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A36184 The doctrine of faith, justification and assurance humbly endeavoured to be farther cleared towards the satisfaction and comfort of all free unbiassed spirits, with appendix for peace / by Robert Dixon, prebendary of Rochester. Dixon, Robert, d. 1688. 1668 (1668) Wing D1747; ESTC R32761 60,709 121

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go along with them and for ever despair of Gods Mercies Let them enjoy this World no wise man will envy them They are left to themselves They that are wilful let them be wilful still Ob Many say they know no better Ans There are many things they might know if they had a mind to know but these men revel away all their Time and never regard to know any thing that is good Who can pretend ignorance that there is a God and that he should do as he would be done by Not one For these are Common Principles And as for Consequences men might easily make them if they would take the pains upon several occasions in life As to say when they dissemble How do I look when I Lye Do I not hide falsehood under my Tongue and is there not a Lie in my right hand Do I spend vast Sums upon vanity of Apparel and Riotous living and should I grutch to pay the Minister his small dues or to give a little to the Poor No man but might say and do these things and such as these whensoever occasion is offered in his business amongst men But men sleep or Pot away their dayes and forget all goodness and in a moment they go down to the Grave and Rottenness takes fast hold upon them In a Word for there is no end of writing Books upon such Subjects to informe and rebuke all men at all times as they have need for all their wild Extravagancies Let us hear all in a little Fear God and keep his Commandments keep Faith and a good Conscience yet more briefly Love is the fulfilling of all Gods Commandements FINIS An APPENDIX for PEACE Transition I Have in my former Discourses endeavoured to satisfy and comfort weak fearful and melancholy spirits who though they have true Faith yet by reason of their own Distempers within and the Temptations without complain for want of that Faith and Assurance which they have already 1. It remains that I should farther put on to satisfy concerning Children that dye before they attain to Faith or the use of Reason in what condition their souls are in 2. As also concerning Innocents and Fools that all their life long are suspended from the use of Reason 3. As also concerning Mad-men who after the Exercise of Reason have been deprived thereof for ever or have lost it for a time and then recovered it and lost it again 4. As also of them that perish by Fire or Water or dye suddenly by any other accident 5. As also concerning them that in their health of Body enjoy health of mind but when Sicknesses have violently seized upon their Bodies their Souls have lost all sober use of understanding will or memory to the outward appearance only the Fancy abounds with absurd Idaeas and representations of things never acted by them or sometimes by any other And thence proceed expressions of Blasphemy Uncleanness Nonsense to the great trouble and amazement of their weak friends especially if they chance never to recover their wits again 6. And lastly concerning those honest Heathens that have excelled in virtue and the fear of God either upon the stock of natural knowledge and their own practice or some farther secret Revelation that God hath made unto them In what state or condition their Souls may be thought to be in And these are all the cases of doubt that I can think on upon this present Subject To these I shall strive to give a modest answer with submission to better Judgments being farr from a Magisterial Spirit of absolute Determination in any thing save what God hath most cleerly revealed to all 1. I say then as to the first Case of Infants that dye in that estate Chap. 1. I think their souls are in a very safe condition Reason And the Reason is from Gods infinite justice as well as Grace That though their Fathers have eaten sown Grapes yet they their childrens teeth shall not be set on edge They must dye because they are the children of the first Adam by Nature that brought in death by his Sin which is the wages thereof But they shall not dye everlastingly because they are the children of the Second Adam by Grace that brought in life everlasting by his Righteousness which is the Reward thereof As for their actual non-stipulation such as is required in ordinary Covenants and in the Covenant of Grace I suppose their incapacity which God puts them in of such Stipulation for want of Power to use Reason shall not render them incapable of the Grace of God to excuse them by extraordinary favour for what they could not help For notwithstanding the impossibility of actual acceptation of their Will yet probably God may convey that Grace unto them which he hath promised to the faithful and their Seed though at present they do not know it yet hereafter they shall know it to their great admiration of that Grace that brought them unto Glory And what should hinder them from being susceptible of the benefit of Gods Promises although they understand not Faith For are they not innocent