opened and that is this Que. 3. To what purpose are all the promises made to Qualities inherent in Souls and to the workings of the Spirit of grace in hearts seeing Vnion with Christ cannot be evidenced from them Answ 1. For answer First there is no promise the Lord makes to any quality inherent in a soul as a condition upon which the promise should be fulfilled to the soul That is there is no promise that the Lord hath made to any quality so or in such a manner as upon the Lords beholding that quality in the Soul he should repute himself bound to fulfil that promise or to convey that mercy included in the promise to the Soul Nor doth the being of the quality lay any such engagement upon God to perform it Every promise is a part of the Covenant of grace that the Lord holds forth in Christ for the Covenant of grace is nothing else but a bundle of promises All the promises of God in the word bound up in one is the Covenant of grace so that it is a thing consisting of so many Articles of agreement between God and the Soul Now the Covenant of grace should prove no Covenant of grace if any of those promises were made to a quality as a condition upon which the Lord were bound to perform the promise Ans 2. Secondly the promises of God to qualities inherent in Souls are not made to qualities as qualities That is not as they are good dispositions and good inclinations not as they are works of the Spirit of grace begotten in such Souls All inherent qualities in souls are to be considred under a two-fold notion either as they are qualities that is as they are affections and dispositions in a soul Or they are to be considered as they put a soul into such a state or condition as they make a soul either in a good condition or a bad condition Now no soul may look upon any one promise that God hath made to any one quality and look upon that quality in his heart as that good quality that good disposition to which the Lord hath bound himself by promise to convey such or such mercies or benefits As for example should I name most of the conditional promises in the word you will find none of the promises made to qualities are made to them as qualities but as to a state of Want and Penury and Misery out of which the Lord promiseth Refreshment Ease and Relief out of the Bowels of his own mercy 1. To begin with thirsting ones That notable place in Isa 55.1.2 Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the Waters and he that hath no Money come ye buy and eat yea come buy Wine and Milk without Money and without Price Come saith he take all sutable refreshment for your poor thirsty souls There is Christ holden forth to thirsty ones in all the precious priviledges tendred to souls in Christ Yet this is not made to thirsty ones as thirsting is a quality or grace flowing from the Spirit of grace in their hearts And that the promise is not made to thirsting Souls as thirsting after Jesus Christ or as thirsting is a quality will appear in three particulars in that the persons to whom those glorious priviledges are tendred in Christ are persons void of any quality or grace proceeding from the Spirit of grace in their Hearts They were so far from any Holy quality as it doth appear from the Text that they had not any one right desire after receiving any Holiness For 1. They are said to be such as are thirsting after false refreshments digging broken Cisterns for their Souls to drink of they spent their Money for that which was no bread that is their desires and endeavours They were the Jews that sought for Justification by the Law and Cerimonies 2. They were such as thirsted to supply their wants in a wrong way and were neglecters of Jesus Christ They spent their labours and desires after wrong objects that which was not Bread things that could not profit And these were the persons to whom the promise was made and therefore it could not be made to any quality 3. The same promise is holden forth to every Soul equally whether thirsting or not thirsting This you may see Rev. 22.17 Let him that is a thirst come there is the same promise yea let whosoever will come and take of the Water of Life freely Every one under Heaven is joyned under as equal a notion as the thirsty ones Therefore the promise cannot be made unto thirsty ones as having such a quality of grace in them but as poor and penurious Souls in a sad condition not knowing how to get their Souls refreshed and their wants relieved So again Mat. 5 6. where the promise seems to have more colour to be made to a quality as a quality Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after Righteousness for they shall be filled This promise is not made to Souls as hungering and thirsting after Righteousness as Holy Dispositions in their Souls but the promise is made to them only as being needy and penurious as being in want and extremity Therefore you shall observe in the promise they shall be filled what is promised Nothing to the quality it self but to the supply of the wants of the poor Soul 2. If you observe the promises made to humbled Souls groaning under the burden of Sin they are not made to any Souls as groaning under the burden of Sin or as groaning under the burden of Sin is a quality or grace in the Soul As for example look that promise Mat. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Now saith the Soul I am burdened and therefore I shall have rest And here I am perswaded many a Soul sits down in his being burdened and not in his coming to Christ and so sits down short of Christ Now that this promise is not made to Souls burdened as burdened but as being in a sad condition ready to sink under grievous pressures appears in two things 1. In regard there is nothing promised by God to the Soul remaining in his present estate The promise holds forth rest and ease to the poor burdened Soul but how Not as the Soul remains in his present estate but through his coming unto Jesus Christ Come unto me and ye shall have rest that is receive me as the only refuge of your Souls and by receiving me by Faith your Souls shall have rest 2. In regard there is nothing promised in this promise to be given to the Soul for the future more then to other Souls that are not for the present burdened under Sin Whatever is holden forth in this promise to Souls groaning under their burden is held forth in other Texts to Souls not groaning under their burdens in as equal a manner There can but two things be held forth First An invitation to believe But there is
no more sutableness held forth in this promise for an invitation for poor burdened Souls to believe in Christ than there is in other promises held forth in Scripture to Souls for present not groaning under the burden of Sin There lies as great an invitation upon every Soul under Heaven as the burdened there lies a command upon every Soul the invitation runs as equally to the dead in Sin under the greatest captivity to Satan as to Souls groaning under the burden of Sin Secondly The second thing that can be held forth in the promise is Rest and Refreshment Now you see that the rest is held forth to them to be received for the future only through believing and so it is held forth to every Soul under Heaven Therefore this promise cannot be made to burdened Souls under Sin as they are so burdened or as they are qualified with any such quality of grace You will say then what is the meaning of the promise The meaning is this God discovers to poor necessitous Souls where they shall have refreshment The voice of God from Heaven is Thou poor necessitous Soul wouldest have refreshment and thou poor burdened Soul wouldst have ease Come to me cast thy burden upon me by faith and take my word saith Jesus Christ thou shalt have rest III. If you look into promises made to mourning Souls As in Mat. 5.5 Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted So Isa 61.1 2. speaking of Christ he shall come to comfort those that Mourn in Sion But now those promises are not made to Mourners as having the quality of sorrow in their Hearts as being afflicted for their Sins and grieving for them no not as grieving for the dishonour done to God by their Sins as if the Lord should have respect to that in the promise And that will appear in two things 1. If the promise were to sorrow as a quality in the Soul then it must needs be as it is a good quality Now were the promise made to the Soul as a good quality it were the happiness of the soul to have the good quality increase and continue in his soul Whereas the promise made to the mourning soul is to remove the quality by comfort comfort and mourning being two contraries So that if the promise were made to souls having a good quality in them it were rather a misery to have the promise than a happiness 2. If the promise were made to sorrow as inherent then the soul might claim comfort by his mourning or because of his mourning And so the original of the souls comfort should be in the quality inherent in the soul 4. If you go on to poverty of Spirit Blessed are they that are poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven The promise here is not made to a soul poor in spirit as having that quality in him For then were the promise of giving the Kingdom of Heaven to be held forth to no souls but to those that were thus poor and empty and so the Kingdom of Heaven should be held forth particularly as the Lords not being willing to give it to any souls but to such as are thus poor in spirit that had a true sence of their own nothingness And so the first promise were to be received by a soul as having true holiness and grace in his soul and so consequently the receiving of the promise by Faith should not be the first act of grace in the soul but the sight of grace should be necessary in the soul to make him receive a promise There is a fourth question to be answered before we can pass to the affirmative answer Quest 4. Are not the promises made to faith and believing as believing that through faith a man can only claim right to the promise Saith the soul surely faith is a quality in the soul and if the promises be made to faith they are made to qualities as qualities Answ 1. First I answer That it is apparent that many promises are made to souls actually void of faith Though I dare not say without respect unto believing for the future yet I say without any present believing The most primary principal fundamental promises are made to souls void of faith actually they are made only to sinners and that in their very estate of sinfulness though not properly as they are sinners that is not because they are sinners as if sinners were the qualification of the promise But heinous sinners in that doleful condition the Lord makes the promise to As in 1 Tim. 1.15 that precious promise This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation That Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief He looks upon himself only as a sinner in the application of that promise that Jesus Christ came to save him Thus the promises of reconciliation are made to such actually without faith calling them as they are enemies to close with Jesus Christ as a Mediator between God and them to make up reconciliation Thus also that of Luk. 19.20 That Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost another precious promise yet made to souls only lost without respect to any present being of faith in their hearts Answ 2. Secondly I answer that some promises are made for the begetting of faith in souls and therefore not made to faith as being a quality in the soul to which those promises should be made As that promise Ezek. 36.26 A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you The promise is made for the begetting of the habit of faith in the soul whereby the heart should be changed whereby the whole work of redemption should be wrought in the soul Answ 3. Thirdly I answer That no one promise in the whole Covenant of grace is made unto faith as a quality pre-existent in a soul That is as a quality to be remaining in a soul before he claim right to the promise So that no promise is made unto a believer because he doth believe The ground of the promise is not the souls believing nor the ground of the souls particular interest in the promise is not the souls believing though the ground of the knowledge of that his interest is his believing For if faith should be in a soul as a quality to receive the promise then these three things would follow 1. No promise could be fulfilled in and to a soul before it actually believe And then either faith it self must not be a gift from God unto the soul or else the great fundamental gift should be conveyed unto the soul not by vertue of the Covenant of grace nor by vertue of a promise 2. Then no soul might receive a promise nor believe a promise before he saw his own faith That is a soul till he could say the Lord hath infused the habit of faith into my soul he might not receive any promise The
reason is plain whatever the promise should be made unto that must necessarily be seen in the soul before the promise can be believed But now what a preposterous course were this and what an impossible thing that I should see my faith before I do believe that I should see the habit of faith before there be an act of faith in my soul Nay rather that I should see an act of faith before ever faith did put forth an act 3. Then the Covenant of Grace were no absolute Covenant neither were it a Covenant void of all conditions For should the Lord make a promise to a quality as a quality that quality should be brought in as a condition to which the Lord should bind himself by his own promise Then the foundation of any particular souls interest in the Covenant should not be in the will of God but in the soul it self through the being of the quality in the soul to whom the Covenant is made But you read in Ezek. 36. and Jer. 33. The Covenant is holden forth absolutely the Lord undertaking every article of the Covenant The Lord also makes the foundation of the Covenant to be his own will alone Rom. 9.11 to 15. Answ 4. Fourthly I answer That the promises that are made unto qualities do not promise any mercy or grace or favour unto souls in those qualities to which the promise seems to be made As look over all the promises Mat. