallen short of living up thereunto This is elsewhere called The weighing of a mans self in allusion to the practise of Tradesmen in their negotiation and traffick They do not only view the commodities which they buy but then they put them into the scales to see if they will hold weight for what they wefe bought So doth a careful Christian as to his demeanour First he observeth his own qual fications and performances and then he he trieth whether they will hold weight in the ballance Job 31.5 6. If I have walked with vanity or if my foot hath hasted to deceit Let me be weighed in an even ballance that God may know mine integrity q. d. Let my actions be throughly fifted and exactly looked and they will be found such as are acceptable unto the Lord. This is the second reflexive act whereof self-examination is made up or compounded 3. There is a conclusive determination or the passing sentence and judgment upon a mans self according to that search and trial As it is in Courts of Judicature amongst men when the cause is throughly opened and witnesses produced and the Law consulted in the case then according thereunto verdict is brought in and sentence pronounced Why Sirs self-examination is the erecting of a Court of Judicature in a mans breast where upon trial of the matter judgment doth pass for or against the person * Conscientia respectu propositionis est lex respectu assumptionis testis respectu conclusionis maximè propâ—iè Judex Therein a man doth gather a conclusion touching his own wayes that they are just or unjust pleasing unto God or provocations of the wrath of God And so concerning his person He draweth an inference and passeth sentence upon himself that he is righteous or wicked a child of God or one of his adversaries united unto Christ or still estranged from him 1 Cor. 11.31 If we would judge our selves we should not be judged And you have mention of the hearts passing sentence in both respects As 1. of condemnation upon supposal of the persons being wicked 2. Of approbation and absolution if righteous 1 Joh. 3.20 If our heart condemn us that is If upon a diligent search it pronounce sentence against us as unsound and such who have dealt falsely and unfaithfully in the Covenant of God And v. 21. Beloved if our heart condemn us not if it acquit and discharge us then have we confidence towards God Job 27.5 6. Till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me My righteousness I will hold fast and will not let it go my heart shall not reproach me as long as I live q. d. I will conclude that I am a person accepted of God and in Covenant with him that I have walked in uprightness before him whatever arguments you have urged to shake my confidence My righteousness I will hold fast i. e. I have concluded through grace that I am righteous and by this conclusion I will stick I will not pass sentence in mine own wrong This is the first conclusion asserted for opening the nature of self examination Conclus 2. The special faculty or power of the soul by which this work of self-examination is performed is the practical judgment or conscience of a man That is the reflexive eye of the soul whereby a person is inabled to look inward and to take an account of his own heart and wayes There is a twofold spiritual eye whereby a man hath preheminence above all the inferiour creatures 1. There is the eye of the speculative understanding in the exercise whereof he taketh a view of matters without himself at the remotest distance of place or time 2. The eye of the practical judgment or conscience whereby he doth reflect upon himself and animadvert upon his own spirit and wayes So that your work in this respect if you would rightly examine your selves touching your union with Christ is to labour to get an awakened conscience and a well informed conscience and a faithful conscience free from guile and self-flattery It concerneth you to take heed of deadness and security
God that it may prove a certain evidence of conversion and consequently of our union with Christ Jesus It must of necessity have these six properties and each of them must be enquired after in the business of self-examination It must be 1. Spiritual 2. Vniversal 3. Evangelical 4. Sincere 5. Thriving 6. Stedfast obedience 1. It must be spiritual obedience answerable to the nature of that God whom we wait upon and whose servants we are His essence is spiritual and such must our obedience to him be if we will serve the Lord acceptably and make it appear that we are of the number of his peculiar people Bodily exercise and a meer external devotion will strike a great stroke in making up the form of godliness but the power of it consisteth in that which is spiritual Joh. 4.23 The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him These are the true worshippers that is such as are so in Gods account whom he will graciously receive and own in their performances When people serve him in a bare external bodily manner he reckoneth them as his greatest enemies their service is but a piece of dissimulation which hath only the shadow of worship For the substance lieth in what is spiritual And such the Father seeketh to worship him i.e. such worship he commandeth and his soul is well pleased with Although it seemeth to be spoken here with a peculiar reference to instituted worship yet it holds strongly as to natural worship also even of all the parts and particulars of his service For the reason which is rendred v. 24. is comprehensive of all Because God is a Spirit So that our obedience if it prove us a chosen generation whom God hath set apart for himself must be spiritual And that in a threefold