and will God condemn the innocent as he doth the wicked shall not the Judge of all the World do right This be farre from God to judge unrighteous Judgment and this be far from us to think of God after such a fashion Are not Infants free from all love of the World or malicious wilfulness to put by Grace or to grieve the Spirit of God whereby they are sealed unto the day of their Redemption And is it not an exuberancy of Love and such as becomes the God of Love to help those poor creatures that cannot help themselves And can he in Justice create such innumerable and helpless Souls and give them but a short life without all knowledge or sense of pleasure on purpose to damn them to everlasting pain and make them fuel for Hell-fire only to shew what he can do Certainly Gods thoughts are not like mans thoughts so cruel neither are his wayes like mans wayes so unjust But they are of a better fashion neither may we think God to be such a one as our selves Secondly concerning Innocents and Fools Chap. 2. that have lived long and yet never attained to the use of a Rational Soul I think these are more miserable wretches then children that dyed in their Infancy but not more sinful but both are alike innocent and harmless before God That stained condition that they as Sons of Traitors are in by Law that have forfeited their Estates is a sufficient punishment for this World by Grace they are most certainly free from the punishment of the next World For these poor Lambs what have they done that never were in a capacity so much as to will good or bad And 't is a true saying Nihil ardet in inferno nisi propria voluntas Nothing suffers in Hell but the sinful Will What does Baptisme consign Chap. 3. but an
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
and Drink and be merry in the Lord. I will suffer patiently in the Lord. I will Live and Die in the Lord. Tell me not of Temptations I know who is on my side and will deliver me Tell me not of Tribulations I know who will Save me Tell me not of Death and Hell I know who will Redeem me Yea He hath Delivered He hath saved He hath Redeemed me already The Forgiveness of my Sins past present and to come is already present with me The Deliverance from all my Sufferings is already present with me Eternal Life and Salvation is already present with me I know in whom I have Trusted Here will I fix say the World the Flesh or the Divel what they will or can But with a Carnal Life Chap. 11. Carnal m●n this Faith and Hope cannot consist Of all Tempers these are most opposite to Faith 1. Outward uncleanness Rioting and Drunkenness Chambering and Wantonness Strife and Envy Cursing Damning Oppression and Cruelty and such like 2. Inward Hypocrisy Lying and Cheating c. 3. Open Rebellion Sacriledge Sedition and murmuring and such like The Carnal mind understandeth not the things of God neither indeed can it because they are spiritually discerned Thus it becometh us to Preach and you to practice Grace Faith Repentance Patience c. It is too Legal to preach Laws Duties Curses Threatnings Damnation The Gospel is Faith Love Hope Joy in the Holy Ghost Grace mercy pace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ Till we perswade you to Faith we shall never do our work nor your work for you Believe only and you shall be saved This will bring works and duties and mortifications and all shall be pleasing to God and without this nothing shall be pleasing unto him for without Faith it is impossible to please God Say not You cannot understand this Spiritual Doctrine of the Gospel and this Rule is too high for you to walk by it is too hard a Taske to lead this life of Faith Sol. I answer Chap. 12. Gospel Easy It is easy to understand this Doctrine and he that is willing shall be made to know the mind of God and to do the same It is as easy to understand this Gospel-Precept Thou shalt not Lust or Hate as to understand this Legal Command Thou shalt not commit Adultery or Thou shalt not Kill It is as easy to understand That the thoughts of the Heart and the desires of the Will are to be regulated as the words of the Tongue or the works of the Hand It is as easy to understand Faith as Works to Believe as to Live To accept of the Covenant of Grace as of works As for the Mysteries of Faith in the Trinity Incarnation Descension Intercession of Christ and such like They are more easily and safely to be believed then disputed And the spirit is given to all that Believe that they might understand and do the Will of God That they might know the heighth and length and breadth and depth of the Love of God which passeth all knowledg It is as easy and farre more to hear of Grace Mercy and Peace as to hear of Law Curses and Damnation It is as easy to hope as fear to rejoyce as to mourn to be free as to be slaves to walk in light as in darkness To understand the good of the Soul as of the Body the life to come as this life present Wise are we to know this World Gain Honor pleasure c. and wiser we might be to know the World to come Ob Ob. A hard saying who can hear it Sol. Sol. An easy and true saying and very pleasant and may be heard Yea and he that hath Ears to hear let him hear for he may hear if he will none so deaf as they that will not hear The