experience and that is by leading a poor sensible Sinner to the Declaration of the Sufferings of the Blessed Jesus and conveying the Declaration into the Soul and with it giving the Soul an inward Glance of the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ from whom the Soul by the help of the Spirit doth draw such Virtue as causeth an immediate removal of inward Guilt which the Soul hath contracted by Sin and under much Brokenness the Soul is brought to close with him Where this Closure is witnessed there doth an Intercourse with the Father attend it The Name of the Blessed Jesus is with this Closure engraven so on the Heart that the Injoyment of him becomes exceeding pleasant and comfortable 3ly I shall proceed to shew how the Holy Spirit doth break down Corruption in the Soul and carries on the Work of Sanctification 1. By discovering unto the Soul the polluting Nature of Sin that unless the Soul be preserved from it Communion with a holy God cannot be enjoyed It leads the Soul to watch against Temptations that draw into Sin and it leads the Soul through Christ to the Father for power to be kept from it The Lord Jesus Christ as Mediator is the Person upon the account of whose Worthiness the Soul craves help from God No sooner is the Soul come before God to seek him in its private Addresses but if Christ be enjoy'd by Faith the Outgoings of the Heart are to him and through him to the Father The Soul claims a Right of Relation or Kindred with him and so useth Plainness of Speech with him about its State and Condition and by beholding that its own nature in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ stands nighly related to the Father it puts him upon taking its Condition and the managing of it into his own hands as being able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him seeing he ever lives to make Intercession for them 2. The Spirit of God doth put the Soul upon seeking unto God for more light that so those Seeds of Sin that lie undiscovered in the Soul may not only be brought to light but likewise be rooted out as saith the Psalmit Search me O God and know my Heart try me and know my Thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting Such is the nature of Holiness in the Souls of the Saints that it would have the very Seeds of Corruption removed and as the Spirit of God doth put the Soul upon the using that means which God hath appointed for the subduing of Sin and Corruption so it likewise doth not only beget a Principle of Grace in the Soul by the Soul's Union with the Lord Jesus Christ but by its inward Supplies it puts fresh Vigor and Life into it by which the Heart comes more and more to be led forth unto God to seek after him and engaged more closely to follow him 3. The H. Spirit doth encourage the Soul to persevere in the Way that leads to Communion with God by letting the Soul feel the peaceable Fruit that it doth bear in it in this Life and likewise that eternal Happiness that it fits the Soul for in glory The Saints sow in Tears here but they shall reap in Joy they go on their way weeping bearing pretious Seed but at the Morning of the Resurrection then they shall appear bearing their Sheaves with them I come now in the third place to prove how all this is subservient to the Decree of Election and answers the designs of it Ephesians the first Chapter ver 3 4 5. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual Blessings in heavenly places in Christ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the World that we should be holy and without blame before him in love Having predestinated us unto the Adoption of Children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his Will to the praise of the glory of his Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved Compared with the first Epistle of Peter the first Chapter 2 3 4 5th Verses Elect according to the Fore-knowledg of God the Father through Sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ Grace unto you and Peace be multiplied Blessed be the God and 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 and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you Who are kept by the power of God through Faith unto Salvation ready to be revealed in the last time These Scriptures do fully prove the Truths of which I have been treating the Oneness of the Covenant of Grace and Redemption for here the Decree as it proceeds from God is eternal and passeth through Time into Eternity to the effecting or perfecting what was designed by it Can any Person separate the means comprehended in the Womb of the Decree to attain the End and not do manifest Wrong to the Decree it self Let the serious Reader judg Here is the Lord Jesus Christ the second Person in the Godhead set up by the Decree as the Head of the Elect all the Elect comprehended in him He appears in a State of Humiliation for the Elect they have the Offers of Grace by him and are brought to give Obedience to the Offers have his Blood applied to their Souls for their Justification and through him have the Spirit sanctifying them and by his mighty Power bringing them to the Glory which the Decree hath designed for them All these outward Acts which were transacted in time were but the gradual fulfilling of what was comprehended in the Decree which in it self was eternal which I hope doth prove that which was designed by the second Part of this Book that is that the Covenant of Grace and Redemption is but one Covenant For a Conclusion This Doctrine administers a great deal of Comfort to those that have the Marks of Election already wrought in their Souls to see their Salvation sixt upon such a sure Foundation and the Accomplishment in such a way as brings the greatest Motives with it to Humility and Thankfulness of engaging the Heart unto God And for those that are under the means which lead to attain the End it is not discouraging Doctrine to them because who are comprehended in the Decree is a Secret wholly reserved to God alone and we no otherwise know that our selves or others are in it but as we come under effectual Calling which is that which opens the Door into it Therefore it is in vain for the Creature to think to know what God at present conceals from him any other way but that which is of his own appointing Secret things belong to
pardoning and renewing Grace hath been manifested inwardly in me 1. His Pardoning Grace hath been manifest in me I have many times come before God labouring under inward Guilt and have experienced a removal of the Guilt in the Gospel way For altho the Lord Jesus Christ did by his Death give a full Satisfaction to Justice for all the Elect that were given him of the Father yet while the Elect are on this side Eternity and through frailty liable to fall into Sin after Sin committed there can be no inward Peace enjoy'd until the Soul be led forth anew by a Renewed Act of Faith upon a suffering Jesus and a suing by sincere Repentance unto the Father for pardoning Grace upon the account of his Worthiness And as to the Praise of the rich Grace of God I have experienced his pardoning Grace so I hope to the Praise of the same Grace I can say it that I do experience Renewing Grace I do indeed feel my time to be a continual Warfare according to the words of the Apostle Gal. 5.17 For the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these are contrary one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would Grace is often foiling Corruption but hath not destroy'd it the growth of it is hindered but the Seeds of it remain it 's an Enemy that lies continually lurking to watch for Advantage and altho it cannot regain such a Power as to destroy my Soul yet it keeps so much Power as to disturb it My Soul sometimes goes mourning before God under the sense of the remaining strength of this Adversary and how hardly is Grace put to it to quit the Soul out of its hands But here lies my Security I am brought within the compass of the Father's unchangeable Love within the compass of the Sons Intercession and under the Leadings of the Holy Ghost First I am within the compass of the Father's Love being one of the Seed given to Christ and according to the Tenor of the Covenant do I experience the Father's dealings with me Psal 89.30 31 32 33 34. If his Children that is the Elect Seed given to Christ ver 27 28. walk not in my Judgments If they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments Then will I visit their Transgression with the Rod and their Iniquities with Stripes Nevertheless my Loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my Faithfulness to fail My Covenant will I not break Here is my Mercy that I do experience my Father's dealing with me to be according to the Tenor of the Covenant that his Providence towards me brings Frowns with it against Corruption and that he hath enlightned my Soul to see it Psal 94.12 Blessed is the Man whom thou chastenest O Lord and teachest him out of thy Law Frowning Providences are not of themselves Mercies but the Spirit 's accompanying them and working by them upon the Soul to bring the Soul to a sensibility of its State and enabling the Soul to seek to God and to enjoy Comfort from him through Faith when denied Comfort from the World It 's this that gives the Evidence that they are sent in Mercy when corrupt Nature is subdued by them and inward Grace is stirr'd up to put forth the greater Fervency to God and for God in Duty that we may be serviceable to him in our Generation The Apostle in Heb. 12.8 lays this down as the common way of God's dealing with his Children and fixes Bastardy upon those that are not thus dealt with But if ye be without Chastisement whereof of all are partakers then are you Bastards and not Sons Mark it my Children I do not say God doth not give Prosperity to none of his Children in this World but where he doth give it he usually brings humbling Providences before it that so the Soul may not be prejudiced by it Joseph and David were both exalted to a very high state in this World but what great Afflictions did they go through before they were brought to it according to the words of the Prophet It is good for a Man that he hear the Yoke in his Youth And it hath been my particular Observation That where great plenty of this World's Goods are given to any of God's Children they have had a pricking Thorn put into some of their outward Enjoyments that they might not rest in these things as their Portion Secondly I am one of those for whom the Lord Jesus Christ is interceding and interested in him as a Member of his Mystical Body Father saith Christ keep through thine own Name those whom thou hast given me that they may be one as we are He intercedes that we may be prepared for Glory and that we may be brought to the enjoyment of Glory Joh. 17.24 Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me This Prayer saith a holy Man altho it was pray'd here on Earth by the Lord Jesus Christ in the state of his Humiliation yet the Matter contain'd in it doth sute his State of Exaltation and is a short Epitome of his Intercession as the Church's Head now at the Right-hand of his Father until every Member of his Mystical Body be brought to the Mansions of eternal Rest The Apostle in Heb. 6. from v. 13 to 20. having laid down the Unchangeableness and Immutability of the Father's Council concerning the Elect and how for their Encouragement he had bound himself not only by Word but by Oath for the performance of the things contained in the Promises and having shewed how the Flock do anchor upon their Father's Immutability as that which is both sure and stedfast and enters into that within the Vail Faith doth not content it self only with the Promises but pierceth into Heaven to God himself and the Soul there for its further Encouragement beholds the blessed Mediator interceding on its behalf ver 20. Where the forerunner is for us entred even Jesus All the Promises of God the Father being made to our Nature first as it is united to his Son the Eternal Word our Nature in him being brought to the Enjoyment of that Glory contained in the Promises doth on the behalf of the Elect intercede that every individual Person that belongs unto him may be brought to be sharers with him Your Father through Faith hath a well-grounded hope that he is one of the number for whom his blessed Lord is interceding and doubts not but in a little time to be a sharer in that part of his Intercession which leads to enjoy eternal Glory through him Thirdly I am one of those that are under the leadings of the Spirit of Adoption which is that inward Witness which the Scripture speaks of He that believeth in the Son of God hath the Witness in himself For God saith the Apostle who commanded Light to shine out