respect In respect of the 1. Principle from whence it floweth 2. Extent how far it reacheth 3. Subject whereon it is terminated 1. In respect of the principle from whence it proceedeth It must be such obedience as cometh from the heart and wherein the soul and spirit is ingaged Not an honouring him with the lips and drawing neer to him with the mouth when the heart is removed far from him Not a serving him only by a kind of compulsion under some terrible apprehensions of the judgments of God not in a slothful careless and lukewarm manner as if Religion were a weariness to us and we had no mind to our work But when we serve him aright our hearts must be ingaged to approach unto him Jer. 30.21 22. we must be fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.11 And our inward parts must be employed in the works of holiness When a mans tongue doth speak forth the praises of God and his heart joyneth with him in the business when his hands do act in the works of piety and his spirit concurreth in the action and carry him on thereunto this is to serve the Lord with the Spirit Although he calleth for the body also to be imployed in his service as indeed he deserveth the whole man yet not as a picture or image without life and soul but as animated by the heart Prov. 23.26 My son give me thine heart and let thine eyes observe my wayes q.d. A slave will give me his hands and feet and the strength of his body an hypocrite will offer up the outward man but if thou be a son I must have the heart and spirit 2. It must be spiritual obedience in respect of the extent of it how far it reacheth Such as sets us in opposition against spiritual sins as well as fleshly such as causeth us to fight against secret pride and envy and earthliness and unbelief and malice and double-mindedness and the like as well as to obstain from rotten communication and gross outward pollutions It must be such obedience as is exercised in spiritual duties as meditation on the word of the Lord and frequent contemplation of the excellencies of God adoring his Majesty and admiring his works and setting the affections on things above as well as in pleading the cause of holiness and openly walking in the profession of it It must carry us to such works as are performed in the secret recesses of the Spirit and sets us a striving against such corruptions as are forged and fabricated in the spirit which no eye can observe but God and our own consciences 2 Cor. 7.1 Let us cleanse our selves from all the filthiness both of the flesh and spirit Rom. 8.5 They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit Psal 73.1 Truly God is good to Israel even to such as are clean of heart See further Psal 24.3 4. Mat. 6.21 3. In respect of the subject whereon it is terminated It endeth in the further renewing and purifying the spirit and getting more degrees of habitual grace into the heart When we are not only contented to be kept free from the acts of sin but do mourn and lament under the principle of sin and labour to deaden that principle When we do not think it enough to do much for God but fain would have our spirits transformed every day more and more into the image of God Thus it will be if you are converted If a carnal person resist the temptation he thinks his work is done and is apt to glory in himself as if the whole business were dispatched But a convert layeth the ax to the root of the tree he followeth the corrupt stream to the poysonous fountain whence it is derived and nothing will satisfie him but cleansing the fountain and taking revenge upon his lusts that lodge within him Rom. 7.23 24. Paul's actual sins cause him to have an eye upon his heart by which he was turned aside I see saith he another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity unto the law of sin which is in my members O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death This is the first qualification It must be spiritual obedience 2. If you would prove your conversion and consequentially your union with Christ by your obedience It must be universal obedience Not a partial and restrictive serving of God but a following him fully as far as the whole circuit of holiness reacheth As it is said of Caleh Num. 14.24 He followed the Lord fully and that proved him to be a man of another spirit and of a gracious temper indeed sanctified by the holy Ghost because his obedience was universal There is a threefold universality must go to the right qualifying our obedience that it may be evidential of a converted estate It must be universal in relation to the 1. Agent or person obeying 2. Rule of obedience 3. Times and seasons of the performance 1. In relation to the agent or person
That he will have a cooler place in hell than some others who have ran beyond him in the perpetration of horrid abominations 5. A meer civil conversation and inoffensive câ—â—riage towards men is a poor foundation of a mans hopeâ— You have some will lean upon this prop and be very confident of their salvation upon this ground because they pay all men their due and walk honestly towards their neighbours and defie all the world to bring in a bill of accusation against them But this will prove as a rotten pillar that cannot support the Fabrick For observe what our Saviour saith to the Pharisees Luke 16.15 Ye are they which justifie your selves before men but God knoweth your hearts for that which is highly esteemed amongst men is abomination to God Mark it here is the question Is thy heart washed and sanctified Art thou regenerated by the Spirit of Christ and so knit unto him The God before whom thou must appear is the searcher of the hearts