A SYNOPSIS Or short view of ESSENTIAL CHRISTIANITY In Part In which the first Fruits unto God or Saints in the Apostles dayes lived According to the Doctrine of Christ and his Holy Apostles beginning at the very foundation thereof With some Explications or Enlargements thereupon Tending to the Edification Comfort and refreshing of all sorts of People that fear God and love Righteousness without respect to any one particular Form and yet not excluding all Form And which may tend also to the encouraging of others that as yet regard not God to turne to him in Submission and the obedience of Faith By WILLIAM TOMLINSON A lover of all that are of a humble Heart and that live the life of Righteousness in whatsoever form they are London Printed for B. Harris at the Stationers Armes under the Piazza of the Royal Exchange 1684. The Explayning of the Title I Call that Essential Christianity in which the Heart is truely turned from sin to God In which state there be various degrees Some are but as smoking Flax where no flame of righteousness as yet appears yet have they a love to Righteousness and to God these our Lord will not quench Others are as bruised Reeds wounded and bruised and bowed down under their transgression and therefore are poor in Spirit mourning under the body of Sin which they are made sensible of and hungring and thirsting after Righteousness which their Hearts long after these holding on shall be filled Some are not farr from the Kingdom of God but near it Others are in the Kingdom which consists iâ— Righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit â—r Holy Ghost who have received the Spirit of Adoption and are in the Son-â—hip walking in fellowship with the Father and the Son and in all these â—tates there be various degrees also Now I call that essential in which â—hese have their life to distinguish from that which is outward and circumstantial and may be taken up bâ— those that love wickedness and havâ— a Spirit of enmity in them against truâ— holines For there is no Form of Godliness 〈◊〉 of Religion but a wicked man and lover of unrighteousness may take it uâ— and that as well now as under the mâ—nistration of the Law or as in tâ— Apostles dayes when some had a forâ— of Godliness and yet denyed the Powâ—â— thereof But take notice that I doe not câ—â— these things contained in this Book Eâ—sential in opposition to all things thâ— are outward or circumstantial but distinction from those things that wicked man may take upon him whiâ—â— things nevertheless may in due placeâ— observed by the truly righteous The 〈◊〉 of the Title needs no explication Nâ— what is here offered is but in part we know but in part and Propâ—cy but in part and he in whom 〈◊〉 fullness dwells gives out of his fullâ— as it pleaseth him to whom be 〈◊〉 Glory of all his gifts A SYNOPSIS Or short view of ESSENTIAL CHRISTIANITY c. 1. GOD so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but should have eternal life For God sent not his Son into the World to condemn the World but that the World through him might be saved Joh. 3.16 17. 2. The Son of God Christ Jesus our Lord so loved the World also that he gave up himself a Sacrifice for our Sinnes according to the good will of God thereby to make attonement for us and to reconcile us to God He bare our Sins in his own body on the Tree 1 Pet. 2.24 Thus the love of God is manifested and the love of the Son of God Christ Jesus our Lord. 3. He whose understanding an Heart is rightly opened to believe this love of God in Christ he receives it He receives thâ— joyfull tydings or Gospel Hâ— receives the Testimony of Chrisâ— and sets to his Seal that God 〈◊〉 true yea he receives Christ himself and with him power to bâ—come a Son of God Joh. 1 1â— He shall receive remission of Siâ— Act. 10.43 He shall be made paâ—taker of the Holy Spirit Ro. 8. â— Gal. 3.2 And such a faith as thâ— is the right Evangelical faith 4. This true Faith in Christ Jesus or Evangelical faith wherein the things are received hath also the Fruits and concomitants atteâ—ding it 1. It brings Peace and consolatioâ— or rejoycing 2. It works by love 3. It purifyes the Heart turniâ—â— it from unrighteousness and teacheâ— to deny ungodliness and Worldly lusts and to live righteously and soberly and Godly in this present World 4. It excludes boasting and exaltation of our selves 5. It drawes the Heart after Christ after Sanctification and after Heavenly treasures and fellowship with God 6. It is accompanyed with an Unction from the Holy one which inlightens the understanding and inclines the Heart to good and gives a sense or feeling of the will of God and being kept to it leadeth into all truth and is a continual teacher And this is the new Covenant not written in Tables of Stone as the first was but in the Fleshly Tables of the heart 2 Cor. 3.3 7. This true Gospel faith begets Hope that is it raises the heart into an expectation of good things to come and so bears up the head under all the afflictions and tribulations which it meets with all in this life For if in this life only we had hope we were of all men most miserable And so it hath a secret dependency upon the righteous judgment of God at the last day when he shall bring everything to light and render to every one according 〈◊〉 their deeds done in the body This short view of Christianity is comprehended under