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
God for those enjoyments they have of him in this earthly Tabernacle but yet not be so satisfied with any such enjoyments as not to desire it may be dissolved and so they put into the possession of that house in heavens not made with hands We that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened not for that we would be uncloathed but cloathed upon 2 Cor. 5.4 I confess in this I look on St. Paul as our Pattern rather then as our Standard I dare not say that all who are partakers of the Spirit do thus earnestly groan after absence from the body and presence with the Lord but all have reason so to do else had not all by Christ been taught to pray Thy Kingdom come As for you who live in sin I cannot exhort you to desire this day rather you may pray as did the Primitive Christians though on a better account Pro morâ finis for to you this Day of the Lord shal not be a day of Redemption but of Confinement to the darkest dungeon it shal burn as an Oven it shall burn you up and leave you neither root nor branch The Devils who believe it do tremble at the thoughts of it and if you tremble not at it it is because you believe it not The best and most seasonable advice I can give you is to kiss the Redeemer and to follow God with sighs and groans till he hath given you hearts soft as wax then shall you also be sealed to the day of Redemption Of this Sealing of the Spirit I am now to speak and that somewhat largely being therefore to build high it is good to dig deep and lay the foundation sure The expression is undoubtedly Metaphorical and must betoken something that bears proportion to Sealing properly so called What that is we should the rather enquire because the Metaphor is so frequently used here and Chap. 1.13 and 2 Cor. 1.22 He that shall read the Learned Zanchy on Chap. 1. vers 13. will not lose his labour nay will think nothing can be added unto what he hath said I shall from him and others in a few words lend light enough to elucidate this matter to those that have a mind to understand Two things among us go by the name of a Seal 1. The Signet that makes the Impression 2. The Impression that is made by the Signet And sealing if considered in its nature is nothing else but the imparting of the Image of the Signet to that which is sealed But then the uses of sealing are divers 1. For secresie or security 2. For ratification or confirmation 3. For distinction or separation Now the question is Whether in allusion to the nature of some or all uses of sealing we are said to be sealed Doubtless the Spirit doth work in us so as to communicate unto us the likeness of God in holiness and righteousness By him we are changed into the Image of God from glory to glory 1 Cor. 3. last According to his mercy he saveth us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost Tit. 3.5 We are born again of water and the Holy Ghost Joh. 3.3 We are washed we are sanctified we are justified in the Name of our Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God 1 Cor. 6.11 But seeing the sealing here intended is in order of nature after believing Ephes 1.13 I humbly conceive it is not the making of the Elect to partake of the Divine Nature but the assuring of them that they do partake of it the perswading our hearts that we have Gods mark on us God seals us with his Spirit not that he may know us to be his but that we may know our selves to be his and rest satisfied that we are his and that he will own us for his when to others he shall say Depart from me I know you not I deny not but we may be said to be sealed by the Spirit when we are by him regenerated and made new creatures but I think Regeneration is rather the Spirits writing the law in our hearts and making us the Epistle of God and that the sealing in the Text intended is the Spirits testifying unto us that we are of the number of Gods redeemed ones and have a right to the priviledges of Gods redeemed ones Now there are five things of which the Spirit may be thought to give assurance 1. Election 2. Vocation 3. Justification 4. Perseverance 5. Eternal life but because of some of these there is dispute and because it is by all sober persons granted that effectual vocation regeneration conversion are the evidences of the other of that chiefly and well nigh onely I shall speak and cast all I have to say about it into an Answer to these six Questions 1. Whether such Assurance may be had 2. Whether the nature of Faith consist in it and whether it may not be separated from Faith 3. How the Spirit works it 4. Why so many Christians are so long without it 5. What motives there be to perswade us to labour after it 6. What means are to be used 1. to gain it if we have it not 2. to keep it if we have it 3. to regain it if we have lost it 1. In answer to the Question Whether such assurance may be had I say it may which I prove 1. By arguing ab esse ad posse Assurance hath by many been attained therefore it may be attained That it hath been attained is so evident that scarce any thing can be more evident there is not one Saint almost in all the Scriptures