forementioned places earnest though by the Rhemists constantly pledge for it doth among the Greek Fathers so signifie and the Spirit is a part of that reward which is promised he that hath this Spirit may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in St. Chrysostome's phrase No wonder that he who hath this earnest of the true riches can part with the unrighteous Mammon no wonder that he who is secured of what is his own can lose that which is another mans especially if called to part with it for the sake of Christ who with his own blood purchased the everlasting inheritance for him III. Assurance will marvellously strengthen against the censures and reproaches of wicked men For why should he count it any great matter to be judged of men who knows that God hath justified him What need it disquiet him that the World accounts him an hypocrite who hath Gods testimony that he is sincere What need he be cast down that some do brand him for a factious fellow so long as he sees himself by the Spirit sealed for a son of peace or others call him a Tobias and Sanballat so long as he is assured that he opposeth none but such as are building Babel and not Sion 'T is because our Conscience gives but a dark testimony that we are so disquieted with the railings of those whose tongues are set on fire from Hell Were we but once sure that we are not the men we are represented to be we might then glory in our reproaches and esteem them great riches knowing that they shall work together for good and that they are the badges of our Sonship and that there is a time coming when our righteousness shall shine out as the light and the mouth of every adversary be stopped 1 Pet. 1.14 If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth on you We may rejoyce in as much as we are made partakers of Christ's sufferings and conclude therefrom that when his glory shall be revealed we shall be glad also with exceeding joy If any man suffer as a Christian let him not be ashamed but let him glorifie God on this behalf vers 16. He that hath the testimony of a good Conscience not onely that he is a Christian but also that he suffers as a Christian he may glory that he is accounted worthy to suffer reproach But when a man hath never so clear testimony that he is a Christian if he should suffer not as a Christian but as an evil door or as a busie-body in other mens matters if he should then rejoyce he would but glory in his shame IV. Assurance will beget holy boldnesse in Prayer 't is therefore made one and indeed the chief effect of the Spirit of Adoption to teach us to cry Abba Father Rom. 8.15 to send us to God with as much confidence or more then we go to our Fathers according to the flesh to make us rest satisfied that what we ask according to the will of God we shall have it in due season as surely as if we had it already If we are once assured that an Act of Indempnity and Oblivion is passed and that God is as much our Friend as if there had been no variance betwixt us we may then sure come with boldnesse to the throne of grace Heb. 4.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a liberty to say what we list provided the matter we pray for be grounded on Divine Precept and Promise provided also we remember that we have to do with him who abhorreth the sacrifice of fools and unto whom our words should be but few full of weight and affection void of all heartless tautologies and vain repetitions Whereas when Assurance is wanting a man is ready to faint very pusillanimous afraid to look up to God under doubts and fears whether ever any thing will come of the requests he maketh whether God would not be as well pleased if he should hold his peace as if he spake There is as much difference betwixt a Christian with and without Assurance as betwixt a Tree in Summer and Winter as betwixt Sampson when his locks were on and when they were cut off he indeed thought when he had lost his Hair to have done as formerly but he soon found by the prevailing of the Philistines that he could not so he that hath lost the witness of the Spirit may think to rub up his graces and pray with as much life and boldness as formerly he did but he shall find himself mistaken Whatever weakneth Evidence weakneth Prayer also Prevailing of Lust darkneth our Evidences it also deadneth us in Praying Psal 40.12 Innumerable evils have compassed me about mine iniquities have taken hold of me so that I cannot look up they are more then the hairs of my head wherefore my heart faileth me His heart that should have furnished him with matter and affection failed him nor durst his eyes look up to the place where Gods honour did dwell In another Psalm he tells us his mouth was shut Mine iniquity is ever before me I am so troubled that I cannot speak Words which at other times he had at his command were now wanting and he stood as it were a mute O let all who complain of straitness and deadness and dauntedness remember what it is that must quicken embolden and enlarge them viz. the witnessing sealing act of the Spirit that once obtained a Supplicant goes on as doth a Ship with full sail where there is Sea-room enough V. Assurance will sweeten the Reading of the Word and the Receiving of the Sacraments For with what delight must he needs read over all the Promises of the Covenant who hath the Spirit assuring him that they are all his With what comfort must he needs behold the Body and Blood of Christ and meditate on the benefits thence flowing who is perswaded that he hath an undoubted interest in them and that his sitting at the Sacramental Table is but a pledge of his sitting with Christ in the Kingdom of his Father and that when he eats the Bread and drinks the Wine he doth but touch and taste of that with the fuller meals whereof he must be satisfied to all Eternity Yea the Laws and Commandements which formerly seemed burthensome will Assurance once gained be accounted not grievous but easie and delightful because a man then feels that love in his heart which is the fulfilling of them yea the very threatnings and curses of the Law which before Assurance cannot but make the heart exceedingly to quake and tremble Assurance once obtained are read and meditated on with the greatest pleasure because a man knows himself through faith in Christ to be delivered from them It is a kind of Hell on Earth when a man goes up and down fearing lest every place of Scripture he meets with should kill him but it is a very Heaven on Earth when a man can look on all things contained
of saving grace and must necessarily by their frequent failings and transgressions make much work for an accusing conscience nor indeed do I see that it would be for the advantage of less obedient and exact Christians to have Assurance rather it might beget in them security and pride sins to which novices are prone Object Is it not said Gal. 4.6 Because ye are sons God hath sent the spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba father And if the Spirits emboldning to cry Abba father be given to sons because they are sons then it may be thought to belong to all sons even new born babes who are as truly sons as those who are most grown in grace Answ Some to avoid this difficulty do not render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because but that and it may be so rendred and a very fair sense given of the words viz. the Spirits being sent into their hearts crying Abba father was an evidence that they were sons but let it be rendred as by most it is because ye are sons yet it must be granted that by sons here are to be understood not all who are born again not all who are no bastards but onely such sons as have ceased to be children and are no longer under tutors and governors such as have received the adoption of sons such are not those Christians of whom we are now speaking for though they be delivered from the observation of the Ceremonial Law yet are they as ignorant and Carnal as those who were in bondage to it Object Doth not this put the poor newly converted Christian into continual doubts and fears and strike at the very root of all his hopes and comforts Answ We are not creators of comfort but onely dispensers we cannot make an easier or speedier way to Assurance then Christ hath made nor can we approve of or so much as excuse those who do snatch at comfort before they be meet for it It is sufficient that we can assure all that Christ hath purchased remission of sin for them upon his own terms the receiving of him as Prophet Priest King and that all who repent are justified in the sight of God though not justified in their own consciences and that in due season their own consciences shall justifie them also and that Christ will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoaking flax and that it cannot be that the merciful God should condemn those who tremble at his Word and lie at his feet enquiring the Law at his mouth and grieved at nothing more then that they cannot yield perfect and compleat obedience unto it II. Another Reason why so many want Assurance is because they seek not for it with so much diligence as a matter of that nature requires Some little pains they will take to find out the marks of sincerity and some little time they will spend in comparing their hearts with those marks but they will not continue the great duty of self-examination till the matter be brought to some issue they will not behold their faces in the glass long enough to beget in themselves a true notion or Idea of themselves but go away and presently forget what manner of persons they were How few are there whom we can perswade at a night to catechize their own souls to criticize on the actions of the day past How