these 4 heads 1. The Love of God to man 2. The Love of Christ Jesus ouâ— Lord the First-borne of every Creature and the expresse image of the invisible God 3. The Gospel Faith which recei es Love of God in Christ Jesuâ— our Lord. 4. The Fruits of this faith whereby it is known and distinguished from all false faiths Of all which a little more at large by way of Explication as they shall be opened to mee Explication 1. GOD so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Joh. 3.16 For God sent him not into the World to condemn the World but that the World through him might be saved ver 17. Here 's the Fountaine or rather Ocean from whence all good doth come even from the Love of God or from God who is love yea an unfathomable Ocean of love Therefore the beloved Disciple who leaned on the bosom of our Lord describes him thus God is Love and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him 1 Joh. 4.16 And this love is an extensive love reaching to all therefore saith he God so loved the World he saith not God so loved this or that Nation or this or that sort
the Scripture And this thing the Servants of the Lord witnessed as to their own condition as well as others We our selves saith the Apostle Tit. 3.3 4 5. were sometimes foolish disobedient deceived serving divers lusts and pleasures living in malice and envy hatefull and hating one another This was their state before the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared to them but after that appeared to them which is the very ground of Faith then came the washing from these things and Salvation But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared not by works of rightousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour Here Faith is plainly implyed in this work For the kindness and love of God appearing is received and that 's Faith and in this receiving of the love and kindness of God comes the washing of regeneration without which washing we have no part in Christ Joh. 13.8 And so here comes the renewing of our Hearts by the Holy Spirit which the Apostle calls the renewing of the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit That is the renewing of our Hearts by him who is let in by Faith for it s we that want renewing not the Holy Spirit So here the new Creature is begot by the Spirit which is created in Christ Jesus unto good works Mark In Christ Jesus that is in the ministration of the Gospel or of the kindness and love of God whereof Christ Jesus is the Minister not in Moses or in the ministery of the Law which consists in works But in Christ Jesus whose ministery is in Faith in this is the Creation unto good works that we should live in them and no longer to serve the evil and impure lusts of the Flesh For if we live after the Flesh we shall dye but if we through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body we shall live Rom. 8.13 Now the Heart thus washed and renewed that which proceeds out of the Heart savours of cleannes and purity Out of the aboundance of the Heart the mouth speaks and so better language is hereby learn't Corrupt language comes under judgment being felt inwardly to be contrary or a burthen to thâ— Spirit of life now in measure received And thus the Lord fulfills hiâ— promise to his People in turning to them a pure language The leaâ—â— grain of Faith though it be but aâ— a grain of Mustardseed inclines thâ— Heart thus after righteousness anâ— Holyness And if through temptation the Heart be sometimes overtaken with evil yet it hath not rest there but it turnes again in pursuite of righteousness until it get Victory over the World and the lusts thereof and in Faith is the victory 1 Joh. 5.4 And here 's the Heart that hungers and thirsts after righteousness which it hath received a taste of by the Holy Spirit shed abroad upon it And this is one inseparable Fruit of true Faith thus to work against sin and to thirst after rightousness from the seed of Sanctification sown in the Heart which springs up to eternal life Secondâ—y Another inseparable Fruit of true Faith is Love Gal. 5.6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but Faith which worketh by love Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision no outward badge or character is now available with God but Faith which worketh by love No outward distinction nor every Faith neither is available with God but that Faith which works by love Such a Faith as is of the true stamp which hath the nature of Christ Jesus in it which is love This is that Faith which pleases the Lord. And this therefore discovers all killing and destroying Faiths all persecuting and hurtfull Faiths to be ungrounded and false Faiths They are not right they bear not a resemblance with the Faith of the Apostles and ancient believers But such a Faith is a Heterodox Anti-christian Faith Its not of a right birth but spurious begot by thâ— Law of works or from the evil one and not from the kindness and love of God in Christ Jesus It s a kin to the faith of Devils The Devils believe and tremble but remain Murderers So these that believe and remain Mutherers and persecuters stand as yet ingrafted into the murthering and persecuting Spirit The works of their Fatheâ— they doe who was a Murderer from the beginning But he that come to the true Faith he works according to the nature of that Spirit that