draw near to him and perform all our worship to him As Abraham is held forth to us a Pattern of Faith so he may be to us a Pattern of worship in as much as all true worship to God is performed by Faith by Faith in Christ Such apprehensions thererefore Abraham had of God in his worship such apprehensions of God we are to have in our worship and as Abraham had those conceptions of God by Faith in Christ so can we have the like conceptions of God by Faith in Christ only 1. Those apprehensions Abraham had of God did beget as we have shewn high thoughts of God with such apprehensions of God we must perfoâ—m all our worship See what high thoughts of God his people have alwaies had in worshipping him Neh. 9.5 6. 1 Tim. 1.17 1 Tim. 6.16 Low thoughts of God will ever perform but low base contemptible Service and Woâ—ship they brought God the blind the lame the sick for Sâ—crifice Mal. 1. Go saith God present them to your Governour and see if he do not scorn your present as undervalued by it Ver. 8. And should I accept this at your hands which a petty Lord will reject with indignation Ver. 13. For I am a great King saith the Lord of Hosts Ver. 14. Now such high thoughts and conceptions of God with which all our Worship must be performed to him can spring only from the manifestations of God in Christ who is the highest Revelation of the glory of God Isa 40.5 The brightness the effulgency of his glory Heb. 1.3 When God had yielded to give Moses a sight of his glory he put him into the Clist of the Rock which was a * Dr. Rainolds Psa 110. p. 166 resemblance of Christ as a Learned Divine hath observed and so made his glory to pass before him Exod. 33.22 Certainly Moses had here a sight of Gods glory beyond all that ever he had seen before Compare with this that Text 2 Cor. 4.6 God who commanded light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ All the other manifestations of Gods glory were but dark and dim in comparison of those which appear in the face of Jesus Christ Therefore we can attâ—in no where such high so great so glorious Conceptions of God as in Jesus Christ 2. Abraham had such Conceptions of God as humbled emptied and abased him in himself in comparison of God and with such apprehensions of God must we perform all our Worship to him Psal 95.6 We are exhorted to come and worship and bow down and kneel In all Worship we are to testifie as our absolute subjection to God so our humblest submission to him Observe what self-abasing thoughts the apprehensions of Gods goodness wrought in David when he went to worship before the Lord 2 Sam. 7.18 19 20. Now such Conceptions of God which above all others humble and lessen and abase the Creâ—ture before God See Salkeld de Ang. c. 34 35. Aquin part 1 quest 62. Art 1. they spring principally from the manifesta ion of God in Christ It is the general opinion of the Schoolmen that the Angels in the first instant of their Creation did not enjoy that sight of God we call Beatifical Vision and that the Angels that fell never had sight of it at all for if they had they could not have fallen But what they talk of the good Angels meriting that Beatifical Vision of God in the second or third instant of their Creation is Popish foppery Divines unanimously attribute their station and stability in holiness to Jesus Christ We may upon good grounds also attribute to Jesus Christ their first admission into the presence sight enjoyment of God their state of supernatural blessedness Pardon this digression it is to make the way clear for the demonstration in hand viz. That the Angels before they had a sight of God or of themselves in Christ many of them waxed proud and fell the same pride that ruined some might have ruined all but after they had a sight of God in Christ how humble were they That Vision spoken of Isa 6.1 2. was manifestly an appearance of the glory of God in Jesus Christ I saw the Lord upon his Throne high and lifted up and his Train filled the Temple what the carriage of the Seraphims was towards God in this his appearance is exprest Each one had six wings with twain they did fly noting their ready execution of Gods Commands with twain they did cover their faces noting their natural impotency in themselves to behold the surpassing brightness of Divine Glory with twain they covered their feet as humbled in the sense and shame of their own Creature imperfection in comparison of the infinite purity and holiness of God Thus when Moses had had a sight of the glory of God in Christ He made haste he bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped Exod. 34.8 Quickly is the soul humbled at the manifestations of God in Christ In Christ we have seen God humbling emptying lessening dishonouring himself for us Phil. 2.5 6 7. Who can be proud that hath had a true sight of God humbled for him By the manifestatioâ—s of