Affections and Predominant they are nothing else but so many Fire-Brands of Confusion Land-Floods exceeding all Reason yea Deluges to bear down our Graces What Euripides spake of Sorrows is as true of all Inordinate Affections 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As in a sudden Fray many a Man is wounded so by Tumultuous Affections many a Sin is increased and the Devil like Thieves in Uproares is most diligent about us when our Affections are Distempered within us He can Master us most easily when we can most difficultly Master our selves But if the Affections be rightly set and composed they are then the sweetest Spring of Duty the gentlest Hand-Maids of Grace our best Sails for a Course of Piety the Activest Weapons against Iniquity our Flames in Prayer and Wings to Heaven Therefore Watch these Affections They are a Cole quickly Kindled but not so quickly Extinguished Your Safety lies much in this How they are Set and how they Work The same Strings may make Pleasant Musick or a Jarring Discord All is as they are Set and Fingred Your Affections may be either your Pleasant Garden or your Turbulent Ocean Therefore Watch them for Rectitude of Motion for Measure of Motion and for Order of Motion If your Love which is the General of the Affections should be set not on God but the World or Sin If your Hatred should be directed not against Sin but Good Men or which is worse against Goodness it self If your Zeal should not be pure Flames for Divine Glory but a burning Rage against his Truth If your Fear should not be a Flight from Evil but an Apostasie from Christ If your Anger should be a Displeasure at another's Eminencies and not at your own Exorbitances If your Hope should not be a well-ballanced Expectation of Happiness but a blind and venturous Presumption of Mercy And if your Grief should be Trouble that you cannot be and do more Evil Ah! how Vile how Irregular how Dangerous are Affections thus Routed and Dis-ordered But if Love and Hatred be lookt unto to Keep their Right Centers to Move towards their Proper Objects to Love nothing but Good to Hate nothing but Evil Now there is Rectitude and now there will be Peace and Comfort But stay not here Watch likewise your Affâ—…ctions for their Order and Measure it is difficult to keep and observe these O! How much Holiness of Heart and how large an Influence of Spiritual Wisdom is required to Guide the Affections with an even and befitting Pulse to keep those Mettals in an Expedient Heat That I should utterly Hate and Abhor the Sin and yet Mercifully Pity and Love the Person Be at the same time throughly Zealous and yet abundantly Meek Contend earnestly for the Faith yet all this Contending to be carried without any Contentiousness Beat down Errors and yet not Revile Persons Patiently bear Afflictions and Injuries with Silence and yet not Slight any Suffering with Unsensibleness That when I do Behold much Mercy yet I should Fear And when I Feel much Sin yet I should Hope Not Presume nor yet Despair But temper Faith and Fear Grief and Hope together This is the Orderly Composure of our Affections and the Exercise of it is very Difficult though very Necessary And therefore Watch The last Bull-Wark or Fort which you must keep Watch on is Conscience Solomon calls it the Heart which must be kept with all Diligence There is much to be said why it is to be Watched that I will say but little Is it not God's Vicegerent in Man The Spy up on us Our Great Counsellour Our Best Friend or Worst Enemy Our Heaven of Peace or Hell of Torment Our Wall of Brass or Prison of Iron Know ye not the Vigorous Supports of its Excusing Testimony What Confidence it gave to the Martyrs at the Bar and what Rejoycing even in the Flames Have ye not heard the Terrible Affrightments and Amazements of its Condemning Power How when it hath been awaken'd and stir'd it hath so Imprinted on the Proud Sinner the Wrath of the Great God that he hath been driven to Great Consternation Well! be Advised in time Great Sins will make Great Wounds in Conscience yea and Little Sins Committed against the Light of Conscience will occasion great Stirs and Troubles Speak no more against Conscience Write no more against Conscience Flatter no more against Conscience Live not in any Sin do nothing against Conscience Remember what befel Francis Spira who adventured against the strong Dictates of his Conscience he could not Recover Peace to his Dying-Day Remember what besel Origen who consented to Sacrifice But Lord What Horrors what Confusions what Lamentations what Despairs what Extream Exigencies in Conscience did attend him for Sinning thus Remember Iudas also who Sold his Master to the High-Priest He Sold his