light of the Spirit in the light of the Lord and as in the day being children of the light bring all your actions into the light and let them all be according to the light Let the light of the Spirit in the Word bee the rule of all your actions and of all your holy performances in every thing you doe search the Scriptures whither it be so or no try all things by the light of the Spirit and hold fast that which is good Take up nothing upon trust from others but be sure to have a light from the Spirit for what you doe And 3. As you are alway to be viewing the Lord Iesus and to walke in the light of the Spirit you are so also to walke in the Spirit as to walke in the puritie of the Spirit bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit Let your conversation be as in heaven while you are upon earth walke in the Spirit and be fruitfull in every good word and worke quench not the Spirit but be fervent in spirit serving the Lord. Let all your desires be to be ever in the performance of all holy duties Let it be your meate and drinke to be instant in prayer to Pray continually to Pray without ceasing to be continually offering up spiritual sacrifices to your God in the Spirit to hate the garment spotted by the flesh to contemn and despise the worlds vanities love not the world nor the things thereof as they are in themselves but set your affections upon the things which are above Thus Saints walke you in the spirit that a sweete frame and disposition alwayes may appeare in you in doing good unto all loving your enemies blessing them that curse you doing good unto them that despightfully use you and if it be possible live peaceable with all men walke inoffensively towards them that are without and those within yeeld to all men their due be subject to the higher powers even the powers that are ordained of God both Kings and Magistrates as farre as the word warrants being subject to the ordinances of men for the Lords sake so farre as they are not contrary to the minde of God and yeeld tribute to whom tribute is due honour to whom honour and feare to whom feare is due Be of a meeke and quiet spirit in every passage of your conversation Let the love of the brethren be in you abundantly be as ready to do a brother good as to do thy selfe good in honour preferring one another simpathising with the condition of others and rejoyce with them that do rejoyce and weepe with them that weepe being tender hearted and bearing one another burdens forgiving one another even as God for Christs sake forgave you and though there may be differences in judgement among brethren yet let there be a union in affection Considering that there are severall degrees of light given out to severall saints some have higher measures of light then others have And what if thou hast more light then thy brother do not despise him because he is more ignorant for what hast thou that thou hast not received but consider that though he be now other wayes minded God shall reveale it to such a one in his owne time and besides it may be thy brother which seems to be much inferiour to thee in some things may exceede thee in the knowledge of the misteries of Christ in some particulars And againe though thy brother seeme to be in darkenesse unto thee in some particulars yet it may be it is through thy ignorance that dost not see that light that doth appeare to him and though it doth not now appeare unto thee yet it may appeare though now it seeme an errour to thee Therefore in the meane time though you differ in iudgment yet be one in afectition and be followers of God as deere Chidren and walke in love as Christ also hath loued us and hath given himselfe for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweete smelling Sauour remember how the Lord Jesus hath saide hereby shall men know that you are my disciples if you love one another Oh therfore let the spirit of love sweetly appear in you and dwell in love And let also humblenesse and lowlynesse of minde appeare in you and condesend to men of low estate and so walke in the frvtes of holynesse in the spirit that it may apeere to all that the Spirit of God and of glory resteth upon you and in the Apostles words whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are of good report whatsoever things are lovely thinke one these things for the spirit is powered upon you now saies the Apostle 1. Cor. 3.17 18. the Lord is that Spirit and where the spirit of the lord is there is libertie and therefore you all with open face beholding as in a glasse the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Lastly the last exhortation to the Saints is to walke in the joyes of the Spirit The Spirit is your comforter and have you the comforter why theâ— should you be sad why should thy heart be troubled banish therefore 〈◊〉 sinfull sorrow and sadnesse from your hearts you that are saints Reioyce in the Lord ye righteous and let all the Children of Zion be joyfull in their kings yea reioyce evermore and againe I say reioyce your God hath given you the comforter for this very end therefore be filled with joy in the Holy ghost Indeed had you not the spirit you might be commanded to rejoyce long enough yet never be able to rejoyce but now the Comforter is come now the Spirit is given unto thee What wantest thou now to make thee joyfull doth he not take of the things of the father and of Christ and show it unto thee doth he not reveal to thee even the bosome thoughts of thy God No man hath feene or can reveale the Father but the sonne which came from the bosome of the Father and he by his spirit reveales the thoughts of the love of your God vnto you from all eternity ye and the exceeding love where with he hath loved you he reveales the glorious designes of God in the Lord Jesus for thee and the vnsearchable riches of his grace And if so how comes it to passe that you that are Saints some of you are so disquieted and sadded in your spirits Walking as though you had still the spirit of bondage which we have not now received and your hearts are so filled with sorrow Certainly this is not the minde of your God This is not a fruite of the Spirit but of the flesh for the fruits of the Spirit are love joy peace c. But these distempering sadnesses and feares come from the flesh as you may observe it in your selves when you give way to the flesh and live below and not a bove in the spirit as to the pleasures of the world and upon creature comforts sorrow hath seazed upon you and your hearts have bin fild with feare for fear sorrow is natural to the flesh but you have the Spirit therfore reioyce ever more walking a bove the flesh alwaies hearken you to the sweet voice of the Spirit and be you alwaies singing and making melodie in your hearts to the Lord being fild with joy unspeakable and full of glory Which the Lord 〈◊〉 these times of horror and feare to 〈◊〉 godly men giue in abundantly vnâ—â— all them that love our Lord Jesus Chriâ—â— and his apearing and coming Now vnto the King Immortall all Invisible and the onely wise God be honour and glory for ever and ever AMEN FJNJS