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest The Lord doth not speak peace here to the burdened soul nor yet comfort as inviting and exhorting them to take comfort because they are burdened or in their being burdened and groaning under sin but doth direct them unto Jesus Christ for their refreshment Come to me and then you shall have rest So that promise to thirsty ones John 7.37 If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink The Lord speaks no peace to them in their thirsting but sends them to Jesus Christ to receive comfort absolutely as though there were no thirsting in their souls So likewise it is of every such promise Now from this will follow a direct answer to that question The use of conditional promises of what purpose and use these promises are of then First they are of a directive use Of directive use to lead the soul to Christ That the soul finding himself poor and penurious finding himself thirsty and longing after this refreshment or that refreshment after pardon of sin or sanctification or receiving more grace these promises are of use to lead the soul to Jesus Christ to carry the soul beyond broken cisterns that he is apt to run to for refreshment and to open to him the everlasting fountain where only he can have refreshment 2. The promises that seem to be made to such qualities they are of use by way of Support Support to underprop the poor sinking soul The promise to poor burdened souls though it doth not presently evidence to the soul because he is burdened he hath rest yet it opens a possibility or probability of rest and that doth sweetly underprop the poor sinking soul when he is sinking under his burden As it was when the poor blind man was come after Jesus Christ and the Disciples cryed to him to hold his peace yet when they told him that Jesus Christ called for him though he had not his sight from thence yet it could not but be some refreshment to him there was a ground of hope for his soul to rest upon whereas he saw no fooâ—f hope to stand upon before 3. They are of use for the begetting of those very qualities in the soul To beget the qualities to which the promise seems to be made By hearing the Lord inviting poor thirsty empty souls the eyes of the soul are opened to behold his own emptiness And by discovering of the precious workings of love in the bosom of God to poor souls being ready to communicate himself to poor necessitous souls without any condidition required of them the hearts of poor souls are so allured and sweetly drawn out after God that all those holy dispositions and qualities are begotten in them yea faith it self to which so many promises are made Therefore it is observable Isa 52.20 That what is there promised to them that turn from transgression that the holy Ghost Rom. 11.26 applies unto Jesus Christ as fulfilling that very quality to which the promise seems to be made in souls even making them to turn from their iniquity and ungodliness Christ shall perform the condition As though it were all one to make a promise to a quality in souls or to make an absolute promise for the promise begets the condition 4. They are of use for the revealing unto a soul his union with Christ To reveal to the soul its union when the Spirit of God opens and discovers those promises unto the soul For though the Spirit of God reveals not unto a soul the evidence of his union from any promise made to a quality in this manner that is by shewing the soul the quality in himself to which God hath made a promise and therefore makes the soul to draw this conclusion that God is bound to communicate such Grace or Mercy to me yet the Spirit of God may reveal to the soul his union with Christ in such a promise made unto the qualitie by manifesting the Lords loving kindness and free grace to a soul in that promise absolutely as well to beget the quality to which the promise is made as to fulfill the promise And thus the Spirit of God may make the promise made to a quality all one with an absolute promise Also further The Spirit of God may also through revealing the souls union by such a promise beget that very quality in the heart and cause the soul to apprehend the quality to be begotten in himself though it doth not make the soul claim right to the promise by vertue of the quality Now that which remains is the affirmative part of the answer How a soul may know his union with Christ to answer didirectly How a soul may know his union with the Lord Jesus In the giving this affirmative answer there are divers things also must be premised further Premise 1. First I must premise this That in our ordinary phrase of speech we do make no difference between certainty and assurance of our union with Christ but we call every assurance of our union a knowledg of our union and whatever can make a man infallibly certain he is united unto Christ that we say in our ordinary phrase can give a soul a knowledg of his union And indeed the Scripture doth seem to countenance this our phrase of speaking as in Job 19.25 I know that my Redeemer liveth which could not properly be called knowledg of his union with Christ but only the knowledg
Thirdly in what manner those means produce the evidence of the souls union with Christ Quest 1. The first question is from whence Souls attain infallible Evidences of their Vnion with Christ Answ I answer That there is but one only peculiar ground substantially from whence souls can expect to receive infallible evidences of their union and that 's the Lords own free promise past out of the riches of his own grace alone to poor despisable souls wherein the Lord reveals his willingness to confer or bestow the Lord Christ upon their souls Now that this free promise alone is the infallible ground from whence souls can receive the infallible evidence of their union will appear in these three particulars I. In regard a Divine word must be the proper adequate object of a Divine Faith And every particular act of Divine Faith must have a Divine word Thence it is that in Rom. 10.17 The whole Gospel considered as the Gospel is said to be the word from which Faith cometh that is the word which is the foundation of Faith Not that it is the bare hearing of it that produceth Faith but through the hearing of the word the Lord reveals that word unto souls to be a true infallible foundation for souls to build upon And thence it is that the Word of God past out from God as a promise unto souls is made a ground of true hope unto souls Saith David Psal 119.49 Remember thy word that is thy promise unto thy Servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope Now the word of promise thus considered being the only proper object of Divine Faith thence it is that it can only be from a divine promise that a soul can receive the infallible evidence of his union with Christ II. In regard there must be a revelation from God of his free donation and giving Christ unto a soul that must be the ground of the act of every assuring faith It must be through some light and apprehensions the soul hath of the Lords free will concerning his soul that Christ and his soul shall be one that any act of assuring faith can go out of the soul And that may appear in two things 1. In regard faith respects things only as they are revealed by Speech from some person or other and respects the authority of the person speaking as the ground and foundation upon which it acts that is upon which faith does believe Thus the authority of the Lords speaking was the ground of Sarahs faith Heb. 11.11 So the ground of Paul's faith is expressed thus I know whom I have believed and that he is able Now the Lord reveals his mind concerning the eternal condition of such souls only in his promise Thence it follows necessarily there must be some revelation of the mind of God in the word of promise or the Lords donation or giving Christ to the soul before there can follow any act of assuring faith 2. It appears in regard faiths proper exercise consists only in receiving Whence you may observe in Scripture that believing and receiving are both put for one ordinarily John 1.12 and Chap. 3.33 So that of necessity for every right exercise of any act of faith there must be an apprehension of something given that may be received by a soul And thence it is of indispensable necessity that there be an apprehension of the Lords giving Christ to the soul to be one with it before there can be an act of assuring faith in the soul III. It must be from the promise from whence the soul receives the evidence of his union in regard there must be a particular infallible certainty to faiths eye in the ground from whence faith of assurance or faith of evidence doth act Faith working only as a receiver can receive no fuller certainty or have any fuller confidence in it self of any thing to be effected or done than it sees manifest from the grounds from whence it takes that confidence or assurance Now the promises alone are the infallible certainty to the eye of faith Yea the Lord according to his own unchangable counsel hath determined that there should be no other certainty but to the eye of faith Rom. 4.16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed And that 's the answer to the first Question from whence souls do receive the infallible evidence of their union with Christ which you see is only from the divine promise But yet here is another Question souls will cast in before we answer the second By what means Quest But may the soul say Is it not from the sight of a condition to which the Lord hath made some promise of Christ that a soul doth receive the infallible evidence of his union It is true it must be from a promise but the promise is not the nearest ground the proximate ground but the remote ground the furthest off ground And the condition of the promise fulfilled in the heart is the nearest ground and the immediate ground from whence the soul receives the evidence of its union For answer to it there are divers things to be premised and then to come to the direct answer of the question Prem 1. First I must premise That it is a general received division of the promises that they are either absolute or conditional Absolute made and founded upon the will of God alone and so to be accomplished only according to his own will and because he will Or else promises are made to some particular condition to be performed in souls upon which the Lord doth also fulfill the promise to the soul Now this division divides the promises into a Covenant of grace and a Covenant of works so it is all one with that known division promises legal and promises evangelical promises according to the Law and promises according to the Gospel Prem 2. Secondly I shall premise That there can be no promises of the Covenant of Grace properly called conditional promises there being not one condition included in the whole Covenant of Grace to which any one promise is made So that the division of the promises into promises absolute and promises conditional cannot hold rightly in the Covenant of Grace but every promise considered in the Covenant of Grace are all absolute promises That is the revelation of Gods will to souls that the Lord hath simply and fully determined to accomplish according to the manner and order and latitude wherein he doth propound them unto souls and that without any impediment or interruption so that whatever can possibly intervene yet the Lords will shall prevail in performing the promise Thence you shall observe Jer. 31.32 that the new Covenant called the Covenant of Grace and Love is distinguished from the old Covenant God made with the Jews as a Nation in that it was a Covenant wholly absolute containing nothing but promises which the Lord intended to
fulfill whatever can intervene Therefore I will not make such a Covenant as I made with your fathers which my Covenant they brake observe that but I will make such a Covenant as they shall not be able to break For saith God I will write my law in their hearts and put my fear in them As if he should say I will do all things for them So that there is not one promise that can properly be called a conditional promise Indeed improperly I grant the promises of the Covenant of Grace may be divided into conditional and absolute promises Some promises of the Covenant of Grace may be called conditional in this respect that there are some limits and bounds set to the promises as these two great bounds his own glory and his peoples good And only in three sorts of promises those limitations hold As 1. In all temporal promises of temporal blessings and favours to his own The Lord hath not absolutely promised riches and honour and prosperity to all the Subjects of the Covenant of Grace though godliness hath the promise of this life and that which is to come And though he hath tyed his own sufficiency to supply them yet not so as it admits of no limitation but these two come in the Lords glory and his peoples own good And likewise in dispensing all blessings privatively that is the freeing the soul from all temporal evils from afflictions distress and burdens this freedom is promised in the Covenant of Grace yet it admits of this limitation so far as it may concern the Lords glory So that so far as the glory of God is advanced in his peoples groaning under burdens and sufferings for a time the Covenant is nevertheless fulfilled 2. The promise of Gods giving the common gifts of the spirit God is not bound to them in the Covenant without limitation Therefore in 1 Cor. 12. Those common gifts of the spirit God dispenseth them variously one he fills with them and leaves another poor and weak void almost of any of those gifts of the spirit that the glory of God may be advanced in that dispensation and certainly every soul is not sutable to manage such a treasury of common gifts therefore the other limitation comes in also the souls own good 3. Those conditions or limitations hold only in the promises concerning the measure and manner and order of Gods dispencing himself to souls in privative or positive things All spiritual mercies privative as well as positive that is the preservation of the soul from all temptations and buffettings of Satan the preservation of the soul from all desertions this is also included in the Covenant of Grace But it is in this sence but a conditional promise a limited promise so far as may be for the Lords own honour the soul shall be free from temptations Yet now though in this sence under all these three heads there be continual promises yet that which is absolutely necessary for the soul cannot be said to come under any of these limitations Life and Salvation and everlasting Communion with the glorious Trinity and with the glorious Saints and Angels are so absolutely promised as they come not under these limitations but that which is absolutely necessary for the soul the Lord hath bound himself absolutely to convey to the soul Yet these limited promises cannot properly be called conditional but are absolute in themselves as will appear in three particulars 1. These limited promises thus bounded are not left in the limitations of them unto the persons to whom they are made So that they are improperly called conditional promises in regard conditional promises do imply some condition to be performed by the parties to whom the promises are made Now these limitations of such promises are not in the power of persons to whom they are made that they should judg and determine when for their own good and for the Lords glory they should have such and such promises made good to them but they depend upon the sole wisdom of God 2. These promises bounded with these extents are simply and absolutely determined by God to be fulfilled according as they are propounded Now then is a promise absolute when without respect to any thing whatever that can possibly intervene or be interposed it is undertaken to be fulfilled to the person to whom it is made according to the full extent wherein it is propounded Now in the full extent of the propounding of those promises wherein God may have glory and the soul advantage the Lord hath as absolutely engaged to give all common gifts of the spirit all outward blessings whatever possibly can intervene as he hath also any part of the Covenant of Grace 3. These promises pertaining to the Covenant of grace bounded with limitations are by the infinite wisdom of God bounded with such limitations only as make them to be absolute love and Grace from God to the soul For indeed those limitations are no other than preventions of what might make such promises to have evil interwoven with them as well as good and then should they not be absolutely love For observe all Gods promises of temporal mercy to the soul therein come to be love to the soul because God hath bounded with that limitation so far as shall be for the souls own good and advantage So that from these considerations even those limited promises prove as absolute as all the other promises of the Covenant of Grace So that you see there are no promises belonging to the Covenant of Grace but what are meerly Grace No condition may come in to challenge any thing in the Covenant of Grace Prem 3. Thirdly I must premise That all those promises that seem to be made to conditions in souls they are included under one of these five heads 1. They are made to persons having such conditions in them as put them into a case of want and poverty and so the Lord propounds refreshment to them sutable to their wants and poverty Of this nature are the promises made to thirsty and burdened souls 2. Those may be no promises but revelations of the glorious priviledges that God doth freely bestow upon his own people As to instance in those promises that seem to be made to love to God and Christ John 14.21 He that loveth me shall be loved of my father and I will love him and will manifest my self to him Here seems to be a promise made to love whereas it is only a revelation of the precious priviledg that belongs to the people of God and a discovery of the precious purpose of God concerning his own out of the meer disposition of his goodness towards them If any promise should be made to that precious grace of love methinks this should it runs every way in the nature of a promise But yet hence it appears it is no promise made to loving Christ as a condition upon which the promise should be fulfilled in regard that disposition
