Brother sin a sin which is not unto death he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death Now were there none but those that were so absolutely chosen of God that they could not fall away it could not then be so properly said of them that prayers should give them life that never were in danger of death And so on the contrary if others by the determinate Counsel of God were left under a necessity of damnation then prayers for such would be altogether unavailable it being impossible that the offender should receive life by them neither would the Apostle have given orders for them to have been so prayed for Chap. XII How it is that he that is born of God sinneth not and keepeth himself that the evil one toucheth him not THE Apostle saith 1 John c. 5. v. 18. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself and the wicked one toucheth him not These words admit of a two-fold meaning First That there was a remnant of Israel so secured in Christ as they could not be deceived Secondly They have a reference to all that that are born of God so as to be brought off from the ways of sin And whilst they are thus born or brought off from sin so as to maintain a continual combat with the World the Flesh and the Devil Such an one theâ— cannot wilfully commit sin because their wills and inclinations are set against sin And if they in their wills and inclinations remain thus stedfast it keeps them in a continual resistance so as the evil one cannot touch them Now we are to take notice that by their improving their season of grace or the Talents which God had given them the Apostle saith They kept themselves so as the evil one toucheth them not For they which had the five Talents were to improve them as well as they which had the two and one But whosoever is again brought off from the ways of God to the World as to yield themselves again servants to sin the grace of God was by them received in vain Rom. 6.16 Know ye not that to whom ye yield your selves servants to obey his servants ye are to whom ye obey whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness And St. John saith chap. 2. v. 3,4 And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his Commandments He that saith I know him and keepeth not his Commandments is a lyar and the truth is not in him This is so plain that it needs no explanation to shew that it is the practical knowledge of God that is required Chap XIII The meaning of being born again explained JOHN 3.1,2,3 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus a Ruler of the Jews the same came to Jesus by night and said unto him Rabbi we know that thou art a Teacher come from God for no man can do these Miracles that thou doest except God be with him Jesus answered and said unto him Verily verily I say unto thee except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God This the Lord said to a man that was a Pharisee and a Ruler in Israel and to a man that had a desire after the knowledge of the Lord but was ashamed to come to him in the sight of the World and so came to Jesus by night and therefore the Lord said unto him as in the foregoing words in which the Lord had only his reference to such as were ashamed to own him before men and such as live after the flesh Now Nicodemus wondering at the answer of the Lord in verse 4. said unto him How can a man be born when he is old can he enter the second time into his Mothers womb and be born ver 5,6 Jesus answered Verily verily I say unto thee except a man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit These words of the Lord here has no reference to Children as to their thus being born again nor to those persons that have always lived in a holy in and upright conversation For first the Believers Children are in Covenant and if they die in their Infancy are accepted in and thro' Christ And John Baptist was moved by the Spirit of God with joy in his Mothers womb upon the salutation of the blessed Virgin And Christ saith Suffer little Children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the Kingdom of God Mark 10.14 Therefore what is here spoken by the Lord of being born after the flesh hath not its reference to the natural birth But as the Lord had a figurative meaning in saying they must be born after the Spirit or they cannot enter into the Kingdom of God So the Lord hath here a figurative meaning as to these here spoken of which are born of the flesh That is those that embraced the desires of the flesh and the world and thereby begotten or born of it from which they must be again new born that is brought off by forsaking that which before they delighted in and their wills and affections brought into a complying frame to the Spirit of God or they cannot enter into the Kingdom of God John 3.8 The Lord saith The Wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but thou canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the Spirit By these words the Lord doth seem to have a reference in the first place to them that were in a peculiar manner chosen and appointed to partake of the Holy Ghost and also these words have a reference in general to all to whom the Word of the Gospel should come accompanied with the good motions of the Spirit of God as thereby to be brought off from sin And also it did signifie the Lord 's then withdrawing his Spirit from Israel the which was for their sinfulness for which cause also it was the twice fallen Children of Ham became more estranged from God And tho' the Spirit compared to the Wind bloweth where it listeth yet the Spirit listeth not to blow on them by whom it is grieved Therefore it is said grieve not the holy Spirit of God Ephes 4.30 Accordingly it is said concerning them that were sanctified That if they did sin wilfully they then did despight to the Spirit of grace and to such the Lord will recompence vengeance Heb. 10.26,29,30 For tho' the Disciples or standing Witnesses could not be ensnared nor drawn off by the Devil yet the others of the first Churches did not so securely stand Chap. XIV Of being in the Faith or turning Reprobate SAInt Paul saith 2 Cor. 13.5 Examine your selves whether ye be in the faith prove your selves know ye not your own selves how