Master indeed but Sold his Peace too Instantly is he Arrested and Charged by Conscience and the Guilt of his Sin Crucified Him before the Rage of the Souldiers could Crucify his Master No Rest no Hope He chose Death rather than Life and hastened to Hell it self for some Ease O therefore Watch to Conscience Get it Renewed and Purged from Dead Works Obey it when it brings Light from Heaven to Command Wound it not by Corrupt Errors and Practioâ—…s Keep it Undefiled and Resolute Farewel Peace farewel Comfort Hope God Heaven Happiness if you Sell your Consciences But if you would Live in Life Enjoy your Selves Live in Death Enjoy your Hopes Live after Death Enjoy God and Christ As you desire Comfort from God from the Creatures from your Selves Watch keep Conscience Right and Sound No not for all the World make Shipwrack of Conscience Thy Ark is Lost if Conscience be Split Secondly The Ports or Gates to be Watched and Guarded by which We Go out and an Enemy may Come in These Ports are our Outward Senses by which the Soul Goes out and Objects Come in I cannot so distinctly Prescribe for these as for the rest only this we know That Sensible Objects have great Force to actuate and excite Peculiar Corruptions and Vile Temptations usually slip in and Co-operate with Outward Representations Satan by the Goodly Fruit deceived the Eye of Eve and Corrupted her to Transgression David's wandring Eye occasioned two Horrid Sins one of Adultery the other of Murder Therefore set a Strict Watch upon this Port or Sense of Seeing Iob did so He made a Covenant with his Eyes And Solomon Advises the Iunker not to Look on the Wine when it gives its Colour in the Glass And also not to Come near the Doors or Presence of the Strumpet Epiphanius saith That in the Old Law when any Dead Body was carryed by any House they were enjoyned to shut their Doors and Windows And in a Moral Sense the same Counsel were good for us When any Objects are apt to come in at the Windows of our Eyes Entising Alluring us to Sin shut the Windows presently lest Death should Enter by
biddeth him with the rest of of the Apostles To Watch Luk. 22. 40 and 46. SECT II. Use 4. Of Comfort Fourthly Here is a Use of Comfort to us that are Believers and that have an Interest in Christ's Intercession Here is Comfort under Fears of Barrenness and here is Comfort under Fears of Falling away First Here is Comfort under Fears of Barrenness I am afraid saith the Soul lest my Faith quite Fails and so grow Dead at last proving just like the Barren Fig-Tree in the Gospel which was Cursed But for thy Comfort know Christ prayeth Thaâ—… thy Faith may not fail T' is granted the Devil will Sift thee and Winnow thee and Level all his Temptations against thy Faith Thou art a Branch of that Vine Christ Iesus therefore shalt never cease yielding of Fruit. As long as there is a Fulness in Christ Believers shall never Want This Holy Vine Christ being Replenished with Sap the Branches cannot choose but be Fruitful As long as the Root Lives the Branches shall never Die. Besides Saints should read Promises that are made to them in case of Spiritual Barrenness I am the Lord thy God which Teasheth thee to profit Isa. 48. 17. In the Wilderness shall Waters break out and Streams in the Desert and the Parched Ground shall become a Pool and the Thirsty Land Springs of Water Isa. 35. 6 7. Secondly Here is Comfort under Fears of Falling away I am afraid saith the Christian that I shall be quite out of Breath before I get to Heaven either I shall be blown down by Satan's Temptations or faint under Sufferings But know thou hast Omnipotency to Support thee Thy Faith is Sheltered under the Wing of Christ and Supported by the Intercession of Christ So that it is Secure let the Devil strike never so hard or often at it Adam that Grew upon his own Root of Innocency soon Withered But thou hast Christ for thy Root therefore thy Grace shall Flourish into Perseverance Believers Christ holds you 'T is not your Holding of Christ but Christ's Holding of you that Preserves you He it is that for thee Repels the Force of Temptation Over-powers the Rellicks of Corruption and increaseth the Sparkles of Grace SECT III. Use 5. Of Counsel Fifthly Here is a Use of Counsel which hath a Double Aspect 1. To Believers 2. To Unbelievers First To Believers Doth Christ in Heaven Intercede for you Then first keep you close to your Duty on Earth Christ neglects not Praying for you in Heaven do not you then neglect Praying for your selves on Earth Christ is ready in Heaven to present your Petitions to God upon your presenting your Petitions to him 1. If Christ ceaseth not Praying for you do not you cease then Praying for your self 2. If Christ Prays and Pleads for you in Heaven then do you Plead for him on Earth Believers themselves have oft-times many Accusers viz. The Devil Evil Men and Conscience and when any of these do Accuse them Christ is then ready in Heaven to Plead Seeing then that Christ Intercedes for you and Pleads for you when you are Accused and Dishonoured do you Plead for Him for his Honour and for his Interest when Asperss'd by the World 3. Doth Christ in Heaven Intercede for Believers Then let Believers ascribe Perseverance to him looking upon it as his own Gift Let Christ have what is Due from you Pay I say the Tribute of your Gratulation unto him Secondly To Unbelievers Doth Christ Intercede in Heaven for Believers Then what will become of Unbelievers Hereupon I advise you to Repair to Christ. No Interest in Christ no Interest in his Intercession Therefore instead of Christ's Blood Crying to God for you it shall Cry to God against you He that is an Intercessor for some shall be an Accuser to others Yet now every Unbeliever despiseth Christ's Intercession and treadeth it under Foot Christ's Death Victory Conquest Merits Spirit Graces and Intercession are nothing at all to Persons that are in an Unbelieving State No Interest in any of these Benefits unless you have Union with the Donor of them 'T is Union with Christ that gives us a Title to all the Priviledges of Christ. If thou hast not Christ thou hast none of Christ's How Deplorable therefore is the Case of Christ-less Souls They cannot argue any thing of Comfort from what he has done Christ's Death Merits and Sufferings avails them not Here is no Comfort to be spoken to you till you get into hrist Ah then What do Men and Women do in rejecting the Tenders of Grace and the Offers of Christ in the Gospel To Day therefore if you will Hear his Voice Harden not your Hearts Verily he that now waits and stands at the Door Knocking will ere long give over and Knock at your Hearts no more Possess your Souls therefore with an Holy Impatience until such time you can say Christ is come Christ is come Methinks it should be a Burden for you to Live unless Christ is Formed in you An Interest in him will render your Lives Pleasant and your Death Gainful Be convinced therefore of the Absolute Need of a Saviour by considering that till you are in him you can have no Interest in his Intercession and Satisfaction the Great Effect of his Priestly Office That no Mercy will be a Mercy unto you till then but rather Curses and given in Judgment to you And this is the Exact Pourtraiture of every Christ-less Man and Woman CHAP. XXII Wherein part of the Last Doctrine is handled SECT I. The Fifth and Last Doctrine is this Doctrine Those whom God hath Done much for should be much in Doing for others When thou art Converted streng then thy Brethren I Shall Prosecute this Dostrine in this wise 1. In what Sense we are to understand God's Doing much for a Person 2. What it is that such whom God has Done much for should be in Doing for others 3. Confirm the Doctrine 4. Apply it SECT II. First In what Sense we are to understand God's Doing much for a Person or when it may be said God doth much for a Person Now God may be said to do much for a Person Two wayes 1. To his Body 2. To his Soul 1. To his Body By Body I understand all Things relating thereunto as Life Health Estate Good Name and Negotiations First God has done much for such whose Threads of Lives he has lengthned out Once thou wast Heart-sick Crazy and by no means could hold up thy Head expecting Death every moment and by reason of exceeding Tortures it was a Burden for thee to Live Medicines proved Ineffectual Physitians Despaired Friends gave thee over and a Dead Man thou wast in the Expectation of all Yet lo God Miraculously raises thee up smiles on thee by Renewing thy Life and with Good Hezekias adds Fifteen Years more unto thee Now here God Does much for a Person with Respect to his Life Secondly God has done much
deeper Purple than thy Sins There is as much Vertue in the Blood of Christ as there can be Venom in thy Sins Tell the Devil O poor Soul That though thy Sins have been against an Infinite God yet there is Infinite Mercy to Answer thy Sins God can easily drown and swallow up all thy Sins in the Ocean of his Mercy When the Tempter Magnifies thy Sins do thou then Magnify thy Saviour and Physician That I am a Sinner it is true but who else doth Christ Save That I am Ungodly it is true but who else doth God Justify Pore not so much upon thy Sins as quite to forget thy Saviour The Devil tells thee of thy Disease do thou tell him of thy Remedy Thou art Miserable by reason of Sin but thou may'st be Happy and Restored again by the Grace of God There is no Misery on this side of Hell and the Grave but God out of his Infinite Free Grace hath appointed some Means proper for the same viz. Hearing and Reading the Word for the Unconverted Prayer and Receiving of the Sacrament for the Weak in Gifts and Graces and Christ unto all in general who will Receive Him by Faith Mat. 11. 