secure to the Saints the certainty of persevering and of enjoying Heaven at last but was not able to reconcile them with other Scriptures where Promises and Threatnings were annex'd together and seem'd to stand upon terms with the Creature But he who hath been pleased to reveal his Son in me having brought me to see that the Children of Adam are distinguished as standing under the two Covenants of Works and Grace and standing in this different state the Scriptures speak a Language which meets the Experience of each of them I then with great pleasure beheld the Harmony that was in the holy Scriptures and having for many Years been trained in the School of the Covenant of Works I have taken it in my way to clear it before I entred upon that well-ordered Covenant by which all that are once enter'd into it are secured I wish thou mayst not be offended at the plainness of the Stile in which the Truths contained in this Book are laid down and so I rest a Lover of thy Soul Robert Prudom Truth Unvailed BY Scripture-Light c. PART I. CHAP. I. Of the first Adam the Excellency of the State and Condition in which he was created AFter God had made the World and all sorts of living Creatures in it he proceeds to make Man as the Perfection of this lower Region consisting of two Parts a comly Body more beautiful than the rest of the Creatures not attended with the least Infirmity and a rational Soul fitted to hold Communion with God and to bear Rule over the rest of the Creatures From a sight of the Creation and of Man as the Lord of it while he stood in his Obedience to his Creator the Psalmist David breaks forth into a holy Wonderment Psal 8.3 4 5 6. When I consider the Heavens the Work of thy Fingers the Moon and the Stars which thou hast ordained What is Man that thou art mindful of him and the Son of Man that thou visitest him Thou hast made him a little lower than the Angels thou hast crowned him with Glory and Honour Thou madest him to have Dominion over the Works of thy Hands thou hast put all things under his feet A curious Canopy over his Head and a furnished World for him to walk in all Creatures giving a willing Subjection to him And the great Creator that he might shew unto Man the Authority that he had invested him withal brings every Beast of the Field and every Fowl of the Air unto Adam to receive its Name and whatsoever Adam call'd every living Creature that was the Name thereof How great was the Happiness of Adam while he stood in that state in which he was created He knew no wants in his Body he had always a furnished Table before him the Earth affording him all the Varieties that Nature brings forth and that without any Toil or Labour he had a Garden and that of God's planting to walk in and furnished with Trees bearing Fruit of every kind What Gardener so skilful as the great Creator and what Fruit so pleasant as that which is of his own making He not only planted the Trees but causeth them by his own Power to bring forth and ripens them to the height of Perfection there were all sorts of Fruits that were pleasant to the sight and good for Food a pleasant River goes forth from this Garden to water it And to add to Adam's Happiness he is blest with the happy company of his Creator Stop a little my Soul and take a view of Adam before Sin entered and the Off-spring of the second Adam when wholly delivered from Sin and clothed upon with their glorified Bodies This beautiful Eden or Earthly Paradise is but a Type of the Heavenly Paradise into this Paradise did the Tempter enter into the Heavenly Paradise he cannot come this Happiness was but short but that which is to come is eternal In this God was enjoyed as Creator in the other God will be enjoy'd as a Father the Son as a Husband to us Thy Maker will be thy Husband the holy Spirit for ever tabernacling in thee the holy Angels and glorified Saints thy Companions O my Soul is this the happy Country that thy Lord hath provided for thee and hast thou indeed the clear Evidences of an Interest in it then surely thou wilt be pressing towards it and learn to live more and more above the things of this World CHAP. II. Of the Image of God in which Adam was created and the nature of that first Covenant-Light while in the state of Innocency THE Apostle John in the first Chapter of his Gospel and the 2d 3d and 4th Verses speaking of the second Person in the Godhead the eternal Word saith The same was in the beginning with God All things were made by him and without him was nothing made that was made In him was Life and that Life was the Light of Men that is That Divine Life which was in the eternal Word Creator did give forth the Beams of its Life and Light in making of the Soul of Man Not that the Soul of Man did thereby become any part of the Godhead to think this is no less than Blasphemy but an Image of God Gen 1.26 27. And God said Let us make Man in our own Image after our Likeness and let him have Dominion over the Fish of the Sea and over the Fowl of the Air and over the Cattel and over all the Earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the Earth So God created Man in his own Image in the Image of God created he them This Image of God did not consist in the curious shape of his Body altho the Beauty of it did far exceed the rest of the Creatures for this were to make God to consist of Bodily Parts and so confinable to one place for a Body cannot be in two places as once but this glorious Image consisted in the Faculties of the Soul and the Impressions of the Law upon it The Faculties of the Soul consisted of a spiritual Substance which God breathed into that frame of the Body to give it Life it was not made of any earthly Matter as was the Body but of a spiritual nature like unto its Creator for altho it had not its being from Eternity yet it was to continue to Eternity and from the time of its Creation was never to come under a Dissolution it was not made like the Soul or Life of Beasts of the same Matter whereof the Body was made and therefore dieth with them but was created by God immediately out of nothing in which respect God is said to be the Father of our Spirits Heb. 12.9 Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live As it had Life in it self when it was join'd to the Body so it retaineth Life when it is separated from the Body and liveth for ever It consisteth of these five Faculties 1. The Vnderstanding
take it up They look upon their Lord to be at present absent from them and therefore they are greatly concerned for his Truths white he is absent from the World they are willing to sacrifice their Interests in the World to the Interest of Christianity That Person hath great cause to question his Interest in Christ whose Will is not so far brought over to the Lord Jesus Christ as to become a Martyr for him upon the account of his Truths The Power to enable to go through so great a Work must come from God when call'd to it but they do not find a drawing back of the Will from it if he shall see it good to call them to it Being united to him what Privileges have they in present Possession and what Privileges have they in Reversion At present they are brought into the state of Children John 1.12 But as many at received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe on his Name Through him they witness what it is to have recourse to God as a Father and to be owned by him as his Children In Reversion they behold by Faith an eternal Inheritance and a redeemed Body 1 Joh. 3.2 Beloved now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Compared with Rom. 8.16 17. The Spirit it self heareth witness with our Spirits that we are the Children of God And if Children then Heirs Heirs of God and Joint-Heirs with Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together The third thing is to shew how the Lord Christ is brought into Relation with God the Father and what those Privileges are that he enjoys by virtue of this Relation If I should speak of the Relation of the eternal Word with the Father which was from everlasting it cannot be declared by the Creature therefore to meddle with this were high Presumption I shall only speak of his Relation with the Father as the second Person in the Godhead join'd to our Nature and as so united he is stiled in Scripture the only begotten Son of God the Relation of his Divine Nature with the Father being not thereby dissolved but remaining firm and his human Nature taken in to share with the Divine Nature in this Relation And as so related he enjoys very great Privileges from the Father As first To share with him in Divine Honour Joh. 5.22 23. For the Father judgeth no Man but hath committed all Judgment unto the Son That all Men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father As we honour the Father as the giver of every good thing to us we honour the Son as the way through which it is given ver 27. And hath given him authority to execute Judgment because he is the Son of Man That is he shall externally sit on the Tribunal or Judgment-seat at the last day and shall sentence all Persons to their eternal state I come now to treat of that Work which the holy Spirit carries on in the Souls of the Saints The Children of God being brought by the Light of the first Covenant to see themselves under the Penalty of the Law do come to witness by inward Experience the truth of the Apostle's words Rom. 7.10 And the Commandment which was ordained to Life to the first Adam while in Innocency is to them the Messenger of Death Actual Sins which they have committed against God with the Penalty annex'd to them are in the Glass of the Law presented before them they are so far delivered from the Rock of Presumption that they are in danger of splitting upon the Rock of Desperation but that an everlasting Arm is put under to support them To these heavy-laden Sinners are the Tenders of Grace through a dear Redeemer presented outwardly and these doth the Spirit draw inwardly The Sins that they have committed outwardly and the Corruptions that they groan under inwardly are brought with them to the Lord Jesus Christ they have nothing to recommend themselves by to the Redeemer but an inward fight and feeling of the Misery that they groan under they see a real need of a Saviour and to these when laid hold of by Faith he is precious The Evidence of a real Closure with the Lord Jesus Christ and the acceptance of pardoning Grace through him doth manifest it self in a differrent manner All the Children of God have not alike Evidence of a Closure some come only to witness a Faith of dependance on him and upon Grace through him while others are taken into his Arms and imbraced by him and drink deep of the Enjoyment of God through him To each of these Conditions as having received through rich Grace some inward Experience of them upon my own Soul I shall treat And first Of the Faith of dependance which doth discover it self to the Souls of God's Children in this manner The Soul hath strongly born in by the holy Spirit some such absolute Promise as this John 6.37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out They have the Evidences of the Father's giving them to him and of his driving them out of self-dependance to this Saviour they have the assurance in the Promise of his acceptance in these words him that cometh extended to every comer and they have the certainty of their Salvation that he will in no wise cast them out This or such like absolute Promises being not only born in but ingraven upon the Heart by the holy Spirit the Soul is inabled by Faith to feed upon and to rest upon for Comfort being throughly perswaded of the faithfulness of the Promiser and of his Ability to perform what he hath promised and from this doth the Soul draw inward Peace going a begging through the World for a more full discovery of their Souls Beloved to them and of the Fathers Love through him but are denied and many times do breath out their Souls unto God in words not much unlike their Lord's My God my God Why dost thou for sake me A Faith of dependance which knits the Soul to him is present but the Evidence of God's Presence with them is wanting It is upon an absolute Promise that I desire to close with Christ saith Mr. Cotton for if the Promise upon which thou closest be conditional there being a Failure through Frailty of the Condition the Comforts flowing from the Promise will thereby cease therefore saith he it is upon an absolute Promise that I desire to trust for Salvation 2ly I come in the next place to treat of that more full and clear Discovery of a closure with the Lord Jesus Christ and of the Father's Acceptance through him which the Holy Spirit doth bring some of the Children of God to
his first and second Appearance But as the Apostle saith Heb. 1.1 2. God who at sundry times and divers manners spake in times past unto the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son whom he hath appointed Heir of all things The New Testament which was given forth by the Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles doth take off the Vail from the Old and as to that part of it which concerns the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ is an Exposition of it Our Lord tells the Woman of Samaria John 4.23 But the hour cometh and now is when the true Worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him Under the times of the Old Testament the Worship of God lay much outward the Body being greatly exercised in it they had killing of Sacrifices they had material Fire to burn the Sacrifice withal and material Salt to season the Sacrifice But under the New Testament the Worship most of all concerns the Soul it is so far spiritual that the Spirit of God must be the Unfolder of it and calls at the first glance for the Soul to apprehend the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Person held forth in it For without a Heart true unto him no acceptance of the Worship neither the Worshipper The Salt which our Worship must be season'd withal must be inward Sincerity the Fire inward Zeal engaging the Heart with God when exercised in the worshipping of him which will not fail to keep the Body in a decent Posture with it How low doth the Apostle go when he speaks of the Old Testament Worship Heb. 10.1 For the Law having a shadow of good things to come and not the very Image of the things can never with these Sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the Comers thereunto perfect By the Law the following words shew he intends the Ceremonial Law which was appointed by God during that Dispensation to typify out that which is with such Clearness presented unto us in the New Testament And in comparing of these together the Apostle doth not vouchsafe to grant unto the Ceremonial Law to be an Image of the other but a Shadow a Shadow is not so much as an Image nor an Image so much as the thing it self It is a Metaphor taken from Painting Painters are wont with Chalk or a Coal to draw out the thing which they propose to themselves to express Which rude Picture is call'd a Shadow for the obscure Representation Then with the Pencil they bring on the lively Colours that it may be a distinct and express Likeness of a thing which is properly call'd an Image There being so vast a Difference in the Matter of the Worship betwixt the Old and New Testament it is very strange to me to see holy Men run back to the Old Testament to warrant their Practice for such things which they want a Warrant for from the New Having found out the nature of the Publication of the Gospel under the New Testament it will not be very difficult to find out what fort of Persons are the visible Members of the Church which leads me to the next thing to be handled What is required to be admitted a Member of the Church according to the Rule laid down in the New Testament And that is a laying hold of the Lord Jesus Christ by Faith and of that rich and free Grace which is extended to Sinners from God the Father through him accompanied with an outward Profession of their Faith before those to whom they join themselves in Church-fellowship and an outward Declaration of their sincere desire to walk with the Church as Members of it according to the Rule of the Word They first saith the Apostle gave their own selves to the Lord and to us by the Will of God It is impossible but Hypocrites and