or precious habit of love to Jesus Christ in the soul is an effect of the Covenant of Grace it self Now that the Covenant should be made to that which is the proper effect of the Covenant of Grace it self no man can conceive And that demonstration is sufficient to clear all other promises of this nature So if you examine the promise made to fear Psal 34.7 8. The Angels of the Lord pitch their tents about them that fear him It is taken for a promise but it is only the priviledge of the Saints So likewise look to all the promises of obedience Deut. 5.10 The Lord reserves mercy for a thousand generations of them that love him and keep his commandments There is a large promise that seems to be made to obedience But no soul understanding the absolute decree of God from eternity can conceive the obedience of any soul should be the motive that should move God to shew mercy to the soul or body or that God should bind himself to his own people yielding obedience to him to become a debtor to their posterity in respect of their obedience for then the mercies their posterity should enjoy should owe their immediate being and the glory of their being to their immediate ancestors and not to God as the immediate cause of the being of their mercies Therefore these are only declarations of the priviledges of the people of God and all these promises are only manifestations of his goodness to them for the manifestation of the riches of his Grace for refreshing their spirits and for the causing them to be precious in the esteem of others 3. If those promises that seeem to be made to qualities in the soul as unto conditions be not thus then they are only descriptions of the persons of those that God doth interest in the glorious priviledges of Christ by the special peculiar Graces that God communicates to them Or else 4. They are discoveries of the means through which God doth convey those priviledges of Christ and of the Covenant of Grace unto persons Of this nature is that promise which seems to be made to a condition Isa 57.17 Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit This that seems to be a promise made to a soul indued by the Spirit of God with the Grace of Humility it is but either a description of those persons whom the Lord doth interest in his own special favour out of the riches of his own Grace alone Or else it is a precious Cordial given to a poor drooping Spirit as considered in an estate of penury and poverty as one contrite and ready to give up himself Of this nature are all those promises made to believing and repenting He that believeth and repenteth shall be saved The promise of salvation is not made unto faith as a special grace of God in the soul nor to the person indued with that grace But the thing it self properly is no promise but rather a description of the means through which the Lord makes his people partakers of the special priviledg he conveys through Christ and of the persons he communicates them to by their qualities 5. Those words of God that seem to be promises made unto conditions if none of the four former things contain them then they are descriptions given by the Holy Ghost of the way the Lord requires and inables his people to walk in while he communicates of his own free mercy to them Of this nature is that place so mistaken Ezek 36.27 28 29 30 which is the greatest place conceived to be of weight to prove promises to be made to conditions saith the Lord I will do these and these things for you I will bring you into your Land and make you dwell quietly and safely in your Land and I will save you from your Vncleanness c. But v. 37. Thus saith the Lord God I will yet for this be enquired of by the House of Israel to do it for them Generally the soul conceives here is the promise and the condition of the promise The promise to be the multitude of Mercies And the condition to be the seeking of the face of God But the meaning of the Holy Ghost is nothing else but to describe the way the Lord requires his people to walk in whilst they are in expectation to receive those precious mercies freely promised by God for them Likewise that in 1 Kings 8 47 48. Solomon prays for his people If they bethink themselves in the Land whither they were carried Captives and repent and make Supplication c. Now saith the Soul here is both the promise and the condition of the promise The condition is seeking Gods face humbling themselves for their Sins turning to God with all their hearts And then there is the promise that God will deliver them but they must observe these conditions else God binds not himself to give deliverance Now the true meaning of the Holy Ghost is only this Solomon in praying here at the dedication of his Temple the Typical House of God beseecheth the Lord that the prayers of all his people made towards that Temple that is towards Jesus Christ typified by that Temple and according to the will of God that they might be all acceptable to God Therefore observe Solomon in praying doth only describe the frame of spirit in Gods people when they come to pray which is an humble frame a turning frame from their Sins Neither doth God make the promises in either of both those places to depend upon any of these duties named not so much as prayer it self Therefore for the clearing these Texts I pray consider these things which may be useful for us for the right understanding the Covenant of grace and the nature of it I. That the duties here required by God from his people are the way wherein it is his will his people should walk in receiving mercies They are not precedent in order of time before the Lords intituling the soul to the whole Covenant of grace and every promise contained in it no nor so much as in order of nature That is that it must be presupposed that the soul have performed such and such duties before it can be presupposed the Lord to have interested the soul in every promise of the Covenant of grace And that will appear in these two things First that the act of the Lords will alone before and without any act of the will of man concurring doth fully intitle the soul to every promise of the Covenant of grace Otherwise it should be conceived that there should be some good will in man towards God before there be any good will in God towards man And so some act of good will from man to God should not flow from the acts of Gods good will to the soul Secondly in regard the
performing of that duty by a soul that the Lord requires of it in communicating grace mercies and favours to it is the Lords fulfilling his own Covenant of grace in and to the soul Jer. 31.33 Ezek. 36.27 Now that which is a part of Gods fulfilling the Covenant cannot go before the Covenant it self So that from thence are two things that you must conclude First that the performing those duties that God requires do give no soul any title or interest in any one promise of the Covenant of grace Secondly that the Lords promise to the Soul hath no dependance upon the souls performance of the duty that God requires him to perform in reference to Gods communicating mercy to the soul Yet I pray here be cautelous I do not say that God requires no duty from souls whilest he is thus communicating his free grace and mercy unto them I do not exempt souls from duty but I only exempt Gods promise from a dependence upon the duty and establish Gods own promise upon its right Basis and Foundations which is only his own will and absolute determination II. The second thing you are to observe for the clearing of these Scriptures is this That those duties required by God from souls in communicating mercies must of necessity go before the Lords intituling the soul to many mercies Though they cannot in order of nature go before any promise of the Covenant of grace yet in order of nature at least if not in order of time they go before the Lords intituling the soul to very many mercies mercies almost of all sorts That is till souls have performed those duties God requires they can claim no right nor title nor have any right nor title unto many mercies And all the right their souls enjoy to many mercies may and must be conveyed to them through the performance of these duties As for example in 1. Kings 8.47 48. God promiseth deliverance to them out of captivity and restauration of them into their own land and many priviledges yet those duties there described by the Holy Ghost to be the way of his peoples approach to him and seeking his face for their return out of captivity could not but of necessity go before at least in order of nature to the Lords intituling that people in the mercy of deliverance so that while those duties were not performed by the soul there could be no right nor title claimed of that deliverance by those persons But now there are four or five things to be observed for the clearing of this 1. That the duties here required by God though they do and must go before the Lords intituling the soul to many mercies yet they do not nor cannot go before the Lords intituling the soul to any absolute mercies Those absolute mercies are conveyed to the soul through the Covenant of grace absolutely without any respect or reference to any duty whatever performed by the soul so as the promise of them should have dependence upon the duty in the least degree But these relative mercies are only included in the Covenant of grace with limitation so as they are mercies considered with such circumstances considered as being communicated to such persons in such order in such manner in such degree Now it is of these mercies only that these duties required by God may go before in order of nature to the Lords intitling the soul to the mercy 2. Observe Though these duties may go before and ordinarily must go before the Lords intitling the soul to such mercies yet it is not the duty that gives the soul the right to those mercies thus to be injoyed Suppose those relative mercies to be conveyed to any particular soul at a sutable time in a sutable manner order measure and degree every way sutable so as they are mercies and then all these mercies are as absolutely promised in the Covenant of grace as those absolute eternal mercies that cannot but be mercies however they are communicated 3. It is not the duty nor the performance of it that gives the soul the right and title to the promise So that the duty is neither the immediate ground of the souls right to the mercy nor the remote ground that is the furthest off ground The furthest off ground is the promise The immediate is that which gives them right to the promise Now the soul must be in the Covenant of grace before the duty be performed and being in the Covenant of grace he hath right to the promise through which he partakes of such relative mercies 4. Though there be an ordinary necessity of these duties required by God preceeding or going before the souls injoying such mercies yet it is not the duty simply considered in its own nature as a duty upon which this necessity lies that it should go before the souls injoyment of the mercies I mean thus it is not prayer that God requires of thy soul that waits for the communication of any mercy or grace considered only as prayer which is to be considered as a duty that this of necessity must go before the souls injoyment of the mercy that is as though the Lord would have this necessity to be upon the performing of the duty because he would have something done by the soul before he will make it partake of his mercies Only the performance of the duty so disposeth the heart as a mercy shall be a mercy to the Soul 5. Observe further That the rise and exercise of the duties thus required by God sometimes to go before the Lords vouchsafing such mercies to souls can be only from the vertue of some promise contained in the Covenant of grace which the Lord fulfills in a soul For without influences from the Covenant of grace were there the most exquisit prayers the most continual strong wrastlings of a soul with God the most powerful Mourning and Weepings and Cryings after God all could not dispose a soul rightly for the injoyment of any of those relative mercies so as they should be mercies unto them when they are communicated 3. There is a third thing also to be observed for the clearing of these Scriptures and that is That these duties that are sometimes precedent in souls before their enjoyment of such relative mercies are absolutely promised to those that are in the Covenant of Grace to be effected by God in their souls This you may see apparent Ezek. 36 comparing v. 27. with v. 37. In v. 37. he saith I will be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them but v. 27. he saith I will put my Spirit in you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and my Judgments to do them And Jer. 31.33 saith the Lord I will write my Law in their hearts and they shall not depart from me The Lord doth even engage himself absolutely to work that in their hearts that he doth require to be done by their souls in his communicating mercies to them Now these