28. Let thy Sins be never so great Confess them but Humbly and Brokenly and thou shalt find Mercy David used the Aggravations of his Sins as an Argument with God to Pardon them Pardon my Sins because they are very great SECT IV. Secondly Satan Tempts to Despair by causing the Soul to make a wrong Use of God's Anger God is Angry saith Satan and therefore what wilt thou do Behold how he Looks how he Chides and how he Strikes Dost thou think that he will ever be Reconciled Remedy The only way to give Satan the Fall in this Respect is by Answering him in this wise God may Chide bitterly Look sowerly and Strike heavily even when and where he Loves most dearly And moreover That God is not so Angry but while thy Soul is on this side of Eternity thou may'st Pacify him by what he hath appointed as the Means whereby those who have sin'd against him may now be Reconciled unto him viz. The Sufferings of the Lord Iesus which have satisfied Divine Iustice to the full God is Love and he writes not Injuries in Marble SECT V. Thirdly Satan Tempts to Despair by causing the Soul to study that which it should not viz. God's Secret Will Thou art not Elected sayes the Devil and therefore all thy Praying and Reading and taking Pains with thy Heart will be but in vain Remedy The only way to invalidate Satan's Arguings in this Respect is by considering that he hath no Skill in the Black Book of Reprobation Neither Good nor Evil Angels can look into the Book of God's Decrees Therefore thou canst not for thou needst not Hast thou not the Book of thy Heart look into it and see what is Written therein He that finds the Bible Copied out into his Heart his Nature Transform'd the Byass of his Will turned the Signature and Engravings of the HolyGhost upon him looks not like a Reprobate When you see the Fruits of the Earth spring up you conclude the Sun has been there 'T is hard to climb up into Election but if we find the Fruits of Holiness springing up in our Hearts we may conclude the Sun of Righteoâ—…sness hath Risen there By our Sanctification saith one we must Calculate our Election The Infaâ—…lible Signes of Election in my Opinion should satisfy any one touching his Election Why now Hast thou not the Saving Graces of Faith Love and Repentance What are these but the Infallible Signes of Election Being not unsensible of the Intricacy which attends this Subject of Election and how the Devil puzzles many poor Souls by some Nice Questions resulting there-from Something already I have said of it But I do find much thereof for Substance Elegantly treated by the Elegant Culverwel in his White-Stone the Reading of which did exceedingly refresh my Soul and therefore hoping that it may have the like Effect upon thee I shall here insert it knowing that I cannot mend it my self what-ever others may be able to do The Lines are these That Astrologer sayes he was deservedly Laught at that was so intensly gazing upon the Stars so admiring their Twinkling Beauties as that unawares he tumbled into the Water where-as before if he had been but pleased to look so low as the Water he might have seen the Stars there represented in that Crystal-Glass Such as will needs be prying into Stars that will Ascend up into Heaven and gaze upon Election they do but dazle thine Eyes and sometimes by this are over-whelm'd in the Depths of Satan where-as they might easily see the Stars in the Water they might see Election in Sanctification Now Vocation does plainly and easily appear by that great and eminent Alteration which it brings along with it It is a powerful Call 't is an audible and quick'ning Voice the Voice of the First Trumpet that awakens Men out of the Graves and makes them Happy by having their Part in the First Resurrection great and sudden Alterations they are very Discernable Now here 's a most notorious and signal Change made Old things are past away and all things are become New Here 's a Change from Death to Life from Darkness to Light and what more Discernable than this A Living Man may know that he is Alive and that without any further Proof or Demonstration what-ever the Scepticks Old or New would perswade us to the contrary Will you not allow a Man to be certain that he Lives till a Iury of Life and Death hath past upon him Could not the Blind Man in the Gospel think you perceive when his Eyes were opened Could he not easily tell that now he