the glory of God in this his mercy and the deeper is his humility and lowlines of minde Minde but the writings of the Holy Apostles of Christ Jesus and you will finde it so that still they are harping upon this string sounding forth the mercies of the Lord in Christ Jesus and his love in revealing his Son to them Yea observe but that high state of the Elders spoken of in the Book of the Revelations who were set upon seats round about the Throne and cloathed in white Raiment and Crowned The substance of their song was this Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the Seals thereof Now mark why For thou was slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy Blood out of every kinred and Tongue and People and Nation Mark Not a word of their own righteousness not a word of their works how good soever they were which doubtles were excellent but yet not a word thereof the riches of the mercy of God in Christ Jesus puts all that out of sight and layes them low at his Footstool for they are said to fall down before the Lamb and sing this Song Now what are these Elders but representatives of all the Elect seed of God from all parts of the Earth Seeing it is contained in their Song that they were redeemed by his Blood out of every kinred and Tongue and People and Nation Now there be many more kinreds and Tongues and Nations then four and twenty but all represented by these four and twenty Well then you see their faith in Christ is not like the Faith of the Pharisees in which they stand justifying themselves in their own works and exalting themselves thereby over poor Publicans But all their admiration and glorying is in the mercy of God And so we finde the Apostles sounding forth the same things in their Epistles Eph. 2.4 5 6 7 8 9. But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickned us together with Christ by grace ye are saved And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus For by grace ye are saved through Faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God Not of works lest any man should boast Thus all boasting is excluded by true Faith And as I have shewed before the right Faith works by love and that love is not of an exalting nature But as the Apostle saith it vaunteth not it self is not puffed up 1 Cor. 13.4 Thus the true and right Faith shuts out boasting and cuts down vainglory and makes humble Therefore saith our Lord Jesus Christ Verely I say unto you except ye be converted and become as little Children ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little Childe the same is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven Matth. 18.3 4. Fifthly To proceed this true Faith is accompanyed with an Vnction or an Anointing from the holy one John writing to those he calls little Children whose sins are forgiven for his names sake saith thus But ye have an Vnction from the holy one and ye know all things 1 Joh. 2.20 All things that is that appertained to life and godliness Why For this Unction or Anointing taught them all things that appertained thereto that so walking according to the teaching thereof they might abide in Christ Now this Unction is the Spirit which gives a sense and feeling of the will of God what he would have us to doe and what he would have us to forbear And we need not that any maâ— should teach us beyond the teachingâ— of that to amuse us with high notions and mysteries which the Unction gives us no openings of Anâ— so keeping to that keept us wiâ— to sobriety minding to doe thâ— will of God which the Unction inclines our Hearts to rather theâ— to fill the brain with knowledge 〈◊〉 things which add not to our comfort and profiting and grouth iâ— Christ Now that this Unction 〈◊〉 the Spirit appears by compearinâ— this Scripture with another Thaâ— is compare this 1 Joh. 2.20 2â— with Ioh. 14.16 17. Where it 〈◊〉 expressed by the name of the Spirit I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of Truth whom the World cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you This is that abideing Unction which abides with the Faithfull for ever The Unction is a constant abiding thing and so is the Spirit abiding for ever Thus the Lord fulfills his promise of old Isa 44.3 and chap. 59.21 I will pour Water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground Thirsty and dry these are such as hunger and thirst and fit to receive the Heavenly rain but he expresses â—t more plainly in the following words thus I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon â—hine Off-spring Then in ch 59.21 â—he promises the constancy of this Spirit with the seed of Christ in â—hese words As for me this is my Covenant with them saith the Lord. My Spirit that is upon thee and my words which I have put in thy Mouth shall not depart out of thy Mouth nor out of the Mouth of thy Seed nor out of the Mouth of thy Seeds Seed saith the Lord from henceforth and for ever So that this is a promise to all the Seed and that for ever which promise is fulfilled to all faithfull believers in Christ Jesus