never give that repose and satisfaction to the mind as the internal Witness or Seal of the spirit doth for that may be a delusion but this cannot The witness of our own heart may amount to a strong probability but the witness of the spirit is demonstration 1 Joh. 4. 24. So that as it is the design and work of Satan to cast in doubts and fears into gracious hearts to perplex and intangle them so oppositely it is the work of the Spirit to clear and settle the sanctified soul and fill it with peace and joy in believing Joh. 16. 7. Rom. 14. 17. In Sealing he both attests the fidem quae creditur the doctrine or object of Faith and the fidem quâ creditur the infused habit or grace of Faith Of the former he saith this is my Word of the latter this is my Work and his Seal or Testimony is evermore agreeable to the written word Isa. 8. 20. So that what he speaks in our hearts and what he saith in the Scripture are ever-more concordant and harmonious testimonies To conclude in Sealing the Believer he doth not make use of an audible Voice nor the Ministry of Angels nor immediate and extraordinary revelations but he makes use of his own graces implanted in our hearts and his own promises written in the Scriptures and in this method he usually brings the doubting trembling heart of the Believer to rest and comfort 2. Query Why are none Sealed till after Believing Answ. It cannot be denied but that many persons in the state of nature and unbelief may have ungrounded confidences and false comforts built thereupon This is evident from Matth. 7. 22. Many will say unto me in that day Lord Lord have not we Prophesied in thy Name And Joh. 8. 54 55. of whom ye say that he is your God and yet ye have not known him And beyond all is that startling Scripture Heb. 6. 4 5. Who were once enlightned and have tasted of the Heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the World to come if they fall away c. But for any except real Believers to have those Witnesses and Sealings of the Spirit described above is utterly impossible and will evidently appear to be so whether we consider The Author Nature Object Mediums End and design of this work First Consider the Author of this work the Spirit of God who is an Holy Spirit as the Text calls him and the Spirit of Truth as Christ calls him Joh. 14. 17. and it cannot be that ever he should give testimony to a lye or give a false witness quite cross to the very tenour of the written word as he must do should he Seal an Unbeliever What though they be Elect yet whilst Unregenerate they have no actual interest in Christ and the Promises and therefore can have none Sealed by the Spirit Prius est praedicare de esse quam de cognosci we must be Saints befose we can be known to be so Secondly Consider but the nature of this work and it cannot be that ever an Unbeliever should be Sealed by the Spirit For assurance is produced in our souls by the reflexive acts of our Faith The Spirit helps us to reflect upon what hath been done by him formerly upon our hearts Hereby we know that we know him 1 Joh. 2. 3. To know that we know is a reflex act now it 's impossible there should be a reflex before there hath been a direct act No man can have the evidence of his Faith before the habit be infused and the vital act first performed Thirdly Consider the object matter to which he Seals and it will be found to be his own Sanctifying operations upon our hearts and consequently to our priviledges in Christ Rom. 8. 16. 1 Joh. 3. 24. The thing or matter attested is that Christ abideth in us and that we are the Children of God But no such thing can be Sealed till we believe for neither our Adoption nor Sanctification can be before Faith Fourthly Consider the mediums or instruments used by the Spirit in his Sealing work the promises are his sealing instruments and on that account he is call'd the Spirit of Promise in the Text Not only because he is the Spirit promised but as the Promises contain the spirit so the Spirit'uses the Promises i. e. clears them to our understandings and helps us to apply them to our souls but this he never doth nor can do till the soul by Faith have union with Christ for till then it hath no right in the Promises Fifthly and lastly Consider the end and design of this work of the Spirit which is to secure to the soul its peace pardon and salvation in Christ he seals Believers to the day of Redemption Eph. 4. 30. i. e. to their compleat Salvation So then it must be equally impossible for an Unbeliever to be sealed as to be saved 3. Query The next enquiry is whether all Believers are Sealed by the Spirit Answ. The resolution of this Query will depend upon several distinctions that must be made upon this matter 1. Distinction We must distinguish the different kinds of the Spirits sealing all his Sealing work is not of one kind nor to one and the same use and end There is an Objective Seal which distinguishes the person and a Formal Seal which clears and ratifies his interest in Christ and Salvation The first he doth in Sanctifying us the second in Assuring us When he Seals us Objectively that is when he Sanctifies us really by the infusion of grace he Seals us by way of distinction from other men which is one end of Sealing for though in respect of Gods decree and purpose there was a difference betwixt us and others before time 2 Tim. 2. 19. And although in regard of Christs intention in his death there was a difference betwixt us and others Joh. 17. 9. yet all this while there is no personal actual difference betwixt us and others till Sanctification do make one Eph. 2. 3. and 1 Cor. 6. 11. But the Sanctification of the Spirit makes a real difference in the state and temper of the person 2 Cor. 5. 17. and manifests that difference which Election put betwixt us and others before-time 1 Thes. 1. 4 5. And yet all this while a man may not be formally Sealed i. e. his Sanctification may be very doubtful to himself and he may labour under great fears about it 2. Distinction The seasons of the Spirits sealing must be distinguished and these are to some First Immediately upon the souls first closing with Christ at Conversion especially when Conversion is wrought at riper age and is usher'd in by a greater degree of the spirit of bondage and deep inward terrors Thus the Prodigal the emblem of a Convert so brought home to God was entertained with the fatted Calf and Musick but all