Lord is my Helper Now Moses rehearsed the Covenant of the Lord to Israel before his Death Where he saith in Deut. 30.10 If thou shalt hearken unto the Voice of the Lord thy God to keep his Commandments and his Statutes which are written in the Book of the Law and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine Heart and with all thy Soul V. 11. For this Commandment which I command thee this day it is not hidden from thee neither is it far off V. 12. It is not in Heaven that thou shouldst say who shall go up for us into Heaven and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it V. 13. Neither is it beyond the Sea that thou shouldst say who shall go over the Sea for us and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it V. 14. But the word is very nigh unto thee in thy Mouth and thy Heart that thou maist do it This you see was spoken to the Church that was Elected Called and Chosen out of the whole World and so far Renewed and Inlightned as to be put into a Capacity of Obedience so as they might have done it as Moses saith If they had used their Diligence therein and with Prayer sought to God for his Assistance then the Lord according to his Promise would not have fail'd them nor forsake them Now the Heathen had neither the word in their Mouth nor in their Heart and some of them must have crossed the Seas if they would have had it Now Moses saith in the 15th v. See I have set before thee this day Life and Good Death and Evil. V. 16. In that I command thee this Day to Love the Lord thy God to walk in his ways and to keep his Commandments and his Statutes and his Judgments that thou mayest live and multiply and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the Land whether thou goest to possess it V. 17. But if thine Heart turn away so that thou wilt not hear but shalt be drawn away and Worship other Gods and serve them V. 18. I denounce unto you this day that ye shall surely perish and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the Land whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it V. 19. I call Heaven and Earth to record this day against you that I have set before you Life and Death a blessing and a Cursing therefore choose Life that both thou and thy Seed may live Now this was said to the whole Jewish Church that God had brought out of Darkness and given them the knowledg of himself and his Law Upon which Moses absolutely saith that he hath set Life and Death before them which he could not have said had their Destruction been absolutely decreed before the foundation of the Material World was I do not deny a fore-knowledg in God that Man mightmiscarry but I absolutely deny that God made a Decree for Mans Damnation before ever man was Created or the World in which they Transgressed but that the Decree was passed according to the saying of the Angel after Man had offended Neither do I deny but that some particular persons are so chosen or their Election to be such so as they shall not be cast off But that which I deny is That the Jewish Church was not so chosen or Elected but that by their sinning they might be cast off For it was but a conditional Covenant that then God made with them But as to that New Covenant the which God hath promised to make with them to give them a New Heart and a New Spirit that they should not sin against him and that they should be all taught of God from the least of them to the greatest of them and that he would never leave them nor forsake them nor leave them so as to forsake him but then he will rain down Righteousness and shower down blessings upon them Hos 10.12 Isa 65.22 Ezek. 24.34 Jer. 31.33,34 Jer. 32.40,41 Isa 60.21 But this Promised Covenant still remains to be made with them which God has Promised by his Oath shall be made with them and confirm'd unto them the which Promise will be made good to them at the Restitution of all things which will not be till Christ again comes to which St. Paul's Epistles do most of them drive at wherein he speaks of Election And as to that of Esau and Jacob whom God hath set as the Figure of both Worlds Esau being the Figure of this World and Jacob of that which is to come therefore it is said I have loved Jacob and hated Esau because the Glory was intended for the other World which is Jacob and that they of this World that are of Esau will part with their Birth-right rather than withstand a Temptation or wrestle with Affliction in the day of Tryal which Birth-right is the Promise of Salvation if they hold out to the end for which we must all Pray Wrestle and Run or else we shall not receive the Prize For now the Body of the Christian Church stands on no other Conditions than Israel then did as to their Calling and Election That is they are so far renewed as to be brought into the knowledge of God and put into a capacity of Obedience in which as the Apostle saith 2 Pet. 1.10,11 We are to use all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure For if ye do these things ye shall never fall For so an entrance shall be ministred unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ And St. Paul to the Philippians saith Phil. 2.12,13,15,16 Work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling And in the next Verse it is said For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure That is it is so far the good will and pleasure of God as to call us renew us and enlighten us in the knowledg of himself whereby he hath put us into a capacity of working out our own Salvation with Fear and Trembling And he saith in the 15th Verse That ye may be blameless and harmless the Sons of God without rebuke in she midst of a crocked and perverse Nation among whom ye shine as Lights in the world Verse 16. Holding forth the word of Life that I may rejoyce in the Day of Christ that I have not run in vain nor laboured in vain Now he knew there was a possibility of their miscarriage by the Admonition that he gave them which if they did it would take away his rejoycing in the Day of Christ in that he had laboured for them in vain And the same Apostle to the Hebrews saith Heb. 10.22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having your hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and your bodies washed with pure water And here the Apostle tells us what is required of us if we are made partakers of