God in Christ are begotten the deepest soul humiliations for sin Zach. 12.10 They shall look on Me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him and they shall be in bitterness for him This great sorrow was not for the piercing of the Humanity of Christ barely considered but for piercing God in Christ though the Godhead was not in the least passive therefore that bloud which was shed is called The bloud of God Acts 20.28 and that person who was pierced called The Lord of glory 1 Cor. 2.8 Sins against the manifestations of the Love Mercy Grace Compassions Goodness and Glory of God in Christ beget the deepest humiliation of soul in all our Confessions 3. Abraham had such Conceptions of God as did represent him gracious propitious benevolous to the Creature a bountiful rewarder of him that serveth him notwithstanding the greatness of God or the unworthiness of the Creature Such apprehensions we must have of God in all our approaches to him in all our performances of duty and worship When Cain could not apprehend so much favour and grace in God as could pardon his sin and remove his punishment he then went out from the presence of the Lord Gen. 4.13.16 That is as Interpreters of good note render it he left the Church of God in his Fathers Family the Worship of God the Ordinances of God the service of God the profession of God and all Such as cannot have apprehensions of God as gracious propitious will not come into the presence of God Nor such as cannot apprehend him a bountiful rewarder of them that come to him They bid God depart from them who question whether God can do any thing for them or
bee condemned not knowing which might bee most weighty like a pair of ballances they are in equal poyse Zach. 14.6 And it shall come to pass in that day that the light shall not bee clear nor dark It is spoken primarily of Gods providential dispensations towards his Church in Gospel times For a while shee should live in Crepusculo in twilight in a mixt condition of light and darkness comfort and affliction like a man in a misty morning that neither w lketh in the dark nor yet hath the light clear to see far before him like Paul and the Marriners that saw neither Sun nor Stars for many daies o Acts 27.20 so might it bee with a particular person in reference to his spiritual condition By this you see First Wee make a difference betwixt saving faith as such and a full perswasion of the heart Secondly That some of those that shall bee certainly saved might not bee certain that they shall bee saved for the promise is made to the grace of faith and not to the evidence of it To Faith as true and not as strong they may bee sure of heaven and yet in their own sense not assured of heaven As an Infant may bee born to a great estate and have a certain title to it but yet hee might not know it or make it out to himself or others So that the Question is not de certitudine objecti of the certainty of Salvation but de certitudine subjecti of the apprehension sense and knowledge of the beleeving person concerning his salvation 3. Position 3. That a beleever may not only in the general gather from the word of God p Mat. 8.11 25.34 from the death of Christ q Mat. 20.28 from the glorious preparation God hath made r 1 Pet. 1.4.5 that many shall bee infallibly brought to glory but also that hee in particular shall be one of them This must have its proof after I therefore now pass on 4. Position 4. That wee are not to expect any voyce from Heaven or Gods sending of an Angel or extraordinary revelation to make us to know that wee do beleeve or shall bee saved but to make use of those helps and means appointed by God common to all beleevers but yet sufficient for the obtaining of this particular Assurance This I put in because the Papists grant it may bee got by extraordinary revelation but not else As it is their wicked practise to keep the people most ignorant of those things of which they should have most knowledge that following them with an implicite faith and blinde obedience might not scruple at their Humane Traditions and unwarrantable and many s Bellarmin de Baptismo Tom. 3. lib. 1. cap. 25. 26. 