the representation of it But loe here is more than a representation Christ is set forth in this Ordinance as Crucified for you as suffering and enduring all this in your room and stead Now Suppose Reader thy self to be justly Condemned to the torture of the Rack or Strappado and that thy Father Brother or dearest Friend preferring thy life to his own would become thy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ransomer by undergoing the torment for thee and all that is left for thee to suffer were only by way of Sympathy with him Suppose now thy self standing by that Engine of Torture and beholding the members of thy dear Friend distorted and all out of joynt hearing the doleful groans extorted by the extremity of anguish and under all these torments still maintaining a constant love to thee not once repenting his torments for thee couldst thou stand there with dry eyes could thy heart be unaffected and stupid at such a sight Write him rather a Beast a Stone than a Man that could do so But this is not all The Believers interest in Christ is Sealed as well as the sufferings of Christ represented in this Ordinance And is a Sealed Interest in Christ so cheap or common a thing as that it should not engage yea swallow up all the powers of thy soul O what is this What is this The Seal of God set to the Soul of a poor Sinner to confirm and ratifie its title to the Person of Christ and the inestimable treasures of his Blood Surely as the Sealing up of a man to Damnation is the sum of all misery and that poor Creature that is so Sealed hath cause enough to mourn and wail to Eternity So the sealing up of a soul to Salvation is the sum of all mercy and happiness and the Soul that is so sealed hath cause enough to lie at the feet of God over-whelmed with the sense of so invaluable a mercy Secondly As the nature and ends of the Ordinance call for the greatest composedness of spirit so the danger of unworthy receiving should work our hearts to the most serious frames For if a man be here without his Wedding-garment if he eat and drink unworthily it is at the greatest peril of his soul that he doth so 1 Cor. 11. 27. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. To prophane and undervalue that Body and Blood of the Lord is a sin above measure sinful and the punishments of such sins will be most dreadful for still the more excellent the Blessings are that come by any Ordinance the more dreadful the Curses are that avenge the abuse of such mercies How soon may a man draw fearful guilt upon his soul and dreadful judgments upon his body by an heedless management of such sacred mysteries For this cause many are weak and fickly among you and many sleep ver 30. It is a most weighty Note that a worthy Pen sets upon this Scripture they discerned not the Body of his Son Jesus Christ in his Ordinances but instead of that holy reverend and deep-dyed behaviour which was due to it both from their inner and outward man as being a Creature of the highest and deepest Sanctification that ever God Sanctified Sanctified not only to a more excellent and glorious condition but also to many ends and purposes of far higher and dearer concernment both for the glory of God and benefit of men themselves than all other Creatures whatsoever whether in Heaven or Earth they handled and dealt by it in both kinds as if it had been a common or unsanctified thing Thus they discerned not the Lords Body And as they discerned not his Body so neither did God in some sense discern theirs but in those sore Strokes and heavy Judgments which he inflicted on them had them in no other regard or consideration than as if they had been the bodies of his Enemies the bodies of wicked and sinful men Thus drawing the model and plat-form of their punishment as usually he doth from the structure and proportion of their sin Thus the Just and Righteous God builds up the breaches that we make upon the honour belonging to the body of his Son with the ruins of that honour which he had given unto ours in health strength life and many other outward comforts and supports O then what need is there of a most awful and composed spirit when we approach the Lord in this Ordinance Thirdly As the danger of unworthy receiving should compose us to the greatest seriousness so the remembrance of that frame and temper Christs spirit was in when he actually suffered those things for us should compose our spirits into a frame more suitable and agreeable to his when we see his death as it were acted over again before our eyes was his heart roving and wandering in that day Did he not sense and mind the work he was going about Was his heart like thine stupid and unaffected with these things Look but upon that Text Luke 22. 44. and you shall see whether it were so or no. It 's said when this Tragedy drew nigh and his Enemies were ready to seize him in the Garden That being in an Agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of Blood falling down to the ground And Matth. 26. 38. he saith My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death His soul was full of sorrow and is thine full of stupâ—…y God forbid If thy heart be cold Christ's was hot If thou canst not shed a tear he poured out clods of blood from every part Oh! how unsuitable is a dry eye and an hard heart to such an Ordinance as this Fourthly As the frame Christs spirit was in at his death should command the most solemn frame upon our spirits at the recognizing of it so the things here represented require and call for the highest exercise of every grace of the spirit in our souls for we come not thither as idle Spectators but as active Instruments to glorifie God by exercising every grace upon Christ as Crucified for us Behold here among the rest 1. The proper object of Faith 2. The flowing spring of Repentance 3. The powerful attractive of Love First The proper object of Faith is here This Ordinance as a glass represents to thine eye that glorious Person of whom the Father said This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Matth. 17. 5. Of whom he said I have laid help upon one that is mighty This was he that was made Sin for us who had no Sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5. 21. Who trod the Wine-press alone and is here to be seen in his red Garments Every drop of his precious Blood hath a tongue calling for Faith to behold it poured forth as a Sacrifice to God for sin This saith he is
the cup of the New Testament in my Blood which was shed for many for the remission of sin And what footing could thy Faith find for Pardon and Salvation any where else 'T is Christ Crucified that Faith claspes as the last and only hope and refuge of a poor Sinner Here all Believers drop Anchor This is that blessed object on whom they take the dead gripe or last grasp when their eye-strings and heart-strings are breaking When you see the Blood of Christ flowing forth how can Faith be silent in thy soul When he bids thee as it were to put thy finger into his side shews thee his hands and his feet there it will cry out in thy soul my Lord and my God Secondly The flowing spring of Repentance is here if there be any fire that can melt or hammer that can break a hard heart here it is Zech. 12. 10. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced and mourn Nothing laies a gracious soul lower in it self than to see how low Christ was laid in his Humiliation for it Here the evil of sin is also represented in the clearest glass that ever the eye of man saw it in The sufferings of the Son of God discover the evil of sin more than the everlasting torments of the Damned can do So that if there be but one drop of Spiritual sorrow in the heart of a Christian here me-thinks it should be seen dropping from the eye of Faith Thirdly The most attractive object of love is here Put all Created Beauties Excellencies and Perfections together and what are they but blackness and deformity compared with lovely Jesus My Beloved saith the enamour'd Spouse is white and ruddy Cant. 5. 10. Behold him at the Table in his perfect Innocency and unparallel'd sufferings This is he who was rich but for our sakes became poor that we through his poverty might be rich 2 Cor. 8. 