figure wherefore he said to the Iews Destroy this Temple and I will raise it and so forth Secondly I answer This Temple also was a figure that God would take up his dwelling place in the hearts of true believers only and in a word this dwelling in the Temple and in Christ himself and in the hearts of his members is no more but this his abiding residence in a manifestation of himself in a peculiar presence of his love and favour as in the Temple more then in any peculiar place in all the world and most eminently in Christs humane body more then in any created nature as is proved and his dwelling in the hearts of believers is a secret and silent manifestation of himself to their minds and is so restrained to them as it once was to the Temple at Jerusalem and therefore the Text says to believers if they destroy this Temple in themselves God will destroy them Again Observe that Gods dwelling place as personally considered is only in the humane Nature of Christ therefore Christ alone is personally Gods Elect for this end so to be the said seventh means therefore to affirm that any part of humane Nature besides that in his person is personally Gods Elect to eternal life is a great mistake The Reason why God thus dwells in the hearts of no men else in al the world is this because they are Regenerated only and their belief or faith the principal part thereof is that by which Christ dwelleth in their hearts as saith the Text Christ dwells in our hearts by faith so that the truly sanctifyed mind is Christs only habitation of all mankinde A Second Reason why Christ thus dwells only in the hearts of Believers by Faith is this because where this Sanctification or Holiness is not there is no proper place for him to manifest himself there as is said for all men else that are by being faithful in their little are but coming towards Christ or God by the said striving of his Spirit that so he might give them Faith but yet having it not there is no dwelling place for him and for all sorts of men in the world besides they are dead in sins and in trespasses their Light being turned into Darkness and therefore the children of the Devil and then what fellowship hath Christ with Belial Question If Christ by his Spirit thus strives with the spirits of all men not only as by his Prophets and Ministers but also in the days of his flesh personally by himself Why do so few men believe rightly as to receive Gods gift of Eternal Life and be saved Answer Because men do so follow this life of sense sutable to the body and in their Understanding do wink to follow their Lusts and will not see nor understand that which they do by the Doctrine of Christ truth shining to them either by the Creation or the sacred Oracles in which Christs Spirit so strives with their spirits And therefore because they are not faithful in their little they precedently had received whereby they might in some degree have been brought towards that Right Faith and received Gods gift thereof and also the said gift of life by it is that so few are saved For from this ground it was that Christ could not do no great works amongst them to whom he preached in his own person and so by a demonstrative force strengthning the striving of his spirit Mark 6.5 6. by his Doctrine upon their spirits For the Text implies it was because of their unbelief that is of what they might have believed from that light which formerly they had received as we see proved by those heathens which had not the Oracles of God yet being faithful in their little by the assistance of Christs Spirit striving with their spirits were brought to Circumcision of the heart which as saith the Text is by Nature and were saved as is proved The ground why Christs Spirit can do no great works to such men as is said is this he will not cross the orderly means to his fathers final end namely not to force the Will of man for then the nature of the Will is destroyed consequently the Reasonable Soul annihilated which must not be in respect of Gods final end for so God should destroy that means purposely made by himself that man might be made to honor or dishonor as is proved and therefore Noah by the spirit of prophesie in his prayer to God concerning the Calling of the Gentiles into the said posture doth rightly point at the manner of Christs Spirit striving with mans spirit saying God perswade Iaphet to dwell in the Tents of Shem that is not only by a moral perswasion in the voice of the Gospel but also by the Spirit of Christ the rectitude of the Understanding and the Will rightly to operate to receive the said gift of Christs Righteousness and life in it and thus always God proceeds with the spirits of men ordinarily in all the world Rom. 10.20 except in case of Restauration of the World from one universal Apostacy then as is proved Act. 2.17 God is found of them that sought him not as in the Call of the Gentiles and pouring out the imbreathing of his Spirit as it were compelling the Gentiles into the said posture by a more cleerer manifestation to their minds in the Gospel being unvailed then ever the Iews had but still this must be remembred that this extraordinary Cause is in prosecution of his final end against the Apostate Angels design against the said particular Branch and therefore not for mans sake but for his own Names sake for to this end he gives to some a greater emminency of Gifts and Graces throughout all Ages and Generations of men as to Moses Abraham Daniel and David and the seventy Disciples and the Apostles and so forth but in an ordinary course God proceeds with men to give them more Faith and so of every Grace according as they are faithful in their little and not otherwise Obser You put so much stress upon the use of mans Natural faculties in reference to his operations to that Rule which you call suitable to all men yet the Scriptures lead us another way namely that mans happiness is from a more immediate thing without all this ado Quest What thing is that Answ The Text affirms when God had made the body of man of earth a liveless Trunck he then breathed into his face or nostrils the breath of life that is God breathed into that body his own Essence or Nature and so man became one spirit with God partaker of his divine Nature as saith the Text. Therefore here is no use of all those natural faculties nor mans operations to a Rule to receive Eternal Life as given by God in Christs imputed Righteousness For God himself is Eternal Life which is Christ in us the hope of Glory as saith the Text and this Life of God or God in