Formalists should creep into the Church because Man judgeth only by outward appearance it is God alone that can behold the Heart However the admittance of them depends upon the Church's Judgment and the Church receives them as sincere and not as Hypocrites or Formalists for if either of these were discoverable before admittance the Church would not accept them Acts 8.13 Then Simon himself believed also and was baptized By believing must be meant an outward Declaration of his believing for it doth appear that his Heart had not laid hold of the Lord Jesus Christ for if it had he would not have been so ignorant how the Gift of the Holy Ghost was given so as to think to procure it by Mony but being discovered the Apostle Peter tells him Thy Mony perish with thee ver 23. For I perceive thou art in the Gall of Bitterness and in the Bond of Iniquity That is notwithstanding thy outward Profession of Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ thou art in a state of Sin and Impenitency which if continued in will at last bring forth the Bitterness of eternal Punishment To prove that the New Testament doth require a Work of true Conversion upon the Heart as that which qualifies or fits a Person to be a Member of the visible Church and that no pretence of fleshly right as being of believing Parents will do it I shall offer these following Reasons First Because the Entail which gave the fleshly Seed right of Membership to the Church ended with that Old Testament Church-state for altho the grievous and abominable Sins of the Israelites did cause the Lord to bring very heavy Judgments upon them and often to send them into Captivity before the face of their Enemies yet they were not unchurched neither was the Worship of God taken from them for their Wickedness and given to another People and the great Reason was because it was by an Act of Grace that this Favour was granted to the Seed of Abraham that they should be separated from the rest of the Nations and have the Worship of God set up amongst them And the same Grace that extended this Favour to them above the rest of the World was pleased that an Entail to secure the continuance of the Favour granted until the coming of the Messiah should be a part of the Grant it self as appears from the words of Jacob Gen. 49.10 The Scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a Lawgiver from between his Feet until Shilo come He speaks it with a shall not to shew that altho their Sins might bring other Judgments upon them yet this Judgment was reserved to fall upon them for their slighting the Messiah The Lord Christ lays this before the Jews in the Parable of a Housholder planting a Vineyard Mat. 21.33 Hear another Parable There was a certain Housholder which planted a Vineyard and hedged it round about and digged a Wine-press in it and built a Tower and let it out to Husbandmen and went into a far Country This Housholder is God the Fathers this Vineyard
manifest it self it leads the Administrator unto a chearful administring the Ordinance to such Persons And he Peter commanded them to be baptized in the Name of the Lord. Those that do lay aside the Supper-Ordinance do say that Christ is come and therefore the Supper-Ordinance is of no longer continuance But if such Persons would seriously consider what the coming of Christ is which they speak of they would do well for if by coming inwardly into the Soul and the Holy Ghost's manifesting him in the Soul by the Glass of the Gospel be meant this is the Qualification to come to the Ordinance and so he is come to every sincere Christian 1 Pet. 1.8 Whom having not seen ye love in whom tho now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoice with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory Compared with Ephes 3.17 That Christ may dwell in your Hearts by Faith This dwelling of the Lord Jesus Christ by Faith is the inward discerning of him in his Sufferings which being wholly wanting in those that do partake of the outward part of the Ordinance they eat and drink Damnation to themselves not discerning the Lord's Body But if by being come they intend such a coming as to exclude the Expectation of the second Personal Appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ Whom the Apostle tells us Acts 3.21 the Heaven must receive until the Restitution of all things then they destroy one of the Articles of the Christian Faith The Saints in this day do in a measure witness with the Apostles the inward Enjoyment of him by Faith and by the same Faith that they liv'd in do expect the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ The Apostle John speaks fully to this in 1 Joh. 3.2 Beloved now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is They could not be brought into the state of Children without the inward Enjoyment of the Lord Jesus Christ by Faith for this is the Evidence of Sonship and it doth not yet appear what we shall be in Eternity we do but as in a Glass behold the Glory that the Children shall there be made partakers of but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Not alone we know that he is ours but we know that he will hold and keep us till we enjoy eternal Glory with our Head the Lord Jesus Christ at his second personal Appearance then shall our vile Bodies be changed like his glorious Body and we be ever with the Lord. The next thing to be treated of is that the way of administring the Ordinances be kept to according to the Rule of the Word and that is as to the Ordinance of Baptism a burial of the Body in Water in the Name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Buried with him by Baptism into Death Leigh in his Note upon the words of Rom. 6.4 The Apostle saith he alludes to the manner in which Baptism was then administred which was to plunge the Baptized in the Water after which they put on new Garments whence those manners of speaking used in Scripture to put on Christ to put off the old Man and put on the new Mr. Perkins agrees with Leigh as to the manner of Administration of the Ordinance of Baptism in the Primitive Church and tells us that it was altered from plunging of the Body under Water to sprinkling in the Face by reason of the Coldness of this Northern Climate but from whence the Power is derived to make any alteration in the Ordinance from its Primitive Institution this that holy Man shews not as if the Elements were not subject to the Power of God and he were not sufficient to preserve his Children in their Obedience to him in his own Appointments Secondly The way of administring the Supper-Ordinance we have set down by the Lord Jesus who was the first Administrator Mat. 26.26 27 28. And as they were eating that is the Passover Jesus took Bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to his Disciples and said Take eat this is my Body The Bread put for the thing signified by it which was the Body of Christ Ver. 27. And he took the Cup and gave Thanks and gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it Ver. 28. For this is my Blood that is a Sacrament or figure of his Blood poured forth of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of Sins This leads me to the next thing What the Ordinances do hold forth when administred according to the Rule of the Word I shall first treat of the Ordinance of Baptism which consists of two parts the one outward the other inward the outward part I have spoken to already which is a Burial of the Body in Water the inward part figured out by the outward is the Burial and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 6.4 5. Therefore we are buried with him by Baptism into Death that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the Glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of Life For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his Death we shall be also in the likeness of his Resurrection As the outward Declaration of the Gospel is the instrumental Means in the hand of the Holy Ghost to convey that which is held forth by it which is the Lord Jesus Christ unto the Soul so is the Ordinance of Baptism the Means appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ and made use of by the Spirit to convey that which is held forth by it The outward of it self conveys nothing it is only made use of by the holy Spirit to set before the Soul what is figured out by it The Burial of the Body holds forth the Burial of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Benefits which we receive by it which is a discharge from the Penalty of Sin and our rising out of the Water his Resurrection and the Benefits which we receive by it which is to walk with God in newness of Life by Power received from the Father through the Intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ The holy Spirit accompanying the Ordinance doth let the Soul see what Christ hath gone through to free it from Hell and to procure for it the Enjoyment of Heaven which inward sight by Faith knits the Soul to the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ The Apostle calls it a being planted into the likeness of his Death and into the likeness of his Resurrection The Believer is let into Christ so as to draw that spiritual Life by which he lives unto God from the Lord Jesus Christ he not only lives in the Enjoyment of the Father but doth likewise convey of that spiritual Life unto all his Members in a measure For
the further clearing up and confirming the truth of what is held forth by the Ordinance of Baptism I shall open the Apostle's words in 1 Pet. 3.19 20 21. By which also he went and preached unto the Spirits in Prison He the Lord Jesus Christ in his Divine Nature went by Noah's Ministry and preached Repentance while the Ark was building to those Souls who for their Impenitency were cast into the Prison of Hell Which sometime were disobedient when once the Long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the Ark was a preparing the Forbearance of God towards the old World continued and Noah preached Repentance to them wherein few that is eight Persons were saved by Water The like Figure whereunto even Baptism doth now save us not the putting away the filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ The outward part which is Water and which puts away the filth of the Flesh by the burial of the Body in it is not that which saves but it is a Figure of that which doth save the Spirit accompanying the Ordinance when it is administred by the answer of a good Conscience towards God that is the answer of a believing Heart which by Faith lays hold of that which is figured out by it the Lord Jesus Christ in his Death and Resurrection The Lord's Supper hath likwise two parts an Outward and an Inward the Outward part is the Bread broken and eaten the Wine poured forth and drunk by the Believer the Inward part is his Flesh crucified and his Blood shed for the sake of his Members Luke 22.19 20. And he took Bread and gave Thanks and brake it and gave unto them saying This is my Body which is given for you this do in remembrance of me Likewise also the Cup after Supper saying This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for you The Martyrs being press'd by the Papists to shew how the Lord Jesus Christ was present in this Ordinance owned that as Bread and Wine was apprehended by the Body in feeding upon it to its Nourishment so the Flesh and Blood of Christ was apprehended by the Soul in feeding upon him to the nourishing of the Soul The Bread and Wine is not the Body but a Sacramental Figure by which the Body of Christ is represented to us 1 Cor. 11.26 For as often as ye eat this Bread and drink of this Cup ye do shew the Lord's Death till he come PART IV. Being an Appendix which the Author leaves for a Legacy to his Children GEN. 18.19 For I know him that he will command his Children and his Houshold after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do Justice and Judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him WHAT I shall leave with you my Children I shall comprehend under these two general Heads First Lay before you the way that God hath taken to bring my Soul to the Enjoyment of himself by Faith Secondly The Counsel and Direction which I recommend unto you if I should be shortly removed from you First I shall lay before you the way that God hath taken to bring me to the Enjoyment of himself by Faith I was in my younger years exceedingly beloved of my Mother so that her very Life seem'd almost bound up in me and tho I do believe she had a Work of Grace upon her Soul yet her Love to me did not run in that pure Channel which it ought to have run that is to have made my immortal Soul the great Object of her Love and Care But her Indulgence to me in my tender years tended greatly to heighten Sin and Corruption in my Soul for I chose for my Companions the profanest Boys in Bridlington and altho I was not gotten to such a pitch of Profaneness as some of them yet I took delight to hear them belch out their Wickedness and frequently at our Meetings we had profane Ballads which I was as industrious to learn to sing as any of them my poor Mother did know of my Companions but I do not think that she did believe that they were altogether so wicked as they were for they generally appeared moderately sober before her I do think that it is one of the greatest Duties that belongs to Parents to endeavour to cast their Children among other sober Children for what avails all Admonition that can be given to a Child if as soon as we have done we deliver it up into Temptation I do not think that it is in Parents power to give a Principle of Grace to their Childen but it may be in their power to give a check to the outbreakings of Corruption which may greatly hinder its growth Prov. 22.6 Train up a Child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it When I was about seven years old and a Scholar at the Free School a wonderful Providence did befal me Being at play with about forty Scholars with me in the Green before the Church and a poor Woman at the Well-side drawing Straw I laid my Breast over the great blue Stones that lay about the Well to sail my Ship in it it being full of Water and so went head forward down into the Well neither my Play-fellows seeing me fall into it nor the poor Woman that was by but altho no Eye saw me yet the Eye of the Almighty was over me and his sparing pitying Love was towards me being very unfit to go into Eternity having no knowledg of God neither of the worth of my precious Soul and he by his Wisdom open'd a way to save me in such a manner that all concern'd in me might know that he had done it A poor old Woman whose Name was Alice Brown that liv'd right against the Well had hung on a Pan with Water to lay Leven but a lump of Soot fell down out of the Chimny which had been swept but three days before into her Pan so that she cast out the Water and came to the Well for more and seeing me gave a sudden skreek the poor Woman who was a common Harlot that was drawing Straw supposing it to be her Boy my Mother having a little before given her some of my old Clothes laid her hand upon the Stones and leapt directly into the Well which was up to her Breast in Water and catching me in her Arms handed me out with very little discovery of Life in me This amazing Providence had not the least effect upon me to frighten me out of my Sins but being well recovered I became more sinful than before and that which tended to heighten it was that I made this Harlot's Son who had been the Instrument in saving me my chief Companion In this course I continued until I was about thirteen years of Age. Being a dull Scholar and my Master churlish to me and