concerning whom much is said of whom something is not said from which it may be collected that he had sometime or other good assurance of Gods love Was Job think we without assurance who maintained his integrity against the devil and his uncharitable friends clubbing their wits to prove him an Hypocrite Was not that the voice of assurance I know that my redeemer liveth Was not the Spouse assured when she said I am my Beloveds and my Beloved is mine Was not St. Paul assured when he so triumphed in Christ Rom. 8.38 I am perswaded that neither life nor death nor Angels nor principalities c. shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus The Papists do not much deny but that these persons and sundry others mentioned in Scriptures had assurance onely they say they came to it in an extraordinary way by immediate revelation which must needs be looked on as a meer evasion and shift there is not in Scripture the least hint that these came to their assurance in any extraordinary way but many things there be in Scripture which make manifest that they attained their certainty in a discursive way arguing from the effect to the cause from the fruits to the root from their mortifying the deeds of the flesh and walking according to the Spirit to the Spirits dwelling in them St. Paul
seem that to take any evidence from our graces is to receive humane witness to the things of God which is incongruous Answ I understand not but we may receive an humane testimony to witness the things of God though the last resolution of Divine Faith must be into Divine Veracity But we need not enter into that dispute for the answer of this objection for our graces are not wrought in us by our own power but by the power of God and if they were yet they are only the means by which our condition is known to us the efficient cause of this knowledg is the Spirit illustrating our graces and making them visible and enabling us to conclude from them II. Here 's terror to all those wicked persons who perswade themselves that they are the Children of God though they have in them none of the marks of the children of God I know we are apt to be deceived by others and much more 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to use St. James his word Jam. 1.22 to deceive to put a fallacy on our selves Yet a man would wonder how they who pretend to reason should be able so to impose on themselves or where they found the premises from which they inferre that conclusion that they are the children of God Doth the Scripture any where say that they who walk not after the Spirit but after the flesh shall live or that drunkards and swearers shall inherit the Kingdome of God if the Scripture say not this but the clean contrary how come they then to promise themselves peace Are they still to learn that God is not such a one as themselves or that they must be judged not according to the proverbs that pass for current among men but according to the law of liberty Sith this law doth every where condemn them how is it that their own Consciences do not condemn them also Is it not onely because they do torture and wrest the Scriptures and so to bring them down to their own humor and fancies But do they not do this to their own destruction must not the great day of necessity shake bring down this house which hath no foundation but their own imaginations exalting themselves against the knowledg of God Let all such if they be not as perfectly void of common sense and reason as they be of Divine Faith but consider these Scriptures Gal. 6.7 8. Be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reaps for he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Know ye not the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the Kingdome of God Or if they will not hearken to the stiller voice of the Gospel let them yet hearken to the thunder of the Law Deut. 29.18 19 20 21. Lest there should be a root among you that beareth gall and worm wood and it come to passe when he heareth the words of this curse that he blesse himself in his heart saying I shall have peace though I walk after the imagination of my heart to add drunkennesse to thirst the Lord will not spare him but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoke against that man and all the curses that are written in this Book shall light on him and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven and the Lord shall separate him for evil III. Let all that fear God be perswaded to make use of this way of getting Assurance and not think to get it by I know not what Enthusiastical injections or by going up and down with complaints against themselves but look for it in this way of trial and examination Let not any one say that the Writing of God is so blurred and blotted that he cannot tell what to make of it the Waters so mudded that he despairs of ever seeing his face in them for 1. If some signs be not visible others may and they will suffice to lead thee to the conclusion that thou art in the Bond of the Covenant if thou canst not take comfort in some Qualifications yet there are others that will afford If thou canst not find