posture and thus the Jews which have been dead in sins and in trespasses this sixteen hundred years this Spirit of Christ will inliven their dead spirits that so they shall or may receive the said gift of life again for in this sense the gifts and callings of God to mankind are without repentance that is to call men and thus to give them as is said in pursuance of his said final end Again Is it so that the Spirit of Christ strives with the spirits of all sorts of men in the world to preserve and increase the one and to suppress the other as is proved Hence observe That all men which as yet have not the gift of faith are to be carefull that they are faithfull in that little they have received but especially not to resist this Spirit striving with their spirits as we see did Cain the old world Noah's posterity at Babel as did Shems in Terah's and Israel Gods Elect the offspring of Abraham lest God denying them the gift of faith and so his gift of life For then in seeing they shall not see and in understanding they shall not understand and shall never truely nor rightly be able to see the things which do belong to their eternal peace Again Is it so That this Spirit of Christs thus strives with all men of the world and also with all men in the visible Churches of Christ and also with the invisible Members as is proved then let them which think they have the true Spirit of faith in God and love to God and their neighbour kindled in their breasts by this Spirit of Christs beware they quench not the Spirits flame of love and firm faith by inordinate cares and love of this worlds profits or pleasurable lusts lest they having begun in the Spirit doe end in the flesh and reap corruption Again Is it so that the Spirit of Christ thus strives and effects in the hearts of the invisible Members of Christs true faith and love and other graces Then hence observe That although in attaining eternal life they can do nothing but in that Christ alone doth all and also that in the gift of internal light of Christ and in the gift of faith and in the gift of other graces and in the increase and grouth of them the invisible members of Christ are meerly passive in all this yet hence observe That by the same spirit of faith and love they are inabled to keep their hearts with care and diligence so that no man or power shall take away their Crown of comfort and hope of glory First because in the said gifts they have received the spirit of love of power and of a sound mind in some degree therefore they are able so to doe A second Reason is this The Spirit of Christ is at hand when they so put forth that power they have not only to assist them to keep their hearts in these endeavours but also to add that wherein they are meerly passive as I said before namely to add the increase of all these graces they have and so they grow from strength to strength in Sion and therefore they may and are able to keep their hearts as is said And therefore saith our Lord As I say unto all men so I say unto you Watch lest ye enter into temptation The Reason why I call the third in the one God or the third Person in Trinity the Spirit of Christ is this Because that as all that the Father hath is Christ's in pursuance of this said final end so Christ by the third in the one Iehovah in Gods mercifull voice in the Creation and most eminently and most properly by the voice of the Gospel in the tongue of man to man by the Ministry of this Spirit doth strive with the spirits of all men to depress the mind of the Devil in them and to implant the similitude of the mind of Christ in them which is mans sanctification in order to the Fathers will to a right receiving of his said righteousness imputed to their eternal life or to be either as is proved CHAP. IX In which is handled the fifth branch of the manifold wisdom of God precedently propounded and the last ingredients which makes up the said posture namely that God by the seed of the woman immediately after the fall gave a rule suitable to all men to work or operate by in reference to his said final end THis Point divides it self into three parts two whereof are handled in this Chapter the third in the next The first declares unto all men who it is that Governs them by this Rule for a Governor is imployed The second is to let all men see what this Rule is The third is that all men may see how suitable this rule is unto them Of these in their order As for the first Certainly he that restoreth all mankind out of the falne mass of death into the said posture to receive the said gift of life he it is that governs man by his own Rule and therefore saith man believing truth To us a Child is born and to us a Son is given and the Government shall be laid upon his shoulders and his name shall be called Wonderfull Councellor and the mighty God and so forth And saith the Lord himself Esa 9.6 All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth and then goes on governing all men in this Government by his Apostles by the said suitable rule Mat. 28.18 19. For he commanded them saying Mar. 16.16 Goe ye therefore into all the world and Preach the Gospel to every creature He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that will not believe shall be damned From this ground it is that the Father judgeth no man because he committeth all judgement to the Son John 5.22 So much for the first Point Secondly That all men may see what this Rule is And in a word it is no more but this namely The Tenor of the Gospel and that is a Rule of Justice and Mercy for the Gospel it self is one thing and its Tenor is another and the Gospel it self is no more but this Gods highest mercy manifested by Christ to man to relieve him out of his deepest misery First implyed immediately upon the fall Gen. 3.15 Luke 2.10 11. when God said unto the Serpent The seed of the woman shall bruise thy head Secondly In the fulness of time when the Angel said Behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy that shall be unto all people that is That unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord and the Gospels Tenor is no more but this as is said A Rule of Justice and Mercy for all men to work by and not a Rule of Justice only as was that to Adam in his innocency before the fall in pursuance of Gods said final end For proof of this Point the Oracles