begets his Faith and that is to save life to doe good and not to destroy The destroying Faith is of Apollyon that is a destroyer but the saving Faith is of him that came to save mens lives and not to destroy That Faith that saves us teaches us to save or preserve others not to seek their destruction It matters not how zealous men be for their Faith if it carry the destroying nature in it it s not right in the sight of God it springs but from works at best not from grace nor is it according to knowledge The persecuting Jews had a Zeal of God but not according to knowledge and so may false Faiths have and hereby they are discovered to the true seed that they are not according to true knowledge This is the second Character of true Faith it works by love Thirdly It brings peace and consolation Rom. 5.1 Therefore being justifyed by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ Therefore saith the Apostle the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing Rom. 15.13 It must needs follow that he that sensibly believes this love of God in Christ Jesus to all men and to him in particular It must needs be I say that peace will spring up in his Heart thereby And so here 's the entrance into the Kingdom of God by Faith The Kingdom of God is within and it consists in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit And into this Kingdom or Heavenly Canaan we enter by Faith While unbelief and fears lye upon us and shut up our Spirits we are short yet of our possession of the Kingdom There are some to whom the Kingdom of Heaven belongs who are not fully entred into the possession of it as an inheritance may belong to an Heir before the time come that he possesseth it such are the poor in Spirit who go mourning under the sense of the body of sin not yet shaken off and who go hungring and thirsting after righteousness which they have not yet attained unto as their Souls desire Such I say are under a blessing and have right to the Kingdom of God though as yet they go mourning For Christ Jesus our Lord applyes the right of the Kingdom to them Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven
more then we read of the other Apostles in so much that he called him Satan saying to him quickly after he had called him Peter or a Rock or a Stone get thee behinde me Satan we finde not that he ever said such a word to any of the rest except Judas whom he said was a Devil one of you is a Devil Therefore Peter standing in the Revelation of the Father firm in that or upon that Rock he became as a secundary Rock layed upon the chief Corner-stone and so did all the rest of the Apostles and Prophets Eph. 2.20 But Peter standing in the wisdom of the Flesh out of that Revelation of the Father he was an offence and no better then Satan and to be rejected and cast behind the back and so is every one that stands there namely in the wisdom of the Flesh in opposition to the work of God Peter was no foundation for the Church to be built upon as he was a mutable man but only as he stood in the infallible Counsel and Revelation of the Son of God So he held forth the Rock to others and was dignifyed with the name of the Rock So likewise Christ will put his own name upon others that stand faithfull to him as he writ to the Church of Philadelphia Rev. 3.12 Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God and I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the City of my God and my new name And so Peter was dignifyed with the name Petrus or Petros from Petra which was the true Rock in all ages because he professed him from the revelation of the Father Whom say ye that I am saith Christ Thou art the Son of the living God saith Peter Here was the Rock or foundation the Corner-stone Petra As all the Scriptures testify and from hence he was called Petros but in Satans work he was called Satan Therefore the Spirit he stood in gives the denomination So likewise concerning others Herod in his crafty ravenous Spirit was called a Fox So if Peter or the Pope pretending to be Peters Successor shall stand in a destroying Spirit doth not he deserve the name of Apollyon which signifies a destroyer And is not this name justly put upon the King of the destroying Locusts Rev. 9.11 I desire thee whosoever thou art to weigh this well Peter or whoever it is that stands in the Spirit of God which reveales the Son of God and are keept in that God dignifies them with Honourable names such as none knowes but they which receive them On the other hand those that stand in another Spirit have names given accordingly Therefore i'ts a sottish and incongruous thing for men living in one Spirit to challenge a name proper to the contrary How foolish and impertinent is it for men that are as Locusts and Scorpions carrying stings in their Tails wherewith to hurt men who arise out of the smoke of the bottomless pit of mans wisdom and imaginations for them to challenge the name of Christians a name proper to those who standing in the Revelation of God and nature of Christ follow him as innocent Lambs I'ts as discrepant or contrary as for a Wolf or Fox to challenge the name of a Lamb. So for the King of these Locusts these stinging Scorpions for him to go under the name of Christs Vicar and Peters Successor is as contrary as to call Fire Water or Water Fire I'ts to put light for darkness and darkness for