Faith yet canst thou not deny but thou fearest God and tremblest at his Word why these are marks of a child of God Isa 50.10 Isa 66.2 and so is a desire to fear God Neh. 1.11 onely be sure it be an earnest unwearied industrious desire 2. But if any man be under such sad dark temptations as that he can see no light at all if he be confusion all over such a one I advise not to examine examination at such a time is not a duty but serves onely to breed further fears and uncertainties In such a case let a man put forth the first act of Faith cast himself on God commit himself to him in well doing he hath a command so to do therefore he need not fear it will be an act of presumption he hath a promise if he do so that he shall be safe let him therefore so do and in continuance so to do he shall if by any way come to find that he hath laid hold on the Covenant and that his condition before though it was not comfortable was safe and known to God though not to himself Quest 4. What 's the reason why the children of God do want Assurance or how comes it to passe that all who have grace do not presently know themselves to have it Answ This is not one Question but two and therefore without distinction no one thing can be replied to it The word Reason all one with cause may either refer to the meritorious or final cause either the meaning of the Question is what are the gracious Intendments and Purposes of God in permitting his Children to want Assurance or what are the ways by which they do sinfully procure unto themselves the want of Assurance Of these I will speak distinctly though I take it they are but rarely separated God doth not usually let his servants be under darkness but for sin and he would not permit them to fall into sin but that he hath an intent to make those very falls and the punishments he inflicts because of them subservient to his glory and their good Quest 1. Therefore enquire we why the Father of Lights suffers the Children of light to walk in darkness why he sets the seal and impression of the Spirit so obscurely upon them that they do not know themselves to be sealed with it to the day of redemption especially seeing he doth hereby lose a very great tribute of praise and glory For how can they praise God for this though incomparable gift if they know not themselves to have received it How can they rejoyce in the hope of
THE BELIEVERS DUTY Towards the SPIRIT And the SPIRITS OFFICE Towards BELIEVERS OR A Discourse concerning Believers not Grieving the Spirit AND The Spirits sealing up Believers to the day of Redemption Grounded on Ephes 4.30 Hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is in us Rom. 5.5 The Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit that we are the Children of God Rom. 8.16 LONDON Printed for SA GELLIBRAND at the Ball in S. Pauls Church-yard 1665. A PREFACE TO THE READER Christian Reader HOw needfull it is to have a right belief of the Holy Ghost appears not only from the Ancient Creeds which in how few words soever comprehended did alway make mention of Him but also from the wretched Socinians who blasphemously denying his not onely Deity but also Personality and in their Catechism roundly asserting the no-necessity of any operation of his in order to our assenting to the Gospel have been so filled with a Spirit of Delusion that they retain not truth enough to denominate them either Christians or Hereticks The text upon which the ensuing discourse is founded afforded very fair opportunity of proving the Personality and Deity of this blessed Spirit and of shewing that our natural corruption cannot be cured but by his inhabitation But contenting my self to wave or slightly to touch these matters I mainly insist on our being by this Spirit sealed to the day of redemption a phrase which as most others that are metaphorical hath had the hap to be many ways interpreted Bellarmine who seems to have read holy writ onely to serve a design applies it to that indeleble character supposed by the Romanists to be imprinted on all that are baptized but how vainly appeareth 1. By his own Cajetan who saith Sacramenta imprimere characterem ex scriptura non habetur sed ex Ecclesiae authoritate non multum antiquâ 2. By the miserable shift he is put to before he can find any imaginable foundation for this Chymaera in the words He is fain to read with the vulgar Latine in the day though against the Greek and Syriack yea and against sundry latine Manuscript copies as Estius tells us yet this very writer Ephes 1.13 when he thought it would be more for his turn forsaking the vulgar Latine which readeth in whom believing flyeth to the Greek after ye believed 3. Besides how absurd is it that any indeleble character or cognizance of Christianity should be imprinted on all in Baptisme when as we see that many after Baptisme do utterly and maliciously renounce Baptisme and all the Principles of Christianity Other Pontifician writers do refer the phrase not to the Sacrament of Baptisme but Confirmation So Estius so our Country-men the Rhemists who have this note on Ephes 1.13 Some refer this to the grace of Baptisme but to many