the Heart Man believes unto Righteousness and with the Mouth Confession is made to Salvation So as the Tongue is but the Minister of the Heart bringing to light such Knowledges Experiences and Notions as the Heart hath conceived and therefore before the Heart be right set the Tongue cannot but that done 't is easier to be ordered yet doth not that fully accomplish this because the Tongue is so forward and nimble an Instrument as it often runs before the Heart hath had time to deliberate and decree and therefore not seldom rashly proclaims what the Heart intended not but moved by some small displeasure vents its own frothy reproaches to the after-dislike grief and shame of the Heart The Apostle James most fully sets it forth Chap. 3. Vers 5 6 7 8 9. A little Member boasting great things behold how great a matter a little Fire kindles And the Tongue is a Fire a World of Iniquity it defileth the whole Body and setteth on fire the Course of Nature and is set on fire by Hell untameable unruly full of deadly Poison Therewith bless we God even the Father and curse we Men made after his similitude Out of the same Mouth proceed Blessing and Cursing Again we find Rom. 1.28 29. the Fruits of an evil Tongue enrolled among those Evils God gives up the reprobate Soul unto God gave them up to a reprobate Mind filled with all Vnrighteousness Debate Deceit Whisperers Backbiters Haters of God proud Boasters c. And again its Fruits are found among the seven Evils which are hateful to God Prov. 6.16 A lying Tongue a false Witness and he that soweth discord amongst Friends And besides these 't is like a continual dropping of lesser Evils for how many prophane Oaths licentious Ballads and vain idle Words doth it produce for all which an Account must be given before the Judg who will render to every one according to his Works 3. But again as the debauched Tongue is a sore Evil so under regulation of the Heart taught to speak the Truth it becomes an eminent good for with it we bless God and confess unto Salvation Again Solomon The Tongue of the Righteous is choice Silver the Tongue of the Wise Health and the Lip now Tongue and Lip are as it were the same thing of Truth shall be established for ever Again A wholesomâ— or rather healing Tongue is a Tree of Life Death and Life are in the hand of the Tongue that is in the Heart are the Issues of Life and Death radically and in the Tongue consequently as it brings forth the Treasures of it to light Whence it is manifest that after a Professor of Christ hath persuaded his Heart to speak the sincere Truth 't is the next incumbent Duty to subdue this wild Instrument to the rule of the Heart which being effected the Dictate of that Heart published by this Tongue shall be as Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver 4. Now these things proposed we shall proceed to the more express Intent of the Prophet which tho it seem in words to be confined to a narrow Compass yet it is really very comprehensive for Reproach not thy Reproacher is a fortiore reproach no Man not a Stranger who hath done thee neither good or evil much more not a Neighbour a Friend a good Man or one that hath sought thy good and most of all beware thou reproach not God or his Christ altho perhaps he hath seen fit to bring thee under Reproaches And now we shall enquire how the Man professing to be one of Christ's School ought to use his Tongue as well in giving it liberty as in bridling it I say First I fear we may often reproach even God and not perceive it For to ascribe to any Power on Earth or in Heaven what belongs to him is to reproach him Or if having a Gift natural or spiritual Riches Honour Wisdom Understanding Tongues Prayer expounding the World or the like and ascribe them to our own Industry and not to the free Gift of Grace we are Reproachers And to use our Tongues aright is to acknowledg God the Giver of every good and heavenly Gift and so to bear the Memorial of his Bounty as to have praise and thanks in our Lips daily knowing and confessing that if he had so seen fit he could have made the greatest amongst us less than the meanest of the Sons of Men yea a Slave or Worm and no Man and are still in his hand as a Vessel for Honour or Dishonour Or on the contrary Art thou poor simple and loaden with Afflictions and yet fearest God and seest another that wallowing in Sin abounds in Ease Riches and worldly Contents and yet thinks not of God once in a year if thou therefore shalt murmur or shalt in a repining Distemper of Mind say Why Lord is it thus thou reproachest him as unjust or inbenignant But to use the Tongue in this point aright is to confess that tho his hand be heavy it is much less than thy Sins have deserved Let God be true and every Man a Liar that he may be justified in all thy sayings and overcome when he judgeth Again saith Solomon Prov. 14.31 He that oppresseth the Poor or Prov. 17.4 He that mocketh at the Poor reproacheth his Maker Just as the Pharisee Lord I thank thee I am not as this poor Wretch c. So that there are many ways of reproaching God And to comprize all in a word every one who doth not ascribe the Life Power and Way both to will and do to him reproacheth his great and glorious Name And not less frequent are our Reproaches against the Son as it is written If we say we have not sinned we make him a Liar But to be brief in this also I say Whosoever hath the least grain of confidence in the Arm of Flesh or any heavenly Principality or Power which is on this side the Sun of our Righteousness or yet doth not account all his Privileges Merits Performances as Loss and Dung he hath a lying Tongue and reproacheth his Redeemer And to employ the Tongue in this case as we ought is to confess our selves Worms and no Men not able to make one Hair white or black nor to give ease to an aking Tooth and much less to reach out a Remedy to a sick and sinful Soul And secondly to confess Christ hath both Bounty and Power to save to the uttermost And indeed throughout the whole stream of Scripture you will find the evil proud slanderous and reproachful Tongue is that which is the Belman of a Superstitious Heart proclaiming Peace to himself in his own false and and adulterous Refuges where no Peace is 5. The next degree of Reproach is of a Brother or Friend or Neighbour which is like unto the former because Christ owns it as done to himself Forasmuch as ye did it unto one of these ye have done it unto me So as Christ may also be reproached in his
thee leave thy Gift there go thy way and be first reconciled to thy Brother and then offer thy Gift Mat. 5.23 But on the contrary if in the Fear of God Love of Christ and Charity with all Men thou sacrifice who will lay any thing to thy charge Is it not God that justifies Is not Christ at his right-hand And if he died for thee yet an Enemy will he now refuse thee bringing a Gift in the hand of Love his most beloved Grace that Grace which covers a Multitude of Offences fulfills all Precepts and without which no Gift can be acceptable And now to speak what hath been upon my Heart I fear the neglect of this Duty not returning Evil for Evil hath provoked God more against his praying People than any other Sin they through common Infirmity are subject unto and the more because it hath rather been indulged as a Vertue than contended against as an Evil as judging a small yea and uncertain Error worse than a manifest Breach of a Command ten times repeated deceiving themselves with that common saying which oft comes from a false Heart I love his Person but hate his Error Whatever therefore thou offerest do it in Love O how displeasing and broken must those Prayers be where all should be of one mind but indeed one asks one thing and another the contrary where one blesseth another curseth Ask saith our Lord in my Name and have but we ask and have not And what can be the cause save what the Apostle objects Jam. 4.3 We ask amiss to bestow it upon our Lusts Malice Pride Wrath for the Promise of Christ cannot fail but to him Glory to us Confusion of Faces belongs But O how powerful would Prayers be proceeding from a beloved and chosen People and centering in perfect Love towards God and Man when they meet together at the Throne of Grace not seeking their own but the Honour of God Good of the Church and mutual Edification one of another for hereby the return would be Ask of me things to come touching my Sons and concerning the Work of my hands command ye me Whence we see how great a thing and acceptable to God Love is perfectly fulfilling the Law and all the Prophets require in order to the establishing of our Peace for he that loves all Men cannot reproach his Reproacher nor wilfully do evil unto him that doth evil unto him 8. Not bringing Reproach upon his Inwards or Warfare that is upon his Mind or Conscience in the Conflict between the Law of his Mind and the Law of his Members which is whilst we are fighting the good Fight to ascribe any part thereof to the Merit of our own Sword or Bow as the false Heart is apt to do And that which seems parallel to this in Psal 24. is Not lifting up his Soul to Vanity or a Lie For there is no Lie or Vanity like that which would ascribe the beating down of Satan our Enemy to its own Arm no greater Reproach to the Judg the Conscience which hath so often discovered and condemned the Infirmities and Vanities thereof This indeed is read otherwise by Interpreters namely reproach upon his Neighbour And tho the Sister-Text doth favour our reading yet lest I might seem to have transgressed in departing from the old footsteps I shall give some further Reasons and submit all to the correction of the Pious and Learned First It is manifest from all the Questions Who shall dwell and Applications in all the three Sister-Texts that the Duties required in the Answers are