no so it is their delight so it is sweete unto them Although they seeke not righteousnesse by it but by the Lord Iesus who hath fulfild it for them which the Lord teach thee by his Spirit to do whoever thou art that brandest any Saint with this title And thus I thinke I neede not say more in this particular to take off men from casting this Aspersion upon the Saints and that for this reason Because I doe not here speake unto those who have given up their names to Iesus Christ who ever they are for they are not I hope to bee charged herewith nor are they so much out of their way as to give out such expressions of their brethren in whom the Spirit of the Lord Iesus is or if they have through weakenesse or mismisinformation herein failled a word is enough for them Their spirits are so tender and as for others it is not much materiall if they so breake out still For the seed of the Bondwoman be alwaies enemies to the children of the Freewoman Onely heere they may see though they cast this aspersion upon them it is but false And so much therefore shall suffice for that use But 6. Vse To informe the saints of their priviledges Vse 6 IS is so that the Saints through the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus are freed from the Law From the Curse of the Law and from the oldnesse of the Letter c. Then let the Saints be heere informed of their priviledges and their uspeakable happinesse 1. You that walke afer the Spirit this you see now is your priviledge that though you were by nature under the course and children of Wrath even as others being under the Law Yet now you are free from the curse and from wroath And 2. That though you were once darknesse yet now are you light in the Lord. And 3. Though you were once strangers and alians in your mindes by wicked workes yet now are you drawne nigh to God by the death of his Sonne And 4. Though you were once altogether defiled with pollution and corruption yet now your old man crucified and the deedes of the body are mortified through the Spirit And 5. Though you were once in fear continuaily yet now have you continuall peace in some measure and joy in the Holy Goost and why all this and much more But 6. Trough that priviledge which summes up all others in it In that you are translated out of the kingdome and the power of darknesse into the glorious light and libertie and Kingdome of the Sons of God in Jesus Christ 1. I say your priviledge and glorious prerogative is that though you were by nature under the curse and Children of wrath even as others Yet now you are free from the Curse and from wrath for the Lord Jesus was made a curse for you to free you from the curse of the Law The Lord Jesus lay under the Wrath of the Father that you might lye downe in the love of the Father And that the time of your blood might be a time of love to him so though the Law may curse others yet it cannot curse you For there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus Who can lay any thing to thy charge so as to condemne thee Surely none can Neither Satan nor wicked men nor good men nor thine owne conscience nor Angels Nay God himselfe will not for it is he that justifieth thee or rather Christ that died and now being free from every curse and every condemnation O how blessed is thy condition But 2. Looke yet further upon thy priviledges and see that though thou wert once darkenesse yet now art thou light in the Lord though thou wert in a state of blindenesse and ignorance even as other gentiles walked taking thy swinge in the workes of Darkenesse yet now the Lord Jesus by his Spirit hath been a light unto thee Who is a light to lighten the Gentiles as well as others so that though thou wert altogether kept under and couldest not look up unto God being in darknesse yet now by the light of the Spirit thou art able to behold God in the face of Jesus Christ to know the minde of God and what is the acceptable will of God in some measure and now thou seest and and discernest spirituall things for thou hast now the Spirit to teach thee to know the things that are freely given to thee of God So that 3. Though thou wert a stranger and an alian in thy minde by wicked workes workes of darkenesse yet now art thou drawn nigh to God by the death of his Son and though thou wert once a stranger yet now thou art of the common wealth of Israel Though thou wert once a stranger now thou art a fellow Citizen with the Saints in Sion though thou wert once a stranger and an alian yet now thou art of the Family of God of the Houshold of God And what a servant there I and more A Son an adopted Son Nay a fellow heire with Jesus Christ Nay more thou art a Spouse a Bride the Lambes wife Thou art married to the Lord Jesus Now all the sweetnesses that are to be found in these relations are thine Is it a great priviledge to be a Servant to the Kings person Thou art so most eminently Nay he makes thee his friend too But it is more to be a Sonne Why thou art so It is more to be an heire That is thy priviledge too But is it more to bee a Spouse a Bride a Wife This is thy Royall Prerogative Besides many other relations in which thou standest through Iesus Christ as to be Kings and Priests before God c. And all this though thou wert once a stranger unto God and an Alian unto thy Fathers house and wert defiled with wicked workes so as thy person was loathsome yet even then wast thou received into love and haddest these priviledges conferred upon thee and all through the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of life working in him But 4. Thou that wert once altogether daubed all over with black and bloody staines of Corruption yet hast thou now that old man Crucified and these deeds of the body mortified through the Spirit and although thy life were as a sinke continually sending forth abominable corruption that did even infect the very ayre where thou didst breath Yet now through the Spirit of Holinesse given forth unto thee by the Lord Iesus thou art still mortifying the deeds of the body and still crucifying these Corruptions And that spirit that is in thee will never cease untill he hath totally gotten the victory over all thy coruptions and hath set thee in a perfect State even when thou shalt lay downe this fleshly body and this earthly tabernacle so that still in the meane time thou dost increase with the increase of God and so thou shalt grow in the Spirit and decrease in the flesh As John must decrease but Christ must