learned it seemeth that the Apostle alludeth to the giving of the Holy Ghost in the Sacrament of Confirmation by signing the Baptized with the sign of the Cross and holy Chrisme But they are well told by the judicious Dr. Fulk That rhe learned men they speak of must needs be Masters of the new learning for the ancient learning had no such interpretation instancing in Chrysostome Ambrose Theodoret Augustine Primasius Hierome Oecumenius Theophylact who carry the text quite another way All Protestant Writers are not agreed what may be intended by this Sealing of the Spirit sure it is for our credit that we can allow our selves to differ one from another in expounding a place of Scripture I refer it not to the Holy Ghosts regenerating or renewing us but to his assuring us of the adoption of sons his creating in us a sense of Gods Paternal love towards us and of our filial love towards him in so doing I follow not onely sundry learned sons of our own Church but also Cornelius a Lapide whose comment on Ephes 1.13 being translated is this As by the impression of a Seal the Letters of Kings and publick tables are sealed that those which are authentick may be distinguished from doubtful those that are genuine from false and it may be certainly manifest that these are the Letters and Tables of the King So ye Christian Ephesians as it were The Epistle of Christ written not with ink but the Spirit of the living God not in tables of stone but in the fleshly tables of your heart are signed with the Holy Ghost as it were with a Seal that it may be manifested that ye are the not feigned but authentick Epistle of Christ that ye are truly the people and Church of the true and high God Having thus descanted on the text he frames against himself this objection If this be so then may Believers be certain that they are in the true faith and grace of God and for answer denieth the consequence because this Seal is not altogether and physically certain and evident to them for who certainly knows who dares swear that he is sealed with the Holy Ghost as with a seal but onely probable and morally as it were certain from signs and conjectures so in like manner it is not to them clear and certain that they are in the true faith and grace of God For the further clearing of this doubt He refers us to what he had said on Rom. 8.16 Consulting him on that place I find him to give this note That the testimony of the Spirit by which he witnesseth that we are the sons of God is not certain with certainty of Faith nor certain with infallible certainty as Catharinus and Cajetan would have it but onely with a conjectural certainty which certainty yet increaseth with Holiness so that Vega and Ruard and Pererius following them think that some men very holy without the special revelation of God from the signs and effects of the Holy Ghost which they find in themselves very frequent clear and efficacious have a certainty not indeed infallible so as they dare swear that they are in the grace of God but yet such and so great as excludes all fear of the contrary not onely from the affection and confidence but also from the understanding and perswasion so as such do as certainly know and believe that they are in the grace of God as we certainly know and believe that there is such a place as Constantinople or Alexandria Let the Papists read this and if they have not lost all ingenuity acknowledge that some eminent Writers of their own go as high or higher then we do For we do not say that we are certain with a certainty of faith that we are sanctified or pardoned or if any do so say it is onely a Philosophical mistake for they do not intend that it is to any one revealed by any vocal or written testimony that he is sanctified or pardoned but onely that seeing these Conclusions do arise from Premises the one whereof is Scripture though the other be known onely
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
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
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
of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free Spirit then will I teach transgressors thy ways and sinners shall be converted unto thee By his free Spirit the Psalmist here means his Spirit to set him free from the slavish fear either of God or Man which usually makes us weary of our lives and yet horribly afraid to die But wherefore doth he desire this free Spirit not that he might be free from Gods service but that he might be free to his service that being not in bondage through fear he might win others to the faith that he might be able to encourage others to walk before God in holiness and righteousness all their days he that useth not his comforts to this end doth but turn the grace of God into wantonness 2. A good way to gain Assurance is to be thankful for what we enjoy already When Nathaneel was induced to believe meetly because he was told of his being under the tree Christ was so pleased that he promised him he should see greater things then that Joh. 1.50 So when we are thankful for the first dawnings of light God is so well pleased with that thankfulness that