Charmer charmes often and wisely unless we stop our Ears with the deaf Adder and refuse to hear the voice of this Charmer though he charms unto us never so often never so wisely There is a voice behind us yea within us which saies unto us This is the way walk in it Turn from the ways of wickedness pass by them and come not neer unto them for fear iniquity be your Ruin for why will ye Dye O when will it once be The Sun of the Gospel shines very cleerly but the World shuts her eyes upon it The light is come into the world but men loved darkness rather then light because their deeds are evil The opposers of this heavenly way of walking with God in Faith and spiritual Duties are 1. Outward Formalists and Will-worshippers Chap. 13 ●ormali●ts which rest in the Letter and in the outward work done as in Fasts Feasts Forms Austerities Almes Justice Temperance c. yet there is a more excellent way to go on to perfection not to draw neer to God with our Lips but our hearts As the proud Pharisee that fasted twice in the Week that made long Prayers that paid Tithe of all that he possessed that thanked God that he was not like other men nor as that Publican But the poor Publican went home to his house Justified rather then the other And the very Publicans and Harlots shall enter into the Kingdome of Heaven by their Faith when these Hypocrites shall be shut out 2. Law-Preachers Chap. 14. Law-Preachers and hearers of Curses and Damnation Are we Saved by the Works of the Law or by the Faith of the Gospel By the works of the Law no flesh living shall be justified What Law had the Heathens Preached unto them They were never under the Law they needed it not after they did believe nor Wee God did write in the Law in their hearts by his Spirit in the dayes of the Gospel and the Kingdome of Heaven is within us The royal Law of Love The perfect Law of Liberty is written upon the Tables of our hearts and this is a sufficient Rule to bring us to Heaven Mockers of Faith Chap. 15 Mockers Self-denyal Mortification Purity of heart Poorness of Spirit Mourning Meekness hungring and thirsting after Righteousness Mercifulness Peace-making Suffering Persecution Rejoycing in Persecution which are the spiritual commands of Christ to which Blessedness is promised Such Prophets as speak of these things are counted Fools and such spiritual men esteemed mad by the voluptuous and Luxurious men of the World and by the Zenonian Fatalists that depend upon absolute Decrees and put all to a venture What then remains but that all Reasonable men should be satisfied with this reasonable service of Faith which is above their Carnal Reason but agreeable with all spiritual and Right Reason and none but unreasonable and absurd men will deny it I will resolve therefore with my self Chap. 16. Soul-Resolution to go out of my self and trust no longer in my Flesh nor in any Creature I will resolve with my self to understand better things and to know my self more perfectly 1. How
all Sin is in my Flesh 2. How all misery is in my Flesh And that this is but my outward Man the old Man That decayes and dies which I am daily putting off 3. How all Grace is in my Spirit 4. How all Glory is in my Spirit And that this is the Inward Man The new Man That quickens and lives which I am daily putting on And that therefore by my Faith I live above sin and above Misery and beyond them both while in my flesh I am perplexed with them both What then is all this Mourning by reason of Sin and for Afflictions here below Is not this the way to Heaven though it be thus Rugged and Thorny Is not this the Sea and are not these the Waves and Storms and Rocks and Quicksands that are therein But is not Christ my Pilot and am I not safe under him Have I not a sure Guide that will bring me into a safe Harbour Can I not then have a little Patience T is but to have a little Patience Dabit Deus his quoque finem 'T is but standing still a while and I shall see the Salvation of God Wherefore then all this a do Wherefore do ye trouble my Spirit I am ready not only to suffer but to dye There is no strang thing happened unto me but such as is common to all the faithfull and such as happened to Christ himself What though I am Tempted Afflicted Oppressed I live still The just shall live by his Faith My Vessel is covered with Waves yet she bears up against them My House is beaten and shaken with winds and waves yet it stands still because it is founded upon a Rock I am fearful naturally I do confess yet by the Grace of God I can look Sin Misery and Death in the face and trust in God still If I look only upon Sin and Misery and Death and Hell alas I dye for fear But if I look upon God and Christ I live for evermore If I consult with flesh and bloud I mourn and die but if I consult with the Spirit I rejoyce and live They that live after the Flesh shall die but they that by the spirit do mortify the deeds of the flesh shall live Qu. Do we then live by Faith or by Sense Spiritually or Carnally Ans If we say we live by Faith and by the Spirit I say then what means this lowing and bleating of the Beasts that I hear Vnde Luctus Planctus Where is all this howling and Lamentation Why all this Despairing and Doubting O we of little Faith A voice in Ramah is