things being thus cleared the question that the soul propounds cannot stand The question was whether it was not from the sight of the condition to which the promise was made and fulfilled in the soul that the soul did conclude his right to the promise and so had his evidence of union with Christ There being no condition in the whole Covenant of Grace to which God hath made any promise it cannot be that it should be from the sight of any such condition that a soul should have his evidence of his union with Christ But then the question will be resolved into this question Quest But saith the soul Doth not the Lord first reveal those graces that he describes his own people by to be in souls and then through the sight of them clear to souls that he hath given them the Lord Christ out of his own good will alone through the promise And so it must be through the sight of such graces as God describes to be in his people that a soul must see himself to be one of Gods people Answ 1. Now to this I answer First That the Lord doth reserve to himself his own liberty concerning his own particular word from whence he doth reveal to souls infallibly their union with Christ The Lord doth not bind himself from a revealing unto souls their union with Christ by some word describing the Graces of the people united unto Christ nor from some word only inviting souls unto Christ Answ 2. Secondly I answer That the Lord doth not evidence unto souls their union with Christ without the sight of those graces in some measure or degree that the holy Ghost describes the Lords own people by When the Lord reveals his own free gift of Christ to the soul he doth reveal to the soul his willing accepting of Christ so given And that 's all one as if I should say the soul sees his own faith and so consequently doth see such graces to be in his soul Answ 3. Thirdly I answer That the Lord doth never reveal any Graces of the Spirit to any Soul as the ground or cause of evidencing unto the soul his union with Christ There are two things intended in this First That the Lord never reveals those graces in souls to be that which gives the soul right to the promise of the gift of Christ The Lord never manifests unto any soul that because there are such and such holy dispositions or precious heavenly qualities that he hath communicated to him that therefore he is enclined towards him and is willing to confer the Lord Jesus upon him or to accept him into union through Christ But the Lord reveals himself willing to accept souls into union with himself in Christ as they are considered under the notion of poor despicable worthless Souls without the least good disposition or holy inclination that can possibly be imagined in their hearts Secondly The Lord never reveals those Graces in the Soul to be the foundation of the Souls assurance That is the Lord doth not manifest to the Soul that because there are such Graces or such precious habits in his Soul therefore upon the sight of those the Soul ought to believe the Lords free sender and free gift of the Lord Christ to it The Lord doth not make those Graces to be the foundation of the Souls faith So that the Souls hope and comfort should rest upon the sight of those Graces that God should discover to be communicated to the Soul And that will appear in two things First If the Lord should cause the Soul by discovering Graces to be in him to bottom its hope upon the sight of those Graces then should the Graces of the Spirit in the Soul be the object of Faith and so Faith should not be the evidence of things not seen but rather the evidence of things seen Now the Scripture never propounds any holy quality in the Soul to be the object of Faith considering the quality as being inherent in the Soul It is out of all question the Scripture propounds believing without the sight of any of those qualities as that which every soul ought to seek after with his greatest strength John 20.29 Secondly Should the Lord manifest Graces to be in Souls first so as to bottom the hopes of their union with Christ upon the sight of those Graces then the Lord should not settle the faith of such Souls upon an immutable unchangable ground The Spirit it self in all its workings both in regard of the person in whom it works in regard of the manner and time of such workings is well compared by Christ to the wind that bloweth where and when it listeth And so all the graces of the Spirit and the workings of those Graces may be said to be changable things and should the Lord ground the Faith of a Soul upon a changable ground he should walk contrary to his revealed will Heb. 6.18 he hath given two immutable grounds his word and oath the Lords will is there should be everlasting constant unchangable grounds upon which every act of Faith should be built in relation to the Lord Christ that there may be unmoveable and unchangable consolation Answ 4. Fourthly I answer That the Lord may and doth to some Souls reveal Graces to be in them before he doth evidence unto their Faith their Union with Christ The Lord may manifest that there is some poverty of Spirit some broken heartedness for Sin some precious change before he doth assure unto their Faith their Union with Christ But then there are two things to be noted for the clearing of this conclusion First That the Lord doth not reveal the truth of such Graces to be in such a Soul unquestionably so as to enable the Soul to conclude from thence the acceptance of his Soul into Union with Christ The dreadfull storm of fear and terrour that may be risen upon the soul may be much alayed but alas there will be many a wave go over the Soul still Secondly That the evidence of the truth of those Graces in the Soul holds equal proportion with that evidence the Lord gives to Faith of the Souls Union with Christ or of the Lords free gift of Christ to him The evidence of the truth of those Graces and the evidence unto Faith runs parallel together They are dark and clear together holding one equal proportion And therefore untill God assure the Faith of the Soul that he is willing to accept him into union with Christ the Soul hath not an unquestionable assurance of the truth of those Graces that are in his Soul Answ 5. It is not the discovery of Grace in a poor doubting Soul but the discovery of the Lords absolute uncontroulable will to receive a Soul into union with the Lord Christ that is the ground from whence the Souls Faith is assured of his Union with Christ that is the ground from whence the Soul is assured of his Union with him Now this
I shall desire to clear from divers particulars 1. In regard the immediate ground of the certainty of the promise or of the Covenant of Grace unto the Soul can be nothing else but the gift of God Therefore saith the Apostle Rom. 4.16 It is of faith that it might be by grace to the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed And that the immediate ground of the certainty of the promise must be gift alone appears in two things First In regard the foundation of all must be Grace Eph. 1.6 7. That we might be to the glory of his Grace Therefore in Ezek. 16.62 63. I will establish my Covenant with thee and thou shalt know that I am the Lord There 's the absolute promise What is the end That thou mayest remember and be confounded and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done saith the Lord. This is strange one would think that they should be ashamed and consounded when God is pacified and reveals himself to be pacified But here is the mystery of it The Lord lays Grace as the foundation of all his ways towards them purposely that the glory of all that God communicates to Souls might be to himself alone Secondly In regard there can be nothing else the object of faith There are but two things that can be grounds of certainty It must be either Grace in God or Grace in the Soul Either the love of God or the effects of the love of God in the Soul Now the effects of the love of God in the Soul are things seen ad therefore not the objects of Faith Heb. 11.1 2. The discovery of the absolute will of God must be the only ground of assurance in regard faith can discern no certainty of Gods differencing one soul from another but what the Word of God reveals Now the Word of God reveals no other ground of the Lords differencing one soul from another but only his own will Rom. 9.12.18 3. In regard the sight of the certainty of the souls right of receiving Christ into union with himself doth wholly depend upon a sight of the certainty of the Lords will to recieve the soul into union with Christ Though the Spirit of God hath secretly allured the heart from those dark Visions of Christ to embrace him truly so as there is a real union between Christ and the soul yet the soul cannot judg aright of his receiving the Lord Christ so tendred to be given to his soul till he sees that he did receive the Lord Christ upon the right ground 4. In that it is the souls duty to receive the gifts of God in that order wherein the Lord manifests his giving of his gifts Now the order wherein the Lord propounds his gifts is first the gift of the Lord Christ and then the gift of all graces as the adjunct of the gift of the Lord Christ And thence the Lord invites the soul and commands the soul first in order to receive Christ that so it might partake of all the graces of Christ and all those dispositions of Holiness the soul longs for 5. In that the Lord judgeth it sufficient for assuring the Wavering Trembling soul of a poor sinner fearing the indignation of God against him for his sin You shall read Gen. 3.15 That all the promise that God gave to Adam when out of question the poor man was in great distress was only this That the Seed of the Woman should break the Serpents Head A meer discovery of his absolute free will without respect to any thing in souls themselves that he would deliver solely by a way devised by his own Wisdom by a Mediatour by taking upon him the humane nature and conquering the powers of Hell that did then hold poor souls captive Could Adam have received no evidence nor no assurance of the Lords accepting his soul into union with himself again in Christ from that promise the soul of Adam had been left altogether comfortless there being no description given by God of any graces that his own spirit did communicate to the souls of such that he had accepted into union with himself 6. In regard the patterns holden forth in Scripture of such as have received their union with Christ received the evidence of their union from the Lords absolute promise from the discovery of his will alone to do good unto their souls In Gen. 15.6 7 8 compared with Rom. 4.18 19. you shall see Abraham the Father of all believers he received the evidence of the Lords blessing him in Christ which is all one with taking into union with Christ only by the discovery of the Lords absolute will towards him Another pattern you see Isa 6.5 6 7 In the sense of his own wretchedness crying out Wo is me I am undone c. A Seraphim flew unto him having a live coal in his hand which he took off the Altar and laid it upon his mouth you must conceive it was done in a Vision and said loe this hath touched thy lips and thine Iniquity is taken away and thy Sin purged Here is an absolute promise of the Lords free love to Isaiah It gives him no Characters at all but tells him his Iniquity is taken away and this satisfied the soul of Isaiah as you may see v. 8. by his readiness to obey the command of God here I am send me And the case is every way parallel only this particularizeth the person of Isaiah whereas other promises are holden forth generally but yet every particular soul is as fully included and the promise is as absolutely spoken to every soul receiving it as it was unto Isaiah And it is the light of the Spirit that shines forth in the promise that doth put as much particularity and doth as much particularize the promise to any one soul as this promise was particularized to Isaiah in a Vision So that it is from the Lords absolute will alone that the soul receives a full ground of his union with Christ That 's the first branch of the 5th Conclusion The second branch of the fifth Conclusion was That it was not the discovery of the graces of the scrupulous soul doubtful of his union that did thus evidence unto the soul his union Now the discovery of graces in the soul still dark in his union cannot be in order the first ground from whence the soul doth receive the evidence of his union Though at the very same instant the soul may by the discovering of those graces see his union and conclude his union from the sight of those graces yet in order of nature this is not the immediate ground that gives the certainty to the soul And that will appear I. In regard the gift of the Lord Christ cannot be first received of a soul by Faith as a soul is gratious or by the soul being considered under the notion of a soul that
discerning to be communicated to the soul that doth not come from Jesus Christ Or else that there may be a light remaining in the soul from the relicks of nature which might let the soul see his absolute indispensable necessity of Christ or else he is undone for ever Now observe what a principle of darkness this is It takes away the peculiar office of Jesus Christ which is to open the blind eyes and give them sight Isa 42.7 Rev. 3.18 2. Thou must conceive that the soul should have received Jesus Christ before he is tendred to him Now no man dare own there should be a spiritual light in the soul before the Lord Christ heals his blindness And no man can conceive there should be the discerning of a spiritual object without a spiritual light The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned 1 Cor. 2.14 And for the second that a man should receive Jesus Christ before he be tendered to him this every man abhors as a great absurdity So that it is clear that this is a principle of darkness one of the motes the Devil would keep in the souls eyes But it is to be observed there are two truths about this thing that the Devil misses in propounding it as a glass to the soul 1. That there is no soul that receiveth Jesus Christ but hath a true sight and in some measure a true sense of his want of Christ and of the indispensable necessity of him Though no true spiritual discerning can go before the tender of Jesus Christ yet thus far it is true that at the same instant the Lord allures the heart to accept of Jesus Christ into union he doth beget a true spiritual sight of his absolute necessity of Christ 2. There is a second truth that is narrowly missed here and that is That this spiritual sight of the souls absolute indispensable want of Christ is communicated to the soul by the spirit of God working through the offer of Jesus Christ to the soul Though some conceive there are some things that may be called preparations not begotten by the Gospel but as they distinguish by the Law separate from the Gospel yet they all grant that no true grace either of light sight or sense is conveyed any way but through the Gospel of Christ and is instrumentally an effect of the Gospel of Christ Now that which is an effect of the Preaching of the Gospel of Christ must be an effect of the tender of Christ to the soul for that is the effect of the Gospel to tender Jesus Christ to the poor despicable loveless soul Now that this is a principle of darkness I shall prove from Scripture All those promises of Scripture that offer Christ freely must be expunged if this be a principle of light as Isa 55.1 Rev. 22.17 John 6.37 Where the invitation is free whoever will let him come If he have but a will let him be what he will A Second principle of darkness is That there must be a sight of the actings of the good will of God to the Soul Principle of darkness before the Soul can believe any good will of God intended to the Soul in Christ That is thus saith the Soul surely there must be a fight of some holy disposition there must be a beholding of some readiness to depart from sin and some casting off the principles of corruption there must be a heart seeking after God and praying and supplicating God before the Soul may conceive the Lord intends any good will to it in Christ Now the darkness that is in this principle will appear in opening four consequences flowing from it 1. If any such holy disposition or inclination be to be discerned in a Soul before he is to believe the Lords intending good will to his Soul in Christ then some particular effect of savour or some acting of the Lords good will should be received by a Soul besides the Lords promise and so should not be conveyed through the receiving of the promise unto the Soul And so consequently the Lord should convey Grace into Souls out of and beyond the bounds of his own Covenant of Grace 2. If any of these actings of Grace were to be seen in the