Therefore saith the Apostle if any maâ— have not the Spirit of Christ he iâ— none of his Rom. 8.9 And herein thâ— Son-ship is established even in thiâ— Spirit or abiding Unction oâ— Anointing As the Apostle witnesseth ver 14. For as many as are leâ— by the Spirit of God they are the Sonâ— of God Thus the Anointing witâ— the Spirit typifyed by the precious Ointment that was poureâ— upon Aarons head and ran dowâ— to the Skirts of his Garment thiâ— Anointing with the Spirit runâ— down from our High-Priest to thâ— lowest of his Servants He waâ— anointed with the Oyl of gladness above his fellows but we all of his fullness receive every one a measure of his Spirit and so are hereby stated by this Spirit of Adoption into Sonship and Heir-ship with him If Children then Heirs Heirs of God and joynt-heirs with Christ c. Rom. 8.17 And this state or Spiritual condition carryes its own evidence in it self for the Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit that we are the Children of God ver 16. And as this Spirit or Unction is a guide to the Children of light leading them into all Truth and as it is a witness to
And blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Matt. 5.3 4. Their mourning is while they are in travel but when they have brought forth then there is rejoycing when Faith hath overcome then joy and gladness And this is in some sooner in some later In the primitive times of the Apostles when the mystery of the Gospel or glad tydings was holden forth with open face as I may say and without a vail or myst many that received those tydings by Faith were immediatly filled with peace and consolation How quickly was the Jaylor that came in trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas crying out Syr's what must I doe to be saved How quickly I say was he raised up into peace and consolation after he had heard the joyfull tydings of Salvation by Christ Jesus plainly preached to him in few words and by Faith received it Act. 16.31 32 33 34. And they said Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy House And they spake unto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in his House And he took them the same hour of the night it was not a work of many hours but the same hour and washed their stripes and was Baptized he and all his straight way And when he had brought them into his House he set meat before them and rejoyced believing in God with all his House See how love and joy accompanied his Faith believing in God he rejoyced Therefore the Gospel is called glad tyding of great joy For who can believe that his sins are done away in Christ Jesus and that freely by grace or in love the Lord accepteth him in Christ Jesus and not therein rejoyce The Preaching of the Gospel is preaching peace by Jesus Christ Act. 10.26 Eph. 2.17 And therefore it s call'd the Gospel of Peace How beautifull are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace and bring glad tydings of good things Rom. 10.15 The Eunuch to whom Philip preached Christ and opened to him the way of Salvation by Christ and he by Faith had received this love of God in Christ the same day he was filled with joy and after Philip was caught away from him he went on his way rejoycing Act. 8.39 So at Samariâ— Philip having preached Christ unto them and working Miracles in his name there was great joy in that City Act. 8.8 So likewise that great multitude that was converted at Peters preaching the Gospel to them Act. 2. besides those eminent Fruits of love which sprang up in them in an extraordinary manner they also were filled with great joy and consolation which made them to eat their meat with gladness and singlenes of praising God This true Faith in Christ Jesus brings peace and consolation upon two principal accounts First because it receives the glad tydings of remission or forgiveness of sins by Jesus Christ The guilt of sin or conscience of sin binds a man under the fear of condemnation and causes him to cry out in the bitterness of his Soul what shall I doe As it did these here in the 2d of the Acts when they were struck with a sense of their sin they cryed out Men and Brethren what shall we doe And so the Jaylor what shall I doe to be saved And this state the Apostle Paul personates Rom. 7.24 O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Now what can be more joyfull at such a time and to such a condition then to be satisfyed that their sins are forgiven them and that Christ Jesus the Lamb of God that taketh away the Sin of the World hath borne their sin in his own body on the Tree And so to have their conscience sprinkled by his blood from an evil conscience and to be made clean by that blood of sprinkling Here 's cause indeed of rejoycing by Faith in him For now the chaine of darkness is unloosed and the liberty of the Sons of God begins to appear and he is translated out of darkness into marvellous light Even the light of life 1 Pet. 2.9 And then secondly in this faith there is also a measure of the Spirit received which is the comforter and brings his