and will bring to light the hidden things * Deest aliquid intus Said one of a picture when he tried to make it stand and vvalk of it self There wants something within So it may be said of the unregenerate moralist There vvants a Principle of spiritual life vvithin of darkness He seeth those secret and spiritual wickednesses that lodge within thee which the world cannot discern He taketh a view of those inward pollutions and filthinesses which pass the eye of the most curious inquisitor amongst the children of men Civility is a mercy for which thou art bound to bless the name of God but it will not entitle thee to the Kingdom of God * Va etiam vitae laudabili Aug. For the obtaining of that thou must be united to Christ Unconverted Paul was of a blameless conversation and yet a child of the wrath of God And therefore when he had a right knowledge of matters he did not rest herein but earnestly breathed after Christ and rejected all things that he might be found in him Phil. 3.6 8. 6. Legal sorrow for sin and a kind of reformation thereupon will not serve to beget a well-grounded hope of eternal life When sinners are under some pangs of conviction that damps their mirth for a while and their consciences are troubled for some ungodliness which they have committed and this trouble prevaileth so far as to make them leave the practise of that ungodliness for the present Hence they are apt to cherish strong confidence of their salvation Surely think they it cannot go amiss with us who have felt such disquietness in our spirits and begin to lead a new life What will bring a man to heaven if this will not But man one thing thou lackest yet and that is union with Christ the Son of God Unless thy sorrow for sin prove efficacious to drive thee quite out of thy self and to cause thee to give up thy soul into the hands of the Mediator whom God hath appointed it will in no wise conduct thee to everlasting glory Judaâ— was troubled for sin and restored the pieces of silver which he had gotten as the wages of unrighteousness and yet he went unto his own place Mat. 27.4 5. Act. 1.25 He had deep gashes of conviction cut in his conscience whereby he was wounded sorely and yet perished for ever for want of getting into Christ and application thereby of the healing balsom of his righteousness There may be much torture and vexation in the heart for sin and such as may carry a man to some amendment of life and yet not a drop of that godly sorrow that worketh repentance unto salvation not the least degree of that evangelical brokenness and contrition of spirit which driveth the sinner unto Christ that he may find rest for his soul 7. The meer external performance of spiritual daties is no sufficient ground whereupon to bottom our hopes of eternal life Such as prayer and reading the Scriptures and frequenting religious exercises and the like These are good means if rightly managed to bring a sinner unto Christ but in themselves they are no evidence of a good estate The Pharisee was much in outward duties and yet he was not justified Luke 18.12 A person may make many prayers and play the counterfeit in all that he doth many confess sin and plead against it with their mouths and in the mean while hug it in their bosoms they pretend to earnest desires of grace and holiness in their expressions but hate it in their affections with a perfect hatted they read the Scriptures to find out the will of God and yet retain a secret resolvedness of spirit to follow the dictates of their own wills they attâ—nd with their bodies on the Ordinances of Christ whilst their hearts go after covetousness and other base corruptions Ezek. 33.31 32. Many labour only to stop the mouth of conscience with outward performances who are utterly strangers to the workings of a renewed principle Besides What are the Institutions and Ordinances of Christ except they lead the soul unto Christ That is the very end of their appointment to bring us unto him and to build us up in him without an interest in whom by way of union with him there is no right to the kingdom of heaven attainable by any 8. The good opinions of the godly are but a sandy foundation of hope It is a great mercy to converse with such as are spiritually wise and to have a place and seat in their affections who are favourites in the court of heaven But it is no sure evidence of our title to heaven And the reason is this Because their estimation of others may arise from a mistake of their persons judging them only by what is visible and apparent in open view but God is a discerner of the secret recesses of the heart The Lord seeth not as man seeth 1 Sam. 16.7 How was David mistaken in Achitophel They took sweet counsel together and walked unto the house of God in company and yet he was an accursed person and wickedness was in his dwelling Psal 55.14 They may be much in the affections of the godly who are an abomination unto the Lord. So that trust not in this as a sign of a good estate Thon mayest be of great repute amongst Christians and yet alienated from Jesus Christ whereas it is only union with the Son and ingrafture into him which will give thee a right to salvation 9. Lastly that I may hasten to a conclusion A being joyned in fellowship with this or the other party who make a stricter profession of godliness than others is an insufficient ground whereupon to build our hopes of eternal life This is all the proof that some can make of their fincerity Because they are of such a perswasion and settled in a Church way with such eminent professors they are of the same judgment and hold the same opinions with them this is made the foundation of great