those essential Vertues which are the price of the immoveable and immortal Crown which indeed are such things as Eye hath not seen Ear hath not heard nor hath entred into the Understanding of Man And therefore not reproaching a Neighbour being but a Moral Vertue known to all Men by the Light of Nature so expresly as debauched Man tho he do not practise it cannot blot it out I do not think it was the Prophet's most legitimate intention And furthermore because this whole Verse may be practised from a Natural Moral Principle by Men who yet may miss of immoveable Reward promised in the Close not that I deny that as Moral they are pleasing to God Secondly If we compare the first Clause of the Verse with this they differ little in words but in effect are the same For Thou shalt not backbite with thy Tongue and Thou shalt not reproach thy Neighbour are the same for tho thy Tongue is not expressed in the latter nor Neighbour in the former yet that both are necessarily understood is manifest because one is the Instrument of Backbiting the other the Object thereof without both of which it could not exist Reproach cannot be save by the Tongue nor can it be said we backbite any thing but a Man or a Neighbour for in Scripture-Language most usually by thy Neighbour every or any Man is meant So as so reading it is but a reduplication of the same which in Scripture which avoids Tautologies unnecessary Words or gingling Phrases is very rare and indeed I think never save for emphasy sake And therefore Gospel-Precepts which doubtless are the best and safest Interpreters of the Law Prophets avouching that the Graces accordingly as we express them are the price of immortal Life and the Hebrew it self according to the true legitimate root favours our reading as fully as the other and as I think more also I have adventured tho still confessing my self unskilful in the Sacred Tongue to depart from the trodden Path having this for my satisfaction that tho I may fall short of the pure Hebraism yet as long as I make it agree with a Gospel-Interpretation I cannot sow any dangerous or unwholesom Error but if any contend I shall submit 9. Of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we have already said something namely that it is that intimate part in Man where God writes his Law and in which the Spirit of Man resideth which I take to be the Mind or Conscience where indeed the Law of God is writ and God vouchsafeth to converse with Man Again it signifies the middle of a thing or within because the Mind is the very middle Center or Life of the Soul sitting there as God's Vicegerent exhorting reproving accusing condemning or excusing in great Majesty and Authority for where the Answer of a good Conscience is who can condemn When it is wounded who can bear it As the Apostle saith Which shews the Work of the Law is written in their Hearts their Consciences witnessing with them and their Thoughts between or within themselves accusing or excusing one another Thirdly 'T is a Battel or Warfare shewing that the Mind or Conscience is the middle part or Lists wherein the Spiritual Warfare is fought which is very often taken notice of by the holy Writers as Paul saith I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind Which Law I take to
the Servant of Corruption 2 Pet. 2.19 and thy latter end worse than the beginning And next follows Usury the Soul boasting of the Spirit and its Works in Grace to a rejection of what it thinks is useless and superstitious it now looking upon it self as pure in Spirit and rich in Grace it asks with Peter I have forsaken all for thee and what shall I have In which Christ's Answer to Peter is our best Directory namely Inasmuch as thou hast followed me into Regeneration thou shalt not lose thy Reward but when I sit on my Throne fitting Thrones shall also be prepared for thee and over many things thou shalt judg but the hundred-fold Reward the everlasting immoveable State is not yet ready thou must first forsake Father and Mother Wisdom and Understanding Wife and Children Obedience tho in Regeneration and Fruits begot by thee the humane Spirit upon it thou must esteem them too slight to expect Usury upon them And in a word all thy acquired Substance thou must but enjoy as if it were not Thou O Spirit thinkest thy self first but thou must be last and the last first There is an empty Innocence which comes last and yet will be in Glory before thee And to this our Lord adjoins the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard shewing that neither long Labour nor bearing the heat of the Day nor repining at our short Pay will obtain Interest-Money but that must at the length come through free Grace giving to all where none have merited And if we can thus work and be content with our Penny driving away Usury as well as Sloth and patiently wait until he see fit to reward us with his precious Gifts then all shall do well with us But if we say Our Service is faithful our Ways right and our Works in Grace we are in favour with God so as he hath already given us Wisdom and Knowledg above our Teachers we hope before long to have the Gift of Prophecy of Healing of Miracles of Interpretation for so vain is this Spirit of Man as to these things it dare aspire and boastingly call our own Spirits the Spirit of God when indeed it is the Spirit of Man led by the Spirit of Antichrist who always pretends to Prophecy and Miracles and verily in the universal Warfare shall obtain them to the deceiving of many Revel 19.20 And tho in the particular it hath not so far attained as yet yet hath it often pretended to such things a Dream a Vision a Prodigy which it interprets and thinks God is obliged to make its words good And of the same Spirit and Leaven they are who by their Prayers hope to prevail or rather to charm God to do Miracles on their behalf whose Faith is Presumption their Prayers Charms and their Religion spiritually Drunkenness And now when Satan hath brought the Spirit to this pass it resolves to give one Push more for the Dominion Come let us slay the Heir and the Inheritance shall be Ours For now the Spirit of Antichrist claims all Dominion to it self exalting it self above all called God and as God sitteth in the Temple of God the Body denying in substance That Christ is come in the Flesh or hath any Right there but counts it its Slave and Reason and all things besides it self Unclean and Rejected things And now shall this Wicked One fill the measure of its Iniquity and be revealed and the Lord shall consume it with the Spirit of his Mouth and destroy it with the Brightness of his Coming 12. And now the Great Trial draws near Where first Observe That in the Pequeerings aforesaid we have alwayes stated the Case in the Extreams That is when the Soul resists the Temptation as it ought according to the Example of Christ Who was tempted in all things like unto us but without sin which whilst we imitate tho in sin this Trial will end in few throws rather Rebukes of Love than Anger But on the contrary as we represent it Overcome by the Tempter it oft perisheth by the way or at the best is but saved as a Brand pluck'd out of the Fire and these are rare Cases and most usually the Lot is cast between both in various degrees and still according to the measure of faithfulness or of failing so the ease or difficulty of the trial and in this mediocraty in the ensuing we represent it that is as in part faithful to its Yea and Nay in part overcome by Antichristian Pride 13. And things come to this pass Christ who like the true Shepherd loves the Sheep and will not loose a Hoof of what was given him returns in the nick of Time long before foreseen and decreed and demands an account of the improvement of his new lent Talent bringing that Fire with him whereby he will try every mans Work and forasmuch as the trial by Fire sometime hinted at by the Apostles is the same with this it behoves that we first take our Measures from 1 Pet. 4.12 Beloved think it not strange touching the Fiery Trial which is to try you as if some strange thing happened unto you but rejoyce inasmuch as ye are made partakers of Christs Sufferings that when his Glory shall be revealed ye may be glad with exceeding Joy Whence it appears First That this Trial is a common thing and none exempted Secondly That even our Lord did partake with us therein That is tho he Suffered but once for all yet in that once he suffered all that his Members suffer at many times Thirdly To rejoyce in it because thence exceeding Joy shall accrue to us when He shall so appear Fourthly From vers 14. We must then be reproached for Christ Who shall be evil-spoken by them i. e. Antichrists but glorified on our part Lastly Vers 19. That now it behoves We commit the keeping our Souls unto God who created them and is faithful Again besides what Paul teacheth of the Universal Day of which before again thus 1 Cor. 3.10 I have laid the Foundation namely Christ and other Foundation can no man lay than that is laid Now if any man Build upon this Foundation Gold Silver Pretious-Stones Wood Hay Stubble every mans Work shall be made manifest for the Day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by Fire and the Fire shall try every mans Work of what sort it is If any mans Work abide which he hath built thereupon he shall receive a Reward if any mans Work be burnt he shall suffer Loss but he himself shall be Saved yet so as by Fire Know ye not thae ye are the Temple of God and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you See unto vers 22. And now whereas before all Saints now all Works must pass this Trial. 2. This Trial is that whereby our Bodies are made Pure Temples to the Spirit of God namely That which confesseth Christ to be come in the Flesh and that the Dominion thereof belongs to him Vers 17.