Testimony with him which is beyond all words for giving consolation and peace The Spirit witnessing with our Spirits that we are accepted into Sonship with God And therefore the joy received in believing is called the joy of the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit 1 Thess 1.6 And ye became followers of us and of the Lord having received the word in much affliction and joy of the Holy Ghost That is joy which the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit ministred in their receiving the word There 's joy in Heaven over one sinner that truely repents and he also is made partaker of that joy Thus the Fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace to that man that receives the Testimony of the love of God in Christ Jesus and also it begets the same in that man towards others It begets love in him towards others and joy in their returning to God and makes him a man of Peace in the World Obj. It may be some may say how can this be seeing Christ said I came not to send peace on Earth but a Sword And to set one man at variance against another Answ That is occasionally because the Earthly Spirit will be opposing and persecuting the rightous seed although the righteous seed be a seed of peace and quietâ—ess in it self and to others Obj. Again some may say Christ â—ells of mourning ye shall mourn â—nd the World shall rejoyce c. How then doth this stand with that â—y which thou speaks of Answ A Woman while she is in â—ravel hath sorrow but when she hath brought forth she rejoyceth for joy that a man Childe is brought forth into the World so it is here And then again saith Christ Jesus In the World ye shall have tribulation but in me ye shall have peace Joh. 16.33 Forthly I come now to another Fruit or concomitant of this Faith and that is this it excludes boasting It cuts down vainglory Where is boasting then It is excluded By what Law Of Works Nay but by the Law of Faith Rom. 3.27 For what hath that man to glory in in respect of himself that sees himself wholy a receiver at the hands of the Lord When he rightly sees himself justifyed freely by grace and the superaboundant mercy oâ— God who hath revealed himself to him in Christ Jesus That is hath revealed his love to him in Chrisâ— Jesus for God is love And hath let him see that he is accepted freely in Christ Jesus He that hath the right sence of this upon his Spirit it draws his Heart into the admiration of the infinite love and mercy of God in deep humility And the more fully this is revealed to him or in him the greater is his admiration still of
the Children of God witnessing with their Spirits and administring comfort and Heavenly food to the Soul So also he administers words and matter to Christs little ones when they are called before Rulers and Magistrates for his names sake And Christ Jesus our Lord taught his to depend hereupon and not to perplex themselves with thinking before hand what to say to them Matt. 10.19 20. But when they deliver you up take no thought how or what ye shall speak for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak For it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you Hence it is that sometimes Women and unletter'd Persons have been enabled to confound great learned men for the Lord by his Spirit gives a mouth and wisdome which their Adversaries ar◠not able to gainsay nor to resist This is that Spirit which begetteth earnings and longings in our Hearts after the Lord and which helpeth our infirmities when we know not how to utter our minds to the Lord for then he maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered and these groanings being according to the will of God he hears them for he knoweth what is the minde of the Spirit Rom. 8.26 27. There be many Spirits gone forth into the World which are not this Unction but work contrary to it and lead out from Christ into the World therefore the Apostle bids us try the Spirits whether they are of God 1 Joh. 4.2 Well but how shall we try them He tells us how to know them in the next verses following Hereby know ye the Spirit of God Every Spirit that confesseth Jesus Christ come in the Flesh is of God And every Spirit that confesseth not Jesus Christ come in the Flesh is not of God For so the words run more truely according to the Greek then to render them thus Every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh c. For this confession is such a confession as owns an interest in him or professes a relation to him by Faith in him and by love and obedience to him The evil Spirits did verbally confesse him Mar. 1.24 and so evil men may verbally confesse him tho they neither truely believe in him nor love nor obey him But this true confession of him hath these things necessarily conjoyned therewith 1. Faith Iohn 3.18 36. For that Spirit that wants that is under condemnation and wrath as this Scripture testifyes 2. Love 1 Cor. 16.24 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha 3. Obedience to him And therefore saith John he that saith I know him and keepeth not his