Jesus is not held forth in the Law for the law is not of faith Life by Christ Jesus is not held forth in the law but the man that doth it shall live in them So that the law is not able to bring us to CHRIST but the law was our Schoolemaster untill CHRIST And therefore sayes the Apostle before CHRIST came the Saints were under the law as under a Tutor or Governour but when the fulnesse of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a woman made under the law to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons and being sonnes he hath sent forth the spirit of his Sonne c. So that CHRIST being come we are no longer under a Schoolemaster but being sonnes have the spirit of CHRIST JESUS now to be our guide Whereas before the Saints were under the Law as a guide as a Schoolemaster untill Christ But this will more cleerly appear if you looke upon the Covenant that GOD made with them of old And this was the Covenant that God made with them that they should observe all the lawes and all the Statutes and judgements that God had given them which are set downe in the 20.21.22 and 23. Chapters of Exodus in which iâ— set downe besides the ten precepts that were afterward written upon tables of stone Divers other Lawes and Ordinances and then in the 3. vers of the 24 chapter it is said Moses came and told the people all the Words of the LORD and all the judgements and all the people answered with one voice and said all that the Lord hath said we will doe and then verse 4. it is said Moses wrote all these words of the Lord and Moses offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace-offerings and took the Booke of the Covenant and read in the audience of the people and they said all that the Lord hath spoken will we doe and be obedient And Moses took the blood and sprinked on the people and said behold the blood of the Covenant which the Lord hath made with us concerning all these words so that this was the Coveant that God then made with his people as appeares also Exod. 34.27 28. Where the first Tables being broken Moses goes up againe to mount Sinai the Lord there making a recapitulation of those things in the forementioned Chapters he saies againe to Moses after the tenor of these words I have made a Covenant with Israel and Moses wrote upon the Tables the Words of the Covenant the ten Commandments which Moses the man of God who also faithfull in all his house againe presses upon the people all along his whole fifth Book called Deuteronomie declaring from the Lord the blessings and cursings that did attend the fulfilling and breaking of it So that this was the Covenant and this was the rule by which they were to walke but most Peculiarly the ten precepts are said to be the covenant Exod. 34.28 as in the forementioned place though yet the rest of the statutes and laws and judgements were not excluded so that this is evident that this is the covenant that God made with his people when he tooke them by the hand and led them out of Eâ—â—pt and according to this rule they were to walke in which was sett before them life and death blessings and cursâ—ings But this letme adde that though the Saints were under this covenant vntill Christ yet besides this they were under a covenant or a promise of free grace too which way given to Abraham in that promise In thy seede shall all the nations of the earth be blessed which all the Saints vnder the law beleeved for saies the Apostle The law which was four hundered and thirtie yeers after could not disanull it And therefore the Saints vnder their Ceremonies saw a Christ then although but darkly and in a figure as Heb. 9.9 yet all the Saints had an eye vnto the Lord Iesus though yet vntill the coming of Christ they were still held vnder the law being then vnder that covenant though now the Lord hath made a new covenant with his people since the comming of Chirst in the flesh as we find Ier 31.32.33.34 which is quoted by the Apostle Hob. 8. Behold the dayes come saith the Lord that I will make a new Covenant with the House of Israel not according to the Covenant I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to leade them out of Egypt to wit the Covenant before mentioned which my Covenant they brake although I was an husband unto them saith the Lord but this shall be the Covenant that I will make with them saith the Lord. And surely this is a new Covenant not according to the tenor of the old Covenant but a new Covenant established upon better promises Heb. 7.11 and 8.6 and therefore sayes the Author to the Hebrewes God finding fault he sayes behold the dayes come wherein I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel Heb. 8.8 And verse 13. In that he saith a new covenant he hath made the first old Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away So then it is not according to the old covenant But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those dayes faith the Lord I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people and they shall teach no more every man his brother and every man his neighbour saying know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the Lord for I will forgive their iniquities and I will remember their sin no more This is the new covenant and this is a glorious new covenant indeed And should I here go about to hold forth the glory of it though but in some perticulars and shew wherein it excels the former covenant having that in it which never any former covenant had this beings new covenant It would swell into a large volume but because I am but answering of this quaeric Whether the Law were given for a Rule I shall here speak but to that onely thus that it was unto the Israelites before the comming of Christ for they were then under that covenant though now God hath made 3 new covenant with his people and they are not under the old that being as the Holy Ghost sayes vanished away and so all that are in Christ Jesus are under a new covenant according to which they are to walk which comes nothing short of but farre exceeds in holinesse and spiritualitie the old covenant and as many as walk according to this rule of the new covenant in Christ Jesus peace be on them and mercy and upon all the Israel of God But this let me adde That though the Saints be now freed from that