in yea yea to perform his determinate purpose And in the resisting of evil he ought to behave himself in the like manner only this distinction admitted if he have resisted evil sin calamities c. And hath not obtained he ought to say with Job Shall we receive Good at the hand of God and not Evil and yet to mourn with them and bear a share of their grief upon whom the Calamity fal's and yet so to mourn as not mourning knowing that his Resistance his not Succeeding his Mourning and Calamity work all together for the accomplishing the Counsels of God 29. Whence I say as far as this heavenly Fire hath consumed our lusts and subdued our wills to the will of God so far have we Peace and Rule as Kings with God and what is short retain's a Leaven which may produce bitterness and though few or none have attained yet no one which ought not to press hard after this mark as Paul Phil. 3.14 First despising Legal Righteousness touching which he was blameless He next rejoyceth in the Cross of Christ being made conformable to his Death And 3dly Speaks of a third state of perfection which he laboured after and had not attained which I suppose was that we now speak of For say's he If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead not as if I had already attain'd or were perfest but I follow after that I may apprehend that for which Christ apprehended me Bretheren I count not my self to have apprehended but this one thing forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to the things that are before I press towards the mark for the prize of the high Calling of Christ Now these things manifestly refer to things of a sublime matter not yet attain'd by Paul but were attainable The first is To attain to the Resurrection of the dead Which by comparing 1 Cor. 15.51 52. We shall not all sleep but we shall he changed with 1 Thes 4.15 We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep Whence I take this that Paul press'd after to be the perfection the dead in Christ shall arise in or that those which remains alive at his coming shall in this Life have attain'd namely that Innocency which in a moment may be changed into Incorruption And the second to apprehend that for which I am apprehended c. is much the same thing as by comparing these with 1 Thes 5.10 Who died for us that is apprehended us that whether we awake to the last or in the interim fall asleep we should live together with him And the third The prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ is the Close and Crown of all as in another place I have fought the good Fight I have finish'd my Course I have kept the Faith henceforth a Crown of Righteousness the Prize of the high Calling is laid up for me And now I say the burnings up of the lusting of the humane Spirit is the Threshold of this Resignation and it of these three attainments Paul pressed after for it consumates Perfection in Soul in Body and Spirit also it works in Gold in the Spirit of Love Faith Patience for greater Love on the part of mortals cannot be than to give up himself and all his to his Beloved nor greater Faith than in full ease and assurance to trust him withal nor greater Patience than to be sick of Love and yet to charge the Solliciters of her Nuptials by the Hinds and the Roes not to awake her Beloved until he please And surely this Resignation signed there remains nothing save such like Love passages until the day of Espousals come 30. Not taking a or the Reward upon Innocency or upon the Innocent for so all read and in both senses it may pass as of so necessary a performance as they that transgress cannot attain the immoveable State for a whole current of Scripture requires all men the Magistrate especially to defend the cause of the Innocent Widdow Fatherless and Oppressed recording it as a principle part of that Religion which is pure and undefilled in the sight of God And whereas the Scripture describes Justicers to bear to the Image of God the just Judge af the whole Earth above other high Callings among the Sons of men and placeth Justice upon two Pillars bringing the wicked to just punishment and rescuing the Innocent from oppression it rather gives the right hand of fellowship to this second part and to say all in one word God ownes it among the lofty Attributes ascribed to himself And our Lord among these weighty matters the Father required him to execute in the Earth Art thou a Magistrate surely then thou hast a Gift in thy hand which may promote thee to great honour in Heaven and in Earth but beware that thou abuse it not for to justify the Wicked and condemn the Innocent will make thee stink on Earth and gnash thy teeth in Hell 31. But yet this hath a further and more Spiritual meaning namely That man being emptied of all his fleshly confidence and spiritual Pride and drawn near to that Innocency capable to be attained by mortals This Precept the last Link of this golden chain teacheth him how to receive the reward that is not upon the account of his Innocency but still as the free gift of Grace Isai 33. hath it thus who shaketh off his hands from being supported in the reward that is not serving as a Hireling or expecting the reward as having obeyed but leaves all to the bounty of his Master whose Love he hath so often proved Now therefore the tenour of this Precept is that though a man have obtained all that perfection and innocency that Tammin the Cross and Resignation the Fire of God can give yea all that perfection Paul pressed after yet may he not upon this account stretch forth his hand to receive the reward but take it upon naked and free Grace from one that owes him nothing and that verily all his Perfection and Innocency only makes him capable of receiving what Grace offers 32. For the better understanding of this it behoveth that we first enquire what Innocency is and upon what it stand's for it remarkably differs from the rest of the Sisterhood of Gifts and Vertues First in its Original for of all it was first born before man even with the first void and empty Earth next in the Light Air Water Earth and first Elements of things so as it most especially before it was in Act In-bread and not acquired which is rare in other Vertues for Love is not Love until it doth Love nor is Patience until it suffer patiently c. Again of all other it is neat curious and gentle serene as Chrystal but tender as a bubble of Water in some respect and strong as Iron in another for from without itself no Enemy can harm it though Sin
Conscience stands firm and quick it will not fail to detect all its Sorceries To speak out of my own experience it hath already manifested four of its gross Deceits Of the first in the day of Vocation for until then it shews not the depths of its Craft because all Men by Nature set forth into the World much leavened with the Love Lusts and Vanities of the Flesh and as long as the Soul is content to take part with it in wallowing in Sin so long the Heart troubleth not the Soul nor Satan the Heart because his desires prosper in that way which is most pleasing to him because most destructive to Souls neither will he tempt in this State to Superstition or Idolatry because it makes better for his end that neither God nor Religion should come within his thoughts But if the Soul shall become sensible of this Bondage and threaten to leave Egypt that it may sacrifice to God in the Wilderness then the Heart leavened by Satan sets on foot all its Stratagems and if God in favour of the Design raise up a Moses in it and smite the Heart with some noisom Plague or Affliction it cannot bear it makes shew of Repentance and promiseth that if God will remove his Hand it will become a true Leige-man but no sooner is that taken away but it hardens it self as Pharaoh did and will not consent that the Elect Seed shall depart out of its Slavery until the ten Egyptian Plagues have passed upon it for in that Story the Conflicts of the Spiritual and Natural Seeds upon Vocation are shewn in Allegory The second is That after the Soul is manumitted by a strong hand the Heart also enters into Covenant taking upon it the Oath of a holy Life and promising to perform all that Jehovah commands but yet upon the first strait or want murmurs starts aside like a broken Bow oft wishing it self in the Pleasures of Egypt again as sometimes the Sons of Israel did for God will put Trials on his called Ones in the first Journeying and these are to teach us to beware of the like Evils as it is written Now all these things happened unto them for example the original Types and are written for our Admonition upon whom the ends of the World i.e. Age are come Another Admonition we have in good Peter whose Heart being warmed with Love to his Master strait way boasted And though all should be offended with thee yet will not I vehemently affirming that he could die with him rather than deny him and doubtless the good old Man intended to do all he professed but so far his false Heart deceived him as on the appearance of Danger he denied his Master thrice before the next Cock's Crow was finished Which also serves for our Instruction fore-warning us not to boast in our own Strength always to distrust our Hearts and if perchance we be overtaken in Peter's Snares that we may with him renew our selves by bitter Tears The next Deceitfulness of the Heart is now when it entred on the Rule and whole Course of Obedience and persuades it-self its Works are upright before God and done upon the pure Principle of Love towards God and Man but indeed is meerly hypocritical moving upon mercenary hope of Reward or a base servile fear of Punishment not loving Justice and Mercy for Christ's sake not doing good to others for love of them but because they love themselves and hope to be Gainers