few that can be prevailed with to spend any considerable proportion of time in Closet devotions yet better may we expect eminent skill in the most abstruse Arts and Sciences without great labour then expect Assurance without all morally possible sedulity Wherefore the rather give diligence to make your calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 Give the more diligence so the Old Translation Indeed the making of calling and election sure doth deserve all diligence and require all diligence it is not a little diligence that will serve to find out the manifold subtilties of a deceitfull heart nor a little diligence that will frustrate the devices of Satan who will not fail to joyn himself with carnal reason and to beget in us hard thoughts of God Psal 63.1 2. O God thou art my God early will I seek thee My soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is To see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary Like care and desire expressed the Spouse in the Canticles to recover the sight and to her apprehension lost love of Christ Cant. 3.1 2 3. Object If this be so What shall become of those that are poor in the world who have but little time to spare from the duties of their particular calling either for the reading of the Word or communing with their own hearts Can none of these have a sense of Gods love must they perpetually lie under doubts and fears about their eternal state Answ God forbid I should so say God hath chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him Jam. 2.5 But there is no good man so poor but he will find out some considerable proportion of time to mind the state of his soul in God giveth unto all such a contented mind which makes them they do not desire much nor make haste to be rich he giveth unto them also wisdom and prudence by which they can husband their opportunities so as to keep themselves from beggary and yet give as many visits unto God as they do that have abundance Besides what our Lord Christ determined in the case of the Widow that the two mites she threw into the treasury was more then the much cast in by the rich because they did cast in of their abundance but she of her want did cast in all that she had even all her living Mar. 12.43 44. holds true here also the poor mans hour is more then the rich mans two hours because his hour is all that he can tell how to redeem from the necessities of nature and relations and therefore he shall be so blessed and assisted by God in that hour that he shall reap as many comfortable fruits of the Spirit as those who can spare a far greater proportion of time III. Some do want Assurance through the ignorance that is in them 2 Cor. 13.5 Examine your selves whether ye be in the faith prove your own selves Know ye not that Christ is in you except ye be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 void of judgment 'T is onely for them that are of full age that by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern betwixt good and evil Heb. 5.14 therefore the Apostle prayeth Phil. 1.9 That their love might abound more and more in knowledg and in all judgment that they might approve things that are excellent or that they might discern things that differ as it is in the margin of our present translation and in the text of the former
can give any ground of Faith Would the Papists but as freely censure the errors of their former Writers as we do the errors of ours soon would all the controversies about Assurance come to an end but that being an happiness rather to be wished then hoped for let all less judicious Christians satisfie themselves to know 1. It is the receiving of Christ that gives us a right to be the sons of God 2. That he who receives Christ shall be by God owned as a son whether he know himself to have received Christ or no. The promises run clear Whosoever believeth in Christ shall not perish but have eternal life Joh. 3. Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Blessed are those those that hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be satisfied Matth. 5. The condition of these promises being fulfilled the promises themselves must be fulfilled else God should be unfaithful and deny himself For shall the too hard thoughts the too humble conceit of a man concerning himself wake void the faith of God God forbid scarcely among ingenuous men doth any one fare the worse for an excess of modesty and can the Father of Mercies shut a good man out of Heaven because that conscious to himself of daily weaknesses and manifold passions warting within him and frequently prevailing he cannot be firmly perswaded of his own goodness 3. That it is the office of the Spirit to make us to know the things that are freely given us of God 4. That as he is ready to witness to carnal persons that their ways are ways of sin and wrath and that they are the men who except they become new creatures are marked out for damnation so he is ready to witness to those who are spiritually minded the truth of their graces and by that their interest in the promises of Justification Adoption Glorification 5. That our work lieth in making our selves which yet we cannot do but by the almighty power of the same Spirit fit and meet to receive this testimony of the Spirit which meetness we shall then come to if 1. We well inform our selves about the terms of the Covenant of grace 2. Have frequent serious abiding thoughts about the fulness and freeness of its promises 3. Giving all diligence add to faith vertue and to vertue knowledg and to knowledg temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity 4. By reflex acts often compare the frame of our heart and course of our lives with the rule 5. Watch and pray that we may be free from that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pride and prejudice which make us though so sharp-sighted as to see a mote in our brothers eyes yet so blind as not to see a beam in our own eyes That thou mayest Christian Reader have some small help in all these matters was the end aimed at in making the following Treatise thus publick The Authors name could not make it more acceptable and is therefore concealed but his prayers are that it may be effectual to beget in all those into whose hands it shall fall 1. A tender care not to grieve the Spirit of promise by which they who believe are sealed up to the day of Redemption 2. A cordial respect to all those upon whom the Spirit of the Lord is and who are by the Lord anointed to Preach good tidings to the meek and sent to bind up the broken hearted to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes the oyl of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness Jan. 25. 1664. Farewell The Printer to the Reader THough great care hath been used in publishing these Papers yet by reason of an ill-written Copy and the Authors absence some faults have escaped There is in some Pages a change of Persons which though it might be defended yet was not by the Author intended Those few Errata's that can be thought to disturb the sense thus amend PAg. 26. lin 15. r. Praeposition p. 28. l. 26. r. also that He. p. 30. l. 23. r. loose p. 32. l. 17. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 35. l. 21. r. are the enticing p. 36. l. 7. r. more glorious p. 44. l. 28. r. yet is He. p. 86. l. 13. r. speaks but to p. 88. l. 10. r. did not they sometimes p. 152. l. 25. r. till he feel p. 157. l. 9. r. and not heard of Ephes 4.30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption THese words are by some conceived to contain an absolute Independent counsel but the Greek Scholia's suppose them to be brought in as an argument to enforce the immediately preceding dehortation Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth as if the Apostle had said If you think it a small matter to allow your selves in such speeches as have no tendency to edification as are no way fit to minister grace unto the hearers If you have no respect to your own souls nor to the souls of others which must needs be offended by such unprofitable communication yet you will have some regard for the Spirit of God who is himself holy and the author of all holiness and he being as he is grieved by all unprofitable discourse you will account your selves ingaged to abstain therefrom If we receive this connexion as why may we not sith it offers no violence to the context and is backed with so good authority then may we observe in the Text 1. A reason by which the Ephesians are taken off from idle words lest they should grieve the spirit 2. A description of this Spirit from his Nature Office Grieve not the holy spirit of God The form of speech seems to be borrowed from the Old Testament Isa 63.10 They rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit therefore he was turned to be their enemy and he fought against them But notwithstanding we have found out a parallel place yet must we still inquire Quest 1. How the Spirit can be said to be grieved for seeing he is God and so infinitely perfect how can we conceive him capable of grief which is not onely a passion but also of all passions the meanest and lowest as arising from the sense of some present evil which we cannot master And this objection is the more considerable because of the emphaticalness of the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which saith Aretius complectitur omnis generis dolores and is therefore used to set out that anguish and sadness of mind which our blessed Saviour did feel in the Garden Math. 26.37 But all this notwithstanding we may give a very fair account of the phrase for 1. There are who by the spirit of God do understand the renewed part of man and indeed it is not unusual in Scripture for God to call his own work by his own name now the renewed