secret before God for Counsel and Direction and blessed be his holy Name he did not leave me but open'd a way for my Escape which Mercy I desire to keep in remembrance while I am in this World The night before the Warrant was to be executed I was very sick all the night but in the morning something better the Officers meeting together about that wicked Work to which they were all averse sent for me but my Excuse of not being well would not serve their turn but they proceeded by Lot to take the Houses of that poor People and sent me my Lots which I received with a great deal of joy seeing they desired me either to send Mony or get one to officiate I sent them the Mony rejoicing and upon my Knees blessed God for that great Mercy and tho the poor Quakers did offer me my Mony again yet I durst not for Conscience sake receive it I leave this with you as my Judgment that a misguided Conscience ought to be informed not forced God hath appointed other ways in his Word to reclaim those that are in an Error than by ruining Mens Persons and Estates The Liberty for Dissenters being granted by King James I was brought to hear five or six dissenting Ministers at Richard Cockeril's which through the Blessing of God so far wrought upon me as to take off that Prejudice that I had conceived against them but my Understanding remained dark without any inward discovery of the precious Doctrine of the Gospel until I sat under the Ministry of Mr. Humphreys being before that time a high Asserter of Free-will and general Redemption which naturally falls under the first Covenant-Principle His Personal Failings which brought a stain upon the precious Truths f the Gospel through Mercy I abhorr'd and took the freedom at times to speak to him about it yet his Doctrine which he preached was the instrumental means to bring me and many other poor Sinners to join with the Truth which through Mercy I was inabled to do upon the account of its own Worth and Excellency And mark it my Children that which must establish your Hearts in the Truths of God must be the holy Spirit 's inlightening your Souls to behold the Truth in the Scripture-Glass and inabling your Souls to see a native Beauty and Excellency in it above any Lustre that the Creature can put upon it by any Rhetorical Florishes whatsoever I cannot see what solid ground Persons can have to lay claim to an Interest in the Foundation-Truths of Christianity before the charming Simplicity that doth appear in Truth doth allure and win upon the Heart to lay hold of it When the holy Spirit doth present Truth unto the Soul it puts such a Divine Authority into it as constrains the Soul to bow before it and to submit unto it That Scripture which the Holy Ghost was pleased to make use of to present the Lord Jesus Christ unto my Soul and to seal unto it an Interest in God as my God through him was the words of Christ to Mary Joh. 20. the latter part of the 17th Verse Go to my Brethren and say unto them I ascend to my Father and your Father to my God and your God In which words the Lord Jesus Christ was presented unto my Soul as the Person by whom we are brought into relation with God and so was I inabled to lay hold of him with my whole Heart as the Person that opens the door of Grace and Mercy and under the inward sense and feeling of that Grace and Mercy which I did then receive from my heavenly Father as an Evidence of his accepting of me through his Son my Heart was exceedingly melted before him and drawn forth by the Spirit of Adoption into such a familiarity with him as to lay open my Heart before him being not then afraid to let him know the worst of my Condition from that Confidence that I had in that blessed Mediator that stood betwixt us I then experienced a new Principle begotten in my Soul which knit my Heart to the Person of the Lord Jesus I felt my Heart leaning towards him for Security and Safety and while the inward Evidence of my Union with him did last I look'd upon my self to be without the reach of the Tempter and altho many Clouds and Temptations have been upon me since the time of my first closing with him yet he hath not suffered me to be overwhelmed by them but in the midst of Troubles hath discovered himself unto me And this frequently I have experienced that when some sudden surprizing Providence hath fallen upon me that seem'd to be of a frowning nature my Soul being rouz'd did shake it self to see if it 's spiritual Strength remained Its first search hath been after its Union with its Lord and to get the Heart raised to God through him If Grace remained so as to keep the Heart knit unto Christ to wrestle with the Father through him generally slavish Fear fled away and a submissive frame of Spirit took place of it to be disposed of by God according to his Wisdom and before the Trouble was wholly over some comfortable Scripture was born in as an earnest that the Deliverance was coming My hope for Heaven lies in this that I am in the way that all the Flock have walk'd in unto this day For the New Testament stands upon the Credit and Authority of the Old If the Messiah were yet to come to work out Man's Salvation the Old Testament Prophecies concerning him could have their Accomplishment in no other way than they are laid down fulfilled in the New in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Acts 10.43 To him give all the Prophets witness that through his Name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of Sins And besides this my Heart hath been inwardly made sensible of the preventing Grace of God put forth outwardly towards me and his pardoning and renewing Grace hath been manifested inwardly in me First His preventing Grace hath been put forth outwardly towards me in that tender Watchfulness that my Heavenly Father hath shewed towards me to this day How many times have I been in danger of being led away by grievous Temptations and have been without the sense of the danger that I was in and yet something hath fallen out that hath prevented my falling by the Temptation and afterwards I have been made sensible of the Danger and of the Mercy received This was a great means of settling my Soul in the Doctrine of Election for I was many times constrained to cry out Why dost thou manifest such Grace unto me a worthless Creature For my Children I must acknowledg as standing under the first Covenant I was a Sinner before God and liable to his Justice His condemning of me could have been no Injustice in him therefore his dealing with me in Mercy 's way must lead me to acknowledg that it is by Grace I stand Secondly His
of Darkness hath shined in our Hearts to give the Light of the knowledg of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4.6 That is The way that God doth take to exalt his Grace and Mercy to his Elect is in a way that doth agree with his Justice He beholds the eternal Word Creator united to the Childrens Nature by it giving Satisfaction to Justice The stoppage of Grace being removed Grace doth shine down upon them The Spirit of Adoption which is the inward Witness meets Grace in the way that it comes forth The Soul admires the Wisdom and Goodness of God in appointing the way of its Salvation in such a way as exalts Grace and wrongs not Justice Grace being no less to us by making its way through Christ to us because it was the Father that appointed the Son this Work and it was to answer the Father's Will that he performed it This inward Witness incourageth a poor Sinner that is weary of Sin to go to Christ and to God through him For altho there seems a great distance betwixt a poor guilty Sinner and a holy God to behold each of them as they are in themselves yet this middle Person the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Reconciler or the maker up of the Breach betwixt them being inwardly discovered in the Gospel-Glass by the Holy Ghost working with it those who were far off before are brought nigh by the Blood of this blessed Jesus Divine Love descends Faith enables the Soul to mount up and with Wings to ascend We love him saith St. John because he first loved us This Light of the Holy Ghost is a distinct thing from the first Covenant-Principle That lays the Soul under Guilt for Sin but takes not in the way of Reconciliation The Holy Ghost takes in the way of Reconciliation and gives Evidence of the Souls Interest in it It is by the Apostle called the Spirit of the Son because it is by the Intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ that the Holy Ghost is sent and because it leads the Soul to pay the Tribute of Divine Honour to him as being the way to the Father It leads the Soul wholly in another way than the first Covenant-Principle leads in Its Motives by which it stirs up the Soul to watch against Sin are from Mercy and Goodness that is spiritual Mercies received by the Soul The first Covenant-Principle breaks the Soul off from Sin by shewing the Wrath and Misery that attends it The Holy Ghost stirs up the Soul to set a Watch against the first motions of Lust by discovering the loathsom nature of it which if the Soul joins with it will thereby be unfit for Communion with God As it is by the Holy Ghost that Sanctification is carried or in the Soul to prepare it for the Enjoyment of God in Glory so the Apostle seems to put the Cure of the Bodies of the Saints even when they are under a Dissolution upon the Holy Ghost in order to their recovery out of that state Rom. 8.11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall quicken your mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you I have gone through the first Head and laid before you the dealings of God with me in bringing of me to the Enjoyment of himself by Faith and shall now proceed to the second Head Secondly The Counsel and Direction which I recommend unto you if I should be shortly removed from you 1st Endeavour to get imprinted upon your Hearts the thoughts of God in his Soveraignty over you and those outward Providences which he exerciseth towards you God is so incomprehensible in his Being that he cannot be fathom'd by the Creature What an Awe and Reverence of him hath the Consideration of his Incomprehensibleness made upon the Hearts of his dearest Children In his discovering of himself to them in the greatness of his Power how hath he treated them as Worms and nothing Creatures And they in their expressing of themselves before him their Language hath carried in it the Evidences of a humble Heart Psal 22.4 5 6. Our Fathers trusted in thee they trusted and thou didst deliver them They cried unto thee and were delivered they trusted in thee and were not confounded But I am a Worm and no Man a reproach of Men and despised of the People We see here the Psalmist David who is recorded to be a Man after God's owh Heart how he expresses himself before God First In acknowledging God in his Power to deliver And then secondly In acknowledging his Unworthiness to be delivered by him in these words I am a Worm and no Man The clearer Discovery that the Soul gets of God in the Absoluteness of his Power and that incomprehensible Greatness he is invested withal hath that Effect upon the Heart as to lay it in the Dust before him Remember my Children that in your Creation you were in the hands of the wise Creator as the Clay is in the hand of the Potter The forming and the fashioning of you lay wholly in his own Will and Pleasure Psal 119.73 Thy hands have made and fashioned me give me Vnderstanding that I may learn thy Commandments That there is no defect in the Members of your Bodies is a Mercy to you but that there is no defect in the Faculties of your Souls is a greater Mercy What great Obligations are you under to the great Creator seeing you have received your Being from him 2. Consider how the Creator has disposed of you and how his Providential Dealings are towards you Acts 17.26 And hath made of one Blood all Nations of Men to dwell on the face of the Earth and hath determined the Times afore appointed and the Bounds of their Habitation That is He hath determined the time that he allows every one in this World and their place for a Habitation in it How bountiful is the great Creator unto you that he should appoint you your place in England and not in India or some other dark place of the World that is full of the Habitations of Cruelty that your Lot should be hitherto to have a full supply of outward Necessaries whereas many others are attended by great outward Wants and Penury 3. Consider God's Providential Dealings towards you that your Parents have been hitherto continued and made a Blessing to you that they have not been wanting to your outward Man by their utmost care to provide for it But above all what a Blessing have they been made unto you as to your Souls if it be but sanctified unto you What proof have your poor Parents given of their Care over your Souls in giving you your Education in such a way as hath been a means to bring them under great outward Straits their Eyes being fixt upon the good of your immortal Souls in what they have done that you might not be exposed