could see and discern Variety of Objects or must he only conjecture that he sees and guess at a Sun-Beam Must he still at Noon-day go groping in Uncertainties And is there not an easie and sure Difference between those thick Veils and Shadows of the Night between those Dark and AEthiopick Looks and the Virgin-Blushes of the Morning those Beautiful Eye-lids of the Day The Smilings and Flow'rings out of Light much more the Advancement of Light to its Zenith and Noon-day-Glory And why then cannot an Intellectual Eye discern as well that now it sees that now it looks upon God with an Eye of Love with an Eye of Faith with an Eye of Confidence and that now God looks upon him with an Eye of Tenderness and Compassion with an Eye of Grace and Favour with an Eye of Delight and Approbation Who but an Anaxagoras will go about to perswade a Man to disbelieve his Eyes And if a Corporal Eye deserve such Credit why may not a Spiritual Eye then expect as much Say not then in thine Heart Who shall Ascend into Heaven to bring down Assurance from Above Who shall Unclasp the Book of
and the Worse Things Good Things and Evil Things certainly are included in All Things and if Evil Things as well as Good Things then surely Temptation And if so Why then do some say as I have heard I am not a Child of God because I am Tempted Rather from thence conclude That thou art a Child of God They are Bastards and not Sons that have not been Tempted more or less God had one Son without Sin but no Son without Stripes Christ the Corner-Stone was Tried the rest of the Stones in the Heavenly Building must also be Tried Why murmurest thou because of thy Temptations thinking amiss of thy self because of them when-as thou can'st not be a Refined Christian before thou passest through this Furnace Since then it is so content thy self believing that unless God had intended Good to thee thou shouldst not have been Tempted as thou hast been and say Take O Lord the Trial of thy own Grace bestowed upon thy Unworthy Servant SECT III. If it be so That Satan may Foil Eminent Christians then learn whence it is that Satan is a Proud Spirit Pride indeed he had before ever he Foil'd our First Parents and our Selves for Pride it was that made him a Devil Yet doubtless this adds much to his Pride That he sometimes by Permission doth over-throw many of our Brave Christians Satan did much Rejoyce when he had gotten Advantage of Peter One so Eminent in the Church of Christ. Oh! therefore Believers beware of Satan's Devices because if thou Fallest he will Triumph SECT IV. If this be so then we may hence learn That if Eminent Believers do Over come Satan it is not in and by their own Strength But when they are Foil'd it is because they went against him in their own Strength Of our selves we can do nothing it is God in Christ that must do all for us If we Fight alone with the Goliah of Hell we are sure to be vanquished Separate the Soul from the Body and it is incapable of Action or Service And so take God from the Soul and it will be incapable of Wrestling with such a Mighty Spirit as the Devil is Let Believers be like the Vine that being weak twists about the Elm to support it Being Conscious of our own Imbecillity we should twist by Faith about Christ 2 Cor. 12. 9. And in Him we are more than Conquerours Phil. 4. 13. I can do all things through Christ which Strengthens me Sampson's Strength lay in his Hair Ours lies in our Head Christ. Iesus Christ hath laid his Feet upon the Neck of that Old Serpent and will enable you so to do if you will trust in him and accept of him as the Captain of your Salvation If Christ Iesus doth but bring in his Auxiliary Forces Satan shall then be trodden down SECT V. If this be so then from hence we may learn What a mighty Power of God that Power is which is concern'd in the Preservation of a Believer What a Mighty Power of God is concern'd in our Preservation as we are Creatures more as we are Christians Consider Man as he is a Creature and we may stand amaz'd at the exceeding Great Power of God in his Preservation What a Tender thing is Man when he is in the Womb of his Mother and how subject is he to Mis-carrying even while he is there And what Expectation is there of his Coming forth into the World mingled with Hopes and Fears lest he should become Abortive And Lo God in time brings him forth and a Perfect Man he is as to the Limbs and Lineaments of his Body notwithstanding the Perils and Dangers that encompassed him about when he was but an Embryo in the Womb. And then afterwards Consider him not only in the Womb but consider him also in his Infancy Child-hood Youth Riper Years and Old-Age the Miseries that are proper to all these and the Dangers