9. This is he that parted with his honour first and his life next yea he parted with his honour in his Incarnation that he might be capable to part with his life for our Redemption Behold here the degrees of his Sufferings and by them measure the degrees of his Love Behold in his death as in the Deluge all the Fountains beneath and the Windows of Heaven above opened the Wrath of God the Cruelty of Men the fury of Hell breaking in together upon him and his soul surrounded with sorrow And how can this be represented and thy soul not astonished at this amazing matchless love of Christ Surely one flame doth not more naturally produce another than the love of Christ thus represented to a gracious soul doth produce love to Christ and that in the most intense degree Use 1. How naturally doth this Doctrine shame and humble the best hearts for their sinful discomposures vanity and deadness for the rovings and wanderings of their hearts even when they come near the Lord in such a solemn Ordinance as this is The Holiest man upon Earth may lay his hand upon his breast and say Lord how unsultable is this heart of mine to such an object of Faith as is here presented to me Doth such a temper of spirit suit thine awful presence Should the represented Agonies and sufferings of Christ for me be beheld with a spirit no more concerned pierced and wounded for sin O how can I look upon him whom I have pierced and not mourn and be in bitterness for him as for an only Son a First-born O the stupifying and benumming power of sin Oh the efficacy of Unbelief It was charged upon the Israelites as the great aggravation of their sin that they provoked God at the Sea even at the red Sea the place where their miraculous Salvation was wrought But Lord Jesus my hard heart provokes thee in an higher degree even at the red Sea of thy precious invaluable Blood by which my eternal Salvation was wrought O my God what a heart have I Did the Blood of Christ run out so freely and abundantly for me and cannot I shed one tear for my sins that pierced him O let me never be Friends with my own heart till it love Christ better and hate sin more Use 2. This Scripture hath also an awaking voice to all that come nigh to God in any of his Ordinances especially in this Ordinance O Christians bethink your selves where you are and what you are doing Know you not that the King comes in to see the Guests Yea you do know that God is in this place an awful Majesty beholds you All the Churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the heart and the reins and will give to every one as his work shall be Rev. 2. 23. Thy business Christian is not with Men but with God and the solemnest business that ever thy thoughts were versant about Thou art here to recognize the sufferings of thy Redeemer to take the seals and pledges of thy Salvation from the hand of his spirit imagine the same thing which is now to be done spiritually and by the ministry of Faith were but to be performed visibly and audibly by the ministry of thy sense Suppose Jesus Christ did personally shew himself at this Table and were pleas'd to make himself known in breaking of Bread as once he did to the Disciples Suppose thou sawest him appear at this Table as he now doth appear in Heaven as a Lamb that had been slain Imagine thou heardest him say Believer this precious Blood of mine was shed for thee there be Millions of Men and Women in the world naturally as good as thee that shall have no interest in it or benefit by it But for thee it was shed and for the remission of thy sins my Blood was the only thing in the world that was equal to the demerit of thy sins and it hath made full satisfaction to God for them all Thy sins which are many are therefore forgiven thee my Blood hath purchased the eternal Inheritance of glory for thee and this day I am come to delâ—…er the seals and pledges thereof into thine hand Take then the seals of eternal Salvation this day Take thine own Christ with all that he is and hath in thine arms Whatever I have suffered done or procured for any of my Saints I have suffered done and procured the same for thee Why all this is here to be done as really and truly though in a more spiritual way at this Table and shall not such business as this is fully fix and engage thy heart What then shall do it Awake Faith awake Repentance awake Love yea let all the powers of my soul be throughly awakened this day to attend the Lord. THE SECOND MEDITATION UPON Jer. 12. 2. Thou art near in their mouth and far from their reins THIS Scripture gives us the Character and description of an Hypocrite and he is here described two ways viz. 1. By what he hath 2. By what he hath not
dishonour God and thus wrong your selves 2. Doct. That the remains of unbelief in gracious hearts do cost them many tears and sorrows There are many things that afflict and grieve the People of God from without but all their outward troubles are nothing to these troubles that come from within There are many inward troubles that make them groan but none more than this the unbelief they find in their own hearts This sin justly costs them more trouble than other sins because it is the root from which other sins do spring a root of bitterness bearing wormwood and gall to the imbittering of their souls For First The remains of unbelief in the Saints greatly dishonour God and what is a great dishonour to God cannot but be a great grief and burden to them For look as faith gives God special honour above all other graces so unbelief in a special manner both wrongs and grieves him above all other sins Unbelief in dominion makes God a liar 1 Joh. 5. 10. and even the reliques thereof in Believers doth shake their assent to his truths and promises and nourishes a vile suspicion of them in the heart and how do those base jealousies reflect upon his honour Certainly it cannot but be a grief to gracious hearts to see God dishonoured by others Psal. 119. 36. and a much greater to dishonour him our selves hinc illae lacrimae Upon this ground we may justly cry out and say with tears Lord help our unbelief Secondly The remains of unbelief in the Saints doth not only dishonour God but defaces and spoils their best duties in which they at any time approach unto God Is the face of God clouded from us in prayer hearing or receiving Examine the cause and reason and you will find that cloud rais'd from your own unbelieving hearts Are your affections cold flat and dead in duty dig but to the root and you will find this sin to lie there If the word do not work upon you as you desire and pray it might 't is because it is not mingled with faith Heb. 4. 2. No Duties no Ordinances no Promises can give down their sweet influences upon your souls because of this sin Now Communion with the Lord in duties is the life of our life These things are dearer to the Saints than their eyes Justly therefore do they bewail and mourn over that sin which obstructs and intercepts their sweetest enjoyments in this world Thirdly The remains of unbelief gives advantage and success to Satans temptations upon us Doth he at any time affright and scare us from our dudy or draw and intice us to the commission of sin or darken and cloud our condition and fill us with inward fears and horror without cause all this he doth by the mediation of our own unbelief The Apostle in Eph. 6. 