a Month according to the Egyptian Account it doth just amount to one thousand two hundred and sixty days of years at which time the Lord will come and then the Beast shall be taken and cast alive into a Lake burning with Fire and Brimstone and the Devil bound up and then will be the first Resurrection of which St. John speaks in Rev. 20.4 And I saw Thrones and they that sat upon them and judgment was given unto them and I saw the Souls of them that were beheaded for the witnesses of Jesus and for the word of God and which had not worshiped the beast neither his image neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years 5. But the rest of the Dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished this is the first Resurrection V. 6. Blessed and Holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second Death hath no Power but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years It is said in Isa 1.26 where God telleth them I will restore thy Judges as at the first and thy Counsellors as at the beginning afterward thou shalt be called the City of Righteousness the Faithful City Pray mark the Words Here the Lord doth not tell them that they should have such Judges as they had at the first and such Counsellors as they had at the beginning but that the Lord would restore them Judges that they had at the first and those Counsellors which were at the beginning Therefore the Lord said unto Daniel in Chap. 12.13 But go thou thy way till the end be for thou shalt rest and stand in thy Lot at the end of the days Now the Lord in the fore part of the Chapter tells him of the end of the world and what shall then happen and also tells him that he shall rest and stand in his Lot at the End of the Days Here the Lord doth not tell him that he shall stand in his Lot at the End of his Days but at the End of the Days after he has rested which is at the Resurrection By this of Daniel it doth further clear to us the first Resurrection on whom the second Death shall have no Power but that they shall be Priests of God and Christ and reign with him a thousand years And Isaiah saith Chap. 24.23 Then the Moon shall be confounded and the Sun ashamed when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Sion and in Jerusalem and before his Ancients gloriously Not that Christ and his Saints shall reign no longer than the Thousand Years but that the Visible Glory may not so eminently appear among them after Satan is loosed that thereby he may accomplish his final Overthrow when he has deceived his Gog and Magog of which I shall speak more to in another place Whereas the Angel saith Rev. 10.6 That there should be time no longer That is no longer time for this wicked World to have Power and time of Repentance for their time should be no longer But there will be a glorious Time for the People of God in the renewed Heavens and Earrh when the Lord reigneth And as there will be another World so another Generation and another Time Of which times the Lord saith in Esdras 9.6 The Times also of the Highest have plain beginnings in wonders and powerful workings and endings in Effects and Signs The Lord grant that we may be awakened by the Signs of the End which End is now approaching And in John Martha said to the Lord concerning her brother chap. 11.24 Martha said unto him I know that he shall rise again in the Resurrection at the last day The which last Day is the last day of this wicked World and when this World shall be judged For the Saints are raised before the Wicked are condemned Therefore by this last day must be meant the last day of their Time For to take it otherwise it cannot be for it is said when this World is past that Day and Night lasteth for ever and for ever as in Revelations where the Devil receives his Last Judgment he is there said to be cast into Hell to be tormented day and night for ever and for ever The same is said of God That he liveth for ever and for ever Rev. 4.9 And as to what St. Paul saith in 1 Thess 1.5 VVhich is a manifest Token of the Righteous judgment of God that ye may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God for which ye also suffer Verse 6. Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompence Tribulation to them that trouble you 7. And to you that are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels 8. In flaming fire taking Vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ 9. VVho shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his Power 10. VVhen he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe Now whereas he saith counted worthy of the Kingdom of God for which they did also suffer In answer to which it is said in Rev. 11.15 The Kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdoms of our God and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever Verse 17. Saying we give thee thanks O Lord God Almighty which art and wast and art to come because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned Verse 18. And the Nations were angry and thy wrath is come and the time of the dead that they should be judged and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy Servants the Prophets and to the Saints and them that fear thy Name small and great and shouldest destroy them which destroy the Earth Now it is at this time when the Lord cometh that the Kingdoms of this World will become the Kingdoms of God and Christ And it is then God will give Rewards to his Servants at which time the wicked Worldlings that are dead in sin will be judged and then shall they be destroyed which destroyed the Earth which Earth is their fellow brethren upon the Earth And also by the words of St. Paul before mentioned it is when the Lord shall be revealed that then to the wicked will be recompensed Tribulation and to the Saints Rest and Consolation And when God and Christ have taken possession of the Kingdom then shall the Saints reign on the Earth as in Rev. 5.10 And hast made us unto God Kings and Priests and we shall reign on the Earth And according to this it is said in Ephes 2.7 And also in 1 Pet. 2.9 Where he mentions those things which are to come as if they were present which way of speaking is often used in