wherein consisted true Wisdom and heavenly Knowledg 2. The Memory a holy remembrance of such things as we ought 3. The Will a liberty of choosing or refusing 4. The Affections wherein lay the strength of the desire after God 5. The Conscience wherein lay Man's Integrity or Uprightness in walking with God And that the Soul might not be any ways deficient the Impress of the Law of the Creator was ingraven upon it which consisted in our Duty to God and to one another Adam wanted not Light to see the Excellency of the state wherein he was created which Light if followed would lead him to the Creator as the Spring from whence this his immortal Soul did come He was under the greatest Obligations that were possible of loving his Creator with all his Heart with all his Mind and with all his Strength and his Neighbour as himself both which parts of the Law he broke in going from his Duty to his Creator and by offering Violence to all his Offspring which were then in his Loins he being made their Representative and the Root from whence they were all to proceeed which I shall treat of more at large in the next Chapter and return now to speak of the Excellency of the Soul and of its immortal Nature 1. From the Scripture 2. From Experience in our viewing of dying Persons And 3. From the Sayings of many Gentiles First From the Scripture Eccles 12.7 Then shall the Dust return to the Earth and the Spirit return to God who gave it As it received Life from God without the Body so being separated from the Body it ceaseth not to be but goeth unto God its Creator to be disposed of by him see Phil. 1.21 I might also mention the Promise of Christ to the penitent Thief on the Cross I say to thee This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise and that of the Parable of the rich Man and Lazarus See also 2 Cor. 5.1 Secondly In our viewing of dying Persons How great Testimony have we of the Excellency of the Soul in its being immortal in that when the Body is languishing and under its last minutes drawing to a Dissolution the Soul is more active and quick than ever striving as it were to be gone from it Again the Excellency of the Soul in the Immortality of it doth appear in the dying Hopes of the Saints and the dying Fears and Terrors of the Wicked I my self have seen some who in their dying hours have carried the greatest Evidences of their Souls being immortal and that they were going to the eternal Enjoyment of God that was possible to be given enough to satisfy the most daring Atheist even a meeting of Death with the greatest sweetness and composedness of Spirit Give my Love saith one to me to such and such Friends and tell them by such a time my Soul will be in eternal Rest Their Souls have given forth the greatest Unconcernedness that was possible to part with those things that had been most delightful unto them by being brought to see into the Emptiness of all these inferiour things having received a view of the full Enjoyment of God to be had and that their Souls when separated from the Body were capable of such an enjoying of him Not many Months since I my self went to visit a dying Friend who at that time seem'd to me to be further from her Dissolution than she really was she seem'd to be exceeding chearful I said to her I hope you may recover you are better than you have been she answered I hope I shall not to which I replied Why do you hope so She answer'd My Evidences are clear for Heaven and I long to have the Enjoyment of it Again What an Evidence doth the dying Fears of unconverted Sinners carry with it of the Excellency of the Soul and of the Immortality of it for altho that part of the Image of God in their Souls which contained their Duty to God and to one another be defac'd and the Faculties of the Soul have lost that Rectitude and Order in which they were created yet the Evidences of the Excellency of it in being immortal and capable of an eternal Enjoyment of God have remained What Concernedness hath filled the Souls of dying unconverted Sinners about their eternal loss of God and how have they been seiz'd with the sad apprehensions of an eternal exclusion from him See Mr. Wadsworth on the Soul's Immortality and Dr. More Thirdly A third Evidence of the Immortality of the Soul and of the Excellency of it doth appear from the words of many famous Gentiles as quoted by William Penn in his Christian Quaker Chapter the 14th of Gentile Divinity of the Immortality of the Soul To which might be added the Sayings of divers Heathen Writers 1st Pythagoras The Soul is incorruptible it never dieth for when it goeth out of the Body it goeth into the other World the pure to God the impure bound by Furies in indissolvable Chains 2dly Heraclitus If my Body be over-press'd it may descend to the destinate place nevertheless my Soul shall not descend but being a thing immortal shall fly up on high to Heaven 3dly Socrates The Body being compounded it dissolved by Death the Soul being simple passeth into another Life incapable of Corruption The Souls of the good after Death are in a happy state united to God in a blessed inaccessible place the bad in convenient places suffering condign Punishment The same Socrates being condemned to die by Poison Crito one of his Followers ask'd him How wilt thou be buried As you think good saith he if you can catch me and if I give you not the slip Then with a smile applying himself to those that stood by him I cannot perswade Crito saith he that I am any more than the Carcase you will anon behold and therefore he takes care for my Interment It seems that what I even now told him that as soon as I have taken the Poison I shall go to the Joys of the Blessed hath been to little purpose From what hath been said it doth appear that the Soul of Man is of an excellent frame or make How happy was the first Adam while in the state of Innocency when every Faculty of the Soul stood in that Rectitude and Order wherein it was placed by the wise Creator and the Impressions of what was required of him ingraven upon his Heart For if that Law which is call'd the Law of Nature carry such Beauty in it now what Beauty had it in it before it was defac'd by Sin Adam while in the state of Innocency had no Corruption in him for to fasten the Temptation upon his Will was free and at liberty to join with or refuse the Temptation when presented to him and to incourage him in his Obedience he had the continuance in this his happy state promised to him for as the threatning if he disobey'd God carried Death with it so it must be
God through the Ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their Hearts who being past feeling have given themselves over unto Lasciviousness to work all Vncleanness with greediness The Understanding is so far from being taken up with the Knowledg of God his Mind and Will that it labours more and more after the knowledg of the ways of Sin and so becomes more and more estranged from God wise to do evil but to do good without Understanding The Memory wherein lay a holy remembrance of heavenly things is now become dull and forgetful and easily lets go those things which we are in the chiefest place concerned to remember we can remember readily the things which concern this Life the Vanities and Follies of the ways of Sin What deep Impression do these things make upon the Memory of poor Creatures But things which lead to the enjoyment of God and the everlasting Welfare of the immortal Soul how slippery and weak is the Memory become to retain these The Will wherein lay the liberty of choosing or refusing and before Sin enter'd will'd always that which was good is now become impotent and weak in its joining with Good how is it inslaved by Sin and in the Chains of Satan Rom. 6.20 For when you were the Servants of Sin ye were free from Righteousness Holiness without which God cannot be enjoy'd the poor unconverted Sinner hath no Will in him to lay hold of but on the contrary lusteth after that which is evil Gen. 6.6 And God saw that the Wickedness of Man was great in the Earth and that every Imagination of his Heart was evil continually compared with Job 15.16 How much more abominable is Man who drinketh Iniquity like Water Yea what an Enmity is seated in the Will of unconverted Sinners against the ways of Holiness How do their very Hearts rise against it Rom. 8.7 Because the carnal Mind is Enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be The Affections of the Soul wherein lay the strength of the desire after God are subjected to Sin How are they set upon unmeet Objects inclined to things they should not be and not to those they should Thus we naturally hate good and love evil 1 Kings 22.8 And the King of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat There is yet one Man Micaiah the Son of Imlah by whom we may inquire of the Lord but I hate him for he doth not prophesy good concerning me but evil Our Affections are naturally raised to meet Sin and the Temptations that lead into it and do even embrace the Temptation but are not stirred up to that which is Good unless it be to eschew and shun it Besides when the Affections do move how disorderly is their Motion when merry too merry when sad too sad The Conscience wherein lay Man's Integrity or walking with God and wherein were the Impressions of the Divine Law which contained in it our Duty to God and to one another how is it disordered by Sin the Acts of Sin taking away the inward sense and feeling of the evil of it And with what weakness doth that first Covenant-Light which leads the Soul to seek after God as Creator move in the Soul How are its Reproofs hardly taken notice of by most Persons and that by reason of that great Darkness that is fallen upon the Soul of Man Thus we may see that Sin as a Leprosy hath over-run all the Faculties and is become as a Body in the Soul consisting of many Members Rom. 7.23 24. But I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Law of Sin which is in my Members O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this Death Tho all Sin doth not appear alike in all some by Nature are more mild and courteous than others the reason of which difference is not that there are not the same seeds of Corruption in all but that the Lord keepeth down those Sins in some which he suffereth to rise up in others The Children of God that are by the Inlightnings of the holy Spirit come to see into the Corruptions of their Hearts how do they see the seeds of Sin lying in their Souls even of such Sins which they thought had not been in them The Heart or Soul doth then appear to be desperately wicked who but God himself can have the full knowledg of it For the Children of God in their searches after Heart-corruptions cannot come to find the bottom of them so far is the Soul of Man fallen from God by Sin that it is afraid to come nigh unto God it flies farther and farther from God until it gets into the Pit of eternal Misery How dark was Adam become by Sin as to think the Trees of the Garden could hide him from the Eye of the great Creator And that God might aggravate and heighten his Sin he speaks ironically by way of taunt The Man is become like one of us He is come to know Evil by woful experience he is fill'd with inward Horror and with outward Shame Secondly I shall shew the miserable state that Adam was brought into by the Fall as to his Body for no sooner was he fallen but the Sentence was inflicted on him That in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Altho the Sentence was not so far put in execution against him as to separate the Soul from the Body yet his bodily state was so far changed as to bring it under those Evils that lead to a Dissolution He was driven out of that pleasant Garden of Delight in which God at first placed him into the Earth to get his Living in it amongst the Beasts of the field and whereas in his innocent state he had a furnished Table provided without labor or toil God himself having by his own Power provided things necessary for his bodily Subsistence now he must till the Earth with labour and toil which was put under the Curse of Barrenness for Man's sake until the poor Body wearied out returneth to the Earth by a painful Death from whence it was taken Dust thou art and to Dust thou shalt return The Beasts of the Field who gave a willing Subjection to him as their Soveraign were now so far estranged from him as to rebel against him and ready to put in execution the Sentence of a bodily Death the Air in which he breathed was changed for his sake and infected the poor Body with many sorts of Distempers Sores Sicknesses and Diseases of all sorts Sin being the cause of all this Misery Mat. 9.2 And behold they brought to him a Man sick of the Palsie lying on a Bed and Jesus seeing their Faith said unto the sick of the Palsie Son be of good cheer thy Sins be forgiven thee Thus by taking away the Sin he takes away that which was inflicted upon the poor Body