Soul before it believes the Lords good will then should special Grace be conveyed to the Soul before engrafting into Christ So that life should come down from Jesus Christ into the Soul and it should partake of the influences of Jesus Christ and of the Graces of Christ before he receiveth Jesus Christ himself And upon this ground the Soul should bring forth good fruit before it be engrafted into Jesus Christ and become a good stock or good tree and so expresly contrary to the Scripture an evil tree should bring forth good fruit a Soul in enmity to God should bring forth holy dispositions 3. If the Soul should behold the actings of the good will of God towards his Soul before he believes the Lord intends good will to his Soul in Christ then must the Soul conceive that he may see his own Soul beloved actually of God even for the present before the receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ to make atonement or reconciliation to God for him The Soul must then conceive that there should be acts of friendship from God to the Soul before the Lord Christ should step in to make up the union of peace and agreement before there should be reconciliation 4 If the Soul should of necessity see the actings of Grace in his Soul before he see the Lord intends good will to his Soul in Christ then a divine word should not be the primary or principal ground of the Souls faith but rather the Graces or the actings of Gods good will discerned in the Soul and consequently all the foundation of such a believing Soul should be meerly in the Soul it self Now nothing is more directly contrary to the whole tenor of Scripture holding forth the ground of faith than this Abraham who is set forth as a pattern of Believers his faith was onely built upon the word of God giving authority to it from the authority of the Speaker Rom. 4.20 21. A third Principle of Darkness is this That it is Presumption for the soul to beleive or to receive the promise of Jesus Christ Principle of darkness so long as the soul seeth nothing but rebellion and Disobedience and Enmity in his heart against God This is another Hell-bred principle of darkness that smells much of the smoke that comes out of the bottomless pit to darken the light of the Lord Jesus And that this is a principle of darkness will appear by some few considerations 1. In regard there can be no rebellion nor no enmity healed but by vertue received from Jesus Christ Sin receiveth its deadly wound only upon the Cross of Jesus Christ and it is by vertue of the application of the
And indeed if we look over all those Famous men as Calvin Greenham and that skilful Physician Mr. Rogers c. not one of a Thousand Ministers but we may extract some such Passages as these from them as Take heed you apply not Comfort too soon after you be Wounded Take heed you take not away the Corrosive and apply healing to soon If you take away the Tent saith one of them before the corrupt matter be healed it will heal of it self too soon and break out most dangerously Thus if the Tent of Fear and Horrour and Soul-Affliction for Sin be taken out of the Wound of the soul too soon the soul take Comfort too soon the Wound will be ready to heal too soon and so will either break out more dangerously or else it will be the everlasting death of the soul But observe how souls mistake this ground in conceiving these expressions to be sufficient ground upon which to build such a Conclusion 1. The meaning of these Divines in giving these cautions to take heed of applying Comfort too soon is only this that such as deal with Afflicted Consciences must take heed they do not too readily assure them that the promise of Life in Jesus Christ belongs to them and that they are certainly accepted in the Covenant of Grace Now indeed these Comforts may be applied to the soul too soon for this is not nor ought to be the first application of Jesus Christ to souls The very first act in the soul in its application of the Lord Jesus to it self is not that the Lord Christ is my Saviour and that he hath Redeemed my soul and Purchased Life and Eternal Salvation for me Thus indeed a soul might apply Jesus Christ too soon But the first application of Jesus Christ to the soul is the applying the Lords Tender of the Lord Christ unto the particular soul It is an assuring of the soul from what it beholds in the Declaration of the Will of God from his Word that it is his Will to receive his soul into union with Jesus Christ and that it is the Will of God concerning him that he do embrace Christ to be one with him 2. Observe That it is upon different grounds that a soul doth receive assurance unto his Faith that he is united to Jesus Christ and that other souls do manifest any Confidence that the soul is united to Jesus Christ There is one ground for the souls own apprehension that the promise belongs to himself and it is upon another ground that any soul may apply a promise by way of assuring the soul that he hath an interest in the promise This will appear in two things 1. The ground from whence the soul receiveth assurance to his own Faith of his union with Christ is invisible to all others when it is first visible to the soul it self The Lord may and doth frequently by his own Spirit so open the very secrets of his Heart and Mind unto a particular soul and his willingness his longing desire to accept him in Christ as he doth beget yernings in the soul to Christ and beget a blessed close between Christ and that soul but alas no other eye but his own seeth this blessed close 2. Those grounds upon which any other may assure a soul that he is united to Jesus Christ are but the Consequence of the souls own Apprehension of Christs acceptance of it into union with him So that observe If the spiritual Physician should apply Comfort in their sence to the soul that is assure the soul of his present interest in the Covenant of Grace he may do it indeed too soon because he can have no ground for such a Confidence that he is united to Jesus Christ till he hath applied Jesus Christ in particular to his own soul and that application hath brought forth some preceious Fruit that is till it hath brought forth Contrition and Godly Sorrow Emptiness Nothingness a sight of the souls own Sinking Perishing condition till it hath brought forth Gasping and Longing and Panting after Jesus Christ no Spiritual Physician hath any ground to assure or tell the soul that he is Confident that he is united to Jesus Christ and this is that that these Divines call Comfort And therefore they propound three or four things as necessary to be discerned by every Spiritual Physitian before he apply Comfort to them First say they it is necessary that the Spiritual Physician behold the soul Wounded in the sense of his Sin sensible of the Wrath and Indignation of God that is due unto his Sin and sensible of the unavoidableness of Wrath and Indignation Secondly say they it is necessary the Spiritual Physician should discern in the afflicted soul a Sincere Cordial Upright Single Purpose and Intention an absolute Resolution to abandon all those Sins a purpose to Hate them and Loath and Abhor them Thirdly say they that he must discern a sincere purpose to be constant in a Universal way of Obedience unto Jesus Christ to receive him as his only King and Ruler and Governour to be obedient to his Will alone Fourthly It is necessary that he discern earnest Longings and Pantings and Breathings after Jesus Christ an unsatiable thirst after him such a thirst as none can quench but Jesus Christ alone such a thirst as makes him so prise Jesus Christ that if all the World were turned into a Mountain of Gold it were nothing to him in respect of Christ and this thirst say they must be discerned by the Spiritual Physician to be only after the imputed Righteousness of Christ that is that he may be free from Sin and have the Pardon pass'd from Heaven to his soul and have the Righteousness of Christ to stand pure and clean and Innocent before God and then say they the Spiritual Physician may apply Comfort to the soul So that it is apparent from their own Principles what they mean by cautioning souls to take heed they do not apply Comfort to afflicted Consciences to soon And yet further these Divines in their application of Comfort also acknowledge it can be but in a conditional way that any one can lawfully aver to a soul and assure it from the Word that the promise of Life belongs to him and that be is in the Covenant of Grace For say they it must be only upon this condition that those things I named before be Truly and Really and Sincerely to be found in the soul So that in effect there is no Comfort that is applyed by them unto the afflicted Conscience And I must confess I see not any safety that can be concluded from the Word of God in application of Comfort in this way unto afflicted Consciences in regard it must rather establish the soul upon a Humane Authority than a Divine II. A second ground of this Principle is this That the promise of Life and Salvation doth not strait way belong to every soul that is Wounded and Terrified
for that Believing Soul to question his own Cleaving and Adhering unto Jesus Christ unto all Eternity And that will appear in two things I. In regard there is a sufficient ground revealed to the Soul that hath this Testimony of the Spirit unto his Faith of his Confidence of his Everlasting Cleaving unto Christ as there is of the Lords Acceptance of his Soul into Union and Communion with him in Adhering to him The promises of the Covenant of Grace that are tendred in the Lord Jesus do as perfectly and as clearly contain and include in them strength to inable Souls to Embrace and Accept those Promises as they do contain in them a fulness and alsufficiency of Love and Mercy for those Souls that do Embrace them The Lord that hath said It is my Will that such Perishing Sinking Despicable Souls as will accept my Tender shall be one with me through the Lord Jesus and have Everlasting Communion with me hath also said will Allure and draw your Hearts to Embrace and Accept according to my Will this Union and Communion with me in Christ that I freely tender you According to Jer. 31 32 33. This shall be my Covenant I will put my Law in their inward parts and Write it in their Hearts That is to say I will infuse sutable Dispositions into the Hearts of all the Embracers of the Lord Jesus to Incline Dispose and Inable them to fulfil all my Revealed Will in some Measure and Degree So that the Soul hath as sure a Word Revealed to it to depend upon from whence may arise a Confidence in it that the Lord will Inable him to Cleave and Adhere Everlastingly to Christ as it hath a Word whereupon his Soul may Depend and may be Confident the Lord will accept him into Union and Communion with him in Cleaving unto Christ II. In regard that very Confidence that the Spirit doth produce in the Soul of its Infallible Acceptance into Union and Communion with him is the very act of Cleaving and Adhering unto Christ There are four particular acts of the Soul Included under this Confidence of the Souls Acceptance into Union with Christ in its Cleaving and Adhering to him 1. In this is Included the Election of Union with Christ by the Will of the Soul Now this is but the receiving of Christ that the Gospel requireth To as many as received him to them gave he Power to become the Sons of God John 1.12 Now the consent of the Will to close with Christ in Union and Communion that is tendred to it is the very Receiving of Jesus Christ 2. In that very act of Confidence there is Included the Souls Credence or giving Credit to the Word of God When the Soul is Confident of the Lords Accepting of it into Union and Communion with him in the Souls Cleaving and Adhering to him it is only because of such a Word of Promise from the Mouth of Christ to which the Soul giveth Credit or which the Soul Believeth 3. In this act of Confidence there is a Resignation of the Soul wholly unto Christ Such as that which is spoken of in 2 Tim. 1.12 I know whom I have believed and I am Perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have Committed unto him That is to say I know whose Word it was that I gave Credit to and that I was so Confident of the Truth of That I leaned my Soul upon the Truth of that Word for its Everlasting Happiness So that then in this act of Confidence there is Included that Mutual Interchangable Covenanting that the Word of the Lord requires from Souls in Accepting the Lord Jesus Tendered 4. In this very act of Confidence there is Included a full Dependance of the Soul upon Christ a hanging the Soul upon the Faithfulness of Jesus Christ and his Word So that indeed all the acts that the Gospel Requires from Souls are Included in this one act of Confidence that is produced by this Testimony of the Spirit to the Souls Faith Now the act of the Souls Confidence being also the act of its Cleaving and Adhering unto the Lord Jesus and the Souls Cleaving and Adhering unto Christ being Gradually as strong as the act of its Confidence of Accepting into Union and Communion with Christ in his Cleaving to him Thence it appears that there can be no solid ground of the souls questioning his own Adherence unto the Lord Jesus when the spirit gives this Testimony forementioned unto the souls Faith and produceth 〈◊〉 Confidence in the soul of his Acceptance into Union and Communion with the Lord Jesus in Adhering to him In this very thing lies the whole Mystery of assurance unto Faith The very Confidence that the spirit begets in the soul of the Lord Jesus his Accepting it into Union and Communion with him in Cleaving to him the very act of Confidence is the act of the souls Cleaving to him Answ 2. Secondly I Answer further that whenever the Spirit by its Testimony to the souls Faith doth beget that Confidence in the soul that the Lord will Accept it into Union with himself in his Adhering to him then the soul cannot question his own Adhering unto Christ any more than he questions the Lords Acceptance of his soul into Union and Communion with him in his Adhering to him The spirits Testimony unto Faith is or such a nature that it doth equally beget a Confidence in the soul of his Everlasting Cleaving unto Christ to the Confidence that it doth beget of the Lords Acceptance of the soul into Union with himself in the souls Adhering to him And that will appear in three things I. In regard the spirits Attestation unto Faith is concerning the truth of the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ or of all the promises The spirit in the Irradiation of the Gospel clears that it is the Lords Will to have the whole Glorious work of the Union of Loveless Sinners with the Lord Jesus to have its sole dependance upon himself So that it manifests Believing Strength to inable the soul to Cleave and Adhere to the Lord Jesus fully to be tendered in the Covenant of Grace as well as Union with Christ himself is tendered Now then the spirits Attestation which follows this Irradiation of the Gospel is as large as its Irradiation work I mean the spirit doth in a Judicial Authoritative way Witness the truth of all those Gospel Truths Revealed to the soul So that the soul cannot possibly resist that Determination that the spirit gives into its Bosom Now then there being the same Witness of the spirit unto the souls Faith that the Lord will inable it to Cleave and Adhere to the Lord Jesus that there is unto its Faith that the Lord will Accept into Union and Communion with himself in Christ every soul that will Adhere to him Thence it cannot be that a soul should more question his Adhering unto Christ than he should question the Lords Acceptance of him