by their Gift And this I fear is a frequent Evil as Experience teaches for whose was once zealous in Obedience in Duties and Charity and after upon the Incomes of Grace and hope that the Scourge is over becomes cold and remiss therein let them boast of what new Light and Gospel-Liberty they please they will be found Hypocrites Bastards and not Sons and so they may behold themselves in the Glass of their own Conscience For if the Command for Duties be still the same and thy Brother in want as before and thou shalt not communicate in both as formerly where is thy Love or Obedience and how were they formerly sincere No assuredly because thy Fear of Punishment is vanished so also Love and nothing more certain than that it was founded upon some base Foundation And thus the false Heart makes many play the Hypocrite persuading that those Hypocritical Sacrifices were acceptable to God which were verily little better than Swine's Blood And therefore here is great need of watching over the Buddings of the Heart and if upon this account Zeal or Charity languish it ought to be brought before the Judg and its Hypocrisy manifested and that if possible that may be renewed which was ready to die And if this be not done by thy self be assured that he that searcheth the Heart and Reins rendring to every one according to the Fruits of their working will do it and appoint thy portion amongst the Hypocrites But now the fourth and last Treachery of the Heart is whilst it is indeed zealous and perhaps competently faithful in these Duties and pretends that all its performances are as Dross and Dung and i◠〈◊〉 uprofitable â—â—rvant and therefore hath no dependence in them but sâ—â—ply on free Grace but nevertheless doth in its secret thoughts say Soul take thy rest for thou hast much Riches laid up for many Years And this is a sore Evil and frequent and thus Experience discovers it If the Heart say to the Soul Take thy rest there is assuredly some shreds of it but if it say to another who fears the Lord and walks by the Rule whereunto it hath attained Get thee far from me for I am more righteous than thou it hath taken a deep root Or if it boast with the Pharisee I thank God I am not as this Man I fast twice in the Week I pay my Tithes I pray in Spirit and read the Scriptures in Understanding and this Man is carnal he prays by a form of words and reads and understands not the Case is clear For how canst thou prefer thy Holiness to another's that believes in the same Christ and owns him to be Righteousness except thou suppose thou hast inhanced thy Merit by some false Vertue or Performance for this is but the vain boasting of the Heart puffed up with knowledg not considering that not many Wise are called but that God hath chosen the foolish and base things of this World to confound the Wise for it is not the Whole but Sick that stand in need of the Physician of Souls therefore seeing the humble and poor in Spirit are the fit Objects of Grace and Christ hath promised them Blessedness why should not the Heart taught to speak the Truth rather boast that it is enrolled amongst these for I know that whatsoever it thinketh yet it will openly profess that it must be saved by Grace and how knowest thou but he that is the Fool in thine eyes hath more Humility Meekness yea is greater in
thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall 12. And now this doth bring us to that Combat which indeed is our Magnum Oportet our great Necessary where we must encounter with Spiritual Enemies with Satan in the appearance of an Angel of Light yea and also with our own perverse Perswasions cunningly trimmed and set forth by the old Serpent the Deceiver from the Beginning which we have hitherto esteemed as Children of Light So as this War is not only against Satan our Lusts and open professed Enemies but even against our Works and Ways which we once esteemed familiar Friends and had walked taking sweet counsel together in the House of God who now being deluded by Satan ignorantly become Enemies whilst they perswade the Soul That there is no entring into the Land of Rest but by its own Sword and Bow and so fight Satan's Battels So as a Man's Enemies are of his own Houshold the Father at variance with the Son and the Daughter with her Mother and which is most strange the Hand of Christ our Lord and Captain in all this even setting us at these variances in our selves Matth. 10.33 and sending the Sword into our inner parts so as our chiefest Friend our Preserver and Life sends the Sword and Divisions and our Enemy and Destroyer seeks Peace and Concord and yet is that of Love and this of Malice for indeed this is the Battel in which He that shall loose his Life shall save it and he that will save his Life shall loose it And our Wilderness State is for no other end than to prepare us for this Warfare by weaning us by little and little from Creature-Dependencies for our Captain wonderful in Wisdom and Goodness on set purpose leads the Armies of Israel into a dry and desart Place to the end he may bring them into Wants and Distresses and when they cry to him he gives them Bread from Heaven and Water out of the stony Rock thence teaching them that they cannot deliver their own Souls but that he both can and is gracious and ready to help in the time of need and so undermines natural Confidence inures them to hardship strengthens Faith and Grace drawing them by degrees into acquaintance with that Song of David If the Lord had not bin on our side may Israel say if the Lord had not bin on our side when Men rose up against us they had swallowed us up quick for as the Sons of Israel could not prevail in War against the Cananites until all that rebellious and faithless Generation was spent whom God had sworn If they shall enter into my Rest So is it impossible the Soul should overcome in this Warfare as long as any of these Principles or Perswasions remain that dare affirm either that it must prevail in its own Sword and Bow or yet despair that Free Grace can or will effect it so as under our Legal State our Lord like a wise and experienced Captain trains up and inures his Souldiers to such manner of straits and service before-hand as in the great Day he will call them unto 13. But now to come to the Crisis 't is every way miraculous in the Manner in the Power in the Effect for is not that manner of fighting strange where the safety depends in casting away all Arms Offensive and Defensive and is not that Power wonderful which converts the loss of the Field into Victory and makes them that are overcome more than Conquerors And is not that effect most admirable of all that makes Death Life and Life Death and yet most assuredly this is the success of this Warfare and though it must seem ridiculous in the Eyes of a Son of Pharaoh who can perceive no more of it than a Man born blind can of Colours yet is there none that hath fought the good Fight but can set his Seal to these things nor none that hath made good improvement of the Wilderness preparative Discipline but hath so express an Image thereof as he can consent with us neither let any of the Camp of Israel think of this as if some strange thing had hapned unto them for it must come upon all the Children of Election for if done to the green Tree shall it not be done to the dry for saith the Apostle We see Jesus made a little lower than the Angels for the suffering of Death that he might tast death for all Men for it became him in bringing many Sons unto Glory to make the Captain of their Salvation perfect through suffering and therefore as he suffered so must we as he was made perfect so we as he died so must we die and as he arose so must we as it is written Rom. 6.3 Know ye not that as many of us as are baptized into Christ were baptized into his death therefore we are buried with him by Baptism into death and if we have bin planted in his death together so shall we also be in his Resurrection knowing this that our Old Man is crucified with him namely that old Nature we brought out of Egypt and which so often murmured in the Wilderness Again buried with him in Baptism wherein ye are also risen with him through the operation of God who hath raised him from the Dead Whence it is manifest That as Christ fought this good Fight and died in it so must we and as he did it for the Universal Church as Lord and Saviour of all so must we every one in particular before we can arise with him into the glorious Birth of the New Creature And as the old Serpent took advantage of the Seed of Abraham in Christ and bruised his Heel that is his Body unto the death thereof so must it happen unto every particular Member of Christ's Body and as the bruising of his Heel was the bruising of the Serpent's Head to eternal Darkness so the bruising of Christ's Heel in his Members shall be the treading down of Satan under their feet and therefore blessed is he to whom it shall be given to lay down his Life as a good Souldier of Christ in this Combat without reproach to his Conscience Warfare or Captain wherefore altho the name of Death be terrible to the Soul as the natural death is to the Body yet seeing we have such an Exampler to follow let us not be afraid for if the God of Armies be on our side why should we fear any Enemies As long as the Lord of Life is with us we can have no cause to fear Death Nay rather let us rejoice that Christ hath called us to be his Companions in Suffering and Death knowing that we shall also be partakers of his Resurrection Life and Glory Were it not ignominious in a Souldier that after he had inrolled his Name promised Fidelity learned the use of his Arms and had long lived upon his Pay and done little for it should in the day of Battel the Prize even immortality set before him and Victory