soul whether our own or others is capable of being vexed in a proper sense but this sense seems not here intended yet this I must tell you that God interprets all that is done against his children as done against himself and therefore do you beware how you grieve the Lords holy ones either by saying or doing any thing which you know their souls cannot but abhor perhaps it grieveth not some of your souls nor grateth on some of your ears to hear the name of God taken in vain or blasphemed or the good ways of God spoken against but true Believers are of another temper Psal 42.10 As with a sword in my bones mine enemies reproach me While they say dayly unto me where is thy God 2 Pet. 2.8 Lot vexed his righteous soul from day to day with the unlawful deeds which he saw and heard in Sodom and Gomorrah Wherefore Sirs be not ambitious to strike father and sons at one blow let it suffice that you dishonour God but do not dishonour him at such times and places when and where his Saints may stand by and see and hear the wrong and dishonour that is reflected on their heavenly Father 2. We may be said to grieve him when we do that which would grieve him were he capable of grief The Scripture calls not things according to success and event he that looks on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery in his heart though he never act that brutish lust Matt. 5.28 He that hateth his brother is a Murtherer 1 John 3.15 not that every one that hateth doth properly kill but that he who hateth his brother had undoubtedly killed his brother could his brother have been thought to death his hatred would have brought forth murder had not something strangled it in the womb So we do by the Spirit we do that against him which would grieve him and more then grieve him were he capable of being grieved or any way altered for the worse O man take it from me every time thou sinnest presumptuously thou dost what in thee lieth to annihilate the fountain of all essences thou dost what thou canst to leave the world without a God He will be in heaven maugre all the malice of men and devils no thanks to them were he capable of being deprived of life they by their sins had deprived him of life long since Hence he complains that he was broken in pieces by the whorish heart of Israel Ezek. 6.9 So true is that of the Schoolmen that omne peccatum is deicidium 3. We are said to grieve the Spirit of God when we make the Spirit of God so to carry it towards us as persons do towards those that have grieved them If by any unworthy carriage I have vexed my friend he intermits all acts of friendship and familiarity So doth the Spirit when any thing is committed contrary to his nature or offices withdraw his benigne influences and consolations which are better then life I judge as do the generality of Reformed Divines that the Spirit of God doth never forsake those totally whom hee hath once chosen for his temple In this we know we are not deceived nor can we deceive you when wee teach that the faith whereby yee are sanctified cannot fail it did not in the Prophet it shall not in you They which are born of God do not sin any such sin as doth quite extinguish grace clean cut them off from Christ Jesus because the seed of God abideth in them and doth shield them from receiving any irremediable wound saith the judicious Mr. Richard Hooker Sermon of the Certainty c. pag. 545 546. But de non existentibus et non apparentibus eadem est ratio the Spirit may when greived so dwell in a man as if he did not dwell in him he may be quite gone as to any present sense and feeling he was so as to David which made him pray Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit Quest 2. Why are we rather said to greive the Holy Ghost then the Father or the Son Answ No question we do by sin grieve the Father and the Son as well as by every Renewed act of repentance we do minister joy to them Every wilfull sin is an high affront to the thrice blessed and glorious Trinity Psal 78. v. 40. How oft did they provoke him in the Wilderness and grieve him in the desert Psal 95. vers 10. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation But the Divine Persons though agreeing in their common essence are distinguished by relations and operations or rather by their manner of operation the father being unbegotten worketh of himself the Son from the Father the Holy Ghost from both Father and Son hence though all works terminated on the creature are common to all three Persons yet each work is most commonly ascribed to that person whose manner of subsistence doth most eminently appear in that work It is the appropiate work of the holy Ghost to reveal unto us the mistery of godliness to make application of the death and resurrection of God the Son and therefore when we do any thing contrary to the doctrine which is according to godliness or unworthy of the death of Jesus we cross the Spirit in his work and so are said to grieve him Quest 3. What are the special sinnes by which we do more eminently grieve the Spirit Answ If the question were put concerning the general nature of the sins by which the Spirit is grieved soon might it be resolved for it seems to be past all controversie that we grieve him not by sins of dayly incursion not by meer unavoideable infirmities such as by the measure of grace vouchsafed on this side heaven we cannot escape but by sins that are in some degree deliberate and wilfull but seeing it is put concerning the special kinds of deliberate sins which are most grievous to the Spirit it will deserve a larger answer I say therefore the sins that are more then ordinarily grievous to the Spirit are such as these 1. All the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All those lusts of uncleanness whether natural or unnatural the living in these is called walking according to the flesh which we know is made diametrically opposite to walking according to the Spirit by whose help we are to mortifie the deeds of the flesh This kind of sin hath something in it peculiar for whereas all other sins that a man doth are without the body he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body 1 Cor. 6.18 A Graecis sexcentae dantur huic loco interpretationes Vid. Dr. Feaâ—ly in lecum saith Clarius that interpretation which seems most proper is that other sins though acted by the body and leaving an ill impression on the body yet have not that force over mans body as to enslave it to another which yet fornication hath for by fornication the fornicator is made a member of the
is denyed by Socinians nor do I purpose fully to refute their blasphemy onely I shall take notice of one Scripture because it not onely proves the Deity of the Holy Ghost but also sheweth the exceeding sinfulness of doing any thing against him seeing he is God Wend. p. 248. Posteriora haec exaggerant declarant priora ut quando mentitus est Spiritui sancto intelligeret peccati magnitudinem quod Deo esset mentitus siquidem Sp. S. est deus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cadem sensu dicitur Synonymum in eodem loco est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acts 5.3 4. Why hath Sathan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Ghost thou hast not lied to men but to God There are here three assertions 1. Ananias lied to the Holy Ghost 2. That in so lying he did not lye unto man 3. That he lyed unto God Our argument lies in the opposition of which no fair account can be given if the Deity of the Holy Ghost be not supposed for if so be the Spirit had been an Essence distinct from God the Apostle after he had said Thou hast lied to the Holy Ghost would not have said Thou hast lied not to men but to God but thus Thou hast lied neither to men nor to the Spirit but to God Nor will this argument be evaded by saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the third verse is joyned with an Accusative case and should be translated to counterfeit the Holy Ghost for besides that in some Copies 't is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the propositions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make it all one as if a Dative did follow besides this 't is most certain that sometimes with an Accusative it signifieth to deceive or cheat and it must here so signifie because this sin is called a tempting the Spirit of the Lord How violent would it be to expound that phrase by counterfeiting of the Spirit of the Lord every time we grieve the Spirit of God we grieve God And is that a small matter in our eyes Can there be a greater aggravation of sin If one man sin against another the judg shall judg him but if a man sin against the Lord who shall intreat for him 1 Sam. 2.25 but this would also further be considered by us that though there be no difference as to the Essence of the Persons yet there is a difference in the oeconomy he that grieveth the Spirit grieveth that divine person against whom alone such a sin can be committed as is unpardonable Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven him but whosoever speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him neither in this life nor in that which is to come Mat. 12.32 To sin against Father or Son is not so dangerous as to sin against the Spirit because he acting not in his own name but in the name of Father and Son from both of whom he is sent to sin against him is to sin against all the authority of God all the love of the Trinity the lowest condescention that divine goodness ever did or can make II. Consider we how little the Spirit hath deserved to be thus grieved by us Many good works saith Christ John 10.32 have I