from Nature by vertue of the Creation as such for that was lost in the fall as is implyed in the Text because it saith The Creation is not subject unto vanity willingly that is by its own natural instinct but by reason of God who caused the Creation to depend first upon the operations of the first Adam and then upon the second Adams as is implyed in the Text namely by reason of him who hath subdued the same in hope from whence the earnest expectation of the Creature or Creation waiteth for the manifestation of the Sons of God Yet again note this by the way That although the Creation by mans fall lost its blessedness to its self and to man yet it lost not its being no more then the Apostate Angels or damned men which detain their being to eternity for the being of all things is grounded on Gods essence only and never depended on either Adams operations and because the Creation thus travels by the force of Gods favour in Christ it was the ground why the Psalmist sweetly sings that Jehovah is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works and if tender mercy be over all then misery was first over all for misery is mercies most proper object to which mercy is extended from the premisses thus proved Psal 145.9 follows this conclusion That the Voice Language or Speech of the whole Creation of good from God to man in all its force and effects by all creatures ever since Christ was the first-born in the promise to break the Serpents head is the general voice of glad-tidings of God to man by Iesus Christs satisfactory righteousness imputed for we see its tendency and dependancy to blessedness hangeth only upon that so that in a word the whole Creation in general is the voice of the Gospel and that is the reason why in the New Testament and the Old the voice of the Gospel Preached by men is brought in in a sense speaking one and the same thing to mankind yet note that it is with this difference The one a general and remote voice and the other the more distinct and particular as by Writings in the Oracles of God and by the speech and language of man to man by the word Preached and thus David brings them in joyntly saying The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shew his handy works day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night sheweth knowledg there is no Speech nor Language where their voyce is not heard their loyne is gone forth throughout all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world in them he hath set a Tabernacle for the Son and so forth and then he joyneth the Gospel thereunto in these words Psal 19. from verse 1 to 8. Note The Creation began thus to preach Christ from its first step into this travel from the bondage of corruption to be partakers of the glorious liberties of the Sons of God and when that first step began you may see in my former Treatise page the 35. The Law of God is perfect converting the soul the Testimony of the Lord is sure and giveth wisdom unto the simple the Statutes of the Lord are right and rejoyce the heart and so forth And Paul speaking of the Preaching of the Gospel concludes Faith is by hearing and hearing by the word of God and then having spoken of Iews and Grecians in the 12 verse concluding That be that is Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him and then puts the Question in the 18 verse saying But I demand Have they not heard meaning the Grecians or Heathens as well as the Iews and then he answers the question namely That the Gospel was heard by them in the said words of the Psalmes No doubt their sound went out throughout all the earth and their words into the end of the world implying That both voices ought to be heard and being rightly heard they both breed vertually in the heart of man faith in Christ Rom. 10.12 17 18. yet with this difference the one implicite and more weak because its voyce is but general and remote the other more clear and strong because his voyce is more clear and near to the spirit of a man So much for the external truth of God in Christ by which Christs Spirit strived with their spirits to direct them in that narrow way to eternal life Secondly The internal truth of God in Christ by which the Spirit of Christ strived with the spirits of the said confounded and scattered off-spring of Noah at Babel in a word is no more but this namely The remainder of the said internal Law and light of Christ in their hearts for as is proved they were excluded the residence of the Gospel with them as is implyed in the Text Rom. 2. it saith Rom. 2.14.15 The Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature the things contained in the Law and are a Law unto themselvs which shew the work of the Law written in their hearts And this Law in the hearts of them all if they had submitted to this inward striving of of the Spirit of Christ with their spirits and not detained it in unrighteousness as they did it would have produced the circumcision of the hearts of them all which is the true rectitude of the mind or sanctification as it did to some of them which did in that little they had seek to do well and so it was effected in them namely Circumcision which is by nature saith the Text verse 27. and in the 29 verse To be circumcision of the heart and spirit whose praise is not of men but of God So much for the internal truth of God in Christ to direct the Heathens in the narrow way to life But the Question may be What life that was that the best of those Heathens did attain unto I answer Neither more nor less but the same eternal life which the believing Iews received by operations in Gods gift of Christs imputative righteousness as appears in the sixth verse God will render every man according to his works that is To them which through a patient well-doing Rom. 2.6.7 10. seek for honour and glory immortality everlasting life and in the tenth verse To every man that doth good shall be glory and honour and praise to the Iew first and to the Grecian for there is no respect of persons with God for to this hath our Lord Christ made his promise They that seek shall find and to him that knocketh it shall be opened From this ground it was that the Apostles were not ashamed to Preach the Gospel in Heathenish Rome to believers his first reason is Because it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth to the Iew first and also to the Grecian His second Reason is Because by it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith that is from