for it Besides all this Misery that is inflicted upon the poor Body in this Life if it be not brought within the compass of a share in the Redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ at the morning of the Resurrection it must be reunited to the Soul and sentenc'd to share with the Soul in eternal Misery having been a sharer with it in a course of Sin in this Life Thirdly I shall shew the Misery that Adam brought upon all his Offspring by the Fall Adam stood not before God as a single Person but as one that had all his Offspring in him They being all in him and to proceed from him by Generation became sharers with him in that state which he fell into Gen. 5.3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years and begat a Son in his own Likeness after his Image and called his Name Seth born to the same Misery that his Father Adam was in and a sharer with him in it Adam received Light from the eternal Creator and a holy rectitude of Soul and was under no necessity of giving way to a Temptation there being nothing in him while in his state of Innocency to fasten a Temptation upon so that his Fall was a voluntary going off from God He receiving those excellent Endowments of Soul and Body as a publick Person by his Transgression Judgment came upon all Men to Condemnation Rom. 5.14 Nevertheless Death reigned from Adam to Moses even over them who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam 's Transgression For from Adam to Moses we do not read that after the Fall God ever treated with Adam or with his Offspring by an outward trial upon the terms of Do and live Besides Death then reigned and doth still reign over little Children whose Infant-state makes them uncapable of being put to the trial of their Obedience How doth daily Experience shew us that poor Infants are many times arrested as soon as gotten into the World by grievous Distempers as the Convulsions and such like which keep them in grievous Misery for several days together before the Soul be separated from the Body which is a sufficient Testimony that they have another's Sin imputed to them by which their very Nature is defiled upon which defiled Nature Death feeds until it hath brought it to Dissolution as to their Bodies but their Souls I desire to leave to that rich and free Grace which flows to Sinners through a second Adam the Lord Jesus Christ and to the Spirit 's applying of it to them without any outward means Having gone through this third Chapter which contains the misery of the first Adam and his Offspring before thou leavest it make some Application of it to thy own Soul Look back my Soul and see what thou wast in an unconverted state thou spentst twelve Years in gross darkness without the least knowledg of that God from whence thou receivedst thy being thou wast wholly given up to the ways of Sin without the least consideration what bitter Fruit it did produce that the way of it led to the Chambers of Death and the Pit of eternal Misery How many times wast thou while in this state nigh the Dissolution of thy Body the Grave both to thy self and others seeming to open its Mouth to receive thee What could have been thy state in eternity if thou hadst been then removed Dos not the holy Scripture fully declare that those who spend their days in Sin and in Satan's slavery shall he eternally miserable with him O my Soul tho thou couldst not pity thy self because of that gross darkness that was upon thee yet that God that gave thee thy being pitied thee and extended sparing Mercy to thee It is he that hath delivered thy Soul from Death thine Eyes from Tears and thy Feet from falling Thou now groanest in an unredeemed Body but thou viewst by Faith a redeem'd one Doth the Creation groan by reason of that weight of Sin that is upon it Thy Lord Jesus's Return draws very nigh his Coming will bring with it a removal of the Curse and times of Refreshing shall come with him he will renew the Earth and in it shall dwell nothing but Righteousness CHAP. IV. Of the Image of God that was upon the Heart of the first Adam how it discovers it self in the Hearts or Souls of his fallen Children The nature of the leadings of that first Covenant-light and the Condition of those that stand under the highest Attainment of it THat Adam was a publick Person and that the great Creator enter'd into Covenant with him upon the terms of Obey and live hath been proved in the foregoing Chapter and shall by the help of the Spirit of God be more fully demonstrated in this That all his Offspring as descending from him by Generation are under the same Covenant have some remaining Impressions of the same Law upon their Souls and Light from the Creator answering the terms of that first Covenant I shall First clear up from Scripture Secondly from the Sayings of many famous Gentiles Thirdly from common Experience of all Persons that do take notice of the dealings of God with their Souls And First to prove it from Scripture Deut. 30.11 12 13 14 15. For this Commandment which I command thee this day it is not hidden from thee neither is it far off it is not in Heaven that thou shouldst say Who shall go up for us to Heaven and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it Neither is it beyond the Sea that thou shouldst say Who shall go over the Sea for us and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it But the Word is very nigh unto thee in thy Mouth and in thy Heart that thou mayest do it I have set before thee this day Life and Good and Death and Evil. Compared with Rom. 2.14 15. For when the Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law that is in the outward letter are a Law unto themselves Which shew the work of the Law written in their Hearts their Conscience also bearing witness and their Thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another From which Scriptures it is evident that the Law delivered at Sinai and written in Tables of Stone was but a Copy of this inward Law which was ingraven in the Soul of Adam and on the Souls of all his Offspring It doth further appear that Adam's Offspring as they descend from him are under the same Covenant with himself from their dealing with God and his with them according to the terms of that first Covenant Gen. 4.5 6 7. But unto Cain and his Offering he had not respect and Cain was very wroth and his Countenance fell and the Lord said unto Cain Why art thou wroth and why is thy Conntenance fallen If thou doest well shalt thou not be accepted and if thou doest not well Sin lieth at the
door Cain presented his Offering as a fruit of his Obedience to his Creator and expected acceptance upon the account of his Obedience which proving otherwise than he hoped he was wroth and his Countenance fell the Lord gives him the reason why his Offering was not accepted because it was imperfect the worthiness of his Brother Abel's Offering lying in an act of Faith put forth in a Redeemer to come upon whose worthiness he grounded the acceptance of it and not upon the terms of the first Covenant Heb. 11.4 compared with chap. 12.2 Another Scripture which I shall mention is Joh. 6.28 Then said they unto him What shall we do that we might work the works of God From whence it is clear that notwithstanding the outward means they enjoy'd which were to lead them as Sinners to a Redeemer they still remain under the first Covenant The next thing is to shew that the Off-spring of the first Adam have the same inward Light which leads to the Creator that Adam enjoy'd Prov. 20.27 The Spirit of Man is the Candle of the Lord searching all the inward parts of the Belly Compared with Rom. 1.18 19 20. For the Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all Vngodliness and Vnrighteousness of Men who hold the Truth in Vnrighteousness Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them For the invisible things of him from the Creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal Power and Godhead so that they are without excuse By the Spirit of Man he intends the Soul of Man that is indued with such excellent Qualities which if improved to their right end do lead the Creature into the Duties required in the first Covenant and by viewing the Works of Creation to that eternal Power and Godhead by which all things were created the not improving of which Light leaves them without excuse before God as they stand under the first Covenant These Gentiles of which the Apostle is treating did darken that Light which led them to view the Godhead in the works of Creation by their Unrighteousness that is Impiety Profaneness and Superstition that they run into so that God gave them up to strong Delusions Secondly I shall prove that all the Off-spring descending from the first Adam are under the same Covenant with him have some remaining Impressions of the same Law upon their Souls and Light from the Creator leading to answer the terms of the first Covenant from the Sayings of many famous Gentiles Timeus one of Pythagoras's Scholars saith That the most excellent thing the Soul is awakened to is her Guide or good Genius but if she be rebellious to it it will prove her Demon or Tormentor but having overcome these things thou shalt know the Cohabitation or dwelling together of the immortal God and mortal Men. Sophocles God grant saith he that I may always be so happy as to observe that venerable Sanctity in my Words and Deeds which is commanded by these noble Laws speaking of the Laws written in Mens Consciences which were made in Heaven God is their Father not mortal Nature neither shall they ever be abrogated or forgotten It is frequently said of Socrates saith Plutarch that he had the Guide of his Life within him which it was told his Father Sophroniscus should be of more worth to him than five hundred Matters he call'd it his good Angel or Spirit who suggested to his Mind what was good and virtuously inclin'd and disposed him to a strict and pious Life Cleanthes the Stoick alloweth not Mankind to be governed of right by the Dictates of their own Nature which barely render them Men but by that Divine Infinite and Eternal Nature which is God diffus'd or sown through the whole race of Men as the most sure infallible Guide and Rule To live saith he according to this Knowledg and Direction is truly to live according to Vertue not doing any thing that is forbidden The Vertue and Happiness of a Man depends upon a close Correspondence of his Mind with the Divine Will of him who governeth the Universe Again saith the same Cleanthes the Knowledg of God is imprinted upon the Minds of Men. Plutarch speaking of the Principle of God in the Conscience saith It is a Law not written in Tables or Books but dwelling in the Mind always as a living Rule which never permits the Soul to be destitute of an inward Guide Again saith Plutarch to debase this antient Faith of Mankind and natural Belief which is planted in all reasonable Souls is to overthrow the strong and everlasting Foundation of Vertue I shall conclude these Sayings of the Gentiles with Antistheties William Penn's Gentile Divinity Christian Quaker pag. 72. He was Institutor of the Cynicks as they were call'd and Scholar to Socrates he taught that Vertue was the truest Nobility that Piety was alone needful to a lasting Happiness that true Vertue stood not in saying but doing that which was good not in much Learning or many words but upright Actions In short that the Principle of Vertue is sufficient to what Wisdom is needful and that all other things ought to have reference thereto that Piety is the best Armor and vertuous Persons are always Friends that Vertue is an Armour none can either pierce or take from good Men. He prefers a just Man before his Neighbour and good Womens Souls have the same Privilege to Vertue with Mens He accounted Pleasure one of the greatest Mischiefs in the World and being ask'd what Learning was best he answers that which unlearns Men Evil for those who would live for ever must have a care that their Lives be holy and just in this World Thirdly I shall prove that all the Off-spring of the first Adam descending from him are under the same Covenant with him have some remaining Impressions of the same Law upon their Souls and Light from the Creator leading to answer the terms of the first Covenant from the common Experience of all Persons that take notice of the dealings of God with their Souls We must distinguish betwixt a sinful Peace gain'd by Persons in a zealous performance of an outward Worship handed down unto them by their Ancestors and that Peace which Persons gain by the Conduct of that Light which leads to God upon the terms of the first Covenant That the first moving or stirring of the Soul is by this first Covenant-light doth appear in that the Work upon the Heart doth usually begin with a discovery of some Sin or Sins committed against one of the two Tables of the Law either that which contains our Duty to God or to our Neighbour which inward discovery of Sin hath attending of it Guilt and Fear of either some temporal or eternal Punishment for the escaping of which Punishment the Soul doth betake it self to a close adherence to this inward Light and by following of it
sitting And there appeared unto them cloven Tongues as of Fire and it sat upon each of them And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other Tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance As their Commission was to preach the Gospel to all Nations so the Qualification for the Work was agreeable to the Commission Where Persons do pretend to the same Commission with the Apostles and that they have as large an extent of Power and Jurisdiction as they had and want the Qualification wherewith they were endued they carry saith the learned Dr. Owen the mark of Antichrist in their Foreheads That this Qualification for the first publishing of the Gospel did proceed from the Intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ as Mediator for the gathering of the Elect out of the World will appear if we compare these two following Scriptures one with another Acts 2.32 33. This Jesus hath God raised up whereof we all are Witnesses Therefore being by the right-hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear Compared with Acts 10.34 35 36 43 44. Then Peter opened his Mouth and said Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of Persons But in every Nation he that feareth him and worketh Righteousness is accepted of him The Word which God sent unto the Children of Israel preaching Peace by Jesus Christ he is Lord of all To him give all the Prophets witness that through his Name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of Sins While Peter spake these words the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word In Acts 2.32 33. the Qualification is laid down without which Peter had been unable to preach the Gospel to those of Cesarea here is the Holy Ghost as a fruit of the Lord Jesus's Intercession attending the outward preaching of the Gospel and setting it home upon the Heart with Power the outward preaching of the Gospel being the instrumental means appointed to gather the Elect out of the World unto God Rom. 10.17 So then Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God By the Word of God here is meant the Declaration of the Gospel The outward Declaration of the Gospel doth contain in it these Truths appointed by God for the Salvation of the Elect the Holy Ghost removes the Vail of Darkness from the Heart subjects the Heart unto the Truth and inclines the Heart to join with it I come in the second place to treat of the ordinary Qualification to preach the Gospel without which a Person can have no real Satisfaction to his own Soul that he is called of God to that great Work and Service The extraordinary Qualisication and the ordinary Qualification do not differ in a different Declaration of Truths delivered but in a different work of the Spirit upon the Heart in discovering one and the same Truth the one having it by the immediate impulse of the Spirit of God overpowering all the Faculties of the Soul and making it stoop to the leadings of the Spirit in the other the holy Spirit works not so powerfully but by giving in of Light to behold the Truth already delivered in the Word and sealed by Miracle gives a Gift of utterance to declare it unto others For the clearing up this Qualification I shall compare two Scriptures Ephes 4.7 8. But unto every one of us is given Grace according to the measure of the Gift of Christ Wherefore he saith When he ascended up on high he