shewed you from my Father for which of them do ye stone me Many good works hath the Spirit from the Father and the Son done you O Christians for which of them do ye grieve him Did I say many I might have said all there is no good gift that is either wrought in you or for you or by you but it is to be ascribed to this Spirit Is Christ precious to you he was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary he descended upon him in his Baptism and anointed him to all his offices raised him from the dead bears witness of him and pleads his cause against the unbelieving sinful world Is there any sweetness in the Scriptures why these are all from this Spirit Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1.21 Are you taken with those admirable gifts that you see in your Ministers All that diversity of gifts is from the same Spirit 2 Cor. 12.4 called all therefore the manifestation of the Spirit vers 7. Or are you more affected with the works of God in you they are all the fruits and effects of the Spirit whether conviction or contrition or humiliation or regeneration or consolation they are all wrought by the Spirit this is the argument made use of in the Text Grieve not the holy Spirit of God by which ye are sealed to the day of redemption In calling him the holy Spirit of God he meaneth not onely that he is of essential original indefectible sanctity but also because he worketh all the holiness that is in any of Gods servants And when we are said to be by him seaed up unto the day of our redemption by that phrase is signified that he doth all that which answereth to the nature and various ends and uses of Sealing But with that phrase I am not to meddle as yet nor list I to run over all his works but pitch on that of comforting and press that to keep men from grieving him The Spirit is the Comforter sent from the Father upon the prayer of his Son to supply the absence of his corporeal presence to open those wells of Salvation that were hid and did lie under ground in the days that the Messiah did dwell among men In some Churches they have an officer who is called Consolator Aegrorum whose work is to put the brests of consolation into the mouths of those who have received within themselves the sentence of death should any whilst this Officer is at his bed-side labouring to take out the sting of death vex him with untoward language and not to give over till he had forced him to depart his room would not all say that this man were either in a phrensie or else in the very gall and bitterness of spiritual death The wickedness of those who do grieve the Spirit of God is far greater For 1. This sick Comforter cannot alway be with those whom he visits but is now discoursing with them and anon gone either to some other languishing person or to his own relations But the Spirit is a Comforter alway abiding with you John 14.16 Not that he actually comforts at all times but that he always preserves the root of comfort alway tenders comfort were not Christians either so sullen or so stupid as not to receive it 2. The Comforter of the sick may endeavour to comfort and not be able to comfort Men may not be so wise as to open to him the root of their
fears or if they do he may not be able to reach them or if to reach them not to pull them out There are perplexities of conscience which will puzzle and non-plus the most experienced Christian or Teacher But so strong are the Consolations of the Spirit that they break through all opposition of contrary grief and trouble whether arising from afflictions or guilt of sin 3. The sick Comforter may apply comfort unseasonably and nothing is more usual then to lose clave errante to speak peace where God speaks no peace but the consolations of the Spirit are never misplaced or mistimed he pours not the oil of gladness but into broken hearts he puts not the garments of praise upon any but those in whom hath been the Spirit of heaviness he applieth not his strong consolations to any but the heirs of the Promise nor to them neither but onely when they fly for refuge and lay hold of the hope that is set before them Heb. 6.18 19. When they flie as men pursued by the Revenger of blood did to the Cities of refuge or to the horns of the Altar 4. In the absence of the sick Comforter another may do the work as well perhaps as he but the Spirit is so a Comforter as none can comfort without him all consolation therefore is called the consolation of the holy Ghost Acts 9.31 Whilest the Spirit of the Lord did rest on Sampson he could break wit hs and cords but the Spirit being departed Sampson may go out and shake himself and think to do as at other times but he shall soon find a difference the Philistines shall prevail lead him away captive and put out his eyes So those who by the help of the Spirit have in former tribulations been made to rejoice and glorie may think when assaulted afresh to shew like chearfulness but if by any sin they have made the Spirit depart they shall find a little thing too heavy to bear the loss of a child which is but a common temptation shall make them cry and take on more like men then like Christians yea more like children then men Now put all these considerations together and when corruption next stirs say What! shall I grieve my Comforter my abiding my strong my wise my onely Comforter This question will strangle it in the womb if any ingenuity be left in the soul if is be grown hard and carnal through the deceitfulness of sin then nothing but arguments drawn from wrath will work on it III. Let it be pondred who they be that thus grieve the Spirit all men are not in a capacity so to do they that are have of all men least reason to do it Amyraldus in his Theses about the sin against the Holy Spirit hath well observed that a man may be considered under a twofold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or relation one meerly natural or legall having knowledg of duty but no revelation of any mercy or pardon in case he sin he that in this case sins sinneth rather against the Father then against Son or Holy Ghost or else he may be considered as under an evangelical dispensation and that again two ways either so as onely to have heard of remission of sins but not at all to believe it or be affected with it he that sins in this state sins rather against the Son then against the Holy Ghost or so as not onely to have seen the marvellous light of the Gospel but also to have been refreshed with its beams and made to rejoice in it if in this state he sin wilfully he must needs grieve the Spirit but thus to sin is to sin at a very high rate when a man hath been made partaker of the holy Ghost and tasted of the powers of the world to come and of the heavenly gift the Spirit may say What could I have done more to endear religion and inodiate sin that I have not done To grieve the Spirit after all this by returning to folly and vanity is an affront and disingenuity not to be suffered and which shall be most severely punished either in this world or in the other or in both This leads to the Fourth Motive drawn from the sad effects and consequents of grieving the Spirit I will not say with Luther that it may make God ro carry it towards men tanquam si non esset Deus ipsorum sed Diabolus nor dare I so much as adventure to English so harsh an expression but I shall direct to one place of Scripture in which enough is said to terrifie us from grieving the Spirit They rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit therefore he was turned to be their enemy and he fought against them so far was he from assisting them against their enemies and he raised up enemies against them and caused Rebels to fall before them God's punishments under the Gospel are more spiritual not less severe As for the temporary beleever the Spirit being grieved by him may so forsake him as that the unclean Spirit may return with seven unclean spirits worse then that which was cast out he may be suffred so to fall as that it shall be impossible to renew him by repentance As for such as by the inhabitation of the Holy Ghost are consecrated and made Temples of God I am so strongly perswaded of the doctrine of perseverance that I do not think they ever again become of the Synagogue of Sathan but their grieving of the Spirit may be so punished as that 1. They may be permitted to fall into very foul and dishonourable lusts He that complieth with the motions of the Spirit is changed into the image of God from glory to glory he renews his strength as doth the Eagle but give me a man that grieves the Spirit he shall in a short time fall into abominable either opinions or practises and when we do consider how ugly have been the carriages and how scandalous the Apostasies of some that doubtless were enlightned and made the highest profession of Religion we cannot rest in any other cause of them then Gods judiciall blinding and hardening of them for vexing his Spirit of truth and holiness 2. All ordinances become unprofitable to them Promises sometimes sweeter then the honey and the honey-comb have no relish in them Commands and threatnings of which their hearts were wont to stand in awe now affect them no more then dreadful tales of men in another world Were it not for shame had they but any handsom excuse they would not come at ordinances at all the Disciples are told John 14.26 that the Spirit shall bring things to their remembrance by which I would not understand a bare calling them to mind but a bringing them to mind in their full vigor authority evidence 'T is the Spirit alone that sets home doctrines with demonstration and power the Spirit grieved the most weighty truths are no more regarded then so many idle dreams at least no more then do the enticing