and to speak my own sense I judg this the very great and critical Point of sowing the good Seed in Sorrow which shall come again rejoicing and bringing its Sheaves with it for neither can Prayer Charity Humility or any of the practical Sisterhood in this State sow in Hypocrisie Vain-glory Merit and such Canker-worms but only in that acceptable Obedience I will do all I can and call my self the most unworthy of thy Servants my Faith is dead my Performances without life yet I will obey Rev. 14.12 Here is the Patience of the Saints here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus Christ And a Voice from Heaven saying Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their painful labours and yet their Works shall follow them Behold the Harvest vers 14. is at hand 23. But yet this Battel being thus far succesfully atchieved yet do not say thy Warfare is wholly finished only that abundantly great is thy advantage for thou hast gotten a strong City the Bulwarks whereof are Salvation but yet Christ who enrolls thee now as a free Volunteer requires thou shouldst still watch and stand upon thy Guard for so inveterate and restless an Enemy is Satan as he will never give thee rest as long as thou art in this Body and is grown so crafty that he knows both where thy weak part is and how to form fit Weapons against it And tho this is not that we shall now insist upon yet against one most desperate snare we shall briefly enter a Caution which is That as soon as thy Enemy perceives thou hast escaped all his Stratagems laid to entangle thee in the Fetters of Superstition he next seeks to make thee drunken with the pleasant Wine of Free Grace and therefore suggests that seeing Duties are of no force but Grace alone effects Salvation and Peace therefore there is no need to be longer conversant therein for they are but legal and thou art dead to the Law and consequently free from them and so to weary thy self in that which profiteth not is to spend thy time and strength for nought Now this is not a less dangerous than pleasing Temptation even a voluntary rendring back to Satan a strong City which with much labour and sorrow thou by the help of thy affecting Friend hadst forced from him for to speak freely what is upon my heart I say No Man can make right use of Duties and Spiritual Weapons until he have found the nakedness thereof namely that they cannot to any purpose offend an Enemy or defend a Friend till they receive both Edg and Temper from Free Grace for to trust in their legal Force is but a painful labouring in Tears and sowing in Sorrow a Thorn in the Flesh but having received a due temper in Grace they reap in Joy therefore it were uttermost Folly yea spiritual Madness after Wisdom hath taught the right use of Ordinances and saving Vertues to cast them off in pride of Spirit like that Husbandman who plows in the sweat of his Brows visits his Corn early and late but now when it grows white towards Harvest breaks down his Fences and lays it open to the wild Boar Beasts of the Field and Birds of the Air not foreseeing Winter and Want shall break in upon him as an armed Man or like a Man unskilful yet at his Weapon but will seek out and provoke a strong and subtil Enemy tho often buffeted for his pains and sometimes through want of skill woundeth himself but being come so expert and redoubted at Arms as his Foe dares not openly withstand him but by subtilty seeks to entrap him casts away his approved Weapons and falls asleep in full security giving his Enemy the advantage he desired namely to bind him fast and imprison him in the Darkness of Egypt and Fetters of Sensuality where he may wallow for ever if his affecting Friend do not in tender mercy drive him forth as he did Lot out of Sodom and indeed so bountiful is our Captain as he will not willingly lose one Hoof that hath followed him throughout the warfare of his Cross but will save at least some of these by Fire 1 Cor. 13.15 He shall suffer loss but himself shall be saved yet so as by Fire of which more hereafter But I fear some may have ran beyond the limits of Compassion for but to have nibled at the Bait is of great loss and doubtless to swallow it greedily without remorse is as great a desolation as a Son of Adam can pull upon himself even utmost licentiousness full-summ'd prophaneness and boldness in Sin beyond what nature in a natural way dare perpetrate whom I take it the Apostle defines thus For many walk of whom I have often told you and now weeping They are Enemies of the Cross of Christ whose End is destruction whose God is their belly and whose Glory is their shame who mind earthly things Phil. 3.18 Again Jude 18. They the Apostles told you there should be Mockers in the last times who should walk after their own Lusts these be they who separate themselves not having the Spirit But ye Beloved build upon Faith and pray in the Holy Ghost love God look for Mercy through Christ and of some have compassion making a difference and others save with fear pulling them out of the Fire Now these are them Paul speaks of in the former Texts and again another thus 2 Pet. 2.17 Wells without Water Clouds carried in a Tempest to whom the Mist of Darkness is reserved for ever for when they speak great vanity they allure through the Lust of the Flesh through great wantonness those escaped them conversant in Error whom whilst they promise Liberty are themselves slaves to Corruption and their latter end worse than their beginning For better had it bin for them not to have known God or Christ or an Ordinance than after having tasted the Heavenly Gift and bin made partakers of the Holy Ghost to fall back to such bold prophaneness or sensuality as is not known or heard of among Heathens Trees twice pluckt up by the Roots Brands in the Fire scarce capable to be plucked forth therefore I say watch and be sober be not high-minded but fear cast not away thy Soul 's fair hopes in Ordinances but hating the Garment spotted with the Flesh always take part with the Law of the Conscience in its Warfare against the Law of the Members But of this more anon Now it even of course falls out that the Soul which in the former Warfare was most rebellious and yet is at length subdued should be most subject to this Temptation for Man by nature is apt being convict of one extream to run out unto the other and besides as a Man soweth so shall he reap And hence as Experience confirms as a Man begins his Warfare so oft-times he finisheth it that is
He that in his natural state walks in full riot sinning boldly in contempt of God and Piety if God shall yet bring this Man under Conviction by strong hand his Call is usually in great terror and this usually puts him upon a more legal and superstitious way of Worship and not seldom more out of a servile fear of punishment than a true love of God or Good so as the old root of Concupiscence is not pluckt up but brought under by fear of Wrath and therefore as formerly he found that by contempt of God and Duties Wrath was exasperated So now by a more servile Fear and rigid Obedience he seeks to procure Peace and therefore is superstitious in all things rigid toward others and ready to persecute all not of his own length and measure Now if this Man be called to this War he contends stubbornly accounts free Grace a meer Harlot as Judah did Tamar believing there is no way to redintegrate what former contempt wounded but by an over-acted Zeal which might countervail it and thence as one strong hold fails him he raises another and makes every one a false Christ and runs after every one that saith Lo here or Lo there he is and often perisheth in the way But if through Mercy he escape this Snare yet is he very liable to the second temptation for now perceiving the large Arms and free Heart of Grace he for a while like Seed sown in stony ground rejoyceth in it blesseth God as large in bounty but withal hasting to the other extream despiseth his former folly in trusting to Duties counts them foolish and smiling at his former zeal therein applauds his own Wisdom in discerning their nakedness and setting him at freedom from a needless Yoke And now his servile Fear being removed the Roots of his former licentiousness not as we said before extirpated but only lopt and kept under by fear of punishment sprout forth to the great abuse of the Heavenly Gift unto wantonness Yet ought not this to discourage any Man from repenting of his evil ways for the Lord delighteth not in the death of a Sinner as it is written Ezek. 18.21 If the wicked turn from all his sins and keep my Statutes and do what is lawful and right he shall thereby live and not die all his transgressions he hath committed they shall not be mentioned to him in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live But yet upon the whole it is good to be forewarn'd and watchful over such Temptations as are most incident to that manner of sowing he hath sowed And therefore I say it behoveth all Men to remember their Creator in the days of their Youth before the evil days come and Years draw nigh when God shall say I have no pleasure in them for because when I called they refused and set at nought all my Counsel I will laugh at their calamity and mock when their fear cometh Therefore I say when God calls delay not say not in thy heart I have yet time enough to repent and turn to the Lord for few if any so hoping have found the way of Godly Sorrow but if thou hast lost some time in riot and prophaneness and at length a strong hand forceth thee to repentance let it be sincere and hearty not for fear of punishment but for love of him that called thee and his Christ that died for thee and tho thou lay thy Foundation in legal Fear yet mayest thou by Prayer Faith Experience and