16. calls Faith the souls Shield against temptation And 1 Joh. 5. 4. 't is call'd the Victory by which we overcome i. e. the Sword or Weapon by which we Atchieve our Victories And if so then unbelief disarms us both of Sword and Shield and leaves us naked of defence in the day of Battel a prey to the next temptation that befalls us Fourthly The remains of unbelief hinder the thriving of all graces it 's a worm at their root a plant of such a malignant quality that nothing which is spiritual can thrive under the droppings and shaddow of it It 's said Heb. 4. 2. that the Gospel was Preached to the Israelites but it did not profit them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it No Ordinances nor Duties be they never so excellent will make that soul to thrive where unbelief prevails You Pray you Hear you Fast you Meditate and yet you do not thrive your spiritual food doth no good You come from Ordinances as dead careless and vain-as-you went to them and why is it thus but because of remaining unbelief Use 1. Let all the People of God bewail and tenderly mourn over the remainders of insidelity in your own hearts There there is the root of the disease and surely Reader thy heart is not free of such symptoms of it as appear in other mens hearts For do but consider First What is our Impatiency to wait for mercy and despondency of spirit if deliverance come not quickly in the outward or inward straights of soul or body but a plain symptom of unbelief in our hearts He that believes will not make hast Isa. 28. 16. He that can believe can also wait Gods time Psal. 27. 14. Secondly And what doth our readiness to use sinful mediums to prevent or extricate our selves out of trouble but a great deal of Infidelity lurking still in our hearts might but Faith be heard to speak it would say in thy heart let me rather die ten deaths than commit one sin It 's sweeter and easier to die in any integrity than to live with a defiled or wounded Conscience 'T is nothing but our unbelief that makes us so ready to put forth our hands to iniquity when the rod of the Wicked rests long upon us or any eminent danger threatens us Psal. 125. 3. Thirdly Doth not the unbelief of your hearts shew it self in your deeper thoughtfulness and great auxieties about earthly things Matth. 6. 30. We pretend we have trusted God with our souls to all Eternity and yet cannot trust him for our daily bread We bring the evils of to morrow upon to day and all because we cannot believe more O Reader how much better were it to hear such questions as these from thee how shall I get an heart suitable to the mercies I do enjoy How shall I duely improve them for God What shall I render to the Lord for all his goodness This would better become thee than to afflict thy self with what shall I eat what shall I drink or wherewithal shall I be cloathed Fourthly What doth the slavish fear of death speak but remains of unbelief still in our hearts Are there not many faintings tremblings despondencies of mind under the thoughts of death O if faith were high thy spirit could not be so low 2 Cor. 5. 1 2 3. The more bondage of fear the more infidelity Fifthly To conclude what is the voice of all those distractions of thy heart in religious duties but want of faith weakness in faith and the actual prevalence of unbelief You come to God in prayer and there a thousand Vanities beset you your heart is carried away it roves it wanders to the ends of the earth Conscience smites for this and saith Thou dost but mock God thy soul will smart for this thou feelest neither strength nor sweetness arising out of such duties You enquire for remedies and fill the ears of Friends with your complaints and it may be see not the root of all this to be in your own unbelief But there it is and till that be cured it will not be better with you Use 2.
Labour for a deeper measure and degree of Sanctification many other rules are but Spiritual Anodynes to give present ease but this is the way to a real Cure a thousand things may be found helpful to put by a vain thought for the present but then it returns again and it may be with more strength This is the proper method to dry the spring when others are but attempts to divert the stream If habits of grace were more deeply radicated acts of grace would be more easie to us and flow more freely from us Lastly Consider what an aggravation it is to your evil to vent it self in the special presence of God in duties See how Paul mourns over it in the Text. It is not only a sin but an affronting of God to his Face this grieving of his Spirit the spoil of thy duty it is as one aptly calls it obex infernalis an hellish Bar or Remora to all sweet and free intercourse of the soul with God 3. Consolation But whilst I am representing the evil of it to some it may be there are others over-whelmed with the sorrowful sense of it even to discouragement and despondency Poor Christian is this thy case Are all the Afflictions in the world nothing to thee in comparison with this evil which is present with thee when thou wouldst do good Well though thou canst not do the good thou wouldst nor free thy self yet from the evil thou wouldst rather than live be freed from There are four things that may be much relief to thy pensive soul. First Though the presence of evil even in thy best duties be sad yet thy grief and affliction for it is sweet That is a sad sin but this is a sweet sign It is not heart-evils heart-wandrings in duties hardness and unbelief that Hypocrites mourn for but more gross and external evils Let this trouble for sin comfort thee when the presence of sin grieves thee Secondly God accepts through Jesus Christ what you do sincerely though you can do nothing purely and perfectly Cant. 5. 1. Your sincerity is your Evangelical perfection the evil that is present is not imputed the good that is present is notwithstanding that commixed evil accepted which is strong consolation Thirdly You find your case was the case of blessed Paul a man of eminent Sanctity And if you consult all the Saints one by one you will find them all sick of this disease so that your case is not singular Fourthly Your Justification is perfect and without spot though your Sanctification be not so and the time is coming when your Sanctification shall be as your Justification is and after that no more complaints THE FOURTH MEDITATION UPON Eph. 1. 13. In whom also after that ye believed ye were Sealed with the holy Spirit of Promise FROM his doxology and solemn Thanksgiving ver 3. the Apostle enumerates the principal Christian priviledges that gave the occasion of that thanksgiving among which this in the Text is not the least though last named In this one verse we have the two noble acts of Faith displaid its direct act call'd Trusting and its reflex act which in order of nature and time follows it and is implied in the word Sealing In the latter clause to which I shall confine my Meditations four things must be remarked viz. The Subject of Assurance The Nature of Assurance The Author of Assurance The Quality of Assurance The Subject of Assurance which is and can be no other than a soul that hath closed with Christ by Faith reflex acts necessarily presuppose direct ones Never was any Unbeliever Sealed except to Damnation Assurance is peculiarly the Prerogative of Believers The Nature of Assurance he calls it Sealing an apt metaphor to express the nature of it For Assurance like a Seal both confirms declares and distinguishes it confirms the grant of God declares the purpose of God and distinguishes the person so priviledg'd from othermen The Author of Assurance which is the Spirit he is the Keeper of the great Seal of Heaven and it 's his Office to confirm and seal the Believers right and interest in Christ and Heaven Rom. 8. 