words of mans wisdom unto which the demonstration of the Spirit is opposed 1 Cor. 2.4 the probable discourses of Orators and Philosophers which at the utmost engender but opinion perhaps it is so perhaps it is otherwise Be it so that the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper then any two edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit of the joints and marrow Heb. 4.12 yet is it thus vital and operative onely as it is the Sword of the Spirit Ephes 6. out of his hand it will pierce no deeper then would the sword of Gideon in the hand of an youth Be it so that the ministration of the Gospel is more then that of the Law yet it 's greater glory lies onely in this that it is the ministration of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3.8 The Spirit withdrawing himself as it may well be thought he will do if grieved even the Gospel quickneth no more then the killing Letter did Moses put avail over his face that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished But their minds were blinded for untill this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament 2 Cor. 3.13 14 We think this vail is taken away in the Gospel and indeed it cannot be denied but that the Pen-men of the new Testament have used great plainness of speech but there is still a vail on the hearts of men and if the Spirit of the Lord do not take away that vail as if he be displeased usually he doth not even the Gospel may be hid as much as ever the Law was to the carnal Israelites 3. Upon the grieving of the Spirit usually follow sad heart-distressing doubts and fears in reference to our present and eternal condition 'T is the Spirits office to make us know the things that are freely given us of God 1 Cor. 2.12 to witness to our Spirits that we are the Children of God Rom. 8.15 16. to shed abroad the love of God in our hearts Rom. 5.5 he is the earnest of our inheritance untill the redemption of the purchased possession Eph. 1.14 If we grieve him we are lest in the dark and see no light and know not whether we go And how sad is this to be at such a loss as to say It may be I shall sit down with Abraham Isaac Jacob but it may also be that I shall make my bed in Hell with the Devil and his Angels where there is weeping wailing gnashing of teeth but upon our grieving of the Spirit we are not onely left under doubts but also under positive apprehensions that the wrath to come shall be our portion How many have been heard to roar out I am damned I am damned which crys though they maybe acknowledged somtimes to proceed from Melancholy or other bodily distemper yet do they more frequently proceed from the grieved Spirit 's withdrawing of himself You see whether you are acted from ingenuity or from fear there 's great reason you should cease from grieving the Spirit and no less reason is there why you should not only not grieve him but also rejoice and please him the which you shall do if I. You grieve when he is grieved and vex your righteous souls at every thing that vexeth him This is an act of friendship we all owe to all those that are of the same body with us Rom. 12.15 much more to him by whom we are all baptised into one body 1 Cor. 12.13 II. If you bring forth all the fruits of the Spirit i. e. all manner of holiness but more especially those mentioned Gal. 5.22 23. Love joy peace long suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance When we bring forth these we not onely live in the Spirit but walk in the Spirit which whoever do fulfill not the lusts of the flesh Gal. 5.26 are not desirous of vain glory provoking one another envying one another And let it be observed that the Apostle reckoning up the fruits of the Spirit doth not instance in prayers and supplications though they when made with faith and humility are undoubted evidences of the Spirits dwelling in us but in meekness gentleness love and such other 〈◊〉 as are opposite to sinfull passions for by goodness we are to understand in this place kindness and friendliness or a readiness on all occasions to do good to others And by Faith not that which is called faith on our Lord Jesus Christ but fidelity or faithfulness towards men opposed to treachery and inconstancy Believe it to take all opportunities of doing our brethren good to be punctual in performing our promises patiently to bear all the injuries and provocations that are offred us by others and studying as much as in us lieth to preserve peace with all men are greater evidences that a man is spiritual then are long prayers or any thing of that nature by which some of late have been so much puffed up Believers have the Spirit in them and they are said to be in the Spirit Rom. 8.9 As he that is born of the flesh is flesh so he that is born of the Spirit is Spirit and therefore as they who are in the flesh do in nothing please God do in all times and places mind the things of the flesh so they that are in the Spirit they should do all things to please the Father they should spiritualize their very natural and civil actions doing them unto the glory of God So shall nature as it were be adopted into grace and every meals meat become an holy and acceptable sacrifice III. If we pray to him and for him and bless God for all the good things wrought in us by him We should pray to Him else how do we acknowledg his Deity how do we stick to our baptism in which we were baptised into his name We should pray for Him else how do we look upon him as the great gift and promise of the new Covenant We should bless God for Him or else how do we prize the benefits bestowed on us and wrought in us by him Shall we blesse God for some single good things and not for the Spirit who is every good thing as appears by comparing Mat. 7.11 with Luke 11.13 that were an high indignity offered to this divine person That we may do all these the more enlargedly it were good often to meditate how great a condescention it is in the Spirit to dwell where he hath the Flesh alway lusting against him to help us in all our infirmities to make intercession for us with groans that cannot be expressed to apply unto us the redemption purchased and make us meet for the inheritance of Saints in glory IV. If we honour his gifts in others especially those which are bestowed for the work of the Ministry T is the Holy Ghost which separates men to the office of the Ministry and when men are put into that Office they
do receive the Holy Ghost therefore they ought to be honoured and had in esteem for their office and work sake Obj. But doth not the anointing teach us all things and so teach us as that we need not that man should teach us at all Answ So indeed it is said and that by some pretending so much to the Spirit as that their usual compellation to others is Flesh but we are not to believe every spirit but to try the spirits whether they be of God and I heartily wish the spirit from whence this Objection ariseth did not too manifestly discover it self not to be of God The Spirit that Christ promised was to be sent from the Father in the name of Christ and was not to speak of himself but whatsoever he had heard he was to receive of Christ and glorifie Christ John 16.13.14 But the men who make this objection do dishonour and decrey Christ setting up Christ within them in opposition to him that suffered at Jerusalem the Spirit inspired Prophets Apostles Evangelists to deliver down unto us a rule of faith and life but these men do vilifie this written word and ministration of the Spirit and call on their proselytes to follow that light within them and make that sufficient for salvation For my part I am so far from desiring that any should envy for our sakes that I could heartily wish that all the Lords people were prophets and that his Spirit were on them Were there a Seculum Spiritus to be expectted I hope I should as sincerely pray for it and as much rejoyce in the approaches of it as another but so farr am I form finding in the Scriptures any time in which the Ministry shall cease and be useless that I rather find the Spirit is to be received by the hearing of faith and that it is one great work of the Spirit to quicken and give life to the publick Ordinances as dispensed by the Ministers of the Gospel 't is the Holy Ghost that maketh them overseers of the flock Acts. 20.28 As for that place 1 John 2.29 it carrieth it's answer in its own bowels You shall not need that any one teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you i. e. not other things nor in another way then the same anointing teacheth you but do any ministers pretend to teach other things or in another way then this anointing teacheth If they do not as it is most certaine they do not why is this Scripture so frequently urged against ministerial teaching For ever let us abhor those who cry up the Spirit so as to justle out that forme of found words which hath been delivered unto us by menguided by the Spirit Be sure you quench not the Spirit but have a care you despise not prophecyings God having put those two counsels together let no man put them asunder The Spirits Office towards Believers Whereby ye are sealed to the day of Redemption THe old Interpreter reads in the day of Redemption and by it Oecumenius and some others understand the day of Baptisme but because in the Greek t is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and we have no reason to think that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we shall by this day understand the day of Judgment as most Interpreters do and as we are led to do by that twin-place Chap. 1 13.14 where the Holy Spirit of promise is said to be the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession The price of a Believers Redemption is already paid and accepted by God and they are redeemed from their vain conversation but their day of redemption cannot be said to be fully come till this corruptible have put on incorruption at least not till this life be ended for till then 1. Their Redemption from the power and dominion of sin hath not its full effect even a Paul as long as he is in the body hath occasion to complain that he is sold under sin and that the law in the members warreth against the law of the mind and leadeth him captive to the commission of Sin and omission of Duty II. Till then our Redemption the forgiveness of sin Ephes 1.7 is not perfect I know that upon our first closing with Christ our transgressions are blotted out as a mist and as a thick cloud and our iniquities thrown into the bottome of the Sea there is no condemnation to us no obligation to Eternal wrath but yet I am also sure that we are bid repent that our sins may be blotted out when the daies of refreshing shall come from the Lord Acts. 3.19 Whence it may be inferred that a Penitents sins are not so blotted out as then they shall be blotted out indeed upon the first conversion a man is put into a state of justification which is inconsistent with obligation to Eternal death yet is he not freed from all punishment nor from all obligation to punishment for where there is no obligation to punishment there is no justice in punishing The want of the Spirit is one of the punishments we have brought on our selves by sin this punishment is not taken away but by restoring of the Spirit now though the Spirit be so restored as to prevent the dominion of Sin and damnation for the time to come yet is it not given in such a measure as to prevent all sin nor the contracting of new guilt nor shall He be so given in this world III. As to the Redemption of the Body that is so far from being compleat before the Great Day that till then it may seem not to begin While it is joyned to an imperfect soul 't is vile and mortal when separated from it then it becomes yet viler is thrown into a grave and preyed upon by worms and maggots at the Resurrection it begins to be spiritual incorruptible powerfull and like to the glorious body of Christ Jesus The Adoption the Redemption of the Body we do not now enjoy but by Faith and Hope we do wait for it Rom. 8.23 On all these accounts there is reason why that Day should be called as it is The manifestation of the sons of God Rom. 8.19 For though we be now the sons of God it appears not what we shall be 1 Joh. 3.1 The best use that can be made of this Appellation is that which is made of it by the whole Creation The earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for this manifestation that it may be delivered from that bondage and vanity unto which it is subject and under which it groaneth much more should you who have the first-fruits of the Spirit groan within your selves waiting for the adoption 'T is utterly a fault among Christians that they groan so much under the burden of a few Taxes and Impositions and so little under the burden and body of Sin which they carry about with them They should much and frequently bless
uncertainties concerning our selves did we not sleight some Ordinance or omit some Duty or give way to some Lust 3. Though one may be a Child of God who doth want this Assurance yet is there no Child of God who sits down satisfied under the want of it who doth not desire to attain to the full assurance of hope Uncertainty of our condition is not so light an evil as that a Christian can carry it as if it were no burden nay but he follows Christ with unutterable sighs and groans he travelleth from Ordinance to Ordinance till his Evidences be cleared up and his Title to the Promises of Pardon be made out If a Child should have some doubt thrown into his mind concerning his Fathers love to him would he be at rest till it were removed How then can any Believer be himself under prevailing doubts concerning the good will of his Heavenly Father Hath God promised us his Spirit to seal us up to the day of redemption hath he besides his Covenant given us his Sacraments that we might have the more abundant consolation and after all this shall we quietly sit in the dark as if nothing ailed us how then dwelleth the love of God in us Especially those who have sometimes had the light of Gods countenance shining on them and have after lost it must needs be restless till they have recovered it Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled Psal 30. v. 7. Troubled with a witness for it was his daily sorrow of heart yea it was as death to him for this he made his tears day and night he poured out his soul in him and his upbraidings by his enemies with this were as a sword in his bones Psal 42.3 4 10. As for the Spouse in the Canticles we do find Chap. 5. v. 6. that when her beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone her soul failed when she spake she sought but she could not find him she called but he made no answer Hereupon she goes to the Watchmen to the Daughters of Jerusalem charging them if they found her beloved to tell him she was sick of love v. 7.8 He never duly estimated the friendship of Christ who can bear his strangeness without great sorrow and heaviness of heart In answer to the third question How or in what way assurance is wrought by the Spirit I say His way of working is very dark and mysterious and assurance it self is better felt then expressed compared therefore as some conceive Rev. 2.17 to the Manna that is hid and to the white stono and the new name written in the stone which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it The Spirit working in our regeneration is inexpressible compared therefore John 3. to the Wind that bloweth where it listeth the sound whereof we hear but know not whence it cometh nor whether it goeth his working in assuring us that we are regenerate is much more inexpressible There are two kinds of Acts in the soul 1. Direct Acts such as is that by which the soul cleaves to Christ or lays hold on him or believes in him for remission of sins and salvation 2. Reflex Acts such as is that by which a man returns on himself and doth though not believe yet know that he believes believes sincerely Such reflex acts are the most noble royal operations ' the most refined Spiritual workings sufficient if we had no other arguments to prove the souls immortality But such workings of the soul usually are but weak and transient Radius reflexus languet is the rule in Opticks and which leaves us at a greater loss those places of Scripture from which we should borrow our light in this matter are so vexed with variety of descants and interpretations that it is not easie to know what to make of them It would quite tire out the patience of an ordinary Reader if I should but recite the variety of Comments on that place 1 John 5.8 There are three that bear record on earth the Spirit the Water the Blood and these three agree in one That indeed seems to be more plain Rom. 8.16 The Spirit it self beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God But first Grotius will have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be no more then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and he brings for proof a place or two in Scripture in which it seems to be so used because it is applyed to the witness of Conscience well having no other foundation to build his conceit on we may easily rid our hands of him for the witness of conscience is a joint witness it witnesseth together with God and is therefore called as some think 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But then granting that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie a joint-witnessing it will not be so easie to find out what the other partner is that is joined with Gods Spirit in this action as we translate it should seem to be our own Spirit But the Rhemists translate not with our Spirit but to our Spirit which translation is put into the Margin of the English Bibles now read and was in the Text of those formerly used and then it will be a question whether our spirit be not the joint-witnesser but onely the recipient of this witness and the joint-witnesser the Son of God or that voice caused in us by the Spirit of God Yet because some do therefore want assurance because they look for it in an undue and unwarrantable manner expecting some vocall testimony to tell them that they are the children of God I shall therefore endeavour to unfold the matter as I am able And this I lay down in the first place That look in what way the Spirit of bondage doth work Fear in the same way the Spirit of Adoption doth work Hope and Assurance now the Spirit bringeth unconverted persons under fears and troubles concerning their estate by convincing them of the demerit of sin and shewing them that they are under the power of sin John 16.8 He will convince the world of sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is errorem prâ—…conceptum profligare and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that fallacy in which something onely seemingly and not really contradictory to the question is proved is called ab ignoratione elenebi The secure unconsidering sinner lives in sin as if it were a very harmless innocent thing he makes a mock of it The Spirit therefore to awaken him out of his security and to put him under a necessity of enquiring after a Saviour doth joining with his conscience bring him under a three-fold conviction of Law of fact of state by some such Syllogisms Every liar shall have his portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone I am a Liar Therefore I shall have my portion in the lake that burnes with fire and brimstone Or He that believeth not is condemned already I believe not Therefore I am condemned already Or He that