led Captivity captive and gave Gifts unto Men. Which Gifts to Men he tells us in ver 12. are for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ the Body of Christ taking in the Saints until Christ's second appearance The Gifts here intended must be meant the ordinary Qualifications of the Spirit for the work of the Ministry as the means appointed by God to gather the Saints into one Body and to edify them when they are gather'd in until they be brought safe to the Mansions of Glory because the extraordinary Qualification did cease in a little time To clear up this a little further lock into 1 Pet. 4.10 11. As every Man hath received the Gift even so minister the same one to another as good Stewards of the manifold Grace of God If any Man speak let him speak as the Oracles of God if any Man minister let him do it as of the ability which God giveth that God in all things may be glorified through Jesut Christ to whom be Praise and Dominion for ever and ever Amen Here is contained in these words the Gift given from God the Father here is the Lord Jesus Christ through whose Intercession this Gift is given here is the nature of the Gift which is the Spirit 's inlightnings into the Oracles or holy Scriptures here is the twofold end God's Glory and the Saints Edification Where this Qualification is wanting the Soul can have no real Satisfaction that it is called of God to that Work and Service which I shall make appear by these following Rensons First Altho Learning be very serviceable in order to have recourse to the Original Text for the understanding the Letter of the Scripture in the Original for to stop the mouth of Gainsayers yet the Darkness which is upon the Soul by Nature is not thereby removed Neither can Learning of it self comprehend that inward Life and Virtue which breaths in the holy Scriptures The natural Man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned Secondly Without this ordinary Qualification of which I have been speaking the Soul can have no real Satisfaction that it is called of God to the work of the Ministry of the Gospel because that altho by Learning many weighty Truths may be collected from the Writings of experienced Christians who have lived in the Power of Christianity yet the inward work of the Spirit being wanting in him that delivers them to others they give an uncertain sound there being a want of an inward sense of these Truths upon the Heart and often a great deal of Man's Corruptions mixt with them which they receive from the Vessel through which they pass Thirdly Without this ordinary Qualification of which I have been speaking the Soul can have no real Satisfaction that it is called of God to the work of the Ministry of the Gospel because without it the Heart is not engaged in the Work that such Persons take upon them neither are their Aims and Ends right in their entering upon this great Work nor in the carrying of it on the getting an outward Support in the World for themselves being the thing they are most concerned for Fourthly Without this ordinary Qualification of which I have been speaking the
viz. an Entail of a particular Enjoyment of the Worship of God amongst them for many Generations together But this will fall under Consideration when I come to treat of the New Testament Church Thirdly Where internal Grace did accompany these Ordinances of Circumcision and the Paschal Lamb with other parts of the Old Testament Worship the Elect Seed were brought to have spiritual Mercies convey'd to their Souls through it Abraham hath that Honour conferr'd upon him to be a Father not only to a numerous Offspring who did enjoy an Earthly Inheritance by Covenant-right as descending from him but likewise a Father of the spiritual Seed both Jews and Gentiles who should share with him in the same Faith and so come to share in those precious Promises made to him as a Believer through the Lord Jesus Christ That he stood as a Father to this twofold Seed doth appear from the words of our Lord Joh. 8.37 I know that ye are Abraham 's Seed but ye seek to kill me because my Word hath no place in you That is ye are only of that Seed who by virtue of descent from him do enjoy the Privileges of Earthly Enjoyments Ver. 39. They answered and said unto him Abraham is our Father Jesus saith unto them If ye were Abraham 's Children ye would do the Works of Abraham That is if you were of his spiritual Seed and of the same Faith with him it would shew it self by its Works as Abraham's Faith did who saw my day of appearance as a Redeemer and rejoiced Of his natural Seed as such I have already spoken and the Privileges they enjoy'd I now come to treat of his Spiritual Seed that did descend from him who did not come to their Right by being the Offspring of believing Abraham but by being of the same Faith with him Rom. 9.7 8. Neither because they are the Seed of Abraham are they all Children but in Isaac shall thy Seed be called That is They which are the Children of the Flesh these are not the Children of God but the Children of the Promise are counted for the Seed That is as Isaac's Birth was not by the natural strength of the Parents but by virtue of God's Promise which bound his Truth to set his Omnipotency on work to perform what he promised even so it is with all the spiritual Seed Without the moving of the same Power upon the Heart to subject the Heart unto him none could come into that state which will give its Evidence according to the Scriptures that they are of the spiritual Seed As it was by preaching of the Gospel unto Abraham or a renewing of the Promise of a Messiah to come which had been given out in the threatning against Satan Gen. 3.15 that Abraham was brought into Covenant so it was by the means which the Wisdom of God did think fit to make use of to convey the knowledg of the Messiah to come unto the Souls of these Israelites who were to be Abraham's spiritual Seed and the ordinary means was that Worship appointed by God in the Old Testament Church to these that were of years The way that God takes to convey Grace to elect Infants in all Ages being a Secret which he is pleased not to discover unto us I desire to leave them to his rich Grace which flows to Sinners through a dear Redeemer and to his own way to apply it unto their Souls and shall return to treat of the matter in hand As Abraham was a Father to a twofold Seed and the believing Israelites were to proceed from him by Generation as well as the Unbelievers and as both these were to be imbodied together into one Nation and Church for many Generations so the natural Seed having the things intended for them by the Covenant sealed unto them it was necessary that his spiritual Seed should have their Covenant-Mercies sealed to them Abraham received the sign of Circumcision a Seal of the Righteousness of the Faith which he had yet being uncircumcised that he might be the Father of all them that believe The outward part of the Ordinance was not the Evidence of the Israelites being Abraham's spiritual Seed but that which was figured out by it unto the spiritual Seed was the Evidence which was the having their Hearts circumcised Corruption removed and Grace planted in the Soul for altho an outward Ordinance be the means leading to the inward where the Spirit concurs with it it is from the inward that the Soul receives Comfort being thereby brought into a condition to enjoy Communion with God and through Faith to behold the Heavenly Canaan before it As the Paschal Lamb was appointed to figure out to the natural Seed that God was accomplishing his Promise in bringing of them to an Earthly Canaan so where the spiritual Seed were led by Faith to behold that the Paschal Lamb was but a Type of the Lord Jesus Christ the great Passover they through Faith were brought to behold that God was upon the accomplishing of his Promise in bringing of them to the Heavenly Canaan The Apostle in Heb. 9.9 10. shews us that the Old Testament Church-state was but a Figure for the time then present in which were offered both Gifts and Sacrifices that could not make him that did sacrifice perfect at pertaining to the Conscience which stood in Meats and Drinks and carnal Ordinances imposed on them until the time of Reformation Not that the Ordinances were carnal in respect of the things typified by them and apprehended through the help of the Spirit by the spiritual Seed But saith Mr. Hildersam such as carnal Men might perform and very sutable to the Disposition of a carnal Heart God by his Wisdom ordering his Worship in this manner that so the natural Seed and the spiritual Seed of Abraham from the first setting up or forming that People into a Church might remain imbodied together until the times of Reformation that is the New Testament Church-state Their Privileges by fleshly right do then end and the natural Seed ceaseth from being counted any longer a Church or People to God but as they fall in with the spiritual Seed of Abraham and receive the Qualification which the New Testament Church calls for in order to be a Member of it Rom. 11.19 20 21. Thou wilt say then The Branches were broken off that I might be graffed in Well because of Vnbelief they were broken off and thou standest by Faith be not high-minded but fear For if God spared not the natural Branches take heed lest he also spare not thee These words I think do comprehend the whole matter of which I have been treating in this Chapter the Branches that are broken off are the natural Seed of Abraham or as Paul calls them the Children of the Flesh such as tho destitute of spiritual Grace in their Souls yet by virtue of Birth-Privilege did enjoy as a Branch from Abraham a right of Membership in the Old Testament Church
Work nor Device in the Grave If out of Christ when Death comes to you then miserable for ever if in Christ when Death comes happy for ever 6. Take care to get your Judgments throughly informd and settled in the Foundation-Principle of Christianity Other Foundation can no Man lay than that which is already laid which is Jesus Christ an all-sufficient Saviour Remember you must always go empty to him but have a care of returning empty from him Have the Saints in all Ages beheld such an Excellency in him and can you see none It 's a sign your Hearts are not right with him you talk of what you do not enjoy To you that believe saith the Apostle he is precious it 's such a Faith as gives a view of his Person in the Gospel-Glass 7. Endeavour to be much in the inward experimental part of Religion Have a care of sticking in the true Form without the Power and have a care of a pretended Power without the true Form If you stick in the purest Form without the Power you get no further than Formalists and are no better than a lifeless Image without Motion in God's account For Revealed Religion was appointed to bring the Heart to Communion with God and where this is not attained the great Design of God in giving forth Revealed Religion is lost Have a care of a pretended Power without the true Form for by this you will be laid open to the Transformings of Satan and to his Deceivings as an Angel of Light Lend not an Ear to that Spirit that gets above the holy Scriptures as a Rule and Guide How many Persons who have seemd to be in a hopeful way in the Truths of Christianity have been led into By-paths through Satan's Wiles and many sincere Christians have so far fallen as to lose much of their former Experiences 8. If the Lord in Mercy to you make you fit Matter of a Gospel-Church and afford you the Means of giving up your selves to other Christians that are gathered together according to the order of the Gospel upon a Profession of Faith and sincere Obedience neglect not so great a Mercy you may then be serviceable unto others by the exercising of the Gifts given you which may be for others Edification and Improvement to your selves and your Hearts may be warmed by the Gifts and Graces of other Christians Besides your Mercy will be very great in having the watchful Eye of sincere Christians over you to incourage you in your Christian Course and to be faithful Reprovers of you if they see that you do not walk orderly according to the Rule of the Gospel This is one of the great Privileges that attend those that are in Church-fellowship Gal. 6.1 Brethren if a Man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the Spirit of Meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted Two saith Solomon are better than one because they have a good Reward for their Labour for if they fall the one will lift up his Fellow but wo to him that is alone when he falleth for he hath not another to help him If two Christians may be serviceable one to another how much more to have a considerable number of sincere Christians watching over you 9. Endeavour to get imprinted upon your Hearts that the Life of a Christian while he is passing through this World is a Life of Prayer When God takes Persons into Covenant with him he pours out upon their Souls the Spirit of Prayer and Supplication Prayer is the Intelligencer betwixt the Saints here on Earth and their Father now in Heaven it is that which keeps God's Ear open to us and our Hearts open for him The blessed Jesus speaking of John's Ministry the effect it had upon sinners to bring them to a sincere Repentance and by strong Cries to lay open their state before God he tells us Mat. 11.12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth Violence and the Violent take it by force He compareth these poor returning Penitents to a Company of Souldiers drawn up in Battel-array to force their Entrance into a Fort or Castle their Cries here on Earth piercing into Heaven Prayer made God use that familiar and condescending Expression to Moses concerning the People of Israel Exod. 32.9 10 11. And the Lord said unto Moses I have seen this People and behold it is a stiff-necked People Now therefore let me alone that my Wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great Nation And Moses besought the Lord his God and said Why doth thy Wrath wax hot against thy People which thou hast brought forth out of the Land of Egypt You may see in these and the following words to the 15th Verse what prevalency Prayer hath upon God when it is put up on the behalf of others much more when it is on our own behalf In treating of this Subject I shall First Shew what Prayer is and the nature of it Secondly I shall shew the necessity of the continuance of it while we are on this side Eternity First I shall shew what Prayer is and the nature of it We may take Prayer according to Scripture under a twofold Consideration First As proceeding from the Spirit of Bondage And here the Heart doth not cry unto God from an inward sight and feeling that it is interested in God but by the light of the first Govenant It looks upon God as Creator and as having an Ability in him to supply Nature's Wants and to deliver from approaching Misery This Prayer is Nature's Cry and is oftentimes put forth with a great deal of Earnestness where there is no Evidence of an Interest in God or Communion with God But that Prayer which I design to lay open is the Work of the Spirit of Adoption upon the Hearts of the Saints and this consists in these three parts 1st In giving inward Light to see the things necessary to be prayed for 2dly In giving Life and Motion to the Faculties of the Soul that so the Soul may be engag'd in the Duty 3dly In leading the Soul in the way by which an Entrance is obtained into Heaven First I shall shew the nature of the Inlightnings of the Spirit in the Duty of Prayer how they are discovered in the Soul of Man 1. The Inlightnings of the Spirit are discovered in the Soul of Man by discovering the inward Frame that the Soul is in The Hearts of the unconverted World are always in an ill Frame and that which is their great Misery they want Light to see it but if the Saints be in an ill frame they are in Mercy brought to see it remaining Corruption is discovered deadness and dulness and wandering of the Heart from God is discovered the holy Spirit gives Light that the Heart may be rectified and made fit for Communion with God because therein