16. Lastly The quality of this Spirit of Assurance or the Sealing Spirit he Sealâ—… in the quality of an holy Spirit and of the Spirit of promise as an holy Spirit relating to his previous sanctifying work upon the sealed soul. As the Spirit of promise respecting the medium or instrument made use of by him in this his Sealing work for he Seals by opening and applying the promises to Believers from the Spirits order The Note will be this Doct. That the priviledge of Sealing follows the duty of Believing There is no season more proper to treat of the Sealing of the Spirit than at a Sealing Ordinance nor can I handle the Spirits sealing work in a more profitable method than in satisfying these five Queries particularly and then applying the whole 1. What is the Spirits Sealing and how performed 2. Why none are Sealed till they Believe 3. Whether all Believers are Sealed 4. What is the priviledge of being Sealed 5. What are the effects of the Spirits Sealing 1. Query First What is the Spirtts Sealing worâ—… and how is it performed Answer The Sealing of the Spirit is his giving a sure and certain testimony to the reality of that work of grace he hath wrought in our souls and to our interest in Christ and the Promises thereby satisfying our fears and doubts about our estate and condition Every matter of weight and concernment is to be proved by two sufficient Witnesses Deut. 19. 15. our sincerity and interest in Christ are matters of the deepest concernment to us in all the world and therefore need a farther witness to confirm and clear them than that of our own spirits the spirit it self therefore bears witness with our spirits Rom. 8. 16. Three things concur to the spirits Sealing work He Sanctifies the soul. He irradiates and clears that work of Sanctification He enables it thereby to apply Promises The first is his material or objective Seal the latter his formal Sealing None but the Spirit of God can clear and confirm our title to Christ for he only searcheth the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2. 10. and it 's his office Rom. 8. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to witness with our spirits This Seal or Witness of the Spirit must needs be true and certain because Omniscience and Truth are his essential properties He is Omniscient 1 Cor. 2. 10. and therefore cannot be deceived himself He is the Spirit of Truth Joh. 14. 17. and therefore cannot deceive us so that his testimony is more infallible and satisfactory than a Voice from Heaven 2 Pet. 1. 19. If an Angel should appear and tell us Christ had said to him Go and tell such a man that I love him that I shed my blood for him and will save him it could
find not this presently as some do Secondly Times of eminent Communion with God are Sealing times There are extraordinary out-lets of Peace Joy and Comfort at some seasons in duty which makes the state of the soul very clear and banishes all scruples and fears from the heart Thirdly Others are Sealed upon some eminent hazard they have been exposed to for Christ or some extraordinary sufferings they have undergone for Christ wherein they have carried it with eminent meekness patience and self-denial 2 Cor. 1. 4 5. Thus the Martyrs were many times Sealed in the depth of their sufferings Fourthly It 's usually found that a Sealing time follows a dark day of desertion and sore combats with temptation Post Nubila Phoebus So that Text Rev. 2. 17. is expounded by some To him that overcometh will I give the white stone and the new name Fifthly Dying-times prove Sealing-times to many souls if their whole life have been like that day described by the Prophet Zech. 14. 17. neither dark nor light a life betwixt hopes and fears yet at Evening-time it hath been light 3. Distinction Lastly We must distinguish the several ways and manners of Sealing Some are extraordinary and immediate vouchsafed only to some persons at some special times and seasons Thus Zacheus was in an extraordinary and immediate way ascertained of his Salvation Luk. 19. 9. This day is Salvation come to this House And so the Palsie-man Mark 2. 5. Son saith Christ thy sins be forgiven thee But these immediate ways are ceased no man may now expect by any new Revelation or Sign from Heaven by any Voice or extraordinary Inspiration to have his Salvation sealed but must expect that mercy in Gods ordinary way and method searching the Scriptures examining our own hearts and waiting on the Lord in Prayer The Learned Gerson gives an instance of one that had been long upon the borders of despair and at last sweetly assured and setled and being asked how he attained that Assurance he answered Non ex nova aliqua revelatione c. Not by any new revelation but by subjecting my understanding to and comparing my heart with the written word And Mr. Roberts in his Treatise of the Covenants speaks of another that so vehemently panted after the Sealings and Assurance of the love of God to his soul that for a long time he earnestly desired some Voice from Heaven and sometimes walking in the solitary Fields earnestly desired some miraculous voice from the Trees or Stones there This was denied him but in time a better was afforded in a scriptural way Now to resolve the Query out of these distinctions First Though all Believers have not the formal Sealings of the Spirit yet they have the objective or material Seal that is the Spirit is in them as a sanctifying spirit putting a real difference betwixt them and others when he is not with them by way of evidence and assurance of sanctification Secondly Though all Believers are not Sealed at one and the same time yet there are few if any Believers but do meet with one season or other in this life wherein the Lord doth Seal them if not at their first close with Christ as many have been Sealed yet in some choice and eminent season of communion with God such golden spots of time such precious seasons most Christians can speak of Though as Bernard speaks it be rara hora brevis mora Seldom but sweet Or if not in the course of their active obedience 't is a thousand to one but they shall meet it in the way of their passive obedience if God exercise them eminently under the cross or after a dark cloud of desertion or in a dying hour Thirdly and lastly Though God now Seals not men in an extraordinary and immediate way by Revelation immediate Inspiration or Voices from Heaven yet most Christians are sealed in the ordinary way of the Spirit under one Ordinance or other in one duty or other 4. Query What is the priviledge of being Sealed by the Spirit Answ. Much every way words cannot express the riches of this mercy for let us but consider the four following particulars and you will admire the mercy First Consider whose act and proper work Sealing is God doth not send Angels upon this Errand though if he did that would be a great honour to poor dust and ashes but he sends