that he has gone through in all these and it is a Miracle that Man should live to Old-Age But further Consider him as a Christian and so you may have a greater Prospect of the Admirable Power of God A Soul is no sooner New-Born but immediately Trials Agonies and Conflicts do come in upon him as a great Tempestuous Sea The first Cry sayes one of the New-Born Infant Allarums all the Devils of Hell The Devil and the World set themselves in Battle-Array against the Children of God And one would think it impossible for one to become a Christian Nay indeed all things considered and it is a Miracle to be a New-Creature And when a Man becomes a New-Creature what an Admirable Power is concerned in the Preserving of him as such What Difficulties goes he through and wrestles with before he gets into the Port of Heaven So that indeed all that are Saved are Saved with a great deal of Difficulty CHAP. X. COntaining the Eighth and Last Deduction SECT I. If this be so then hence I infer the Reason Why many of God's own Children walk with sad Countenances hanging down their Heads like so many Bull-Rushes 'T is because the Devil many times Bruises them by Falls and breaks their Bones insomuch that they can have no Rest at all We should be in a perpetual Shine were it not for Showers of Rain ever and anon falling from the Eyes by reason of Cruel Buffetings from Satan Here we are troubled with a Vigilant Subtil Adversary that breaks our Peace and Disquiets us exceedingly Were it not for a Tempting Devil and a Deceitful Heart what brave Lives might we live But because these attend us therefore are we oft-times disquieted our Strength declines and our Knees wax feeble Good Lord vouchsafe therefore thy Strength and let thy Comforts delight our Souls else the Devil that Nimrod and Cruel Hunter will pursue our Souls even unto Death This Creates in us Longings after Heaven because then we shall be Tempted no more Here we are in a perpetual Hurry and in a constant Fluctuation Our Lives are like the Tide sometimes Ebbing and sometimes Flowing What is this Life but a Warfare When one Temptation is over another comes Would to God the Winter was past and the Singing of the Birds were come Were we but in Heaven we should be out of Gun-shot Heaven is a Place of Rest no Bullets of Temptation flie there We long till Death sound a Retreat and calls us off the Field where the Bullets flie so thick to receive a Victorious Crown where not the Drum or Canon but the Harp and Viol shall be ever sounding Come Lord Jesus Come Lord Jesus Come quickly Rev. 22. I long to be Dissolved and to be with Christ Jesus which is far better Phil. 1. 23. SECT II. If this be so hence I infer the Necessity of a Spiritual Armour which Demonstrateth its self in two things 1. In that it is Commodious for a Souldier besides it is Commanded Ephes. 6. 11. 2.
Goodness of Consciâ—…nce as may be incident unto a Worldly Counterfeit Yea but they reply a True Iustifying Faith I think such an one as their own Rather I may say These Men deserve not the Praise of Hymeneus his Faith which is nothing in this place but Orthodox Doctrine How oft doth St. Paul use the Word so to his Timothy 1 Tim. 4. 1. In the latter Times some shall depart from the Faith Interpreted in the next Words And shall give Heed to Spirits of Error and Doctrines of Devils And 2 Tim 3. 6. he describes his False-Teachers by this Title Reprobate concerning the Faith which I think no Man will Expound of the Grace but the Doctrine Yet say they there is no necessity binds us to that Sense here But the Scope of this Place compared with others may Evince it That which follows plainly points us to this Meaning that they might learn not to Blaspheme Their Sin was therefore an Apostacy from the Doctrine of the Gospel and casting foul Aspersions upon that Profession So that an Opposition to wholesom Doctrine was their Shipwrack They except yet A Good Conscience is added to this Faith Therefore it must needs be meant of Iustifying Faith Do but turn your Eyes to 1 Tim. 3. 9. where as in a Commentary upon this Place you shall find Faith and aâ—… Good Conscience so conjoyned that yet the Doctrine not the Vertue oâ—… Faith is signified St. Paul describeâ—… his Deacon there by his Spirituaâ—… Wealth Having the Mystery of Faith iâ—… Pure Conscience no Man can be sâ—… Gross to take the Mystery of Faitâ—… for the Grace of Faith or for anâ—… other than the same Author iâ—… the same Chapter calls The Mystery of Godliness It is indeed fit that a Good Conscience should be the Coffer where Truth of Christian Doctrine is the Treasure Therefore both are justly commanded together And likely each accompanies other in their Loss And that of Irenaeus is found true of all Hereticks Sententiam impiam vitam luxuriosam c. Yea but Hymeneus and Alexander had both these then and lost both They had both in outward Profession not in inward Sincerity That Rule is Certain and Eternal If they had been of us they had continued with us Nothing is more ordinary with the Spirit of God than to suppose us such as we pretend that he might give us an Example of Charity in the Censure of each other Of which kind is that noted Place Heb. 10. 