Commandements is a lyar and the Truth is not in him So then every Spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ that suffered for our sins i◠Faith and in Love and Obedience to him that Spirit is of God But otherwise evil Spirits may confesse him and Children of the evil one may confesse him Also the Apostle draweth this down to himself and others who were in the pure and living faith and innocent life in whom Christ appeared ver 6. o◠the same Chapter We are of God he that knoweth God heareth us 〈◊〉 that is not of God heareth not us hereby know we the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of error So here you see he places the mark to know Spirits by upon their owning or not owning of Christ himself come in Flesh and of him appearing in others For they that know him not in his Children where he appears but deny his appearance there they are not of his Spirit themselves But then how shall we know his Children from the Children of the Devil The Apostle tells us this is manifest by their works 1 Joh. 3.10 He doth not say its manifest by any particular forme but by their works In this the Children of God are manifest and the Children of the Devil Whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God neither he that loveth not his Brother So then let men pretend what they will if their works be evil they are not of God So that by their works false Spirits and false Prophets are known and by them they shall be judged at the last day Though they shall say we have Prophecyed in thy name yet it shall be said to them Depart from me I know you not ye workers of Iniquity Now these must needs own his comming that Prophecy in his name And that they may doe and yet not own hi◠where he is come and appears i◠Flesh And so they may confesse hi◠comming and yet not confesse himself where he is come As the Iew owned Moses and the Prophets wh◠were come and gone but yet persecuted them that came in their Spirit they owned and confessed Abraham but owned not nor confessed the true seed of Abraham and so were not of Abraham thoug◠they confessed him In like manne◠many now confesse that Christ cam◠in the Flesh but persecute the◠that come in his Spirit that is persecute him in them for so he wil◠charge it upon them Because what done to his little ones is done upo◠this account that he is in them who hath no fellowship with th◠unfruitfull works of darkness in which they are who persecute them For if he were not in them who hath not fellowship with unfruitfull works of darkness they would not hate them but would love them The World loves its own and those of its own Spirit If you were of the World the World would love his own but because ye are not of the World but I have chosen you out of the World therefore the World hateth you Joh. 15.19 A little further still for the manifestation of this true Unction or Anointing to distinguish it from other Spirits not only from evil Spirits but even from some operations of the true Spirit Consider that this Holy Unction is an abiding thing keeping the Heart in the fear and love of God making that the maine care of him in whom it is to keep in obedience to the will of God and so in fellowship with God for that 's the Kingdom into which we are translated and whatsoever interposeth between us and that fellowship with God who i◠love that wounds and slayes And we are then like one banished hi◠native Kingdom and like an Exile until we be established in it again and then there 's rest and care and fear lest we grief the Spirit again And thus the promise to the true seed is fulfilled which saith I wil◠put my fear in their Hearts and they shall not depart from me Jer. 32.40 Now other Spirits which give no◠this fellowship in the love of God may doe great things whereby the person may be admired but they doe not keep the heart low watching to doe the will of God Balaam had an eminent Prophecy given him by the Spirit of the Lord which also strove with him to keep
to prepare for that which is to come after that we may in hope look for that day that is to come We are raised up here out of the death of sin that we may rise with comfort hereafter We are judged of the Lord here that we may not be condemned with the World and we are made to judge our selves here that we may not be judged Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection on him the second death hath no power So that Hope having so sure a foundation it is as an Anchor sure and stedfast And tends greatly to an essential Christian life to bear us up therein in holding on in patience doing the will of God and denying the pleasurable and easie paths of unrighteousness This Hope of an eternal inheritance makes us not ashamed to bear reproach for Christs sake and for observing his commands though we be accounted as the of-scouring or refuse of all things for so doing So that Hope is as a Helmet upon our heads to bear us up under all the vilifyings of the World I know it is a common thing with many if not with most to say I hope to be saved and I hope God will be mercyfull Yea