Patience convert it into reverential Love Which endeavour for legal Fear is often servile and servile Fear is an hypocritical bridling Sin for base ends and as soon as Grace stops the cries of Guilt it slacks the Reins and Lust takes its career but Love digs up the Root of whatsoever thing is hateful to its Beloved and is most pleasing to God and Man Fear I say of the sin-revenging God may as with an Anvil and Hammer break a flinty heart in pieces but every piece is still Flint but Love like Oil shall make it supple and plaint and the more as Grace and forgiveness of Sin manifest themselves it loves and becomes more obedient But if yet thou hast not obtained Love yet do not hope to expiate thy former evil life with any Righteousness of thy own and above all esteem not the persecuting or reproaching a Brother any kind of Merit but if he hath offended thee forgive him as thou desirest God should forgive thee And again while legal Duties bear a high rate in thine Eyes yet still let what is thy own Act be of mean account Know God will try it and it will be found light in his Ballance and so being humble in thy own eyes walking in consumption of the Arm of Flesh in love with thy Brethren and watching for the day of thy Tryal thou shalt find favour and God shall deliver thee in six Evils and the thus Hast thou bin formerly licentiously wicked and now art a Convert If thou dost hope to clear Scores with God by restraining thy Lusts excedency of Merit and yet but a servile fear and terror of the Sword of Justice it is the Spring and Plumet of thy Obedience it must fall out that when Grace shews it self to the taking away the Fear that also thy Obedience ceases and thy Lusts again break forth and in the mean time thou art in a miserable state first Because servile Fear and a wounded Spirit are thy Tormenters and yet best Friends upholding thee from uttermost Perdition Secondly Because Grace which is the only true Balsam against Sin and Guilt is become thy most perfect Poison so as it is of Grace not to let thee see Grace But on the contrary I say tho thy Sins were as red as Scarlet tho thou hadst been a Beast of Ephesus yet if in true and sincere Obedience thou turn to God converting thy servile Fear into Love Self-confidence into Self-condemnation and thy eager persecuting Spirit into brotherly Affection thou mayest in this well-fought Fight wash thy self as white as Snow and free thy self from the evil of this last Temptation because the Love of God will more powerfully restrain thy rebudding Lust than Servile Fear can yea the Lord himself will be thy Keeper as he hath promised Because thou hast kept the Word of my patience I will keep thee in the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the World to try them that dwell upon the Earth 24. Now this Warfare is in sundry places and divers manners represented in the holy Scripture in Allegory in Proverbial Speeches and Prophecies The Fathers did not only see it in Prospect but by Faith which makes things afar off as present in the Promise did enjoy it and obtained a good report And of this we shall now join some few Texts and more hereafter as occasion offers Our Psalmist hath many Passages touching this whereof one thus Psal 118. Out of my Straits I invoked Jah
than a Teacher abounding more in Alms in Charity in washing of the Feet of the Saints and those other Vertues which will not suffer her to be barren in the knowledg of our Lord Jesus Christ than a Master in Arts yet is not skilful in the greater Mysteries of Redemption but well skilled in a naked Christ and in chearful Obedience freely cast in her two Mites into his Treasury and consequently gives more than many others of far greater Abilities 17. And now the consideration of this reneweth upon us the great Commandment of Love more strongly than before For it is not enough only to love but also to honour And what then shall we say of our selves if we convert Honour into Dishonour and Love into Hatred Persecutions Envyings Defamations May not two of different Minds or Ways in many things both fear the Lord And shall that difference which is not manifestly decided in the Word but from the doubtfulness thereof and abilities of the Professors springs up into two Opinions break this so positive and often enforced a Command of Honour and Love Whence is it that some doubt in Mind touching the Service of God Is it not for fear of offending And is not that Fear rooted in the Fear of God How then shall we persecute and compel a Doubter seeing it is also a plain Text He that doubteth is damned because it is not of Faith Neither surely doth this Text need an Interpreter When ye so sin against your Brethren and wound their weak Consciences ye sin against Christ Canst thou give Bail for the Sin of another drawn into the Offence by thy means Canst thou bring back thy weak Brother for whom Christ died and is now perished by thy inducement If thou canst not who will plead thy Cause In what City of Refuge wilt thou hide thy Head from the Avenger of Blood Shall it not be less tolerable for thee than for him in the Day of Judgment And therefore I judg it a safe and excellent Rule Honour them that fear the Lord. 18. Here another Query offers namely Seeing this Fear Jara is an initiating Grace so necessary through the whole Warfare as without it no attaining of the immoveable State why the Psalmist did not at first require it and impose it as a Requisite To which I answer Tho it is not expresly named yet it is fully required for if it make every poor Cottage of Clay honourable where it is found much more is it self honourable and desirable If it was gross Idolatry in the Pharisees to prefer the Gold to the Temple and Gift to the Altar because those were the Sanctifiers and these but sanctified by them it is without controversy that the Gift which maketh honourable is more honourable than the thing by it made honourable Secondly The reason why it was not before required was not because it was not of special use before for as the Apostle hints all godly Conversation ought to be coupled with Fear and which is more our Obedience is vain without it our Warfare must miscarry and we left without the Seal of Sonship But because that even now a time draws near wherein its Master-piece-Service will be required And again because it now ought to appear in a renewed or rather regenerated State dying to tormenting Fear and living in the Love of Christ For in this great Crisis of our dying with Christ he makes all things new and not only so but he permits Satan to send for his Principalities of Darkness in new counterfeit Angels of Light For under the Legal State whilst it was Do this and live his Text was Live upon carnal Ordinances Stones made Bread and not to have regard to the Words or Spirit proceeding out of the Mouth of God but to walk on confidently and without fear in the Merits of his own Arm like the rich Man Soul take thy rest But now these Strong-holds being broken down he flies to a new Text teaching free Grace to Security and Presumption Fear not to dash thy Foot against a Stone for Angels shall bear thee up And now against this regenerate or Gospel-Fear which takes more of Love is the best Weapon for verily under the Law this Fear did oft-times put on frowardness and when Satan persuaded Confidence in superstitious Works and posted on to Idolatry this Fear armed the Conscience and it thrust thorns into the Flesh resisting the Pride thereof and convincing it was not able to perform what was required and consequently urged it to such Duties of Humiliation and Contrition as the Law required and still wrought more by fear and terror of Evil and Judgment to come than by the more gentle and noble Principles of Love But now the Table 's turned the whole Man and Pride of the Flesh become vile in its own eyes Do this and live abolished and in place thereof Believe and be saved and a Canopy of Love spread over them Satan also changes the Weapons of his Assault for if in the way of his old Deceit he should say Do and live one Whisper of free Grace would have rendred his Temptation ridiculous if he should sollicit the Arm of Flesh to buckle on its Armor again it would cry out O thou Deceiver from the beginning I am bruised and broken in thy Service I am less than a Worm And therefore he now comes in a new Disguise knowing his former Visage was discovered-and detested instead of Do and live he saith Stand still and live and for Work out thy Salvation by thine own Arm Work not at all thy doing and working is rotten and filthy they contaminate and hinder the work of the Spirit in thee sit still and let Grace make a perfect Work And now I say is the time that the regenerated Fear of God girds up its Loins to resist this Hypocritical Mocker with its two-edged Sword Legal and Evangelical threatning and entreating How darest thou O Worm as thou knowest thou art tempt the Lord thy God whom by late experience thou perceivest is a consuming Fire How canst thou hope for Salvation without giving all diligence to make thy Election sure in fear and reverence Then turning the other Edg I grant as the Tempter said Do and live is abolished but consider who brought it about if it was it self then go on and boast but if it was another then forget not how from thee a perishing Wretch he took that heavy Burthen which pressed thee deep as Hell and laid upon thee another which was easy and light and wilt thou not bear it for his sake Consider how he raised thee from Death and made thy dead Carcase a living Member of himself and wilt thou take his Members and make them the Members of an Harlot in Sloth and Lust If he hath given thee much dost therefore owe him less If all thy legal and painful diligence could not deliver thee will Abuse of Grace and Contempt of thy Deliverer carry thee to the far end