29. And counted the Blood of the Testament where-with he was Sanctified an Unholy Thing And those unusual Elogies which are given to the Churches to whom the Apostolical Letters were Directed This Place therefore intends no other but that Hymenaeus and Alexander which were once Professors of the Christian Doctrine and such as lived orderly in an Unblameable and outwardly Holy Fashion to the World had now turn'd their Copy cast off the Profession which they made and were fallen both to Loosness of Manners and Calumniation of the Truth they had abandoned For that other Scripture Rom. 8. 12 13 no Place can be more effectual to cut the Throat of this Uncomfortable Heresie St. Paul writes to a Mixt Company It were strange if all the Romans should have been truly Sanctified Those which were yet Carnal he Threats with Death If ye live after the Flesh ye shall Die Those which are Regenerate contrary to the Wicked Paradox of those Men he assures of Life If ye Mortify the Deeds of the Flesh by the Spirit ye shall Live How doth he Exclude the Spirit of Bondage to Fear which these good Guides would lead in again How confidently doth he aver the Inward Testimony of God's Spirit to ours and ascribes that Voice to it which bars all Doubt and Disappointment and tells us by the Powerful Assurance of this Abba We are Sons and if Sons Heirs Co-heirs with Christ Let them now go on and say That God may Dis-inherit his own Son that he may Cast off his Adopted But say they to the same Regenerate Persons he applies these Two Clauses and saith at once Ye have Received the Spirit of Adoption And yet If ye walk after the Flesh ye shall Dye What follows of this Commination Any Assertion of the Possibility of Apostacy in the Regenerate Nothing less These Threats are to make us take better hold and to walk more warily As a Father that hath set his Little Son on Horseback it is Zanchies Comparison bids him hold fast or else he shall fall though he uphold him the while that both he may cause him hereby to sit fast and call the more earnest for his Supportation But the Scope of the Place plainly extorts a Division of Carnal Men and Regenerate The Threats are propounded to the One the Promises and Assurance to the Other And therefore no Touch from hence of our Uncertainty in a Confessed Estate of Renovation For that Matth. 12. 43. The Apodosis or Inference of the Parable might well have stopt the Mouths of these Cavillers For you shall find in the End of it So shall it be with the Wicked Generation I suppose no Man will be so Absurd as to say These Iews had formerly received True Iustifying Faith How should they when they rejected the Messias And yet of them is this Parable spoken by our Saviours own Explication Maldonate himself a Learned Spightful Iesuite can Interpret it no otherwise Ideo Christus hoc dixit ut doceret pejores esse Iudaeos quà m si nunquam Dei legem cognitionem accepissent And to this purpose he cites Hilary Hierom Beda And this Sense is so clear that unless the Seven Devils had found Harbour in the dry Hearts of these Men they could not so grosly Pervert it Quench not the Spirit 1 Thess. 5. will never prove a Final or Total Extinction of Saving Grace The Spirit is Quenched when the Degrees of it are abated when the Good Motions thereof are by our Security let fall We grant the Spirit may be Quenched in tanto not in toto Or if we should so take it as they desire I remember Austin Parallels this Place with that other to Timothy Let no Man despise thy Youth Note saith he That the Spirit can be Quenched or that Contempt can be avoided but that in the one we may not endeavour to do that which may tend towards this Wrong to the Spirit and in the other that we should be careful not to do that which may procure Contempt The Place I remember not directly But Numeros memini si verba tenerem But in all likelihood that Place sounds quite another way as may appear by the Connexion of it with those two Sentences following As if he should have said Discourage not the Graces that you find in any of your Teachers Despise not their Preaching Try their Doctrines And now What is this to the Falling away from Grace Which of us do not Teach the Necessity of Perseverance He only that