Church And this is a sore Evil I fear frequent in our Land for saith our Lord Whosoever shall say to his Brother Thou Fool is in danger of Hell-Fire I perceive not fully what is meant by Thou Fool for I do not confine it wholly to the literal sence but however it leaves it without controversy that to reproach a Brother is a great Offence Which Evil began even yet before the Apostles had finished their course and in this Age hath taken so deep root as if that day were come in which the Love of many shall wax cold For if any differ from that Form which is constituted to the Generality of a Nation and is practically used by all as well he that sweareth and he that feareth an Oath or professeth not Godliness as he that doth he is strait way reproached with Names of Contempt and but to name a Worship more in Spirit and Truth than this is is a matter to be brought before the Judg And which yet is more to be lamented even those that desire to sacrifice in Spirit deride and bite one another in such matters as are but form so as Pulpits and Books writ in Vinegar take this way of reproaching To whom I say nothing save in the words of the Apostle The Tongue is an unruly Evil full of deadly Poison with the same Mouth yea and Breath bless we God even the Father and curse Men which bear his similitude yea even such as earnestly seek to be more and more conformed to Christ My Brethren these things ought not to be so Was ever the Church of Christ in all things of one persuasion No not in the Apostles days But did Paul ever reproach them of the Concision who believed in Christ and yet were zealous for the Law Acts 21.20 Was not the great Decree of the first General Council held by the Disciples at Jerusalem Acts 15. in order to the binding up of all in the Bands of Unity And when the Church multiplied did not differences in Judgment increase And when it was most free from difference was it not most shadowed under Superstition and ignorant Zeal as is most manifest if we look but two Centuries back Why therefore should we reproach one another as long as we all agree in that great Fundamental That Jesus is come in the Flesh and that he is the Christ of God and the Lamb that takes away the Sins of the World How therefore seeing by this Confession John 1.42 we know the Spirit of God is there how shall we escape if we say to such a Believer and Confessor Thou Fool Thou poor deluded Soul was not this the Message from the beginning 2 John 3.11 Love one another not as Cain the wicked one who slew his Brother because his Works were more righteous than his But above all things beware that thou persecute not thy Brother for filthy Lucre's sake or because he stands as an Umbrage to thine outward Interest Riches or Glory for as Godliness is great Gain so to convert Godliness into Gain is utter Shipwrack For a Bishop ought to be blameless not given to Wine no Striker not given to filthy Lucre but patient not a Brawler not covetous not high-minded not reviling his Reviler but seeking the Peace and Good of the Church Are there not some that have the form of Godliness without the power Are there not others that whilst they boast of the Power despise the Form to their own Loss And hath not God a choice People who taking the safe and middle Path join both in good weight and measure And doth it not behove that the Strong bear with the Weak and consequently because no Professor but in his own Persuasion thinks he is joined to the Strongest Therefore ought every one to bear with every one as it is written Let us therefore as many as are perfect be thus minded and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded God shall reveal even this unto you Nevertheless whereto we have already attained let us walk in the same Rule let us mind the same things Lastly I say Whosoever so confines Christ to any one Form of Worship as to persuade himself none save they walking in that way can be saved is a Reproacher of the whole Church of God not walking in that Form Or whosoever excludes any one Form so far as to pronounce no Observer thereof can find Grace he is a Reproacher of all under that Form tho they believe that Christ is come in the Flesh is the Son of God and able to save Sinners of whom he is one amongst the chief And surely if Christ was so severe as this Man O Lord who might abide it Be not high-minded but fear Blessed are the meek humble poor in Spirit blessed are the Merciful and Peace-makers for they shall be called the Children of God Go and learn what this meaneth I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice and then you will not condemn the Guiltless Love covers a multitude of Sin Love is the fulfilling of the Law And if Christ hath magnified his Love in giving his Life for us whilst Enemies will he not much more magnify it for that loving Servant who is ready to lose Life House and Goods in the confession of him Fear not therefore thou Worm who lovest