acting by his own power the divine Light communicated to the soul p. 233. 2. The spirits Irradiation of the Promise or of the Gospel of Jesus Christ Diverse things in the Promise or in the Gospel that the Spirit doth evidence to the Soul when it is revealing its Vnion with Christ This is clear in many particulars from p. 234. to 340. The first beam of Divine Light p. 236. A Second Beam of Divine Light p. 254. A Third p. 262. A Fourth p. 267. A Fifth p. 269. A Sixth p. 274. The security given to Souls from the Covenant Oath Seal p. 274. From the many engagement upon God himself p. 305. 3. The Spirits conviction of the Conscience p. 340. What Conscience is The two most eminent works of Conscience The spirits excitation of the habits of grace formerly infused into their proper exercise p. 345. What the spirits excitatioin is p. 350. 5. The Spirits Attestation or Witness unto the Soul Both its Attestation to sense and to faith p. 355. to 392. Quest How Souls that conceive themselves to have received certain and satisfying evidence of their Vnion with the Lord Jesus may know certainly and infallibly that the evidence of their Vnion with Christ received is really from God and not a Diabolical Enthusiasm or Inspiration or a Delusion by the Devils translation of himself into Angelical glory p. 392. Several things concerning Diabolical Inspirations p. 393. The grounds of the different actings of the Devils policy towards Believers and Vnbelievers p. 406. Quest Can the Devil look into the understandings of Men to know what the inward actings of their Minds are p. 425. 2. Satans power upon the Conscience p. 431. 3. Satans power upon the Affections and Passions p. 436. Premises about a Souls tryal of the evidence of his Vnion received whether it it be from God or be a diabolical inspiration p. 437. Four sinful Distempers incident to believing Souls when doubtful of the truth of their Evidencs of their Vnion with Christ which do incapacitate for a just Trial and true examination of the evidences of their Vnion p 445. Quest If souls under the Dominion of impatiency rashness irrational affections prejudicial conceits against the truth of their evidence of their Vnion with Christ and under decays of holiness be unsutable for a right Tryal of their Evidences then what sutable means remains for such souls in these sad conditions under fears that their Eaidences are delusions Answer p. 455. If the examination can only be taken from those Evidences which remain in their perspicity clearness and sanctifying power then Quest What use could souls make of the evidences they conceive they had received of their Vnion with Jesus Christ when the Lustre and orient brightness of their evidences be Eclipsed p. 472. Answered in 4 Propositions Six Holy Vses the soul is to make for former Evidences p. 479. Nine Arguments from former Evidences to plead with the Majesty of Heaven p. 483. From all those Considerations the Question is thus Stated Quest How shall any Soul that conceives he hath received and doth actually injoy certain and sufficient evidence of his Vnion with the Lord Jesus Demonstrate from certain necessary and evident reasons that those his Evidences are really from God p. 491. Answ There are but two kinds of Demonstrations 1. The first and most certain ground is taken from the Causes Now there are but two principal Causes of the Souls Vnion with the Lord Jesus both which concur together and are never Separated one from another that is the Lords Blessed Written Word and that pretious Spirit of Jesus Christ. That the first primary and principal reason from whence a Soul may conclude that the Evidences of his Vnion with Christ received are really from God is that those Evidencing Beams of Light do proceed from the Blessed Spirit of Jesus Christ Two things opened to clear this 1. That the Light that proceeds from the Spirit to Evidence to any Soul its Vnion with Christ doth Evidence it self to proceed from the spirit p. 493. 2. That the light that proceeds from that spirit to discover to the soul its Vnion with Christ is the most potent invincible Demonstration of its own proceeding from God p. 499. The second Instrumental cause that shineth into any heart really from God to discover its Vnion with Christ is the Lords pretious Word p. 502. Where is cleared that the Scriptures are the Word of God p. 512. 2. The second sort of Demonstrations a posterioti taken from the effects Five acts in Believing Souls whereby they exalt the name of God Souls Confident they shall be everlastingly saved by Christ put upon it to search into their Hearts and seriously lay six things before them to consider of A TREATISE OF THE Souls Vnion WITH CHRIST c. Ephes 1.10 That in the Dispensation of the fulness of Times he might gather togather in one all things in Christ both which are in Heaven and which are in Earth even in him THE Apostle taking care of the Church of Ephesus after his departure from it writes this Epistle for the Establishing their Hearts in the Riches of the Lords Free Grace in Christ that the Lord had made their Souls Partakers of that thereby he might excite and quicken them to all sutable walking to such Priviledges This being his Scope in this first Chapter the Apostle begins to reckon up all those Glorious Priviledges by their several names in their several Causes and orders and therefore you shall see in ver 3. He breaks out in the very beginning into a Holy Rapture of Praise and Admiration of God to Bless his name for those high Priviledges as Election Justification Vocation and Glorification Now in ver 8. is comprehended the great Priviledge of their Vocation in those words wherein he hath abounded towards us in all Wisdom and Prudence or Understanding That is in which Grace and Love before named the Lord hath abounded towards us through the Communicating that Grace of Wisdom and Understanding to us That is that Grace that made us receive and rest upon the Doctrine of the Wisdom of God to Salvation And having thus named the Priviledge it self ver 9. He opens the manner of the Lords thus effecting this grace upon their Souls in these words having made known unto us the Mystery of his Will according to his good pleasure which he had purposed in himself The manner of the effecting of it is by the Lords manifesting the Mysteries of his will to their Souls And what he means by the Mystery of his will he tells us ver 13 it is the Word of Truth the Gospel of Salvation He means indeed the Salvation Preached in and through the Lord Christ alone which was the great Mystery that the Angels desired to pry into Now by the Revelation of this Mystery the Lord did Communicate that Grace and Understanding to them whereby they did embrace that pretious doctrine that made them wise to salvation
soul when the grace of God that is the favour of God to the soul remains obscure and doubtful The truth of graces appears most clearly from their Original from whence they spring from the root upon which they grow in regard other Fruits may have so near a resemblance to them as they cannot be discerned by the eye of the soul that hath so much darkness in it whilst it remains here below But when the original of grace appears when the soul sees his love flowing meerly from the love of God to his soul that even because of Gods love to the soul therefore the soul loves God again it is then that love appears in the soul to be of the right stamp and indeed never till then So that till the love or poverty of spirit or mourning for Sin appear to the soul it self to be that which is the proper effect the proper consequence of the souls union with Christ the soul cannot be satisfied that his graces are of the right stamp Now in regard the effects of grace are doubtful when the grace of God himself to the soul is obscure and hidden Thence it is that the assurance of Faith must go before in order of nature the assurance of knowledge though for the most part not in order of time Now these things considered when you ask how the soul may know his Union with Jesus Christ The question must be concerning this assurance of Faith and not of the assurance of knowledge for you presuppose your selves not to have any union Therefore observe what question you ask you ask how you may gain an assurance of Faith that your particular souls are united unto Jesus Christ Now this question will divide it self into two questions First how souls do attain the first certain infallible evidence of their union with Christ Secondly How souls that do conceive and judge and estimate themselves to have attained their union with Christ may know whether their union be true whether their evidences be right evidences or whether they be delusions The first question must resolve every poor doubting scrupulous soul about his Union But now observe such souls cannot expect satisfaction from me about the union of their souls nor from any thing that man or the Wisdom of man can reveal unto their souls And that will appear in these four respects 1. In regard the producing Faith in the soul is an act of Almighty Power As you may see Ephe. 1.19 When he prays that they might understand the hope of their calling he prays also that they might understand and know the exceeding greatness of his Power to those that believe according to the working of his Mighty Power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead It is called a work of the Lords Power and a Mighty Power that is a Power of God as God as an incomprehensible essence For it was no other Power than the Power of God as God that raised Jesus Christ from the dead and the Holy Ghost parallels that Power that draws the soul to believe with the Power of the Godhead 2. The producing the consequence of Faith of assurance in the soul is also another mighty work of the Power of God The consequence is the peace and Harmony in the souls bosom the setling of the poor tossed soul in his own wished for Heaven Now the begetting such Peace in the soul is ascribed to the Power of God Isa 57.18 19. He creates Peace Creation is a work that is proper to God alone as he is God as he is the infinite Divine essence Creation is to make something of nothing and therefore beyond the Power of all Creatures whatever 3. It must be a supernatural Divine light that can reveal to the soul the ground of the assurance of Faith Therefore you shall see Ephe. 1.17 18. how the Apostle desiring that those Ephesians might be brought to understand the depth of the Covenant of grace in their souls he prays to God that he would send into their Hearts the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation that they might know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the Glory of his Inheritance in the Saints What is the hope of his calling That is what are the things hoped for and propounded as the objects of hope in the Lords calling souls You see there is a necessity both of the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation Not only of a Spirit of Wisdom that is of an habit of Spiritual Life and understanding infused into the soul but of a Spirit of Revelation that there might be a light of Revelation from the spirit to discover those deep hidden things unto the spirit of understanding that the Lord hath infused into the soul Now all the Revelations of man unto your souls scrupulous about your union can reveal no more than an external and outward light to the outward eye of your understanding And thence it is your scrupulous souls can receive no satisfaction about your union from any thing that can be revealed by man unto your souls But I pray mistake not I do not say the soul may not receive any satisfaction through that as a means but rather I affirm that through those Revelations of truths unto the eye of the natural understanding the Lord doth communicate true light into the spiritual understanding The Lord strikes in with the revelation of truths and puts light upon truths and puts light into the soul to receive those truths 4. In regard the Lord hath appointed a peculiar Officer for that end and hath designed that work of satisfying souls about their union for that Officer as peculiar to him alone Thence you shall see the Lord hath given the Officer a name sutable for that end which is the Comforter John 14.26 and commonly he is called as well by that name alone as the Spirit of God Now the office of the spirit is to lead into all truth John 16.13 and it must be truth that is some revelation of the mind of God that must give such souls satisfaction about their union Now in regard of all this it is evident that souls scrupulous about their union cannot expect satisfaction from any thing revealed by any man to their Souls but only so far as the resolution of this question will give them satisfaction and that 's in two things First in revealing to their Souls the insufficiency of their commonly supposed grounds from whence they seek for evidence of their union Secondly in raising their eyes of expectation to the right original of evidences of union We shall now proceed to the answer of this great question How souls attain the evidence of their union with Christ And yet before this question can be answered it will divide it self into theee Branches First from whence or from what ground souls do attain the infallible evidences of their union with Christ Secondly by what means do souls attain the evidences of their union