and they will swear by their hope too saying as I hope to be saved Well I would not dash thy hope in Gods mercy but rather strengthen it and help to raise it up higher But take heed how thou exposes thy hope and thy self therewith to judgment in breaking the command of the great judge who is to judge the◠and all the World who hath said Swear not at all neither by Heaven nor by Earth nor by any other Oath Certainly if men shall give an account in the day of judgment of every idle word as the true judge hath told us they shall Matt. 12.36 then surely forbidden Oaths must be given account of therefore put away such things as are threatened with judgment And to raise up thy hope into strength and infallibility that it may be a comfortable stay to thee consider what it is that it is grounded upon and how it will operate in thee if it be right and see that the right foundation be layd Consult with the sayings of those who have had this lively hope in them and see how their's was grounded and what they testify of it I shall lay this one Scripture before thee to consider on and to set before thee as a marke to presse after 1 Joh. 3. the three first verses Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us that we should be called the Sons of God therefore the World knoweth us not because in knew not him Beloved now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is And every man that hath this hope in him purifyeth himself even as he is pure Wouldst thou have thy hope raised up to this pitch to expect to be made like the Son of God at his appearing by beholding of him or seeing him as he is Then thou must purify thy self from all uncleanness of Flesh and Spirit for he is pure and piercing If the Sun shine upon a dull thick Earthy body it doth not fill that with its beautifull light but if it shine upon a pure transparent Gem in fills that with its one glorious light Therefore there must be a purifying and cleansing going before to prepare us to be made partakers of the glory of the Lord. Every one that hath this hope in him purifyeth himself as he is pure Now there be two things requisite in this purification namely Faith in Christ and an obedient life Purifying their Hearts by Faith saith the Scripture and again If I wash thee not thou hast no part in mee thus he purifyeth the conscience from dead works by his Spirit working faith in us in his blood and by the same Spirit leading us in an obedient conversation And as many as are led of the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God And the same Spirit that leads the Sons of God the same witnesses in them that they are so And so giveth a most firm ground of Hope 〈…〉 So that we may say with the beloved Apostle now are we the Sons of God but it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Oh Brethren How can one think of these things and give himself up to a loose wicked life and conversation Nay this hope tends greatly to the essential life of a Christian and to preserve him therein from turning back again into the polluted wayes of the World As for Forms wherein since the Apostacy men professe the same Christ there may be something essential also to a Christian life But not as they are such or such a form but as the Lord shall require or lead men by his Spirit and exercise their Spirits for the tryal of them whether they will follow him whithersoever he leads either into them or out of the n◠bearing the reproach of the World and shewing their obedience in answering that measure of light wherewith he doth illuminate them and in which he goes before them by the movings of his good Spirit in them But herein is danger namely in urging men by the force of reason before the Lord lead them for men may lay that burden upon the Spirits of others which the Lord doth not lay and this work makes only Proselytes and Hypocrites It s safe to minde what Christ Jesus our Lord layes upon our Spirits and not what men lay I will put upon you no other burden but that which ye have already hold fast till I come saith Christ to some in the Church of Thyatyra Rev. 2.24 25. But there were some that would have layd upon them other burdens who undervalued the simple and honest hearted and counted them weak and dark not knowing the depths of Satan as they used to speak in their vaunting over them But the Lord encouraged them to keep to the burden which he alone layd upon them Again there is another danger in those that are urged before the Lord go before them to lead them I speak in point of Form and outward observations namely to be puffed up and exalted in themselves from their form and so to overlook the righteous life in others And then they fall into the number of those who being exalted in their form say in their Hearts stand by thy self come not near to me for I am holyer then thou And this now provokes the Lord to wrath and he will rather look to him that is of a humble and contrite Spirit standing in awe of him then to such It s good for both these to minde what 's said Isa 66.5 Hear the word of the Lord ye that