so but persevering in Love walk humbly reproach not be faithful to the end and so receive thy Crown But now the far end of the Precept is Reproach not thy Reproacher If a wicked or prophane Person or a Drunkard not having God in all his thoughts or one making a Gain of Godliness shall make thee their Song and Scorn yet do not thou if thou wilt not offend with thy Tongue retort upon them for as Solomon saith There is a Fool not to be answered in his Folly lest thou be like unto him But whoso reproacheth a Reproacher becomes a Reproacher and consequently this Fool. But this is almost as difficult as to go and sell all that we have and give it to the Poor But however if we cannot so bridle our Tongues wholly let us strive to do as much as we can and when Passion hath transported us let us at least confess the evil of our Hearts and mourn under it For that this is the Rule we should walk up unto is manifest from our Lord 's walking whom we ought in all things to make our Example as it is written For this is thank-worthy if a Man for Conscience towards God endure Grief suffering wrongfully For even hereunto were we called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an Example that we should follow his Steps who did no Sin neither was Guile found in his Mouth Who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously And again 1 Pet. 3.8 Finally my Brethren be all of one mind have compassion one to another love as Brethren be pitiful be courteous not
honour is more than to love For to love a Child or a Servant is enough to give them honour is not ex relatione requisite So as all Love is not Honour but all true Honour which is that here meant compriseth all Love and something more namely such a reverence as is due from a good Son to good Parents or a Servant to a Master And hence our great Lord and Master that he might have preeminence in all things and as well in Meekness Humility and Earth-born Vertues as heavenly Glories vouchsafed to honour his Disciples in washing their Feet and thence gave us an Example how we ought to pay the Honour here required If your Lord hath washed your Feet ye ought to wash one anothers Which doth not refer to the literal Act of washing but requires such mutual Love and Humility amongst them that fear the Lord as will be always ready to perform the meanest Office to their Brethren which may tend to their Edification in Naturals and especially in Spirituals and concludes it with a Blessing Happy are ye if ye do these things And again our Lord takes another occasion to shew how they that fear the Lord ought to be honoured even by their Superiours and Teachers and in such an Honour as Children owe to Parents and such love as Brother and Brother Behold say they to him Thy Mother and thy Brethren are without c. To which he straight replies Who is my Mother Who are my Brethren And stretching forth his Hand to his Disciples Behold my Mother and my Brethren Whoso doth the Will of my Father he is my Brother Sister and Mother Still confirming that the Love of Brothers the Honour and Reverence of Children to Parents is due amongst them fearing God and verily that the greatest wisest and best Leaders and Teachers are not absolved from paying this Honour to the last and least engrafted into this Fear And the full and exact Rule is Give to every one due Honour but to the Elder that rules well double Honour Be kindly affectionate one to another in brotherly Love preferring one another in Honour Who is greatest among you let him be least 14. Here two Queries offer First What kind of Fear is here meant Secondly Why Fear before all other Vertues is made the Badg of this Honour Touching the First The holy Scriptures define sundry Species of Fear which we shall reduce to four more general and pertinent Heads to the present occasion The first is Pachad denoting a more slavish tormenting Fear because never without some terror resisting the sweet effects of Love for it is impossible to enjoy God as a loving and well-pleased Father when we fear him as the inexorable Judg and Condemner of our Souls stained with Guilt to everlasting Torment or to love that Saviour who we fear in the end will leave us to the Rigor of the Law which hath already justly condemned us to Death So as this Fear shuts out Love and lets in Unbelief fearing as our Prophet saith where no Fear is and fearfully as the Apostle looking for or fore-dooming Judgment and fiery Indignation Now this is not the Fear that is the sure Badg of Honour nor yet of Contempt but rather of Tenderness and Pity For first it is certain that where this Fear is some sence and seekings after God are secondly a deep sence of Infirmity And lastly because God oft-times makes this the Instrument of calling many stubborn Sinners to Repentance who after proceed successfully in a well tempered Fear Another is Charad trembling Fear which in its proper seasons and Periods is of great