did believe that God is although remotely And secondly that he is a rewarder of them that seek him although they do it with much confusion and the like in the Ninivites but first in the Marriners they referr their cause by lot to God to determine a point of difficulty implying they did believe though remotely yet truely that God is and conceiving the second they prayed him not to lay innocent bloud to them implying they did believe he is a rewarder of those that seek him So likewise the King of Ninnive he did believe God as saith the Text that is That God is as well as his threatnings to be true by Jonah And as for the second That he is a rewarder of them that seek him is clear also because he did seek him upon this reason saying Who knows whether God will be intreated to turn away from his first wrath If thus much amity toward God be in such men as these certainly some remainders of enmity to Satan and amity to God is in all mankind Hence it follows without all contradiction that the precedent premisses are true That Christ is the true light which lighteth every man which cometh into the world Hence it is that our Lord said unto such men or that man which by custom in sin hath turned that light into darkness as we see here these men had done saying If the light which is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness Again The force of this internal light and Law of Christ demonstrates it self to be his Law by this particular in all mankind that is as Christ himself is Gods only Seat of mercy or mercies seat to the world so all mankind in their distress invocate God to take off their misery under the notion of mercy so cannot the apostate Angels invocate God under the notion of mercy or pitty and the ground of it is this as they have no internal princple by Christ as here we see all mankind hath therefore they have no internal disposedness to seek relief from him under the notion of mercy and from this ground it is that their consciences cannot excuse them as mens can do Objection If the natural liberty of mans will consists in its chusing and refusing all objects as it likes or liks them not then man by nature may without this internal Law of Christs Spirit from the natural power of his will chuse Gods gift of eternal life Answer It is one thing to have power to chuse and refuse all objects as it likes or as it likes them not as have the Devils and good and bad men for this power cannot be lost but in the annihilation of the Creature and another thing rightly to chuse that which is good and rightly to refuse that which is evil This power man lost in the fall therefore no man can rightly chuse or rightly refuse any object good or evil since the fall according to Gods will in relation to Christ but by the Spirit of Christ which put the said enmity into all mankind and so from degree to degree they being faithfull in that little would give them more even to the gift of faith rightly to receive the said gift of life and thus if the Son make them free they are free indeed rightly to chuse good and to refuse evil for where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty Objection If the natural Liberty of Mans Will is to chuse and refuse all objects as it likes or as it likes them not How can the Will be disposed naturally to any one thing as naturally to Gods Law in a capacity to the said posture Answer The natural Liberty of the Will is one thing and the natural Property of the Will is another For as the natural property of the Understanding is to adhere to Truth as such or as it appears to be such so the natural property of the will of man is to adhere to God as such or as it appears to be such and in the fall man lost not this natural property no more then its natural liberty but the rectitude thereof was totally lost both in Will and understanding for he lost all righteousness and holyness wholly and so became totally evil as are the Devils themselves for there was no middle estate in the nature of Adams Covenant but good and evil Therefore in the depth of that darkness Christ enlightneth by his Spirit the intellectual spirits of all mankind so farr as attendency to adhere to truth and to the true good as such which includes a vertual tendency to love God above all and its neighbour as it self Therefore the Will by the assistance of Christs Spirit may be terminated to one thing to which it has thus a natural tendency as in the Saints when they in the third degree of belief are Fathers in the faith Rev. 3.10 11 12. Rom. 8. from 35 to 39. 1 Tim. 1.19 20 2 Tim 2.12 13 Acts 10.34 35 See my former Treatise p. 108 131 132 133. and from page 134 to 140. then God so terminates their wils to himself vertually at least that nothing shall be able to separate them from him nor he from them and the grounds why God will so terminate the Will to the Saints that improve their measure under manifold tryals is this He loves to glorifie his Justice in the distribution of his mercy by the Gospels Tenor so on the contrary to the Saints which totally backslide before they come to the third degree of Faith so farr as to make shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience he by the justice of the same rule of mercy doth make that final which they have made total for God is no respecter of persons The ground why this internal disposedness is Christs Law is not only because it is infused by Christs Spirit as is proved but also the whole government of all mankind in relation to eternal life and death Acts 7.53 Gal. 3.19 is only and alone in his power since the fall and therefore he gives all Laws external or internal and he adjudges men for transgressing those Laws This was that which was figured at Mount Sinai when God gave all those Laws to that one Nation as a part of the whole of mankind he then gave all those Laws by an Angel into the hand of a Mediator the which Mediator was Christ in the truth but Moses in the Type who administred those Laws to the people Hence observe That all mankind in their native production and succeeding generations are not conceived and born dead in sins and in trespasses nor children of wrath for by reason of the said universal election and universal imputation of Christs own righteousness all mankind are conceived and born in the favour and mercy of God by Christ notwithstanding the bitter seed of original sin in their natural production for we see it is reduced to be but a seed by the said internal disposedness and so are in a