he causeth our light to grow clearer and clearer to the noon day Phil. 4.6 7. Be careful for nothing but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus To him that is thankful for what he hath shall be given but from him who is not thankful for what he hath shall be taken away even that which he hath How can we more provoke God then if we over-look and despise all our mercies because we want some one thing which we have a mind to though no present meetness for it yet so is God provoked by bad men and by good men Though Haman be by the King advanced above all the Princes yet all avails him nothing so long as he saw Mordecai the Jew sitting at the Kings gate Hest 4.13 and even the father of the faithful uttereth words not much unlike Gen. 15. God bids him not fear for he was his shield and exceeding great reward But what doth he reply v. 2 3. What wilt thou give me seeing I go childless and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus and behold to me thou hast given no seed and lo one born in my house is my heir What wilt thou give me As if God had nothing to reward his Servants obedience with but Children as if he could not be better to them then many heirs Obj. If God should hide himself from me in temporals I could that hiding notwithstanding be thankful for spirituals But what have I to be thankful for so long as I know not that God loves me with a special peculiar love A. Is it nothing that thou art out of Hell that thou art kept from running into all excess of riot that thou art kept from laying violent hands on thy self nothing that thou art born in Emmanuels Land that thou hearest of the covenant of grace sure and well ordered in all things that thou hast Ministers and Christian friends to help thee to lay hold of this Covenant nothing that the Spirit hath brought thee under convictions of sin and enclined thy heart to seek out after the Gospel cure Surely if thou canst see nothing to be thankful for but Assurance if thou shouldest have Assurance it self thou wouldest scarce be thankful for that but quarrel at it because it is not clear enough or because others have more of it then thy self 3. He that wants Assurance must believe till he feel that he believes and put forth acts of love till he find that his love is sincere and unfeigned Direct acts would be multiplied when we have not the comfort of reflex acts this is a rule given by all and seems to be firmly grounded on that famous place Isa 50.10 He that walketh in darkness and seeth no light let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay on his God He that walketh in darkness and seeth no light is in as comfortless a condition as a child of God can be in What is the way to bring him into the light Even to trust in the Name of the Lord and to stay on God That is he must consider that Christ died for him and that he is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God through him yea and that he hath promised if he come not to cast him out and by express commandment hath made it his duty to believe and in the strength of these considerations the Spirit assisting to cast himself on him and lay hold of him so long till he find he hath him Those who make the being assured that God is ours in covenant to be the onely and the first ground of reliance on God do by consequence make all Preaching in vain and bring unto us a new Gospel For suppose I had to do with an Unbeliever what should I say to him that he doth not believe till he is perswaded that God is his in covenant with him Would not this be in effect to tell him that he must die in his unbelief For how should he come to know himself to be in Covenant Shall I tell him because he is elect That cannot be known to him nor if it could be known to him would it be sufficient to infer his being in covenant for the elect till renewed by grace are the children of wrath as well as others My business therefore is to convince such a man that if he die in his sins he is undone everlastingly and that his own righteousness is so every way imperfect that it cannot answer the demands of the Law I must also call upon him to meditate on the free and full offers of life and salvation that are made in the Gospel and let him know that it is his duty to lay hold of the hope that is set before him and to follow such kind of meditations with his prayers till he feel his heart resolved to adventure himself on this bottom But can any one so do Without grace he cannot By grace he can And so did Job Job 13.15 Though he slay me yet will I trust in him I but Job thing destitute at present of the sense of Gods favour might remember his former loving kindnesses and with such remembrances support himself 'T is possible he might but the soul that never had any sense of Gods love may come to this pitch of resolution nay to this pitch of resolution it must come For what else should it do To continue in a natural condition brings damnation inevitably get out of it by his own strength no man can Tell him what promises God hath made of pardon hee 'l reply that whatever is promised as to pardon is suspended on a condition which condition