use but ought not to be continual because thereby it degenerates into servile Fear And its seasons are when some notable appearance or threatning from God or sence of some great Error or Conviction of Sin in which we have a long time lived break in upon us So in the terrible appearance of God at Horeb the Congregation and Moses feared in Charad hence teaching that when God appears in our Hearts as Law-giver or in our Consciences as the Sin-punishing Judg we ought to fear and tremble before his Presence but then as he abates or vails his terrible Majesty so ought we to remit our Fears to their due proportion Also this Fear Charad seized our Father Isaac when he perceived that he was deceived and had given to Jacob the Blessing he thought was Esau's Birthright Which also is for our admonition For being sure the Blessing belonged to one of his Sons yet not certain which but as is probable Rebecca was for Jacob the Man of * Perfect in Consumption Tummim and he favouring the Birthright set his Affections upon Esau the rigid Hunter who seems to have a reference to the rigid Covenant of Works in a like Allegory as Ishmael did Gal. 4. and now being resolved to bestow the Blessing according to the Birthright without regard had to Esau's Prophaneness in selling of it and now perceiving that the Man of Tummim had gotten the possession by the Decree of his own Mouth he greatly feared Cherad and doubtless was till he had a little recollected himself crimped in Anguish of Mind First from the Surprize Secondly lest he had been too careless in suffering himself to be so deluded in bestowing that great Blessing in which all Nations were blessed contrary to what he believed was the purpose of God And thirdly he might have disposed contrary to the end the Trust upon him Or fourthly on the contrary lest all this while he had lived in an Error ascribing true Piety rather to a rough rigid Life than the Integrity of Tummim and was now in old Age to begin Religion in a more perfect way Whence we are to learn that having set forth in Piety and now for a long time put our dependence in Legal Righteousness and at length our affecting Friend leads to our Warfare and rends all our Hopes from us and convinceth the Birth-right is of of Grace we cannot chuse but be confused and tremble which doubtless is in this Crisis acceptable because we have been hitherto in a wrong way resisting the heavenly Decree all our painful Labour Vanity and vexation of Spirit and we tho old in Profession yet Children in Piety and to begin again in Christ's Cross But neither ought this Fear to be permanent but recollecting our selves with Isaac and resolutely decree tho Esau seek Repentance with tears That seeing we have blessed Grace therefore blessed shall it be Again this Fear strongly seized old Ely when he heard the Host of Israel was smitten and the Ark of God taken thence teaching That when a sudden or general Calamity befalleth the Church or any praying People tho their own Cart-ropes have pulled it upon them we ought to bewail them and to fear and tremble at the Judgment of God which he vile in his own eyes will be ready to do fearing he was not more righteous than they and that if
to exalt the Spirit and in this we wrestle against Principalities and Wickedness in Heavenly Places Then Satan's Interest was to uphold Vows Merit in Touch not taste not c. to persuade that the Spirit was a meer Chymaera or Sound only heard in deluded Ears and now he cries up the Spirit as all pure and perfect that it doth not nay cannot lust after Envy upright in all its ways and no Word or Work or Way holy or acceptable without it be its simple Act and so the Reason Sense and Body are esteemed vile things and the Service odious to God And thus Satan wrests to every extreme our Minds and Christ in his Bounty so defeats this old Serpent the Deceiver as in the first Warfare presumptuous Flesh is beaten down and under the Gospel the Spirit apt to be puffed up is humbled that all things both in Heaven and Earth in Soul and Body might bow to the exalted Name of Christ yea that every thing which is proud or exalts it self may be brought down and that he that glories may find nothing to glory in save Christ alone and lastly that the Spirit upheld in its Humiliation by the Spirit of the high-exalted Name may uphold the Body and the Body minister to the Soul until it become a fit Temple for the holy Spirit to dwell in and that Christ at his coming may find us perfect in Soul in Body and in Spirit 9. And lest some might take it amiss that now in our Gospel-day the Worship whereof consists in Spirit and Truth we should speak of a Warfare against the Spirit and of an acceptable Service from the Body I shall explain my self a little further First I say our Lord doth not teach that this Worship is of Spirit only but Spirit and Truth and against them united there is no Law For this In Spirit and Truth implies a