lies Man's chief Happiness Keep thy Heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of Life 2. The things that concern the outward Man are through the Inlightnings of the holy Spirit beheld as of less Concern and Worth altho they do lie next to Sense and the Hearts of the Saints have been inabled to get above them and to part with them when they stood in Competition with the sincere performance of those Duties which God call'd them to The Inlightning of the Spirit doth concern it self for the outward Man but it is that Nature may be satisfied and not Lust gratified it is that such a Supply may be given as Nature may be kept from Temptations not that we may run into Temptations Remove far from me Vanity and Lies give me neither Poverty nor Riches feed me with Food convenient for me lest I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steal and take the Name of my God in vain While the Heart is without the Inlightnings of the Spirit it is made a Servant to those things that are most obvious to Sense Daily Experience shews us that the Heart of every unconverted Sinner doth place its Satisfaction in the enjoyment of these things altho they end in Death so that the Inlightnings of the holy Spirit are absolutely necessary in the Duty of Prayer 3. The holy Spirit gives inward Life and Motion to the Faculties of the Soul that so the Soul may be ingag'd in the Duty Rom. 8.26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our Infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh Intercession for us with Groanings which cannot be uttered That is the Spirit follows the Inlightnings with inward Life and Motion by which the Heart is set a working after God for the removal of that which stands in the way of Communion with him and for the obtaining of it there is an inward sensibility doth accompany the Matter which we present unto God in Duty not only the things we pray for are presented unto God as those we have need of but the Heart goes along with them that our Heavenly Father may see we are in earnest with him Psal 25.1 Vnto thee O Lord do I lift up my Soul Compared with Psal 119.20 My Soul breaketh for the longings that it hath to thy Judgments at all times The holy Spirit draws out the Heart with such earnestness unto God as if there were a Separation going to be made betwixt the Soul and the Body 4. The holy Spirit doth lead the Soul in the way by which Entrance is obtain'd into Heaven We must distinguish betwixt the Spirit 's Intercession in us and the Son's Intercession for us The Spirit 's Intercession in us is that supplicating begging frame which the holy Spirit doth inable the Soul to express it self in when it appears before God yet this through the weakness of the Creature is attended with a great deal of Imperfection But the Intercession of the Son for us as Mediator the Church's Head is that upon which our admittance into Heaven is granted His Prayer is a perfect Prayer and carries Incense along with it to perfume ours Rev. 8.3 And another Angel came and stood at the Altar having a Golden Censer and there was given him much Incense that he should offer it with the Prayers of all Saints upon the Golden Altar which was before the Throne This Angel is the Angel of the Covenant the Lord Jesus Christ as Mediator and the Church's Head the Censer is his holy glorified Body the Man Christ the Incense is his Divine Nature the Perfume of which perfuming the Supplications or Prayers of the Saints and ascending with them before God gains acceptance That Spirit that would assume a right of giving Salvation by Man's Obedience to it its Work is as opposite to the leadings of the Holy Ghost as Light and Darkness For as the Declaration of the Gospel leads to the Lord Jesus Christ as God-Man in one Person our Emanuel as Redeemer and as Mediator who is able to save all those that come to God by him so with this doth the Holy Ghost agree in his inward Witness in the Souls of the Saints Joh. 15.26 27. But when the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father he shall testify of me And ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with me from the beginning This is that new and living way which the Apostle speaks of which gives Boldness in our approaching before God Heb. 10.19 20. Having therefore Brethren boldness to enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the Vail that is to say his Flesh The Holiest that is into Heaven of which the Sanctum Sanctorum under the Law was a Type by a living way that enlivens the Person that walks in it boldness or a holy freedom being given to plead with God which yet causeth great Humility in the Soul its acceptance with God being grounded upon the account of another's Worthiness which by Faith the Soul is inabled to behold and not upon the account of its own Worthiness This is the Way that meets the Experience of the Saints that are now upon the Earth this is the Way that the Flock walk'd in who are gone to Heaven before us we may say we are compassed about with a Cloud of Witnesses The second part of this Head of the Duty of Prayer is to shew the necessity of the continuance of it while we are on this side Eternity 1st Because we have a multitude of Temptations attending of us outwardly And 2dly Because the Soul doth too readily join with the Baits that gratify corrupt Nature First I shall shew you that we have a multitude of Temptations attending of us outwardly The World is gotten to a very high pitch of Atheism and Profaneness Christianity as to the Power of it is not only removed but Persons have lost that Morality that former Ages did enjoy You can hardly deal in the World now but you are in danger every moment to be carried away with the Stream the Difficulties of getting an outward Support for the Body being great Satan takes the advantage of it to draw out the Corruptions of Mens Hearts after these things so as to hurry them forward in their Endeavours to keep and to gain a share in this fading World without any Consideration Where is the Person that hath the Fear of the Almighty before him and an inward Tenderness lest he should offend him Did David take up this Complaint Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesech that I dwell in the Tenths of Kedar My Soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth Peace What cause have we every day to take up the same Complaint if we look upon the
Immorality of the Times we live in most Persons being at Peace with the ways of Sin but unwilling to be brought to the Enjoyment of that Peace which the ways of Holiness do afford Surely my Children if God in Mercy to your Souls open your Understandings to see that great danger that your precious Souls are in you will see a great necessity laid upon you to keep close to God by the great Duty of Prayer that you may stand in his Counsel and that he may undertake to lead you in a safe way that so you may be kept from the Pollutions of the times you live in If the Lord be so gracious to you as by his Providence to open a door for you by which you may get daily Bread in a way that doth not expose you to those great Temptations that many are exposed to tho it be in a lower station in the World make choice of it before Greatness in the World with Temptations Consider the wise Man's words Prov. 28.22 He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil Eye and considereth not that Poverty shall come upon him It 's Corruption that insatiably drives him forward and suffers him not to consider how he is heaping Sin upon his Soul while he is gathering together these worldly things Altho God do let such Persons live out their days with the Enjoyment of these outward things yet what a heap of Guilt do such Persons carry with them into Eternity Remember what the Apostle saith 1 Tim. 6.9 For they that will be rich fall into Temptation and a Snare and into many foolish and hurtful Lusts which drown Men in Destruction and Perdition Another great thing that shews the necessity of the continuance of the Duty of Prayer as long as we are on this side Eternity is that till then Satan hath not his Power of tempting of us wholly taken from him It is the great Mercy of God's Children that the Rage of this devouring Lion is limited that he has not liberty to execute all that Rage against them which is in him But daily Experience shews us that the Father is pleased to give Satan so much Power against his Children as to vex and grieve them with those violent Temptations he at times suggests into them Now the only way to escape this Adversary and to be strengthened against his Temptations is to keep up Communion with God by Prayer for so long as God is inwardly injoy'd he cannot enter The Apostle in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians Chap. 5. v. 17. saith Pray without ceasing He doth not mean that we should be always in the exercise of that Duty but that we should endeavour to have our Hearts always in a frame for it But secondly The necessity of the continuance of the Duty of Prayer doth appear while we are on this side Eternity because the Soul doth readily too often join with the Baits that gratify corrupt Nature The Body is yet unredeemed and therefore desires to be gratified in those things that delight the outward Man the Senses are as Doors and Windows unto the Soul to let in those outward Objects which are as so many Baits and Snares to draw away the Soul after them There is no keeping the door of the Heart shut against these things but as the Soul is led up by Faith to Objects of a higher nature and the Duty of Prayer is one of the great means made use of by the Spirit to give the Soul a view of those things that are of a more excellent nature than these earthly things are Again Endeavour to get imprinted upon your Minds the necessity of an even composed frame of Spirit under the various changes of God's Providence You know what is past but you know not what is before you whether Prosperity or Adverversity be appointed for you Have a care that with the change of Providences there be not a change of your Hearts for the worse Doth not daily Experience shew us that changes of Providence to poot unconverted Sinners have this effect upon them What a change hath a sudden Advancement to a higher Condition in the World made upon many unconverted Sinners They have hardly known how to behave themselves toward those that were their Familiars while they were in a low Condition much less how to carry themselves toward God who advanced them in the World This change from a low state in the World to a higher hath been a means greatly to eat out that Life and Power that hath been in God's Children when in a low Condition What a Change did it make in Joseph that in discoursing with his Brethren he so far forgets himself as to make use of the Courtly Oaths that were then in fashion By the Life of Pharaoh ye are Spies Again What an effect upon Persons hath a sudden change of Providence had when they have been surprizingly brought down into a low Condition in the World while they have been in an unconverted state that they knew not the way to go to God that they might humble their Souls before him Through the strength of Temptations accompanied with their Corruptions they have been so overwhelmed that they have broken out in unbecoming Expressions towards God and in a desperate manner have laid violent hands upon themselves yea some of God's Children when they have been under dark Providences for want of a settled frame have shew'd too much of a fretful impatient Spirit and like the Israelites have been fill'd with Murmurings and Repinings O endeavour to learn the Apostle's Lesson Phil. 4.11 Not that I speak in respect of want for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content That you may learn this Lesson take these following Directions 1. Endeavour to get your Minds exercised with the thoughts of God as to that absolute Power which he hath over you and all his Creatures that to him belongs the right of disposing of you and the things that he hath for a time given you even as pleaseth him that to you belongs a humble submissive frame of Spirit as you are his Creatures much more if he have brought you into the state of Children 2. Endeavour to see if you cannot find some of God's rational Creatures and some of his dear Children in one respect or other exercised with greater Difficulties than you are having found some under greater Straits than your selves search into your Hearts and Lives and see if you can find any moving Cause there why he should not deal with you as with those that you behold in a worse Condition and so learn Submission to him 3. Look into the Scripture-Glass and there behold that the way God hath taken with his Children to burn up the dross of Corruption and to fit the Soul for himself is by afflicting Providences Isa 48.10 I have chosen thee in the furnace of Affliction And let this be a means for you to press after the same sanctified use of