his Spirit to do it Oh the Condescension of the great God to men this is a greater honour than if millions of Angels were imploy'd about it And then as to certainty and satisfaction it is beyond all other ways and methods in the world for in miraculous Voices and Inspirations it's possâ—…ble there may subesse falsum be found some Cheat or Imposture of the Devil but the spirits witness in the heart suitable to his revelation in the Scripture cannot deceive us Secondly The conclusion or truth sealed is ravishing and transporting All Christians vehemently pant for it few have the enjoyment of it for any long continuance But whilst they do enjoy it they enjoy Heaven upon Earth a joy beyond all the joys of this world To have this conclusion surely Sealed Christ is mine my sin is pardoned I shall be saved from wrath through him O what is this what is this Thirdly Consider the subject or person Sealed a poor sinful wretch that hast ten thousand times over grieved the good Spirit of God by whom notwithstanding thou art Sealed to the day of Redemption Thou hast by every sin deserved to be sealed up to Damnation Thou hast reason to account and esteem thy self much inferior in graces and duties to many thousands of the Saints that are panting after this priviledge and cannot obtain it O the riches of the goodness of God! Fourthly and lastly Consider the designs and aims of the Spirit in his Sealing thy soul which are 1. To secure Heaven to thee for ever 2. As intermediate thereunto to bring very much of Heaven into thy soul in the way to it indeed to give thee two Heavens whilst many others must suffer two Hells 5. Query Lastly We will enquire what are the effects of the Spirits sealing upon our souls by which we may distinguish and clearly discern it from all delusions of Satan and all Impostures whatsoever Answ. The genuine and proper effects and fruits of Sealing are 1. Inflamed Love 2. Renewed Care 3. Deep Abasements 4. Increase of Strength 5. A desire to be with the Lord. 6. Improved Mortification to the world Wheresoever these are found consequent to our Communion with God and his manifestations of himself to us therein they put it beyond all doubt that it was the Seal of his own blessed Spirit and no delusion First The Sealings of the Spirit cannot but inflame the love of the soul in a very intense degree towards God One flame doth not more naturally beget another than the love of God doth kindle the love of a gracious
another by intermediate Ejaculations If care of duty be once remitted you are not far from a sad change of your condition Fourthly Improve all Ordinances especially this great Sealing Ordinance for your farther confirmation and establishment Act your Faith to the uttermost of its ability upon Christ Crucified and comfort will flow in The more the direct acts of Faith are exercised the more powerful and sweet its reflex acts are like to be THE FIFTH MEDITATION UPON Joh. 1. 29. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins of the World THE scope of this Chapter is to prove the Divinity and Eternal God-head of Jesus Christ. One of those Arguments by which this great Article of Faith is confirmed and proved is the Testimony of John This testimony of John is the more remarkable because it was before Prophesied of him that when the Messiah should come this Messenger should go before his face to prepare the way for him Mal. 3. 1. Now among all the Testimonies that ever John gave of Christ none ever was or could be more full and clear than this in the Text. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sin of the World In which words are remarkable 1. The Preface to his Testimony 2. The Testimony itself First The Preface or Introduction to Johns Testimony Behold there is a double use in Scripture of this word Sometimes it 's used by way of Inâ—…ication and sometimes by way of Excitation In the first it points out the person in the last it raises our affections to him In this place it hath both these Uses Behold the Lamb of God q. d. This is the great â—…xpectation and hope of all Ages This person whom you behold is the desire of all Nations Loe this is God manifest in flesh This is the great Sacrifice the Lamb of God Never did humane eyes behold such an object before Secondly The testimony it self which must be considered two ways as it respects 1. The truth and reality 2. The vertue and dignity of Christ its object First Johns Testimony respects the the truth and reality of the object this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lamb of God the very Antitype to which all legal Sacrifices had respect and from which they derived all their value and vertue grace and truth came by Christ as he had said before ver 17. The Paschal Lamb and Lamb for daily Sacrifice were but the Types and Shadows of this Lamb of God Secondly His Testimony respects the vertue and dignity of Christ and his Blood He taketh away the Sin of the World The Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a Learned Critick observes answers both the Hebrew words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Isa. 53. and signifies not only to bear but to bear away portando expiat expiando ausert efficitque ut remittatur By bearing sin he expiates it and by expiating takes it away or procures the mission of it The expression seems to allude to the scape Goat mentioned Levit. 16. 22. Thus Christ really and wholly takes away the sin of the world i. e. the sin of all Believers in the world for whom he was Sacrificed as Drusius well expounds it concurrent with the stream of sound Expositors So that this is a very full Testimony which John gives to Christ and it is given with great affection and admiration of him Behold yea admire in beholding the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world behold him with affections suitable to such an object Ecce persona à Deo ordinata in victimam ad expiandum peccata Behold the person appointed by God for a Sacrifice to expiate sin Now though this Scripture be very fruitful in practical observations yet it is not my purpose at this time to note or prosecute any of them except this one which rises from the praefatory particle or that note of admiration with which Johns Testimony of Christ is usher'd in Behold the Lamb of God And the note thence will be this Doct. That Jesus Christ the Lamb of God is to be beheld with admiration and affection suitable to such an object Christ is beheld by men three ways First Carnally with an eye of flesh So men saw him in the days of his flesh and despised him Isa. 53. 2. Carnal eyes saw no beauty in him that he should be desired Secondly Fiducially by the eye of Faith believing is seeing Christ Joh. 6. 40. Faith is to the Saints instead of eyes by it they make Christ present though the Heavens have received him out of our carnal sight Thirdly Beatifically by the glorified eye So the spirits of just men made perfect do by their mental eye see him in glory and all the Saints after the Resurrection shall with these Corporeal eyes see their Redeemer according to Job 19. 26 27. The sight of Christ by Faith which is all the sight of him that any man now hath or can have in this world as it is much more excellent than the first for blessed are they that have not seen and yet believe Joh. 20. 29. So it is much inferiour to the last 1 Cor. 13. 