capacity to receive the said gift of life for the whole need not the Physitian but the sick since Original corruption is an evil privitive and positive CHAP. VIII In which is handled the fourth Branch of the manifold wisdom of God precedently propounded and being the second ingredient to make up the said posture namely that the Spirit of Christ striveth with the spirits of all men in the world to preserve and encrease the said internal disposedness consequently to depress the force of the seed of original sin so to bring and to keep men in the said posture in which they might receive Gods gift of eternal life THis Spirit of Christ thus began to strive immediately upon the fall and upon the said universal election and universal imputation in these words Adam Where art thou so seeking to save what was lost and so forth Gen. 4.4.5 Again Thus Christ's Spirit strived with the spirits of Cain and Abel To Abel in an approbation and confirmation of his operations in this posture to continue to receive and hold fast the said gift of life for saith the Text God had respect unto Abel and to his offering and the reason is Heb. 11.4 because it was by belief Abel offered a more acceptable offering then Cain Again the same with Cains spirit for when he began to go on in nourishing the seed of original sin to the acquired habits therein so to extinguish the light of Christ in him then the same spirit of Christ strived with his spirit to suppress the one and to cherish and increase the other for in respect to the one God gave him no respect but to his discontent and discouragement but in respect to the other he encourages him to goe on in his posture as Abel his brother saying If thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted implying most certainly Thou shalt as well as he Now the ground why this Spirit is the Spirit of Christ that thus strives with the spirits of all mankind as with these two men it did is this Because ever since the falne Mass of mankind Christ immediately entred as the first-born of every creature in an universal relation to the whole world in pursuance of Gods said final end and thereupon according to his own saying All things that the Father hath are mine and so saith he The Spirit shall take of mine that is not only to comfort the faithfull in this world John 16.8 9 10 11. but also to reprove the world of sin that is to the same end as to Cain and saith the Text When he shall come he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgement Of sin because they believe not in me Of righteousness because I goe to my Father Of judgement because the Prince of this world is judged And according to this the said Spirit of Christ thus strives with the spirits of all men as to Cain and Abel and so to the worlds end that is to depress the one and increase the other as is said to bring them into the said posture and to preserve them therein and it clearly appears that it so did strive with man during the first world for saith God When their Apostacy did abound my Spirit shall not alwaies strive with man Genesis 6.3 for that he also is flesh Whereupon God limited the time of the striving of Christs Spirit with them from time to come Gen. 7.1 to one hundred and twenty years and no longer 1 Pet. 3.18 19 20. and as this Spirit striveth with Abels spirit to preserve him and establish him in the said posture consequently so did it with all the righteous in the generations precedent and to the end of that world even untill there was but one righteous man left saying unto them Thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation so establishing and confirming his mind in the said posture so that thus the Spirit of Christ strived with the spirits of the men of that world both good and bad when once thelong patience of God waited in the daies of Noah for to return and keep them in the said posture to receive his gift of life in the said righteousness of the seed of the woman Again In the next world thus the Spirit of Christ strived with the spirits of all men to preserve the one and to depress the other as is said and that by the Ministry of Christ by Noah to his own posterity who saith the Text 2 Pet. 2.5.8 was a Preacher of righteousness Gen. 9.28 the which righteousness that he preached to their spirits was twofold The first was manifested to them by the Sacrifices he offered unto God which figured unto them the satisfactory righteousness of the seed of the woman imputatively Gen. 8.21 22 bringing to them the said gift of eternal life and also further manifested in that God smelled a savour of rest and from thence ratifying to them and their generations the good of this world and that to come in reference to keep them in the said posture in their succeeding generations Eph. 5.2 and to this end Noah their Father lived thus with them three hundred and fifty years after the Flood The second righteousness which he preached was the rectitude of his operations which is sanctification and this he preached to his posterity by his posture in the right reception of Gods gift of eternal life by the manner of his sacrificing and building an Altar unto Jehovah and by making choice of Beasts in refusing unclean and taking clean Gen. 8.20.21 and also by his building the Ark according to the commandment of God all being fruits of his operations according to faith in his said posture Heb. 11.4.7.8 So much for the second righteousness namely Sanctification which he preached and also for the first righteousness which came upon all men for justification of life Again Likewise the Spirit of Christ strived with the spirits of Shems Family-Church for Noah's three hundred and fifty years a Preacher of righteousness after the Floud extended within two years of the birth of Abraham as Learned Broughton observes in his Consent of Scriptures Again When this Family began to Apostate from the said posture to Idols as appears in Terah the Father of Abraham and were become corrupt and abominable not knowing the way of peace like to those who were confounded and scattered at Babel then it is implyed that God precedently had strived with their spirits for now he began to put an end to the striving of the Spirit of Christ with the spirit of Shems Family in that God commanded Abraham to depart from his Kindred and from his Fathers house to this end to raise a Nation out of his loynes to carry on Gods said final end and so leave that Family to themselves Again When that one Nation was existent and did spring out of Abrahams seed in number as the sands on the