faith the one believes in a rational way by his judgment when the other have confused motions towards God without judgment Now for the further clearing of this distemper of spirit 1. Saith the soul through this rash distemper prevailing in his heart those to whom the promises of God are intended to be made good God draws them to embrace them but I do not find that God draws me or giveth me power therefore I am none to whom this promise is made The principle is true but the conclusion is drawn rashly from it 1. The soul commonly draws this conclusion without weighing what the drawings of God are and what the secret power infused into the soul to receive those promises tendered to it is I have heard a soul draw this conclusion from this principle but when asked what are the drawings of God in the soul to inable it to embrace Jesus Christ tendered in the promise the soul knows not Ask it didst ever find the Lord making thy heart willing to receive the Lord Jesus to be one with thy soul and to make up an union with the father for thee O yes saith the soul I confess my soul longs for that I cannot but say I am willing And yet in the mean time through the distemper of rashness draws this conclusion that he is none of the number of those to whom the promise is made because God does not draw him 2. Suppose there was not this willingness yet the conclusion is rashly drawn from the principle in regard there is no time that God hath limited or prescribed to himself wherein he will draw the hearts of those that he intends the promises for 3. The souls ground is false in regard the Scripture determines not that the Lord always acts those inward habitual drawings of his when he hath once actually drawn 2. Say some souls through this rash distemper that those God intends good to he will not suffer them to grow worse and worse under the means and to decay in their affections and grow more corrupt But saith the soul I grow worse and worse under the means more corrupt and my affections decay and therefore I am afraid the Lord never intends to do good to me Now I pray observe but thine own rashness in not weighing and trying and searching all things to search whether indeed thou beest grown worse and worse under the means or no and to see in what degree thou art grown more corrupt and whether it be such a degree as the Scripture evidenceth God lets not those that he intends good to in Christ to fall into sin or no. Here should have been a great many things weighed before thou hadst drawn that conclusion I. Thou shouldest have weighed whether thine heart be grown more corrupt or no. Divers things things are considerable there 1. Though thou judgest thy self more corrupt yet thou mayst not truly have more corruption than thou hadst A soul is to distinguish between corruptions that are effectively so and those that are formally so It may be thou mayst see corruptions formally in thy soul more than before whereas thou mayst not be more corrupt effectively I mean thus thou mayst find more motions unto sin and wickedness than before and yet not those motions prevail to sin effectively that is to deprave and corrupt thy soul Though indeed interpretatively and according to the strict law of God those stirrings of corruption may be called sin yet they cannot properly be called corruption and thou canst not be said to be more and more corrupt for then they grow corruptions when the heart is inclined to them 2. Thou mayst judge thy self to have more corruption and yet there may not be more corruption neither First God may have cast more light into thy soul than before when thou didst judge thy self not to be so full of corruption Now through light every iniquity hath a greater weight upon the spirit than it had formerly Now the more weight it hath upon the spirit the more it is taken notice of And through more light there is a clearer discovery of the duty that the Lord requireth of the soul and of the nature and spirituality of the duty Now the more exquisitly the soul discerns the duty God requireth at his hand the more abominable he seeth his own heart Secondly if there be not more light it may be there is a greater tenderness of spirit infused into thee than formerly So that thou feelest corruptions more because the burden of them is more spiritually upon thy heart than before and so they appear to be the greater to thee 3. Corruptions may appear more when they are not more in regard there may be many occasions offered to draw forth inherent corruption into exercise There might be as many legions of iniquity in thy heart formerly though they did not appear because they had not the same occasion 4. Satan may be suffered by God to endeavour to draw out corruption for the discovery of corruption and the mortifying of it The Lord may suffer Satan contrary to his intentions to war against his own kingdom in thy heart in drawing out all his power to stir thy corruptions that thou mayst go to heaven for power to slay them So that if all these things were well considered it may be the heart would not be found to be more corrupt II. Suppose the heart should be grown more corrupt under means for a season Suppose the root of sin should get some sap and bud and sprout again and send forth its branches more plentifully and bring forth more fruit yet it were to be weighed before a soul draws such a conclusion whether sin may not revive again and grow more lively for a time even in those who are near to the heart of God to whom God intends all the good in the promises tendered by Christ III. It would be also considered whether the Scripture warrants the drawing such a conclusion from a real sense of growing worse and worse It would be considered whether the Lord be not tendered to at that time that thou mightest receive such influences of grace from him as might prevent thy soul from still growing worse and worse IV. It would be considered whether the soul can find that such a degree of declension as it is now fallen into be such a one as the Lord Christ hath excluded all that fall into it from receiving himself in the Covenant of Free Grace If I should follow up this rashness of the soul further I might open that the souls real declension in affections that were formerly may not be a sufficient ground to conclude that the soul is grown worse and worse 1. It would be considered whether affections did work in the Lords own orderly way through the following of the judgment in closing with the truth propounded in Christ It may be the novelty of the truths affected thy heart as being new things and it was not from the dictate
disproportion a Soul finds out between himself and other Christians his Graces and their Graces his Duties and their Duties are made a sufficient ground for the Soul to draw a final conclusion of his own estate from As thus when a Soul argueth in this manner I see there are none of those pretious workings of the Spirit of God in my Spirit that I behold and see apparent are in the Spirits of such and such Christians they have their Hearts so powerfully drawn by Jesus Christ to close with him in a way of union that they are inabled by a mighty power from God to believe but saith the Soul I do not find that God draws my Heart and comes with a mighty power to constrain my Soul to close with the Lord Jesus tendred and therefore surely God never intended good to my Soul That this is a dark and sinful distemper will appear in divers things for there may be many disproportions between one Christian and another that are not sinful disproportions 1. There may be a disproportion without a mans sin in the manner and order and degree yea in the very Being of all the workings of God in the Soul before the actual union of the Soul with Christ by any act of believing First There may be a disproportion in the fear of Conscience that other Christians have had upon them before their actual consent to the Lord Christ tendred and the fear of Conscience that thou hast hitherto had Secondly A disproportion may be in the grief of mind for sin that other Christians have had upon them for sin before their union with Christ and the grief of mind thy Soul hath hitherto had upon thâ—â— Thirdly There may be a disproportion in the effects that fear of Conscience and grief of mind do naturally produce in Souls As doubtfulness and multitude of scruples and objections against thine own Soul These indeed are the common effects that grief of mind and the fear of conscience produce And there may be a great disproportion between thy doubtings and the doubtings of other Christians and yet no sin neither as appears in this because neither fear of Conscience nor doubt of mind nor scruples and objections against the Soul do in the least commend any Soul to God As all things are sin before union with Christ so is the fear of Conscience and grief of mind sin and all those doubts and objections sin and therefore have not the least vertue in them to commend a Soul to God 2. There may be a disproportion in the degrees of Grace without sin First There may have been a difference in the time of the growth of his Grace and the Graces of others by which he measures himself It may be he yet remains but a green tender plant in the House of the Lord and measures himself by an old flourishing green Olive in Gods house Secondly There may be a difference in the helps and means of growth The field is not blamed because it is not so fruitful as the garden when the garden is daily watred and dressed 3. There may be a disproportion in the actings of Grace and yet no sin First In regard there may not be the same necessity to occasion to act Grace in thee that is in others The occasions are like the Wind to the Ship that set the Ship a going They are but the heavenly Winds as it were that blow upon Grace that set Graces a working and various Graces must and ought to work according to the variety of occasions Now according to the necessity of the Soul so God binds himself in Covenant to provide for the Soul Secondly The Graces of other Christians may be acted by an extraordinary influence of the quickning Spirit of Christ I call it extraordinary in regard it is that which is not common at all times to all Christians that have some of the influences of the quickning Spirit of Christ so that by some extraordinary gale from Heaven his Graces may be acted and through thy want of those quicknings of the Spirit of Christ thy Graces may not be so acted and yet not sin Thirdly There may be a difference in the outward excitation and quickning unto the actings of Grace A Soul stands not only in necessity of the inward breathings of the Spirit of Christ but of the outward excitation too in regard it is through the outward excitation that the Lord hath appointed those inward breathings of his quickning Spirit Now if other Christians by whom thy Soul do measure it self should injoy more excitations that is that they have more Bellows blowing upon Grace in their Hearts than thine though there may be difference in the acting the bare disproportion may not be thy sin Secondly There may be many sinful disproportions that yet destroy not the Being of the Souls union with Christ 1. There may be a disproportion in Faith it self First There may be a want of most of the highest and excellent operations of Faith and yet not the Being of union destroyed Secondly Faith may be oppressed with doubting and distrust and yet not be suppressed Thirdly There may be the want of almost all stedfastness stability and constancy in the acting of Faith so that a Soul can seldom keep his Heart in a believing frame one moment and yet that sinful defect may not nullifie the union with Christ 2. There may be a sinful disproportion in all the Spiritual life of the Soul and yet the union with Christ hold That is all the principles of Spiritual motion towards God may be unactive when thou seest others full of life and activity and yet this sinfull disproportion doth not destroy the union Now it appears to be a sad distemper thus to measure the Soul by others 1. In regard there is such a disproportion between the one and other Christians that can possibly be found out discovers nothing but the heinousness of the Souls sin in its neglect of union with Christ Now from hence to conclude God intends no good to the Soul is contrary to the blessed will of God revealed Isa 55.7 where God hath promised abundantly to pardon to multiply to pardon 2. In regard when the greatest disproportion between the one and other Christians is found out yet thou art one of those that Jesus Christ now comes to woo and perswade and beseech to be one with his Father Now I shall shew you the grounds of this distemper upon which it is built or whence it arises in Souls I. It is commonly built upon this principle That the Lord maintains a proportion in his Gifts and Graces unto his people Now what a dark blind principle is this For the clearing of it 1. You must conceive the Lord doth equally dispense to all his peoples Souls all kind of Graces He leaves suitable dispositions in the Heart to yield obedience to all his blessed will Thus far the Lord proportions Grace but then the Lord doth not proportion the
and what the particular acts of the Spirit upon the soul are that are Included under this work of the spirits Excitation of the believing Disposition unto its Operation The Spirits Excitation is a Gracious Free Extraordinary Concurrence of the spirit with the believing Manifestation What the Spirits Excitation is formerly Infused into the Soul Or it is a Precious Powerful influence of the spirit upon the believing Disposition The Holy Disposition that Inclines the Heart Habitually to believe is as it were the Seed of assurance Sown in the Heart but there must be the Concurrence of the Spirit with the Seed or the Influence of the Spirit upon the Seed to make it Fructify so as there shall be an act of assuring Faith in the Soul So that this Excitation of the Spirit or the Spirits stirring up the believing Disposition is but a Continuance of that Holy Influence into the Soul that was begun at the Souls first passive Union with the Lord Jesus whereby the Holy Disposition that was then Infused is Maintained Preserved Increased Actuated and Enlivened Yet to open this more particularly I. I say it is a Gracious Concurrence of the Spirit with the believing Disposition I do not call it a Gracious Presence of the Spirit because the Spirit takes up its Everlasting Habitation in the Heart at that passive Union between the Soul and Christ that is when it first Comprehends the Soul and the Habitation of the Spirit may be said to be equal at all times in the Soul but its Conveyance of Grace into the Soul is not always equal II. This Excitation of the Spirit to the believing Disposition is a Gracious and Free Concurrence of the Spirit with the believing Disposition Free not only as other Holy Motions of the Spirit in the Heart are free which is in respect of their sole Dependance upon the free good Will of God to a Loveless Sinner But it is a free Concurrence of the Spirit to the believing Disposition in regard of the Lords absolute freedom that he Exerciseth in Vouchsafing this unto Souls That I may speak the more clearly you must conceive there is a Two-fold Influence of the Spirit into believing Souls The first is an absolutely necessary Influence The other is a more Free Arbitrary Influence The absolute necessary Influence is Two-fold First That that 's absolutely necessary to Maintain the Life of a believing Soul Secondly That which is absolutely necessary to Maintain the Growth of a believing Soul 1. The Influence of the Spirit that is absolutely necessary to Maintain the Life of the Believing Soul Every Creature that hath any Life hath some Maintenance for that Life which Maintenance being withdrawn the Creatures Life would decay However do not mistake me every Living Creature must have some kind of Influence from the first Being of Beings to maintain its Life As the Angels have a more immediate Spiritual kind of Influence from God Now that that the Wisdom of the Lord hath Determined should Maintain the Spiritual Life begotten in a believing Soul is the Influence of the Holy spirit into the soul Now this absolutely necessary Influence is that which is never wanting to any one Believing soul The Covenant of Grace that the Lord freely passeth to the believing soul lays an Engagement upon the Blessed God to maintain the Influence of the Life of the soul So that the Blessed God of Heaven and Earth is no more at Liberty in that he is bound and Obliged to Maintain that Life he begets in a believing soul According to that in Jer. 32.40 I will put my fear in their Hearts and they shall not depart from me they shall never dye again a spiritual death 2. The absolute necessary Influence of the spirit is that which maintains the Growth of the believing soul toward Perfection Now that Influence of the spirit also the Lord hath absolutely engaged in the Covenant of Grace to communicate at all times to a believing soul in regard he hath engaged to perfect the likeness of Jesus Christ in every believing soul and therefore the spirit doth continually issue down life from the head of the Lord Jesus into every believing soul which is a Member unto that Head every Member receives from the Head continually some kind of vertue Now both these Influences of the spirit being absolutely necessary though they be free originally yet the Lord having passed his promise to sinners embracing the promise he stands obliged to Communicate those Influences of the spirit continually But now this other Influence is a free Influence in another manner It is not absolutely necessary to the Life nor Growth of the soul in this manner that we are now speaking of and therefore the Lord is not engaged to Communicate it unto the souls of his People but he stands at his own Liberty to Dispence it to whom he will to send this Exciting spirit into what soul he pleases out of the number of all believing souls So that it may in an eminent superlative manner be said of this Exciting work of the spirit to the believing Disposition what Christ saith of the Breathing of the spirit in general that the spirit breatheth where it listeth It is meerly according to the good pleasure of the Lord that any believing soul partake of this Exciting work of the spirit to the believing Disposition III. You must observe in the Description That it is a Gratious Free and Extraordinary Concurence of the spirit with the believing Disposition infused There is an ordinary Exciting Influence of the spirit to the believing Disposition no Gratious Disposition Infused would shew forth any of its Operation did not the spirit Concur with the Gratious Disposition and so consequently there would be no Operation of Faith at all Now in regard there are constant Operations of Faith in every believing soul in the course of his Conversion in one degree or other therefore it must needs be concluded there is an ordinary Concurrence of the spirit into the believing Disposition that is in every believing soul But this Exciting Influence into the believing soul that I now speak of is not that ordinary but it is extraordinary It is an abundant Breathing of the spirit upon the believing Disposition mightily drawing it forth into Exercise in its full Strength and Power causing the believing Disposition to be Victorious and Triumph Gloriously over all Doubts Objections and Questions This is the spirits Excitation of the believing Disposition infused into the soul Now we may conceive that there are three Particular acts of the spirit on the soul that may be included under the spirits Excitation of the believing Dispositâ—on in the soul which do all tend unto the Full Powerful Mighty Excitation of the believing Disposition in the soul unto exercise I. It affects the Heart sweetly with the Pretious Divine Light Discovered unto the soul by the Manifestation of the Gospel to it The light of truth Discoveries affects not the Heart