12. For now we see darkly through a glass but then face to face But though it be an inferior Vision in respect of that which is immediate and perfect yet the eye of Faith is a precious eye and the Visions of Christ by Faith are ravishing Visions and he that beholds Christ the Lamb of God by a steddy fixed eye of faith cannot but admire and be deeply affected with such a sight of him The views of Christ by Faith are ravishing and transporting views 1 Pet. 1. 8. Whom having not seen ye love in whom though now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory It is a disparagement to so glorious an object as Christ to behold him and not wonder to see and not love him Certainly the admiration love delight and joy of our hearts are all at the command of Faith For let us but consider what ravishing excellencies are in Christ for the eye of a Believer to behold and admire First God is in Christ 2 Cor. 5. 19. He is God manifest in the flesh 1 Tim. 3. 16. A God Incarnate is the worlds wonder Here is Finite and Infinite joyn'd in one Eternity matcht with Time the Creator and Creature making but one Person The Lord hath Created a new thing in the Earth a Woman shall compass a Man Jer. 31. 22. 'T is an argument of weakness to admire little things and of stupidity not to admire great things Many Miracles saith one were wrought by Christ in the flesh but the greatest of all Miracles was his assumption of Flesh. Secondly The Wisdom of God is in Christ yea in him are hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge Col. 2. 3. Never did the Divine Wisdom display its glorious beams in the eyes of Men
the Book of Life than that the Devils are subject to us Luk. 10. 20. From hence it may be inferr'd that we are chosen of God Act. 13. 48. As many as were ordained to eternal life believed Fourthly The least measure of saving faith is a mercy greater than most men ever partake of 'T is true God is rich and bountiful in the gifts of Providence to others they have the good things of this life many of them more than their hearts can wish Psal. 73. 7. He enricheth many of them also with endowments of the mind natural and moral knowledge and wisdom yea and adorns them with Homilitical Vertues that render them very desirable and lovely in their converses with men but there are but few to whom he gives saving faith Isa. 53. 1. Believers are but a small remnant among men Fifthly and lastly He that hath any the least degree of saving faith hath that which shall never be taken away from him all other excellencies go away at death Job 4. 21. But this is a spring that never fails it springs up into everlasting life Joh. 4. 14. A man may out-live his Friends and Familiars his Estate and Health his Gifts and Natural parts but not his Faith how great matter of joy and comfort is wrapt up in the least degree of Faith 1. Use of tryal It concerns us then to examine our selves whether our Faith be true be it more or less stronger or weaker and till we discern its truth it will yield us but little comfort I confess weak Believers are under great disadvantages to comfort small and weak things being usually very inevident and undiscernable but yet in this example before us we find weak faith was made evident though much unbelief was mixed with it Lord I believe help thou my unbelief In which words many very useful signs of true though weak faith did appear and they are very relieving to weak Believers to consider them O that we might find the like in us First His Faith gave him a tender melting heart He cry'd out and said with tears Doth your faith melt your hearts either in the sense of your own vileness or of the riches of free grace to such vile Creatures Secondly His Faith gave him a deep sense of his remaining unbelief and burdened his heart with it Help my unbelief And sure so will yours if it be but as a grain of Mustard-seed in you Thirdly His weak Faith carried him to Christ in servent prayers and cries for his help to subdue unbelief in him and so will yours if your Faith be right Oh how often do the People of God go to the Throne of Grace upon that Errand Help Lord my heart is dead vain and very unbelieving there 's no dealing with it in my own strength Father help me Fourthly His Faith made him hunger and thirst after greater measures of it Help my unbelief i. e. Lord cure it that I may believe with more strong and steddy acts os Faith that I may not question thy power any more or say If thou canst do any thing Why thus will it be with you if you be true Believers Luk. 17. 5. Lord said the Disciples increase our Faith Fifthly There was a conflict in his soul betwixt Faith and Infidelity Grace and Corruption and this very sensible to him faith inclining him one way and unbelief carrying him another and hence he speaks like a man greatly distressed betwixt the workings of contrary principles in his own soul and so you will also find it in your selves Gal. 5. 17. The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh so that ye cannot do the things that ye would 2. Use of Consolation Well then bless the Lord for the least degree of saving Faith and be not so discouraged at its imperfections as to over-look and slight the smalest working of faith in your souls This poor man was deeply sensible of his unbelief and yet at the same instant truly thankful for a small measure of Faith and so should you For First The least measure of saving Faith is more than all Creatures power could produce 'T is the faith of the operation of God Col. 2. 12. 't is the work of God that ye believe Joh. 6. 29. Yea 't is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe according to the working of his mighty power Eph. 1. 19 20. No Ministers of Christ how excellent soever their gifts are no duties or ordinances no labour or diligence of your own without this mighty power of God can ever bring you to Faith Secondly 'T is just matter of wonder and astonishment that ever one spark of faith was kindled in such an heart as thine is an heart which had no predisposition or inclination in the least to believe yea it was not rasa tabula like clean paper voâ—…d of any impression of faith but fill'd with contrary impressions to it so that it 's marvelous that ever your hearts received the stamp or impression of faith on them It was wonderful that fire should fall from Heaven and burn upon the Altar when Elijah had laid the wood in order upon it but much more when he poured so much water upon it as not only wet all the wood but fill'd the Trenches 1 King 18. 33. Just so was the case of thy soul Reader when God came to kindle faith there Thy heart was dark and ignorant neither acquainted with God or thy own condition yea thy heart was a proud heart full of self-righteousness and self-conceitedness Rev. 3. 17. Rom. 10. 3. a heart that would rather venture Eternal Damnation than deny Self and submit to Christ and yet the light of the Lord must shine into this darkness and the pride and stiffness of thy heart must be broken and brought to yield or there is no believing Beside How many and mighty Enemies did oppose the work of Faith in thy soul Among which Satan and thy own carnal reasonings were the principal 2 Cor. 10. 4. By them what strong holds and sortifications were raised to secure thee from the strokes of conviction and made way for Faith Let but the state of thine own heart as it was by nature be considered and thou wilt say it is the wonderful work of God that ever thou wast brought in any degree to believe Thirdly Though thy Faith be weak yet it is growing if it be saving faith The largest Tree was once but a Kernel or Acorn The most famous Believer at first but a weak and doubting one Be not discouraged therefore God will fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness in you and the work of faith with power It were certainly much better for you to be blessing God for a little faith praying for the increase of faith and diligently attending those means by which it may be improved and made flourishing in your souls than by a sinful ungrateful and prejudicial despondency at once to