Sea-shore or as the Stars in Heaven then the same Spirit of Christ strived with their spirits also in the succeeding generations to preserve and increase the one and to depress the other to bring them into the said posture in which they might receive the said gift of life as saith Nehemiah unto God Neh. 9.20 30. Thou gavest them thy good Spirit to instruct them Hagg. 2.5 and saith God to them According to my Covenant with you when I came out of Egypt so my Spirit remaineth with you And Nehemiah saith also Yea many years didest thou bear with them and testifiedst against them by thy Spirit in thy Prophets but for their gain saying this Spirit so striving with them all the day-long in their generations God put a period to this striving of Christs Spirit so denying them the gift of faith to believe that they might not receive his said gift of eternal life and therefore saith the Text excepting to some few of them Behold ye despisers and wonder and perish for I work a work in your daies Esa 49.6 Luke 19.41 42 Hab. 1.5 Acts 13.41 which ye shall in no wise believe although a man declare it unto you Hence it is our Saviour said If thou hadst known even thou in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace but now they are hidden from thine eyes Again under the Gospel now it is unvailed of Moses vail and that the visible Churches of Christ stand constituted not as Family-Churches only as to the daies of Moses nor constituted a visible Church as was that one Nation a part of Humane Nature as such were they good or bad but now under the Gospel constituted of Believers as such according to the judgement of harity And thus the Spirit of Christ also strived with the spirits of men in the visible Churches as well as unto the men of the world to cherish and increase one and to depress the other to keep them in the said posture in a right reception of the gift of life Hence saith the Spirit of Christ to the Church of Smerna Be thou faithfull unto the death and I will give thee the Crown of Life Thus the Spirit of Christ strived with the spirits of men in the Church of Sardis Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent If thou therefore wilt not watch Rev. 2.10 I will come on thee as a thief and thou shalt not know the hour when I will come upon thee Rev. 3.11 And so likewise to the Church of Philadelphia Christs Spirit striveth with their spirits Rev. 1.4 Behold I come shortly hold that which thou hast let no man take away thy Crown And this Point is apparent for the seven Epistles were sent to the seven Churches So much for the Spirit of Christ striving with the spirits of men in the visible Churches under the Gospel Again Not only with the visible but the same Spirit strives with the spirits of the invisible Members of Christ's mystical body to preserve and increase their internal and spiritual graces and to depress the power of original sin in them as in others to keep them in the said posture and right reception of the said gift of eternal life for saith the Text to the said visible Churches Let him that hath an ear hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches these words four times repeated implies That in these visible Churches there were some whose spirits did hear and understand what the Spirit spake And thus the Spirit of Christ strived with the spirits of the eleven Apostles Mark 16.14 which were invisible Members Judas being dead for the Text saith He appeared unto the eleven and upbraided them with their unbelief at another time Thus strives his Spirit with theirs saying As the Father hath loved me so have I loved you continue in my love John 15.9 10. if ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my love Another time thus the Spirit strived with theirs Oh faithless and perverse generation Mark 17.17 how long shall I be with you how long shall I suffer you At another time thus the Spirit strived with the spirit of Nathaniel to establish him Because I said I saw thee under the Figg-Tree John 1.50 Believest thou Thou shalt see greater things then these Is is so that Christs Spirit thus strives with the spirits of all sorts of men in the world Hence observe That all those who have not yet received the gift of Faith nor the gift of eternal Life and so do fall into eternal death shall be left without excuse in their own consciences to eternity because it will witness to them that God would have given them both but they refused and if they had received it then their salvation was of God because attained by his Son given by himself As also Christ's Spirit thus striving with their spirits and therefore it will also witness that their destruction is of themselves and so Gods most sweet righteousness in this administration will shine to his glory in their ruine to eternity Again Is it so that Christ's Spirit thus strives with all men to cherish and increase the said light of Christ in them and to depress the seed of the Serpent in them and that they are thus internally meetly disposed towards the said posture Hence observe it must needs follow that all men which become totally dead in sins and in trespasses to that posture so as that they cannot change or alter their operations thereunto no more then the Black Moor can change his skin or the Leopard his spots I say Hence observe That all men that are thus dead in sins and in trespasses in the world it ariseth not from the seed of original sin but as an occasion and only from their custom in sin and wickedness unto the acquired habits therein as the cause for it is custom in any thing that brings another nature Again Is it so that the Spirit of Christ strives with the spirits of all men to preserve and repress as is proved Hence observe That when God by Christs Spirit is pleas'd to inliven the spirits of some men to the said posture which were dead in sin and in trespasses and leaves other some in the same condition so to perish I say hence observe That God in this case neither inlivens the one nor leaves the other from love or hatred to either of them personally considered but out of love to himself in pursuance of his final end for thus he took up the Jews when they lay polluted in their bloud being Terah's Idolatrous brood and said they should live that is in this posture that they might receive his gift of life and that not for their sakes but for his own names sake and thus he had mercy upon some of the Gentiles in the fulness of time that were dead in sins and in trespasses that they might live in this