heard bitter Lamentation Rachel mourning for her children and refuseth to be comforted because they are not But is Christs Church a Widdow hath she not a Husband is she an Orphan and hath she not a Father Is she a stranger and hath she not a Protector Surely she is the Spouse and Daughter of Christ and no stranger therefore God will take care and charge of her and do for her abundantly above all that she is able to aske or think Doth God take care for Oxen and for the Birds of the Air and for the Lillies of the Field and shall he not much more take care for us O we of little Faith Let me alone therefore and trouble me no more from henceforth with idle Questions or direful Curses I have a God to trust to I have nothing to do with you O ye subtil O ye uncharitable ones O my Soul strengthen thou thy self in thy God alone it is good for me to wait upon my God and to keep my self close to the Rock of my Salvation Why Have I not found his Goodness all along and should I doubt now Have I served so good a Master and now should I leave him Why how and by whom have I lived all this while under all sorrows And how do I live still And how do I hope to live hereafter And how do I hope to live for evermore but by my Faith in Gods Promises I am not exactly Righteous therefore I cannot live by my works but I am willing to work Righteousness and by the Grace of God I shall be accepted and live by Faith CONCLUSION The Doctrine of Faith is sufficiently known that thereby we are Justified Regenerated Adopted Incorporated into Christs Church Elected Sanctified Assured and shall be raised up from the dead and live in glory everlastingly But who are the true Believers is not so sufficiently known and it is hard to know All will profess their Faith but how do they prove it All will reckon upon Salvation but how do they prove their Reckoning Here lies the main Point that men should not deceive themselves Professors enough Teachers many but how true God knows 2 Cor. 13.5 and they themselves do not know for want of Trial of themselves Well therefore said the Apostle Examine your selves whither ye be in the Faith prove your own selves know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates I take great care upon This. I find high Pretenders to Faith and to the Spirit Chap. 17 Pretenders and mighty zealots in all duties of Devotion but I find also that they are not honest but Lyars Cheaters Malicious Proud Boasters Rebellious Sacrilegious Extortioners Lovers of themselves Luxurious Covetous and the greatest Troublers of the World I do not say Swearers nor open Drunkards c. I wish these men to examine themselves better and know themselves to be Hypocrites For God and the World know them so to be for they daily rob God in Tithes and offerings and his Priests of honor and respect They rob the King of Tributes and Customes and of Honour and Obedience They do cheat and forswear to the ruin of their neighbours none more Now shall such a Faith save them It must be no other then a dead Faith Because they are Hypocrites and do no good works therefore they have made shipwrack of a true Faith and of a good Conscience 2. I find ordinary Professors of Faith formal enough Customary hearers and Worshippers and just men But they are not zealous but they are not sober and temperate but they are cursers and swearers I do not say they are Lyars I wish heartily these men would examine themselves better They are in a good way and are almost but not all together good Christians They are too luke-warm and formal They must stir up themselves more or else they will come short of true Faith 3. I find some that are close and private and make little open shew of any Religion to the World Being no comers to Church no Readers nor Prayers at home regard no Laws nor Magistrates nor Ministers But keep to their shops and employments greedily groveling upon the World and minding no divine Deity I wish these men would examine themselves better and awaken out of their sottish condition For they can have no grounds to build any solid
Ablution from Original Sin and a Death to all Sin and a life to Righteousness and thereby exemption from the state of Damnation to the state of Salvation and that to Infants as well as others that are Baptized with water and if not Baptized it was none of their fault And whither outwardly Baptized or no what can hinder the Inward Baptisme of the Spirit to them if they Dye presently before or after Baptisme or to others if they live long to believe and keep that Faith in which they were Baptized except they make Shipwrack both of Faith and a good Conscience by breaking the Vow and Promise made by them None can deny but the Spirit of God is free as the Wind to blow where and when and how it listeth and who so fit objects to receive the gifts of his Grace for life Eternal as these poor Creatures that are so miserable as not so much as to enjoy the comforts of this life Temporal Do not Rights belong to Children and Fools by Law but Grace gives Rights above and contrary to Law Especially the Grace of God which is so Gracious that our shallow understandings and stammering Tongues are not able to apprehend and express it I will therefore stand still admire and hold my peace when I cannot