Worship where the very Spirit of Truth is present and assisting the Spirit of Man and helping its Infirmities which Spirit also dwelleth in us and is that which raiseth up Christ and also that quickens our mortal Bodies and therefore to subdue this Spirit were to reject God and Good in as deep Rebellion and Blasphemy as the Angels reserved to Blackness and Darkness ever did But there are two other Spirits one of God and yet is not his very immediate Spirit aforesaid of which the beloved Apostle thus Believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits if they are of God for many false Prophets and consequently Spirits are gone forth Hereby we know that Spirit which is of God the Spirit that confesseth Christ is come in the Flesh is of God That Spirit which confesseth not so is not of God but of Antichrist Whence observe two Spirits one of God another not of him Secondly Consider that Confession which distinguisheth these Spirits namely Christ in the Flesh which cannot be meant of an historical Confession because also confessing must have had that Spirit of God and verily it is incompatible with the outward Profession to deny the History as far as concerns Flesh and Blood nor amongst those various Delusions touching his Nature which went abroad few or none held that Opinion Again the Spirit which denies this is the Spirit of Antichrist Now Antichrist doth not deny Christ in the Flesh but rather supposeth that he is extant as Flesh in the Bread to this day And lastly to make this the Caracter were to make Antichrist a Pagan which he is not but rather the Spirit which historically confesseth both God and Christ and sets up it self against them And this is that Spirit which in this Warfare ought to be made to bow the Knee And forasmuch as the Apostle affirms that this Spirit is of Antichrist the Man of Sin and Son of Perdition the best way to discern it is to apply to a fuller description of them 2 Thess 2.4 Who opposeth God and exalteth himself above all called God or that is worshipped So that he sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God And now this must be a Spiritual Wickedness set in high Places usurping Authority in the Temple of God which Temple we are and the Spirit i.e. of God dwelleth in it 1 Cor. 3.16 And again Chap. 6.19 Your Body is the Temple of the Holy-Ghost in you which ye have of God and ye are not your own for ye are bought with a Price Wherefore glorify God in your Body and in your Spirit which are God's And now I ask what this which is spiritual Wickedness can be but the Spirit of Man lusting after Evil deluded by the Spirit of Satan whose first and original Crime was to make himself equal with God and shall again once more shew his foolish Pride as in the description of Antichrist is further shewn Ibid. vers 9. Whose Coming is after the working of Satan with all Power and lying Wonders and with all deceivableness of Vnrighteousness in them who perish because they received not the Love of the Truth that they might be saved And for this Cause God gave them up to strong Delusions that they should believe a Lie and that they might be damned who believed not the Truth but had pleasure in Vnrighteousness And besides this Text the holy Writers give sundry Admonitions to beware of the Pride and Deceitfulness of our own Spirits Jam. 4.5 Do you think the Scripture saith in vain The Spirit which dwelleth in you lusteth to Envy Which is a double Proof First as from James secondly as another Scripture cited by him tho perhaps we find it not So our Lord Ye know not what Spirit ye are of 1 Tim. 4.1 In the latter times shall come seducing Spirits and Doctrine of Devils 2 Cor. 7.1 Let us cleanse our selves from all Filthiness of the Flesh and of the Spirit perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God Mal. 2.15 Therefore take ye heed to your Spirits and let none deal treacherously with the Wife of his Youth see also ver 16. Where the Spirit refers to the Man or Spirit of Teaching and the Wife to Obedience as in the Allegory afore-mentioned and from the Context is as much as The Spirit and Wife are one Flesh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the end they may bring forth Seed or Children to God and therefore let the Spirit beware it deal not perfidiously with the chast Form of Obedience that is go a whoring after strange Forms So as a Man's Spirit is as his Heart deceitful setting up spiritual Wickedness in high Places and dresseth them in so specious Forms of Light as who can find them out For doubtless to discern its workings from those of the Holy Spirit is me judging above measure difficult and few or none who do not sometimes mistake that for this And therefore we ought to take heed to our Spirits and above all to supplicate the Father of Spirits whom foul Spirits obey that himself would watch over them For in vain do the
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.