persisted in quenching and also in resisting the said Spirit by following lying vanities and so forsaking his own mercies as did Demas and the seven Churches of Asia till God removed the Candlestick from them and left them in darknesse and Demas to imbrace this present world Is it so That the Gospel and the Universe of this Creation has a tendency and bends joyntly as one in mans universal good and vertually to breed in him the faith of God in Iesus Christ as is proved Then hence observe That those that stand in an universal relation to men at the Stern of Magistracy as Gods stand bound universally to further the good of man not of this life only but of that which is to come namely to set up in their Territories and Dominions in all convenient places the Preaching of the Gospel to beget the belief of God in Iesus Christ in the minds of men CHAP. XI In which is handled the third particular in the said Rule namely to let all men see how suitabble this Rule is to them THe suitableness whereof is opened in nine particulars as first It has its Institution in Gods word of truth and the natural property of the understanding of all men being as is proved to follow truth as such or as it appears to be such wherefore we see the Apostate Angels came to our first Parents in the appearance of truth therefore it is universally suitable to all mankind in this respect Secondly This rule tenders to man not only a good to be received by his operations according to it but also his sweetest and chiefest good namely to enjoy God in belief of the truth in this life and according to truth to eternity in the next and so this rule is suitable to mans will whose natural property is to follow good or as it appears so to be as the natural property of the eye is to follow the light wherefore the Apostate Angels came to us in our first parents as is proved in appearance of a good wherefore this rule is universally suitable to all men in this respect Thirdly ever since the fall of Adam God in his word requires no man by his workings to attain eternal life for himself or others but only by his workings in the said posture to receive eternal life attained only by the Lord Christ and given imputatively by God himself therefore this rule is universally suitable to all men none excepted but Christ himself Fourthly Because the natural liberty of mans will consists in this namely to chuse and refuse all objects as it likes them or as it likes them not as is proved And because this rule tenders a twofold object to will or nill that is to chuse or refuse namely good or evil that is eternal life or death for it to chuse or refuse therefore it is universally suitable to all in this respect none excepted Fifthly because this just and mercifull rule admits mercy to man after he hath not done well according to his said posture man being ever since the fall imperfect therefore this rule is suitable universally to all men none excepted but Christ the Lord. Sixthly Because it is propper to all men which propound to themselves an end in their workings to ground those workings and operations upon their own belief or faith of a good to be attained and attainable as do Merchants which send or go by Sea or Land for wealth or the like or upon their own belief of some evil or danger as did these Marriners which to avoid the danger of death by their operations cast the wheat out of the Ship into the Sea and therefore because this rule requires mans own belief of Gods truth and the said good and to avoid the contrary evil to be the ground of all their operations in the said posture He that believes shall be saved he that will not believe shall be damned as is proved Wherefore because this Rule requires all men thus to make their own belief as is said the ground of their operations in this posture therefore this rule is universally suitable to all men none excepted but men that are dead in sins and trespasses by acquired habits herein or sots idiots mad men or the like From this ground it is that our Lord saith This is the work of God That ye believe and so forth and from this ground it is that Abrahams believing operations in this posture Rom. 4.4 was so much respected as opposed to men that made their own works as works in this posture to be the ground only of their acceptance with God to eternal life and from this ground namely That man makes his own belief of Gods truth and the said good to be the ground of his operations in this said posture it is that faith is so highly extol'd in Scriptures by the Spirit of Christ for in so doing they render unto God the sole glory of all his truth and goodness revealed in the seed of the woman Christ the Lord and his imputed righteousness and Gods gift of life therein Seventhly Because mans reasonable soul or spirit is of an everlasting duration and never to be extinct and mans body when raised a spiritual body so to be also and because this rule tenders to man an estate of well and woe of an everlasting duration and that all things else under the Sun are only suitable to his moldring body and to a change as also is it therefore this rule is universally suitable to all men in this respect none excepted Eightly Because this rule not only admits man to do well after he hath done evil as is said but when he so returns admits pardon of the guilt and punishment due to him for his sin or sins as is proved therefore this rule is suitable to all men capable to operate to this rule Christ only excepted in whom was no sin Ninthly Because God hath given an impression and dictate of the effect of this rule as it respects its execution in reference to his final end in the minds of all men naturally namely that he will render unto all men according to their works and from this ground it is that the consciences of all men do either excuse or accuse them according to their own works good or bad the which is the dictate of this rule and Gods said final end as is said therefore this rule is universally suitable to all men none excepted From the Premisses thus proved ariseth these following Observations First That this Gospel as carrying along in it this Tenor a just and a mercifull rule is it which all mankind are under to work by in relation to their eternal state and none other as is proved Hence saith the Apostle The Gospel was Preached unto us as to them meaning to us in the last daies as to the Jews and unto all in former ages before them wherefore not any of mankind since the fall ever was or now is nor never shall