fathom his Infinite Mercy 3. Thirdly Concerning Mad-men who have had Reason and Faith Chap. 4. Untimely Ends. and afterwards without their own fault have lost the use of both at least Quoad nos to outward appearance either wholly or for a certain time or times coming and going I am as favourable to judge of them as I did for Infants and Fools I know well God is favourable and his Royal Laws most favourable and to be most favourably interpreted as good men will allow their own Laws to be And therefore it becomes me and all men to come as neer unto God for kindness as we may and it is most safe so to do I say then as favourably as I can thus As they have had Reason and Faith before their distraction so they have them still under their Distraction The Habits they retain the Acts they cannot shew It is all alike to God though not to us He knows what the Inward Man is though we do not but by the expressions of the Outward Man to guess only 4. Fourthly Chap. 5. Untimely ends Concerning such as have been understanding and faithful both and fruitful in Wisdome and Goodness and yet have suddenly pershed by Fire or Water or the Sword or any other fatal Contingency I answer I do not judge amiss of their Souls at all for the grievous misery that hath happened unto them No not if they have in their Passion or Provocation of uncharitable Censures thrust out their own Souls out of their Bodies supposing they were such as constantly feared God before They have not lost the life of their Souls though they have lost the life of their Bodies they have not lost an Eternal though they have lost a Temporal life All these Changes and Chances of a long Life or a short of a natural or violent Death of a Single or a Married life of Poverty or Riches of Beauty or Deformity of Ignorance or Learning c. are nothing to the farthering or hindering of the state of a Blessed Eternity 5. Fiftly Chap. 6. Sickmen distracted Concerning them that in their health of Body have enjoyed health of minde with Faith and a good Conscience but afterwards have been distracted by violent Diseases and never recovered But as other Madmen that walk abroad or are shut up as otherwise healthy and strong they do talk not only idly and fantastically but wickedly and profanely and act altogether ragingly I am not afraid to answer that notwithstanding all these things have happened unto them through Gods Providence against their own Wills yet their Souls are in as good and as safe a condition as ever they were before Obj. But what will you say may some object of them Chap. 7. Malefact●rs that for and by the guilt of some grievous Sins as Murder Rebellion c. or for some grievous Misery as Love Want loss of Children c. have fallen Sick and lost their Wits withal 'till they have dyed either by meer sickness or by laying violent hands upon themselves I answer And what will you say that make this objection or what can any man say of these men whither they repented or no between the Bridge and the Water or of God whither his wayes be not often secret but alwayes just And whither think you is safest for me to say they are damned or to hope the best that by the favour of God punishing them here they may be spared hereafter If you can give a better Judgment then I in this Case then do I leave them to that God that made them who is infinitely just and good and knows how to relieve the weak And hope the best 'T is dangerous to walk upon the Ridges of headlong and slippery Places as the Tops of Towres and steep Rocks or Brinks of deep Waters 6. Sixthly and lastly Chap. 9. Heathens There is one Case more and it is as much as I can think of concerning those honest Heathens that have excelled in virtue and the fear of God though never Circumcised to the Jewish Law nor Baptized to the Christian Gospel but only for ought we know have grown good upon the Stock of Natural Light or some secret supernatural Illumination in what state or Condition their Souls may be thought to be in I answer as well as I can That their Creed is to believe that God is and that he is a rewarder of all such as diligently seek him And so they came to God and whither he rejected them after they came to him as well as they could let the wise judge If then they do believe that God was a Rewarder Chap. 9. Jewes then there is no Reward but in Christ And what did the Jewes know cleerly of Christ or of the Resurrection were they therefore damned They had a dark Dispensation of Resemblances of Heavenly things by the Patterns of Earthly Ceremonies and Promises and these a darker by natural light and impulse If Spiritual and Eternal things were generally hinted unto them and they walked according to what they knew as the best Jews did God will ●equire no more at the hands of the Jew or Gentile then what he hath given them The one shall be judged by that Law they had in Tables and the other by that Law they had in their hearts and the Christians by that Spiritual Law of the Gospel the Perfection of both the former And God will have all men every where to repent and in every Nation and at all times they that fear God and worship him and do justly as well as they can shall be accepted of him And whatever their condition be which yet we have no cause to judge