of Happiness If they who would not hear him who spake from Earth escaped not how wilt thou escape him that speaks from Heaven to thee if unregarded To taste free Grace and to return to thy wallowing is to crucify Christ afresh Greater Love than he greater Ingratitude than thou can no Man shew by his Death he bought thee to everlasting Peace and for a moment of Vanity thou wilt sell him Do not therefore O thou Moth set Thorns and Stubble in Battel against the consuming Fire but fear nay tremble with the Elders of Bethlem at this my Embassy from God and again look back and tremble that thou durst so much as admit of such a kind of Parly as this was And now this I judge is the proper task of regenerate fear and though never out of season yet now of most especial use steading the Soul as ballast in Ships and also by Anchors on every side that is legal fear drawing by threat and Evangelical alluring by Love and hence I suppose the reason was why the Psalmist ranked this Precept here 19. Swearing to a or the Friend and changeth not This is the ninth Precept but how to understand it according to usual readings and glosses seems difficult The 70 Arab and Vspel who swears to his friend deceiveth not but his is not in the Original The Targ. he swearing to afflict himself and changeth not but neither is himself in the Text nor the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Hithpahel Other who sweareth to his Hurt and changeth not Others who swear to do Evil and recompenseth it not Now verily upon the best judgment I can make of Laws and Precepts touching Oaths and Vows some of these are displeasing to God and in the best but an indifferent thing not required by God nor under a promise of Blessing but a liberty left to a Man to oblige himself to a voluntary Humility and not to sin in so doing provided he performed his Vow only the Daughter without her Father's nor Wife without her Husband's consent were restrained for none were obliged to swear but having sworn he was as straitly bound under penalty to perform as he was to any other Precept of the Law so as threats of penalties hung after Oaths but no promise of Blessings Again it made that thing a real sin which in it self was no sin adding to that yoak which was already so weighty as who could bear it Yet I do not say that Vows were not of good and holy use for else God would not have permitted them and I suppose were to hasten and perfect that Humiliation the Law was to bring upon all flesh or that if any strong zealous Professor thought he could be more obedient than the Law required and put too much confidence in the merit thereof it was permitted to him to impose such services as were not against the Law upon himself to the end he might the more earlier find with Solomon Vanity of vanity all is vanity on this side the Messiah But the thing I say is that taking them in their most excellent use they are not necessary causes of attaining the immovable state for many thousands have sojourned and have had their sin covered in the Tabernacle of God who were not conversant in Vows as I presume because we do not find any Exhortations by the holy Writers to encourage men to be Votaries but to the contrary Eccl. 5.5 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin that is to make that a sin to the flesh which is no sin of it self Secondly In the Historical Scripture we find not any Oath celebrated for good save one by Jacob at Bothel which was most warily circumstantiated as we shall further observe and not to a friend but unto God but many which tended to great loss as Jephtha's And lastly in the very dawning of the Gospel our Lord positively forbad all Oaths Matth. 5.30 Of old it was said Forswear not thy self but perform thy Vows to God but now I say unto you swear not at all And now to come to those in particular which the several glosses of Interpreters from our Text give the most ligible amongst them seem to fall short of David's intent Who sweareth to afflict himself of which nature some Oaths were of pious institution Numb 30.13 namely to afflict the soul which was by fasting and abstinence from anointing and outward refreshments wearing sack-cloth going bare-foot and such manner of penance which doubtless were good in fit seasons and occasions of Humiliation and often used by leading men as David Psal 33.13 Dan. 10.3 But that any ever did thus upon Vows or when occasions required not is not recorded as memorable and exemplary that I find Secondly Who swears to his friend c. which is of good moral use So Abraham sware his Servant and so he made a Covenant with Abimelech and Joshuah and the Spies to Rahab which are still alwful And doubtless to break Faith so solemnly given is to forseit mutual converse and even Humanity but to make such voluntary Oaths is not required but are only of humane Institution and for worldly and temporal advantages Lastly Who swears to his own hurt or to do evil to another are both great Sins whether kept or broken ending in wounds The Rabbies say such were well beaten for their pains and me judging deservedly and therefore if perchance a man thus sinned by Swearing ignorantly when it is known to him he was to make confession thereof and bring a Trespass-Offering and hence seeing this Oath in our Text is ranked amongst eminent Graces and under the greatest of Blessings I judge our Prophet did not refer it to any of the Oaths aforementioned 20. But perhaps Jacob's Vow compared with the Gospel Precept touching Vows Let your communication be yea yea Nay nay for what is more than so cometh of Evil may be a good guide unto us in our search Now Jacob's Vow was conditional with God and not in his own strength but in a dependance upon God Gen. 28.20 Jacob vowed a Vow If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and give me bread to eat and raiment to put on so that I come again to my Fathers House in peace then shall Jehovah be my God and this Stone which I have set a Pillar shall be the House of God and of all that thou wilt give me the tenth shall be thine And now this Oath draws to something of excellent purpose and will suit as a befitting link to the last of our Golden Chain For first The occasion that led him to this Vow was agreeable to the former exposition of our Psalm For first he was a Man of Tummin banished from his Fathers House his Staff his Portion a Stone his Pillow where in a mystery God taught him good things made a new discovery of himself as Jehovah to him whom I take it he hitherto knew only by the Name
the Hungry for they shall be filled c. Wo to the Rich for they have received their Consolation Wo to the Full for they shall hunger c. Luke 6.10 Now compare this with Mat. 5.2 and it is clear that the Poor and Hungry are spiritually meant and therefore it were hard to suppose the Rich and Full are only literal Again They that will be rich fall into Temptation and many hurtful Lusts which drown in Perdition For the Love of Money is the Root of all Evil Which whilst some have coveted they have been seduced from the Faith and pierced through with many Sorrows Which is more effectual in Spirit than Letter Solomon thus There is one that makes himself rich and is not there is another that makes himself poor and Riches abound Which is as much as There is one who would save his Life and loseth it and another who would lose his Life and saveth it He that hastens to be rich shall not be innocent And sundry Texts to the like purpose And thus whilst the Word is interpretable in both sences it cuts as a two-edged Sword teaching two Duties in one Precept for the one doth not interfere with the other but each mutually interprets the other And if I mistake not this is more frequent than they are supposed For the Spiritual things signified by Man and Wife do not disanul the Literal Duties of Wedlock nor doth Spiritual Whoredom which is Idolatry excuse the Sinfulness of Fornication no more than a Spiritual Sodom and Egypt deny that that once was and this yet is in the Letter So there is a Spiritual Adam Israelite Jerusalem c. And therefore the Precept Promise and Punishment belong to both Spiritual and Literal Obeyers or Transgressors and in most Cases more especially to the Literal yet not always namely because the Letter is direct plain to all and the other is in a Mystery Again what the Letter requires is oft-times manifest to be just in the Glass of Nature so as none can pretend Ignorance but the Spiritual sence is oft mistaken and the Usurer and Adulterer oft do evil whilst they think they do well 5. Now this Usury or Covetousness is in respect of the nature of Works either Legal or Evangelical that trusting in such Merit as is gained by the Arm of Flesh and this hopes for Gain in the Works of its own Spirit mistaking its own which lusteth after Vanity for the Spirit of God and worketh as the Apostle calls it Spiritual Wickedness in high Places into which whilst some boast of the Spirit have fallen supposing themselves wise and righteous until Christ come to try the Spirit Heart and Reins And this usually falls in when having received a new Talent in Grace we fall chearfully to the Work and supposing our Work much better as indeed it is than under Legal Services we presently say with Peter What shall we now that we work in Spirit and Grace have greeding after Usury from God when indeed we ought to put our Talent to the Money-Changers upon his account and patiently to wait for the encrease First knowing that he who runs best so runs because God is with him and blesseth him and himself no better than Nay nay Secondly That God alone knows what and when to give Thirdly That yet a very little while and he that is to come will