they may serve me V. 14. For I will at this time send all my Plagues upon thine Heart and upon thy Servants and upon thy People that thou mayest know there is none like me in all the Earth By which words it does appear that God had not fully determined all the Plagues that he sent on him not till that time For in the 15th verse God says Now will I stretch out my hand that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence and thou shalt be cut off from the earth Verse 16. And in very deed for that cause have I raised thee up for to shew in thee my power and that my Name may be declared throughout all the Earth Which word raised thee up in the Hebrew is no other than made thee stand The which you may see in the Margin of your Bibles And as to the meaning of the words making thee stand is that thou shalt stand in that place of Power till my appointed time is come for the delivery of my people Israel For God foreknowing the evil heart that was in him and that Satan had made him an Instrument of cruelty therefore God hardned him in Unbelief that he might shew forth his Power in him that thereby the Name of the Lord might be declared throughout all the Earth Now as touching the Root of Gall and Wormwood the which St. Paul terms the Root of Bitterness and the man of sin And by St. John he is term'd the Beast in Rev. 13.1 And I stood upon the Sand of the Sea and I saw a Beast rise up out of the Sea having seven Heads and ten Horns and upon his Horns ten Crowns and upon his Heads the Name of Blasphemy Verse 2. And the Beast which I saw was like unto a Leopard and his feet were as the feet of a Bear and his mouth as the mouth of a Lyon and the Dragon gave him his Power and his Seat and great Authority In the first place St. John saith that he saw a Beast rise out of the Sea and the Sea in Scripture doth signifie the common people from whence this Beast did arise The Horns the Scripture tells us they are Ten Kings and here the Crowns on them signifie as much by which Horns the Beast is defended and maintained in his Power And in that he is like unto a Leopard which seems to signifie to us the several Badges of his Idolatrous Worship that he hath set up and therefore appeareth like a spotted Leopard And it is said he hath Feet like a Bear that seems to set forth to us how he doth trample down the Saints of the most High and tear them in peices It is said he hath a mouth like a Lyon the which as the Lyon's mouth is the Destruction of all that cometh near it so the Mouth of this Beast destroyeth them that do adhere to it And whereas it is said that the Dragon gave him his Power and Seat and great Authority the which is to let us understand that this Power of his was never given him of God but that he received it from the Dragon which is the Devil who making him a fit instrument for himself to carry on his Hellish designs by therefore he gave him his Power and Seat great Authority and put him on a Throne And the Lord will there keep him standing that is make him stand that he shall not be taken off by any of the Judgments which the Lord doth send before his coming But as God did make that Pharaoh stand in his place till his appointed time was come for the delivery of his People as chusing him to harden in unbelief that had hardned himself in all iniquity and cruelty And therefore the Lord reserved him till himself was in the Clouds before that Pharaoh was destroyed in the Sea So the Lord again chuses this Beast to harden in unbelief as to the Miraculous signs that he has and will send on the Earth because this Beast has hardned himself in all manner of Cruelty and Mischief and Blasphemy Therefore the Lord chuseth him to shew the fierceness of his wrath upon when he comes to judg the World and deliver Israel And then it is that this Beast is taken alive Rev. 19.20 And cast into a lake of Fire burning with Brimstone which is the Second Death Now whereas it is said the Lord will have Mercy on whom he will have Mercy The which Mercy will again be Distributed to the Believers and Promised Elect when the Lord comes as it was when God said those words to Moses at the time when he brought them out of the Land of Egypt Exodus 33.18 Moses said I beseech thee shew me thy glory V. 19. And he said I will make all my goodness pass before thee and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will shew mercy to whom I will shew mercy Which mercy was then shew'd to the Seed of Abraham according to his promise to their forefathers And whereas St. Paul saith in Rom. 9.19 Thou wilt say unto me why doth he yet find fault for who hath resiste his will V. 20. Nay but O Man who art thou that repliest against God shall the thing formed say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus V. 21. Hath not the Potter power over the Clay of the same Lump to make one Vessel unto Honour and another to Dishonour That is the Potter hath Power according to his pleasure of the same Clay to make a Vessel unto Honour and another to dishonour but when he maketh a Vessel to honour out of one and the same lump as he maketh the other there is more of his labour bestowed upon it and more of his proper cost and charge or else it would be unfit for a Vessel of Honour Therefore God sometimes to shew forth his Power plucks some as a brand out of the burning and also God of the worser Clay can make a Vessel unto Honour for God chose Nebuchadnezzar to be a Vessel of Mercy who was of the seed of Ham which was more Estranged from God than the Seed of Shem or Japhet was And by that Miraculous Judgment mentioned in Daniel 4.31,32,33 God brought him home by Repentance And also by other great Miracles God would have brought home the Babilonians by Repentance but they neglecting the opportunity of Mercy therefore God said in Jer. 31.9 I would have healed Babylon but she was not healed We see here was an absolute Election or Choice that God made of Nebuchadnezzar and when he was in his Unregenelate Stare God generally termed him his Servant which God never did the great King of Assiria But as for Cyrus before he had a Being he was Prophesied of that he should be a chosen Servant of God and also that he should build him a Temple as in Isa 45.1 2 Chro. 36.23 But he is no where said to