hateth his brother is a murderer and hath not eternal life I hate my Brother Therefore I am a Murderer and have not eternal life These are all of them conclusions quite contradictory to the vain principles that did dwell in the secure sinner which being set home by the Spirit must needs make him fear what shal become of him In like manner doth the Spirit bring the heirs of the promise to the assurance of hope by some such practical Syllogisms as these He that loves the Brethren is passed from death to life I love the Brethren Therefore I am passed from death to life Or He that repents and believes shall be saved I repent and believe Therefore I shall be saved Now the Spirit hath revealed and inspired holy men to leave upon record to us the Propositions in these two Syllogisms the same Spirit also works in us that Faith by which we are enabled to believe those Scripture Propositions to be divine infallible truths he also worketh in us every gracious habit and exciteth those gracious acts which be the evidences and marks of our conversion justification and title to glory he also helpeth to feel and discover those acts in our selves and by comparing them with the rule to find their sincerity which is his concurrence with Conscience in making the assumption and lastly he helpeth sanctified reason from the premises to inferr the Conclusion whatever is beyond this is not essential to assurance but something separable from it Sometimes our assent to the premises and conclusion is stronger sometimes weaker hence the different degrees of assurance sometimes upon this assurance peace of Conscience we are marvellously enlarged with consolations called joy in the holy Ghost sometimes nor Obj. Some may say Is there no other way of working assurance but this doth not God sometimes testifie without any such discourse and ratiocination hath he confined himself to Syllogisms doth he not sometimes make some impressions on us by which we are assured that we are the children of God without the help or use of any argumentation Answ I have been alway apt to think that there is no other ordinary way of assuring the soul partly because the Scripture no where encourageth us to look for assurance in any other way and partly because to grant an immediate testimony seemed to me to open such a gap to Euthusiasme as it was impossible well to shut and I am somewhat imboldned in that sentiment by the concurrent judgment of a sober judicious Divine Mr. Tho. Blake who in his Treatise of the Covenant thus expresseth himself They that go about to assert an immediate testimony in any will never secure the soul from delusion Sathan will soon find an artifice to counterfeit this testimony and bear witness in the Spirits stead and when we think that we have the Spirit of truth to assure us we shall have the father of lies to deceive But in regard many of eminent piety and learning do assert an immediate testimony it may not be amiss to enquire a little what they mean by it and how they do bound it and then to shew what may be thought of it By this immediate Testimony they tell us that they do not mean any proper whisper or voice such as young Converts mistaking such Scripture phrases as Say unto my soul thou art my salvation are apt to wait for but they say it is a perswasion impressed upon a man suddenly and he knows not how quieting all his doubts and fears and making him chearfull and comfortable If you ask them How a Child of God who is to try all things dare adventure to take any such comfort how he knows it not to be a delusion of Satan they tell us that as there is in the eye a certain in-bred light to make it discern light and colours without a sound and air within the ear to make it discerne the sounds without So there is in a godly man grace a new nature and habitual instinct of heaven whereby it discernes the consolations of Gods Spirit testifying that he is the Son of God some secret and inexpressible lineaments of the fathers countenance in the child that the renewed soul at the very first blush knows and owns it Moreover they tell us 1. That although the Spirit thus testifie without application of any particular word yet he never testifies contrary to the word he never speaks to those who are regenerate though they do not know themselves to be such 2. That the Spirit doth not ordinarily thus testifie but after or in attendance on some ordinance or performance of some duty or after some very great abasement of a mans Spirit and more then ordinary soul-humiliation or after some very hard adventure for God or after some great combat and conflict with temptation 3. That such of the Testimonies of the Spirit do beget but an actual assurance during the present exigence or in order to some present design that God is working thereby Now to give my sense of this opinion 1. The Authors of it seem so to bound it as that it would be uncharitableness to think that they have any ill or pernicious design in it 2. The things which they say are done by impression are not without ratiocination only the ratiocination is not so distinct and explicite as when a man comes to his assurance by that difficult work of examination Philosophers say that what is done by beasts through instinct and impulse is not done without something analogous to ratiocination they commonly give us the examples of such Syllogisms as they suppose to be made by beasts as namely lambs when they come to their dams and flie away from the wolves So I conceive that in all the impressions made on the soul whether they be by way of comfort or incitation to duty there be some characters either in the matter or manner of them either in their holiness or greatness or vehemence or unusualness by which a Christian knows them to be from God and so accordingly rests in them the which characters did he not find he would either not regard them or reject them with abhorrence 3. I would not have any one lay the stress of his hope of heaven on any such impression nor upon the account of any such impression alter his opinion in reference to any point of Doctrine or adventure upon any practice that is in the least questionable unto him If he should I take it he would give the devil great advantage against him and subject himself to infinite delusions as will soon be manifest to him that will be at the pains to read over the discourses of Dr. Casaubon and Dr. Moore concerning Enthusiasme Mr. John Fox our holy and learned Martyrologist had many impressions some of which are taken notice of by his son in the History of his life but did they not sometimes fail him and discover themselves to be neither Divine nor True Let any one judge
to Heaven 't is not the Redemption but it is the first fruits of it we know that Gods people were commanded to bring their Oblation of Thanksgiving when they received their first-fruits because the first-fruits were a pledge and pawn of the whole Harvest Deut. 26. Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible c. If God had onely assured us that we should spend Eternity in some Limbus unacquainted with pain and horrour seeing we do know that by our sins we have deserved to receive our portion with hypocrites and unbelievers where there is weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth monstrous ingratitude were it not to admire so great love but if God have given us a well grounded hope that our names are written in Heaven that we have a title to that Paradise in comparison with which the Garden of Eden was but a dunghill this is such a mercy as is undervalued if it be thought on without astonishment if it do not cause us frequently with David to sit down before the Lord and say Who are we and what is our house that thou hast brought us hitherto And this was yet a small thing in thy sight O Lord God but thou hast also spoken of thy servants for a great while to come and is this the manner of men O Lord God O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for those that fear thee 2 Sam. 7. Psal 31.19 But if any one who hath the love of God shed abroad in his heart do in a short time grow so stupid as not to allow himself time sufficient to view the height depth breadth and length of that love let him not wonder if he be brought back to the valley of the shadow of death and darkness III. He that would keep his Assurance must keep himself from returning to sin especially from returning to that sin upon which Conscience in its former accusations was wont to lay the greatest Emphasis Psal 85.8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak for he will speak peace unto his people and to his saints but let them not return to folly If they do instead of peace they shall soon find trouble for the sin which was so loathsome and uneasie as that we had no rest till we had vomited it up must needs be far more loathsome and uneasie if we do return unto it after we have cast it up If the Devil after he hath departed for a season return he returneth not alone but bringeth with him seven more spirits worse more defiling more tormenting then the former Object Can a man that is regenerate lose the Spirit of regeneration Answ If he can after grace received sin with full consent delight and contentment he may but some say that God is by promise engaged never to let him sin at such an high rate others deny that there is any such promise Which way my judgment in this controversie inclined I before shewed but this is agreed on by all sober Divines That a wilfull relipse doth notably weaken the habit of Faith and make