to receive his said gift of eternal life obtained by himself CHAP. XIV Containing some usefull Observations and Answers to Questions for further clearing the precedent Premisses ANd whereas it appears from proof that God hath passed upon man a fivefold Election and Rejection in prosecution of his final end in respect to their eternal estate The first being out of the faln Mass from being one with Devils into the said posture The second being a continued act of the former by electing and rejecting two Nations the one to be Christs visible Church the other not being but vertually in the loynes of two babes their being but individually in their mothers womb unborn A third being when God electeth and rejecteth men which by their acquired habits in sin are both alike dead in relation to Christ for then we see he chuseth to inliven the minds of some and denies it to the others as he did to us Gentiles and denied it to the Jews at that time A fourth election and rejection being that execution of Christ by the visible Churches on earth chusing or receiving into the Churches men which according to the judgement of charity are believers and rejecting or refusing men which cannot be judged in charity to be believers for in this case Mat. 22.3.14 although many are called by the Gospel yet few are chosen because few believe A fift being the consummation of the precedent elections and rejections in the final execution of his said end at the day of judgement by making all men vessels of honour or dishonour to eternity according to their works good or bad and as for any other elections or rejections upon man in relation to their final estate to eternity the Scripture speaks it not And from the Premisses thus proved it appears there is no personal election of any man from Gods foresight of their faith or works nor any personal election or rejection meerly personal without respect to works good or evil but only after the councel of his own will as he purposed in himself that is to finish his said final end by those seven means formerly proved under which fals in the fivefold elections and rejections and none other But if it be objected If there be not an election personal in any of the twofold respects then by reason of the natural liberty of mans will Gods glory of his grace in Jesus Christ to eternity stands contingent may fail and fall and come to nothing I answer and deny that the stress and weight of the glory of Gods grace in Christ any way depends upon the natural liberty of mans will but the stress and weight thereof relies upon an infallible means namely the foresaid seventh means It shal bruise thy head that is infallibly and from this ground this seventh means was by the depth of Gods wisdom composed personally God-Man and therefore the stress of Gods glory by Christ depended not upon the natural liberty of Christs humane will but upon his personal operations and accordingly in that person the falne humane nature of man ascended the heavenly glory above the Angels and so the Apostate Angels chief designe in the said branch was destroyed if no more of the falne nature of man had ascended the Angels glory Secondly I answer The stress and weight thereof depends not upon the natural liberty of mans will because so much of the falne nature of man which departs this life in infancy or the like ascends the heavenly glory also notwithstanding the seed of original sin that is in them because the imputation of Christs righteousness upon the world did interpose the imputation of Adams unrighteousness upon the world and so is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world as is proved Thirdly I answer the stress and weight of the glory of Gods grace in Christ in man having the use of his understanding dependeth not upon the natural liberty of his will but the stress thereof dependeth upon the Spirit of Christ striving with mans spirit in the Gospel for if those men perish by the abuse of the natural liberty of their wils quenching and resisting this Spirit so striving that they put away this eternal life yet nevertheless God has the glory of his grace in Christ in their destruction because no man since the fall is condemned by a Law of works properly such but by the justice of the Law of grace in Jesus Christ namely the Gospel Tenor or Rule of mercy and justice as before is proved From this ground the Ministers of the Gospel are the sweet savour unto God in Jesus Christ in them that perish Fourthly I answer The glory of Gods grace depends not upon the natural liberty of mans will but upon the universal favour of God to man in Christ for had those that are perished been faithfull in the said little which he in Christ hath given them then he would have given them more and more even to his gift of faith rightly to receive Christ and in that faith have given them three degrees that is from babes to young men and Fathers in Christ and in the last degree he would have confirmed them in that union and communion with himself by Christ that nothing should be able to separate them from him nor him from them in that blessed union and communion And because God was thus real towards them the glory of his grace redounds eternally to his praise for it must follow that their destruction is of themselves therefore the glory of Gods grace stands stable to eternity in Christ notwithstanding the liberty of mans will and its contingent events And for conclusion take these following Observations First In regard God created the natural liberty of mans will purposly to be one means to his said final end that from the contingency of its events mens works might be good or bad so to be rendred vessels of honour or dishonour to eternity therefore that opinion of both those personal elections and that of personal rejection falling point-blank to cross this means or to make it of no use must needs be a great mistake Secondly hence observe That although the Spirit of Christ strives as is said with the spirits of all men in all places of the world that it taketh up his dwelling place only in the heart or spirit of man when he is a right believer and not before Quest If it is demanded What the Scripture means by the dwelling of Christs Spirit in the hearts of believers and in none else Answ I answer first Although the infinite Essence of God is not contained in the heaven of heavens that he was pleased for a time to take up his dwelling place only in the Temple in Jerusalem and in no place else in all the world even so he was pleased to take up his dwelling place in the Humane Nature bodily in the person of Christ and so in no humane nature besides of this the said Temple was a