Flesh to be rent and his Blood set abroach for you what love like the love of Christ Secondly Learn hence a ground of Content in the lowest and poorest condition allotted to any Believer in this world It may be some of you live low in the world you have hard fare and are abridg'd of many of those sweet comforts in the Creature which the Enemies of God abound in but still remember you have no cause to envy their dainties and be dissatisficd with your own lot and portion when not many Nobles or mighty in the world feed as your souls do feed O what a feast have you What dainties do your souls tast by faith Whilst others do but feed upon Ashes and Husks what is the flesh of Lambs and Calves out of the Stall to the Flesh of Christ What is Wine in bowls and the chief Oyntment to the Blood of Christ and the anoyntings of his Spirit O be satisfied with your outward lot however God hath cast it whilst he hath dealt so bountifully with your souls Thirdly Learn hence the necessity of faith in order to the livelihood and subsistance of our souls What is a Feast to him that cannot tast it And what is Christ to him that cannot believe That cannot by faith eat his Flesh and drink his Blood 'T is not the Preparation made for souls in Christ but the Application of him by faith that gives us the sweetness and benefit of him Faith is the souls mouth or pallate the Unbeliever tasts no sweetness in Christ he can rellish more sweetness in money meat drink carnal mirth or any sensual enjoyment than Christ. Fourthly How excellent are Gospel-Ordinances What sweetness is there to be found in them by true Believers For there Christ is prepar'd and as it were serv'd in for them to feed upon It is your Ministers work to cook and prepare for you all the week long and to furnish for you a feast of fat things Loe here 's a Table spread and furnish'd this day with the costliest dainties that Heaven affords O prize these mercies sit not here with flat or wanton appetites lest God call to your Enemies and bid them take away 2. Use of Exhortation Is the Flesh and Blood of Christ Meat and Drink indeed then let me exhort you Brethren First To come to this Table with sharp and hungry appetites Have you ever tasted that the Lord is gracious and do you not hunger and thirst to taste it again Surely where the Carcass is thither will the Eagles be gather'd Math. 24. 28. There is a two fold appetite a dainty and an hungry appetite beware of a nice and dainty appetite that can rellish nothing in the most solid and spiritual duties except the dish be garnisht with flowers of Rhetorick or the matter serv'd in with art and elegancy This hath been the great sin of the Professors of this Generation O Christians no more of that I pray you Were you really an hungred and athirst for Christ you would come to his Ordinances as famishing men to a feast Secondly To feed heartily upon Christ in every Ordinance and in every Sacrament especially O that your souls might hear and answer that invitation this day Cant. 5. 1. Eat O Friends drink yea drink abundantly O Beloved For Motives I will only hint these three following First Christ is the matter of this Feast God hath prepar'd him for your souls Is any thing in Heaven or Earth so sweet as Christ Sacrificed is Do not the Angels and Saints in Heaven feast upon him Surely one drop of Christ's Blood hath more sweetness and excellency in it than the whole Ocean of all Creature-comforts Secondly Don't your graces need it Have you not a languishing love a staggering faith dull and sluggish desires Look into your hearts and see what need there is of strengthening the things that are in you which are ready to die O feed upon Christ that your graces may be revived strengthened Thirdly Do you know how many daies you are to go in the strength of this meal How long it may be ere you sit again at the Lords Table Surely even these as well as your inferior temporal comforts stand upon terms of greatest uncertainty Ah Christians Consider well the times you live in the Enemy that stands ready to take away the cloth and remove your spiritual food from you It 's said of Peter Martyr that being in Oxford when Q. Mary came in and hearing the first Mass-bell ring he was struck to the heart and said haec una notula omnem meam doctrinam evertit This one tinkling Bell overthrows all the labours of my Ministry at once God grant we may hear none of that Musick in England any more but it 's like to be according to your estimation and improvement of Christ's precious Ordinances Thirdly Commend the experiensed sweetness of Christ to others Don't conceal his loveliness and excellency Thus the fair and enamoured Spouse charges or adjures others Cant. 5. 9. Be not content to feast upon Christ alone whilst others souls are starving and perhaps the souls of your dear natural Relations Say to them as David Psal. 34. 8. O taste and see how good the Lord is Fourthly and lastly See that your appetite to Christ be right and truly spiritual Such an hunger and thirst upon which blessedness is entail'd by promise and you may conclude it so when First It is a sharp and strong appetite Psal. 42. 1. Let your thoughts run upon Christ night and day like the desires of a longing Woman Secondly When 't is a Universal appetite after every thing in Christ his Holiness as well as his Righteousness his Commands as well as his Promises for he is altogether lovely Cant. 5. 16. Thirdly When 't is a continual appetite I mean not that the pulse of your desires should keep an even stroke at all times but that there be real and sincere workings of heart after him always Psal. 119. 20. Fourthly When 't is an industrious appetite awakening the soul to the Use of all means and practice of all duties in order to satisfaction Psal. 27. 4. One thing have I desired of the Lord and that will I seek after Fifthly and lastly It 's then aright when 't is an insatiable appetite never to be allaid with any thing besides Christ Psal. 73. 25. No nor with Christ himself till thou comest to the full enjoyment of him in Heaven The Believer knows how sweet soever his Communion with Christ is in this world yet that Communion he shall have with Christ in Heaven far excels it there it will be more intimate and immediate 1 Cor. 19. 12. more full and perfect even to satisfaction Psal. 17. 15. more constant and continued not suffering such interruptions as it doth here Rev. 21. 25. More pure and unmixed Here our Corruptions work with our graces Rom. 7. 21. but there grace shall work alone In a word more durable and