come and will not tarry beyond the fitness of Time and will reward us both with Principal and Interest Well done thou good and faithful Servant c. Thou hast been faithful over a little rule thou over ten Cities 6. And now this Precept Give not thy Money c. in this Acceptation falls in close with the Link aforesaid that is Having now followed the Captain of our Salvation into Death forsaking all for him and acknowledging our selves vile yet love the meanest of his Fold and lastly having his Promise and given our Yea and Nay to him at the first setting forth we fall to the Work in great hope and cheerfulness and as one whose Heart is warmed in Love not doubting to give a good account of our Stewardship hoping with Micha I know that the Lord will now bless me seeing I have a Levite for my Priest that is have the Spirit for my Priest and work in Grace not yet perceiving as the Parable hath it that Christ having again set us right in the New Covenant goes into a far Country not forsaking us but withdrawing his more immediate Presence from us but to prove us how we can manage our new Talent and thence teach us that in our best State we are as nothing without him 7. And now tho this our Confidence is not without cause yet rarely is it free from Spiritual Ostentation yet not the old one which leaned upon fleshly Confidence for together with the Old Man that perished but another which riseth up in the New Man and makes its boast of worshipping in the Spirit and is but a change from carnal to spiritual Wickedness and Idolatry For before we made the Flesh and now we make the Spirit Co-partner and Fellow-workman with Christ to effect what lacketh which again stops the willing Rivolets of free Grace which is incompatible with a Helper for if it give not simply upon the account of its sole Goodness no respect had to any other Workman or Work it loseth both Name and Nature for as Infiniteness is not infinite if it have an end so neither can Grace be Grace if it have any respect to another's Work or Merit Not that now the Faculties of the Mind ought to rest or Working is ceased but verily the Soul Body and Spirit ought now to labour more abundantly because until this was known they could not labour in pure Grace which is the Harvest for unless the Reaper doth labour much and not in Merit the Garners cannot be filled with pure Wheat And therefore Satan taking advantage of the Spirit of Man lusting to Pride set forth an Imp of Antichrist in the appearance of a Spirit of Light which joining it self to the Spirit of Man enlightned as was said seeks to persuade it it is the Spirit of God and like as the false Spirit deceived Ahab beguiles the Soul of its encrease in Grace and pure Religion save only as Grace that it may appear gracious steals in here a little and there a little in those Periods when least expected for sense of Infirmity and Breach of Spirit are the Opportunities of Grace 8. And now when Christ comes to prove all by Fire it proceeds much in the manner of our former Warfare but as I may say in a reverted Order as Peter's Crucifying was the reverse of our Lord's his Feet upwards of which Christ solemnly admonished him John 21.19 Follow thou me and we may presume was written for our Instruction And in such Order our first and second Trials differ For in the first carnal Confidence was smitten down and a way opened
Watchmen wake if the Lord do not keep the City 10. And now this I say is the Spiritual Wickedness which in this Warfare we are to contend against but yet are not to expect it now in that great and terrible manner as here it is described because he here speaks of it as it shall appear in the day of Christ's coming to take vengeance of the Man of Sin then to be revealed and also as it shall fall upon the Universal Church of God in the full Spirit and Strength of this Delusion And therefore he vers 2. bidds them not be shaken in Mind or troubled as if the Day of Christ were at hand of which more by and by which I take it is the same spoken of Rev. chap. 19 20. touching the Battel of Gog and Destruction of the false Prophet the Spirit of Delusion working the Signs and lying Wonders mentioned by Paul Vers 9 c. But that we speak of is as it doth fall upon particular Saints and Churches according to the measure of the Spirit of Delusion as it is already come for in early days it set forth as is written 1 John 4.3 2 Thess 2.7 Whereof ye have heard that it should come and even now already it is in the World But of this universal we shall add no more save that the particular works in the same express manner but in all respects in a much fainter measure If there was there a falling away first a shaking in Mind and revelation of the Son of Perdition so here also must be as it were a little Wheel within a great Wheel For as in the day of the Law many Sons of Israel David Solomon Isay Joel c. had a prospect of the abolishment thereof nakedness of Sacrifices and felt some Throws of the Cross unto Regeneration and some tastes of the sweetness of Grace and yet could not become perfect in either nor liable to the Temptations thereof in their full strength until the day of those things came in power So in our Gospel-day many have a prospect of this Day and a sense of the Glory Workings and Temptations thereof in their as I may say little Wheel 11. Now to come to the particular Trial I say it consisteth as that of the Cross did in many smaller Bickerings and Assaults but is determined in an universal deciding Battel which happens not until the Soul comes near to the measure of Perfection it can in this Life attain for as the great Day of Christ's Victory over Gog and Magog was before the general Consummation but a short space so is this in the particular And to this John seems to allude 1 John 2.18 Little Children it is the last time and as ye have heard Antichrist shall come Even now are there many Antichrists whereby we know it is the last time Not hereby signifying that the last and great Antichristian Day and Trial or last Time was then come for not only he himself shews in the Revelation that that Day was far off but Paul also Be ye not shaken as if the Day of Christ were at hand And therefore here he must refer to some particular Church or Saints who were near to this particular Trial which in reference to them was the last time And to begin with the smaller Onsets I say Christ having made us once more right in his sight he departs into a far Country leaving us to the managing of the New Covenant on part In which the Spirit of Man having received Rule over the Arm of Flesh broken and vile in it self and verily a Commission to be chief Priest in offering all Sacrifices of Prayer Confession and Praises and also to work in free Grace it sets forth in great Zeal and Jollity resolving in Faithfulness as far as it knows its own Mind to keep its Yea and Nay little suspecting that the Seed of Antichristianism is in it brooding and ready to break forth yea and by the assistance of Satan shall be able to bring it into a more wretched Captivity than that of Babylonish Superstition was if its Lord do not return in due time to rescue it For now the Soul being a little puffed up with its high Privileges and the Spirit apt to lust after Vanity Satan takes his advantage for when we think we stand fastest we are in greater danger of slipping than when we are under sense of Infirmity for he that thinks he walks sure seeks not for further support but who fears he may fall seeks one upon whom he safely leans And therefore never was more need of regenerated Fear Jara than now But it being in this State very faint Satan who still applies to them he tempts in such Delusions as they are most prone to be ensnared in and therefore setting forth his Antichristian Brat in the form of pure Piety it extolls the excellencies of the Spirit No Sacrifice is acceptable without thee thou art not like that poor legal Soul that hungers and eats Husks greedily and yet cannot be satisfied but thou canst preach and pray and give praise hear read and interpret in Spirit And now perhaps this is in a good measure true and by giving the Glory to God saying It is so because thou art with me and keepest me the Temptation will slide off without much harm But if upon this the Spirit begin to think better of it self then hath Satan laid a Foundation upon which he will build Be not therefore high-minded but fear Next he will set it upon a Pinacle of the Temple See says he thou art above Ordinances and Forms the Holy City and Publick Assemblies are under thy Feet be assured God loves thee so well as he hath set a sure Guard upon thee to keep thee from all Evil the Sun by day nor Moon by night the Noon-day Pestilence nor Midnight-Arrow shall harm thee if thou shouldest fall thou canst not be bruised if thou shouldest chance to slip and sin God will not see any Sin in thee And now if thou answer Tho all thy words were true yet can I not take thy Counsel I dare not tempt the Lord my God I dare not break my Yea and Nay as far as my God will be with me and help me s far will I eschew all Sin and appearance of Evil then shall it go well with thee indeed But if these Delusions make any dint upon thee as it is deep and wide so shall thy Loss be that is If thou slight them that legally fear if thou thinkest meanly of the least Ordinance if thou nibble at Sin because Grace abounds surely thy Enemy hath got a great Victory over thee and which is worse he hath so blinded thine Eyes that thou criest Victory victory growest supine and boasts of thy new-gained Wisdom in that it hath shaken off so many needless Signs Forms and Criticisms which were useless Incumbrances to thee And verily if thy Friend awake thee not thou whilst thou promisest thy self Liberty art