our own spirits unable to testifie of our Adoption and so grieve the Spirit of God as that he will not testifie and give the evil spirit advantage to suggest that we are utter reprobates and in no capacity of being renewed by repentance IV. He that would keep his Assurance must be carefull to keep the vows that he did make to God in the time of his trouble It seems natural to those that are in perplexity to make unto God promises of such things as they suppose will be acceptable to him We find in Scripture this to have been the practice of bad and good But the Devil finding that at such times we have more affection then judgment puts us sometimes to vow things in their own nature unlawfull such vows oblige not to performance but onely to repentance No other is the obligation of vows made of things indeed not unlawfull in themselves but yet impossible to be done without neglecting the duties of our places and relations It is not unlawfull to set apart one day in the week besides the first to the direct immediate acts of Religion but if my body will not bear it or if the necessities of my family will not consist with it or if I am under Authority and Governours will not permit it then the separating of so much time for Religion becomes to me unlawful nor can any vow oblige me to it But the vows we have made of things in our power and pleasing to the Almighty must be performed else they will be upon us and break our peace so as nothing more When thou vowest a vow unto God defer not to pay it for he hath no pleasure in fools Pay that which thou hast vowed Better it is that thou should not vow then that thou shouldest vow and not pay Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin neither say thou before the Angel it was an error wherefore should God be angry at thy voyce and destroy the work of thy hands Eccles 5.4 5 6. Do not so much as deferr to pay for God hath no pleasure in fools It is certainly a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the meaning can be no other than that he is greatly displeased with those who go about one while to flatter him in making a vow and afterwards to mock him in refusing or delaying to perform it Say not before the Angel it was an error Do not say it was imprudently made that it was an ignorance which thou art willing to expiate Wherefore should God be angry Wherefore should he foam A dreadful place of Scripture often to be thought on by those who alter vows make enquiry Deliberation is needful before the vow be made and we sin if we vow rashly but it is one thing to sin in vowing another thing to vow to sin if we have sinned in vowing yet if the matter of the vow was not something sinful we must not alter or if we will alter we must not expect to dwell in the Lords holy hill V. He that would continue his Assurance must bring forth such fruit after Assurance as he either did not or could not before Assurance For the Rule holds here Whosoever hath to him shall be given and he shall have more abundance but whosoever hath not from him shall be taken away even that he hath Mat. 13.12 God will not long let his candle shine on him who doth no more then what he might have done had he remained in darkness But if when God hath lift up upon us the light of his countenance we then walk as children of the light our light shall encrease we shall not onely be quiet but also rejoyce and make our boast of him we shall grow from
otherwise they should rejoyce over me and magnifie themselves against me when my foot slippeth Double to these are the pleas proper to deserted souls that may be picked out of the Book of Psalms but I forbear to gather them together commending the Book it self as the best Directory to furnish those who are in trouble with fit praying-matter onely let them be sure that they be sincere using Davids prayers with Davids heart i. e. humbly believingly charging their souls to wait on God so He that shall come will come and will not tarry So shall he who now stands as an Enemy or as a Stranger say Is Ephraim my dear son is he a pleasant child for since I spake against him I do earnestly remember him still Therefore my bowels are troubled for him I will have mercy on him so shall the wilderness and the solitary place be glad and the desart rejoyce and blossom as the rose blossom abundantly and rejoyce with joy and singing The ransomed of Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads they shall obtain joy and gladnesse and sorrow and sighing shall flee away Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort who comforteth us in all our tribulation Amen FINIS The TABLE COherence and parts of the Text pag. 1 2. Q. How is the Spirit said to be grieved p. 3. A. 1. Properly if by Spirit we understand the renewed part of man p. 3 4. 2. But if the Spirit of God because that is done against him which would grieve him were he capable of grief p. 4. 3. When we make the Spirit so to carry it towards us as persons do towards those that have grieved them p. 5. Q. 2. Why are we said rather to grieve the Spirit then Father and Son p. 6. A. Because sin is most opposite to his appropriate work p. 6 7 Q. 3. What sins do grieve the Spirit Ibid. A. Generally wilfull deliberate sins Specially 1. Lusts of Uncleanness p. 8 9 10. 2. Sins of Anger Malice c. p. 11. 12 13. 3. Sleighting of the Divinely Inspired Writings and preferring Humane Writings p. 13 14 15 16 17. 4. Robbing the Spirit of his glory and taking his praise unto our selves p. 17 18 19 20. 5. Fathering on him the ugly brats of the evâ—l spirit p. 21 22. 6. Ascribing to the Devil the works of the Spirit p. 22 23. Inferences 1. The Spirit is a Person p. 23. 2. Hath a tender care of Believers ibid. 3. Not to be blasphemed p. 24. 4. They wretched who take pleasure in sin which grieves the Spirit p. 24. Motives not to grieve the Spirit 1. He is a Divine Person the onely Divine Person against whom a sin is irremissible p. 25 26 27. 2. He hath little deserved to be grieved p. 27 28 29 30 31. 3. They who onely are in a capacity to grieve him have least reason so to do p. 32 33. 4. Dreadfull are the effects of grieving the Spirit of God 1. Hence ensue foul and dishonourable lusts p 34. 2. Ordinances become unprofitable p. 35. 3. The heart is filled with sad distressing doubts p 37. The Spirit is pleased if 1. We grieve when he is grieved p. 38. 2. Bring forth the fruits of the Spirit p. 38 39. 3. Pray to him and for him p. 39 40. 4. Honour his gifts in others especially those for Ministry no time to be expected in which no Ministry p. 40 41. 42. What meant by the Day of Redemption 1. Not the day of Baptism p. 43. 2. Some day after this life for till then 1. Redemption from the power of sin is not perfect p. 43 44. 2. Forgiveness of sin not perfect p. 44. 3. Redemption of the body scarce begun p. 45. Godly should groan for this day p. 45 46. Wicked should kiss the Redeemer p. 47. Nature and ends of Sealing p. 47 48. By the Spirits sealing is meant not his regenerating but assuring work p. 48 49. Assurance possible proved by four Arguments p. 50 to 56. Why Papists deny Assurance p. 57 58 59. Differences betwixt Assurance and Presumption p. 60. Assurance breeds not sloth p. 61 62 63. Faith consists not in Assurance p. 64. to 69. Q. Whether all Believers sometime or other have Assurance p. 69. A. In four Propositions I. Some have Assurance just before death who had it not before p. 69. to 72. II. Some that had it before want it then 1. To quicken others to preparation p. 72. 2. To harden worldlings p. 73. 3. To punish falling from first love p. 73 74. 4. Through the nature of some diseases 5. Through the malice of Satan III. 'T is rarely seen that any understanding Christian runs out his whole course without some Assurance p. 75. IV. Yet is it not impossible it should be so ibid. This no ground for idleness for 1. Men argue not so in temporals p. 76. 2. 'T is a sin to want Assurance p. 77. 3. None can be a child of God who doth not desire to attain the full Assurance of hope p. 77 78 79. Q. How is Assurance wrought A. 1. In a very mysterious way p. 79 80 81. 2. In the same way that bondage is wrought in unconverted sinners i. e. discursively p. 82. 83 84. Immediate testimony explained and cautioned by its assertors p 85 86. What to be thought of it p. 87 88. Discursive way the most ordinary and safe p. 89. to 92. Antinomians who deny the use of Marks confuted p. 93 94. Stupidity of sinners reproved p. 94 95 96. All that fear God perswaded to make use of this way of examination Some Marks visible if not others p. 96. If none visible then Examination no duty p. 97. Q. Why does God suffer his children to want Assurance p. 98. A. Assurance is two-fold high and moderate high too strong for our weak vessels long to hold p. 99 100. Good reason why God lets Believers for a season want even moderate Assurance 1. To keep them from relapses p. 100 101. 2. To keep them humble p. 102 103. 3. To make them more earnest in Prayer p. 104. 4. To try and exercise their graces p. 105. 5. To make them more value Assurance when they have it p 106. 6. To make them more able to comfort others p. 107. 7. To make them more long after Heaven p. 108. 8. To encourage good and confound wicked p. 108 109. 9. To manifest his own power and patience p. 109 110 111. Therefore we ought not when God withdraws to charge him foolishly p. 111 112. Q. How do Believers meritoriously procure the want of Assurance A. 1. Through the smalness of their graces Conversion more discernable at the first Plantation of the Gospel then now Some Objections answered p. 113. to 116. 2. Because they seek it not with diligence enough the case of poor Christians considered p. 117 118 119. 3. Because of their