agent an outward agent upon the Soul in the first act of Believing and then take up its Habitation in the Soul through the Souls Believing in the Lord Jesus But reason it self is sufficient Confutation of those Imaginations Reason will tell us of an Impossibility of a man meerly Unregenerate to put forth an act meerly Spiritual Reason will tell us an Habit or Disposition must go before there be an act a Tree there must be before there can be fruit And then also the Spirits Sealing of the Believing Soul being declared to follow at least in order of nature the Souls Believing it cannot be that by the Spirits Sealing spoken of in these Scriptures should be meant the Infusion of the Spirits Graces into the Soul it must be something besides the Graces Infused II. All kind of Holy Habits or Dispositions that are Infused into any one Believing Soul are Infused in order of nature before the Souls Believing Now if the Spirits Sealing were only the Infusion of the Spirits Grace then every Believing Soul should have the same Seal of the Spirit whereas experience brings Testimony enough to the contrary III. The Spirits Sealing mentioned in those former Scriptures is Attributed in a particular manner to the person of the Spirit The Spirit it self beareth Witness with our Spirits It doth not say only the Spirit which might have been meant the Graces of the spirit but the spirit it self even by a personal act the spirit attests to us that we are the Sons of God So it is also in Eph. 1.13 14. In whom also after ye Believed ye were Sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise which is the earnest of our Inheritance It is Translated Which but it is most agreeable to the Original to say Who is the earnest of our Inheritance The relative being in the person of the spirit not the Gifts of the spirit So that it stands as an Undoubted Truth that the Lord doth add unto Believing souls for their abundant Consolation even a Witness from his own Blessed spirit of their admittance into Union and Communion with the Lord Jesus in their cleaving to him besides all those other Blessed necessary works of the Blessed spirit upon their souls Now I must further Observe that this Attestation of the spirit doth not pertain peculiarly and solely unto Faith as having reference unto Faith only and to the begetting of assurance of Faith But by Divine Appointment this Witness of the spirit pertains also to sense to spiritual sense or spiritual Knowledge and doth beget assurance of Sence and Feeling as well as it begets assurance of Faith Yet there is such a sweet Mixture in this Blessed work of the Spirits Attestation that it doth at one and the same time raise the soul to assurance of Faith and Assurance of Sense and Feeling And indeed such is the nature of the spirits Attestation that it never bears Witness to the souls Faith in any measure of clearness that the soul in its Cleaving to the Lord Jesus shall be admitted into Union and Communion with Christ but the spirit bears Witness at the same time to the souls sence that it is actually admitted into Union and Communion with Christ Yet because we are speaking at present of the manner how the spirit doth first reveal to the souls Faith certainly and infallibly his Union with Christ and so assure the souls Faith of Union we must first speak of the spirits Attestation unto the soul in reference unto Faith Though we must also for opening the full work of Attestation open the manner of the spirits Attesting to the souls Sence and Feeling For the opening the first the spirits Attestation in Reference unto the souls Faith to assure Faith of its Union The Spirits Attestation unto Faith I shall open to you two things First Those Respects in which the Lord doth appoint the spirits Attestation to be added to all the former works as a Redundancy of his Mercy and Love to the Despicable soul Secondly We shall open what the spirits Attestation to the souls Faith is For the first There are four or five Respects why the Lord adds this work of Attestation to the souls Faith after he hath perswaded the soul to believe thus powerfully with Confidence I. In respect of the Multitude of fears that remain in the Believing Soul after the clearest Evidence of the Gospel unto the soul and the most full perswasion of the soul by the spirit to Believe There are three kinds of fears that still remain in some degree both in the Seed of them and in the Fruit of them though none of them remain in their absolute Dominion 1. There is both the Seed and Fruit of Slavish Fear Though through the Mighty Exciting Power of the spirit following the spirits Irradiation and Manifestation of the Gospel to the soul it is raised to a fulness of Confidence of the Lords Acceptance of his soul into Union and Communion with the Lord Jesus in his Cleaving to him yet there is not a perfection of Confidence And it is only perfect Confidence that begets perfect love and only perfect Love that casts out Slavish Fear 2. There is a pure natural fear that still remains The matter of Believing is of such high concernment that the very remembrance of it strikes the soul with some natural fear It is the venturing the pretious Immortal soul for Eternity and unless there were a Perfection of Confidence a soul cannot be void of fear 3. There is a Spiritual Holy fear that remains also in the Believing soul after the strength of Believing The souls Vision of Union and Communion with Christ Inflames the Believing Souls Heart with Love unto Union and Communion And proportionable to the degree of the Souls Love so is the Souls fear That is to say the Soul fears the loss of Union and Communion in the same degree wherein he loves Union and Communion and this fear is exceeding prone to go beyond its Bounds and to suspect the loss of it where there is no cause of Suspition II. The Lord adds this Attesting work of the spirit to souls In regard there is a natural Distrust that in some degree remains in every Believing soul though raised to a fulness of Confidence There is not only an Indisposition naturally in the soul to give Credit to the Blessed Word of the Majesty of Heaven by reason of its Inability fully to comprehend the reason of the Lords fulfilling such a Word into his Bosom But also there is a natural Disposition in dwelling in every soul that Inclines the Heart strongly to give the Blessed Majesty of Heaven the Lye to distrust that Blessed Record that the Lord bears of his own Son III. There is a Holy Jealousie that possesseth every Believing Soul least his Corrupt Deceitful Heart should Delude him Every Believing soul is so conscious to himself of a Multiplicity and Variety of Couzening Deluding Tricks that his Corrupt Heart hath put upon
name of God might be exalted through believing souls by holding forth the glorious freedom of that riches of love that is in Christ Jesus Now we shall shew you that this exaltation of God in this manifestation of the perfection of freedom of his love in Christ to unlovely sinners is the necessary inseparable infallible effect of a true beam of light shining from Heaven into any dark heart to reveal to that soul his union with the Lord Jesus This must be opened by shewing you those three acts of believing souls whereby they do thus manifest the glorious freedom of the Lords love to the exaltation of God through them that these three acts are necessarily and certainly produced in souls by discerning a beam of light from Heaven to discover to them their union with Jesus Christ First That sensible and free acknowledgement of the souls abhorred vileness even when the tender of the Lords love in Jesus Christ is made to it yea when the Lord grasps it in the everlasting arm of his love that was in Christ even this sensible and free acknowledgement of the souls most cursed wickedness is the necessary effect of a souls receiving a light from Heaven to evidence its union with the Lord Jesus Christ this you may see 1 Tim. 1.14 Paul tells us that he was before a Blasphemer and a Persecutor and injurious yet to me the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant not only abundant having more than a fulness of love but exceeding abundant abounding in the most superlative degree in the most inconceivable manner So the third and fourth Chapters to the Romans seem to be written for that very purpose in a great measure to prove nothing but vileness to have been in those souls whom the Lord accepted into the Bosom of his love in Christ Thus the Apostle endeavours to draw forth free acknowledgments of their abhorred vileness while he is remembring them of the riches of the Lords love in Christ to them We shall make it appear in some particulars that the free sensible acknowledgement of the souls abhorred wickedness when the Lord tenders his love in Christ is the necessary effect of receiving a beam of light from Heaven to discover to the soul his union 1. In regard there is an actual view of the most accursed wretchedness of the soul by the power of a beam of light that shines from Heaven to discover to a soul his union with Christ Any beam of true light that shines into a soul is but a discovery of the Gospel message in its clearness extent and latitude it is but an opening and expounding clearly and satisfyingly to the souls capacity the message of glad tydings that Christ sent to poor despicable sinners now that glad tydings is nothing else but the message of reconciliation to every soul that will accept it and thence it cannot be but the same light must present to the souls view the sight of his enmity and opposition of heart it can not be but at the same moment when the soul apprehends his own reconciliation to God in Christ he must apprehend his own enmity formerly to God in Christ Thence it is that in Ezek. 36.31 In the Prophets foretelling the blessed Covenant of Grace that should be established between God and Souls he doth also prophecy that those with whom the Covenant of Grace should be established they shall remember their own evil ways and doings that were not good and shall loath themselves in their own sight for their iniquities and abominations Now any beam of precious light from Heaven thus necessarily presenting to the soul an actual view of its own abhorred vileness thence it cannot but dispose that believing soul for sensible and free acknowledgement of that unspeakable vileness of his when the tender of that love came to him 2. In regard every beam of light enables the soul to comprehend his sinfulness and most accursed wickedness more largely and fully it causeth him to behold the height and depth and length and breath of his own wickedness according to the glory of God apprehended against whom the soul have sinned so are the souls apprehensions or comprehensions of the height of his own vileness now the glory of the light never shines so clearly and transparently upon any soul as it does when such a beam of light comes from the spirit of light and manifestation to discover the glorious riches of love in Christ to the dispicable unlovely soul admitting the loveless worthless soul into the nearest union so that thence there can never be such full comprehensions of his own sinfulness as there is in the very moment when such a beam of light shines from Heaven upon the soul 3. In regard the affections are all drawn forth to work in their strength against the souls sinfulness by such a beam of light shining forth That manifestation of the riches of the Lords love begets answerable correspondent workings of love in the soul towards God again now those workings of love in the soul towards God draws forth the workings of all the other affections against the souls sinfulness Love and Hatred works towards their contrary objects in like degree In the very same measure that the actings of love are drawn out towards God in the same measure is the hatred of the soul the loathing and abhorring of the sinful disposition drawn out This David declares Psal 119.103 That upon his tasting the sweetness of the Lords words which were the actings of love in the soul of David to the word of God he hates every false way ver 104. and vain thoughts ver 13. His love and hatred wrought equally alike towards their object his love to the Law of God made him hate whatever was contrary to it Now the love of the soul towards God is drawn out in its superlative degree of acting by that clear discovery from Heaven that Jesus Christ and the Soul are one and thence likewise all the affections cannnot but work in their highest degree against all the sinfulness of the Soul both hatred of the sinful disposition sorrow and melting and breaking of heart in remembrance of it anger displeasure and indignation against it fear and dread of those iniquities having power over it Now thence it cannot be but the same beam of light discovering to the Soul his union with Christ should necessarily produce sensible and free acknowledgement of the Souls abhorred vileness seeing it fills the heart with the working of strong affection against his own sinfulness apprehended 4. In regard there are constant actings of faith in the believing Soul while the glory of such a beam of light from Heaven shines into the Soul There are such renewed operations of saith continues while that light shines into a Soul that discovers his union with Christ that there seems during the continuation of that light into the Soul to be but one extended drawn forth act of faith Now seeing there are those constant