27. mentioneth 22 Ceremonies about baptism Exorcism Salt Spittle Cross Unction wax-taper lighted in token that the baptized person is translated from the power of darkness unto light c. ridiculous Innovations that have crept in amongst them so they keep them most doubtful where they should bee most sure and so the counsel of Trent t Si quis dixerit hom nem renatum justificatum teneri ex fide ad credendum se certo esse ex numero praedestinatorum Anathema sit Concil Triden sess 6. Can. 15. and again Si quis dixerit magnum illud usque in finem perseverantiae donum se certo habiturum absoluta infallibili certitudine nisi hoc ex speciali revelatione dedicerit Anathema sit Concil Trid. sess 6. Can. 16. If any man say that hee knoweth hee shall certainly persevere or infallibly bee assured of his election except hee have this by special revelation let him bee Anathema A wicked counsel that Anathematizeth a man for asserting that may bee obtained which God commandeth him to get 2 Pet. 1.10 Make your calling and election sure 5. Position 5. That such as have been filled with divine joy through well-grounded apprehensions of their present grace and future glory might lose that assurance and that joy u Psal 30.7 Cant. 5.6 and this may bee 1. From God acting 1. As w Iob 9.17 a Soveraing Lord. 2. As a wise God putting a more eminent difference betwixt Earth and x Psal 13.1 with 1 Cor. 13.12 Heaven Or 2. From the buffetings of Satan Or 3. From themselves 1. For the tryal exercise of some of their graces y Iob. 1.1 with Iob 13.24 Isa 8.17 Or 2. For correcting them for sin z Isa 59 2. As 1. For their backwardness to duty a Cant. 5.2 3 6. 2. Slothfulness in duty 3. Frequent stâ—ong actings of pride in and after duty 4. Letting down their spiritual watch and so 5. Falling into some notorious transgression b â— Sam. 11.4.13 15. comp Psal 51.8.12 Or 6. For not setting a due esteem upon the comforts of the spirit c Iob. 15.11 Or 7. Insulting too much over weak beleevers not exercising tender compassion to dejected drooping Christians 8. For their too much Earthly mindedness 9. Not rising presently by repentance d Isa 57.17 for these reasons and the like their Sun might bee eclipsed a winter of sorrows might follow their summer joyes They may Lose their evidence but not their adherence and though there shall not bee any intercision of justification yet there might bee afterwards a non-apprehension of it 6. Position 6. That in divers men there are divers degrees of this assurance and in the fame man different degrees at divers times but in no man at any time in this life perfection of degrees For our understanding is imperfect both as to the faculty and its acts And though the minde is curing yet it will not bee perfectly cured in this life from that darkness that beefel it by mans Apostacy from God For wee have but an imperfect knowledge of Faith and Love and while wee have but an imperfect knowledge of the premises wee cannot give a perfect assent to the conclusion And no man hath such perfection of degrees of the assurance of his salvation in an ordinary way as that one degree more cannot bee added to the former neither is there any repugnancy in asserting an infallible assurance and denying a perfect assurance for I infallibly know that there is a God and that this God is good and just and yet I have not a perfect knowledge of a deity or of his goodness and justice for in this life wee know but in part 1 Cor. 13.11 12. There are three waies that wee come to a certainty 1. There is a certainty that comes by sense A threefold certainty which cannot erre about its proper object when there is a due distance a fit disposition of the Organ and the medium rightly disposed thus Thomas was certain of Christs resurrection from the dead John 20.25 The other Disciples said unto him wee have seen the Lord but hee said unto them except I shall see in his hands the Print of the nailes and
6. Prize the society of the people of God that are acquainted with the workings of Gods Spirit upon their heaâ—ts Be much in communion with the Saints When they have been unfolding their doubts they have been in some good measure resolved this hath quickned their hearts when they have been dull and blown up the sparks of love in their souls to God that they have felt their hearts to burn within them s Luke 24.32 Psal 66.16 Mal 3.16 with love towards God 7. Direction 7. Keep a Record of all the experiences thou hast had of Gods goodness to thee and what thou hast formerly found t Psa 77.10 11. make it a means for the supporting of thy soul for the present and the future Such a time thou canst remember thou wast upon thy knees bemoaning thy self loathing thy self full oâ— sorrow and complaints and God took thee up in the arms of his love and spake like a friend words of peace and comfort to thy soul and bid thee be of good chear hee was reconciled to thy soul Hee filled thee full of sorrow and afterward filled thee full of joy hee cast thee down and raised thee up hee broke thy heart and bound it up hee came to thee as to Mary expostulating with thee sinner why weepest thou what aileth thee thou weepedst for thy Saviour and hee was by thee and shewed himself unto thee So much for the means to obtain this certain knowledge of eternal life but if by the use of these and the like directions the soul cannot get this assurance and though hee search and pray and grieve because hee hath not the light of Gods countenance shining upon him followeth the means and longs to know his estate and all