If any man i. e. the Man of Sin corrupt this Temple him shall God destroy with the Spirit of his Mouth 18. Let no man deceive himself If any man think himself Wise in the Wisdom of his own Spirit let him be a Fool that he may be Wise in the Spirit of God 14. Next let us observe how in a gradation the Apostle proceeds from things which best abide the Fire to them that least abide it which in an Allegory aludes to such Works built upon the Sure Foundation as will best and worst abide or live in the everlasting Fires of Hulam But not to enlarge upon the particulars of the Allegory First Because it would be too long Secondly Because Conjectures are the best Evidence I shall briefly hint at some from sundry Texts Gold which abides the Fire without any loss seemes to refer to Works wrought in Spirit and Love or rather Spirit of Love and next Faith which seeing from one manifest Text it is the bearer of that Shield which can quench all the fiery darts of Satan we may not doubt our own experience witnessing that its Work 's not unstable in the Heavenly Flames Next Silver passeth not the Fire without some loss yet looseth not by its Trial because what it fails in matter of quantity it gains in quality i. e. Purity Now Silver is that we are forbidden to give in Usury therefore must be something which we are apt to put forth to that purpose and in that seemes to agree well with Workes of Obedience according to the true Rule or Form and saith our Prophet Psal 12.7 Thy words are pure words O Lord like Silver tried seven times in a Furnace of Earth Now this Word is the true Rule and Form of sound Obedience and tho through the vanity of our Hearts such Works we are apt to abuse to Usury yet may we affirm that such Works built upon the Right Foundation in the Spirit of Love are like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver for that rare quality pure Love hath as it cannot work for Usury or Reward but only to please its Beloved David again thus Psal 66.10 Thouâ— O God hast proved us thou hast tried us as Silver is tried We came through Water and through Fire through Baptism into the Death of the Cross and through the Fiery Tryal and thou hast brought us into an overflowing place Whence appears That David and the Patriarchs also had some throws of the Fiery Trial as well as the former Warfare and that Humane Spirit as well as Arm of Flesh ought to be subdued to Christ Next Precious Stones of which I have little to say for how far they will abide the Natural Fire I find not but probably some more some less They were used as deckings in Holy Things and also the Great Harlot gloried in them so that they seem such embelishments as shine forth both in Christ and in Antichrist The Brest-plate of Judgement was adorned with them according to the twelve Tribes also the twelve Foundations of the Heavenly Jerusalem which wrought in rows became the Frontispice of the Purse where the Vrim and Thummim lay by which the High Priest received Oracles and therefore Precious Stones may refer to Prophecy Vision gift of Tongues Knowledge in Spirit as they are from God and also to these in the Spirit of Antichrist but these must be melted down and cease when Charity shall abide 2 Cor. 13.8 Wood is easily consumed but is the common fuel which rightly disposed by Men is so useful as without it Man can scarcely and neatly subsist and so ought our Sacrifices and Performances to Burn to Cherish to Vanish in Smoak and all we may hope for is that God will accept them as a sweet savour Next Hay and Stubble is most combustible and burnt or not burnt useful for nothing and may refer to works in Antichristian Pride and gross Usury 15. But some may say What is this Fire how shall I know and find it To which I answer The last Quaery is not needful for it will find thee in due season and it is enough that thou give it free course for as the Spirit so may it be quenched And for the first Quaery It is as in my dimn Glass it appears not far distant from the Spirit John's Testimony of Christ was He shall Baptize with the Holy Ghost and with Fire That is through the Holy Ghost he communicates Gifts unto Men whereby they may work and by the Fires he consumes the Chaff and Stubble which grow up with those Works and yet both as it were but one Spirit exercising two Offices and know it thou mayest thus If any thing more thee in Meekness Gentleness Love Joy c. to Duties and raiseth thee up to good performance that call thou the Holy Spirit and if any spiritual searching any trying of Heart and Reins ensue examine if thou hast done all in Integrity without Usury Pride or Hypocrisy and burns down or destroys all wrought upon that account as Chaff and Stubble and leaves such a remorse and grating in thee as will make thee afraid to offend again in the like kind Know that this is the heavenly Fire first nibling at the Heel and after will bruise the Head of thy lusting Spirit So marest that that gently treads upon any thing which bears the Image of thy Creator or is Meek Merciful and Humble and yet with Feet of burning Brass tramples upon Pride Usury Lustings Call it this trying Fire As for Example one for many The Spirit saith Give Alms or Pray and so thou dost but after an Examiner comes Was this in Sincerity didst thou not Give or Pray for Gain or for vain Glory Pride c. and before thine eyes spares what thou hast wrought in Gold purifies thy Silver and consumes thy Hay and Stubble this I say is the fruit of the Fire of God which thus by the sence of thy loss and after regret not only consumes thy Work but by degrees undermines those Principles from whence this Building with vain Mortar proceeds and establisheth those Works which shall live in the everlasting Fires of Hulam 16. And now these things permitted we proceed to the Critical Trial to which because the Last Days are yet far off even every one though newly Regenerated cannot set their Seals to yet for some particular Assaults may have some prospect thereof Now I say when the Spirit of Antichrist hath prevailed in any Believer building upon the Right Foundation as far as the fore-known Decree had alowed to it bounds Hitherto and no further Christ comes to re-visit his Heritage and not in the company of Fishermen as poor and despised but in great Glory and companies of Angels like Refiners Fire and calling to the Soul for an account of its Stewardship This saith he was my Promise I will be with thee and keep thee which I have performed for tho I withdrew from thee yet my Grace which