things hee enjoyeth are lessened in his esteem because hee cannot see his interest in Christ whom hee doth most esteem To thee I will give these Directions Counsel to those that by these directions cannot yet obtain this assurance First Though thou canst not say thy condition is good yet do not say that thy condition is bad Though thou canst not affirm thou hast the faith of Evidence yet do not peremptorily say thou hast not the faith of Adherence though thou hast not the witness of the spirit for thee yet do not bear false witness against thy self canst not thou say thou art sure of Heaven yet do not say there is no hope of Heaven though thou canst not own Heaven as thine do not disown it if thou canst not prove it do not disclaim it It is strange yet ordinary to see many doubting Christians dispute against themselves and reason against their own comfort tell them of their longing after Christ their weeping and mourning for him they doubt it is not in truth if you say to them if you do not truly love him then let him alone and follow no more after him why do you grieve for him because you cannot finde him if you do not truly love him they will reply conscience will put a man on to do something when yet it may not bee done out of love to God if you aske can you take up with any thing short of Christ though indeed they cannot yet they will reply the heart is deceitful and they know not what they should do Frame not arguments against thy self when thou canst not frame them for thy self live by faith when thou canst not live by sense and comfort Take heed here of judging thy condition to bee bad by trying thy self by rules not so suitable to finde out the being and truth of grace as the growth and increase of grace And here 1. Say not thou hast no grace because thou hast not so much as thou seest others to have to take notice of the eminent degrees of grace in others to provoke our selves to labour after the same proportion is good but to argue for a nullity of grace because thou hast not such a quantity of grace as thou discernest in others is not rational Is there no water in the brook because there is not so much as in the river is there not light in a candle because there is not so much as in the sun wilt thou say thou art a begger because thou art not so rich as thy neighbours that have a full estate or that thou knowest nothing because thou knowest not so much as the greatest scholar Observe Peter in this case John 21.17 hee did not say when Christ asked him lovest thou mee more than these I love thee more than John or any of thy Disciples love thee but I love thee thou must love Christ more than thou lovest any thing in the woâ—ld besides or else thou dost not sincerely love him but thou must not conclude that except thou lovest him as much or more than others loâ—e him that thou hast no love at all unto him Yet this is ordinary I never was humbled so much as others have been I cannot mourn as others do enquire now after the truth rather than after the degrees and know thy humiliation is true First when thou art broken for and from thy sin so much bitterness upon the breast as weaneth the Châ—lde from it is sufficient Secondly that makes thee see a necessity of Christ and willing to close sincerely with him 2. Say not thou hast no grace because thou hast not grace proportionable to thy desires but rather hope thou hast it because thou hast such enlarged desires after it is not hee a froward unthankful Childe that saith his Father hath given him nothing because not so much as hee desireth 3. Say not thou hast no grace because thou seest corruption in thee more than before they were in thy heart before though thou didst not discern them the house is full of filth but while the shuts are up it is not perceived but take them down and you see it plainly not because there is more filth but because there is more light 4. Nor because of the indisposedness of thy heart to and dulness of thy affections sometimes in the time of holy duties Secondly When thou canst not get assurance make as much improvement of the grounds upon which thou mayest build u Psal 33.18 Psal 148.11 hopes of salvation The probable grounds thou hast thou wouldest not part with for all the world if thy heart is not full of joy through sense of Gods love yet thine eyes are full of tears and thy soul of sorrow through the sense of thy sin wouldâ—st thou change thy condition with any hypocrite whatsoever with the richest man that hath no grace I would not have thee rest satisfied with a probability but yet bless God for a probability of salvation is it nothing that one that hath disserved hell most certainly should have a probability that hee should escape it would not this bee a little ease to the torments of the damned if they had but a strong probability that they may bee saved but no hope