light And thereunto belongs a woe Isa 5.20 Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil that put darkness for light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter I have insisted the more upon this lest men should misse of their expectation and fall short of the comfortable enjoyment of the Kingdom of God in building upon the Sands and not upon the true Rock Another thing to be considered and which was published by the Apostles to beget faith was the sufferings and resurrection of Christ This also was done without us we have no hand in it And this also was from the love of God God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but should have eternal life And what did God give him to do for us One thing was to bear our sins He became sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the rightousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5.21 that is he bare our sins in his own body and suffered for them that we by faith in him might be cloathed with Gods righteousness or with the love and mercy of God For that 's it which being received by faith is called Gods righteousness Now tho the foundation for Faith be layd out of us in the good will and love of God in Christ Jesus and in his sufferings and resurrection yet the work of Faith that 's wrought in us by the Spirit of God for it s he that opens the Heart of man to believe his love Sin shuts up the Heart of man against the Lord and is as it were a bolt against him Therefore to take away that bolt and to make way for the opening of the door Christ suffered He bare our sins in his own body on the Tree to make way for man to conceive the love of God in Christ And that 's not all I'ts the entrance or the beginning of Faith which he follows by the operation of his Spirit in us washing our consciences by the Blood of Christ and so giving boldness through him to draw near to God and to come to him as a Father and thus by degrees the Lord makes his entrance into the Hearts of the Sons of men that they may become the Sons of God He living in them and they living in him For his love being received which in very deed is Faith he himself who is love is received and here is begotten a Son to God As many as receive him to them gives he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe on his name For this is the end of our Faith that God may dwell in us and so renew his image again which through sin hath been defaced That man that pretends faith in Christ and yet lives in the nature or Spirit of the Devil doing his works his Faith is but like the Faith of his Father the Devil whose works he doth The Faith of the Sons and Daughters of God is shown by their Fruits for they work the works of their Father Every Tree is known by its Fruits Now this is the great mystery hid for so many ages and generations which in due time God revealed by his Spirit to the Apostles of Christ Namely Christ to be brought forth in us and this is the hope of glory And the preaching of the first principles of the Doctrine of Christ is but to make
way for this Under the great Apostacy wherein the Whorish Spirit hath raigned the mystery of the glorious Gospel hath been vailed And men have highly pretended Faith in Christ and yet lived in the nature of the Devil murdering and destroying one another and despising one another for a few outward observations and Ceremonies Whereby it is manifest that the Faith of the Gospel hath been vailed among them The Sun hath been darkened in the Firmament through the Clouds of mens imaginations and inventions and traditions upon which they have put the weight of their Religion and so wanting the nature of the true Faith they have persecuted one another for these things For they have been ignorant of their own state and taken themselves to be Churches of Christ when they were but the outward Court which was left out unmeasured and given to the Nations When the Woman the true Church withdrew her self into the Wilderness the Lord in mercy left an outward Court open for the Gentiles or Nations to assemble in for their assemblings are in the outward Court. And he left it unmeasured giving the Gentiles or Nations leave to use their own wisdom in their wayes of assembling and approaching towards his Holy Temple But they mistaking their own institutions for the true Ordinances and Institutions of Christ have in their blinde Zeal for them persecuted one another and also trampled the Holy City under foot among them because she could not walk with them in their humane traditions and mingled inventions which indeed have borne some face of Christs Ordinances but polluted through mens inventions the Nations setting Gods post by mans post as the Scripture speaks And hence in pretence for God they have been destructive one to another and all to the true worshippers and so are plainly discovered to be out of the true Gospel Faith which hath been obscured among them and they involved in darkness and ignorance For had the Nations known their own state that they were but the outward Court left unmeasured then would they have known also that the measures of others in their approaching to worship might be as good as their own or at least wise that it was left at liberty as well as their own Or had the Nations known the power and true nature of Faith they would not have persecuted and destroyed others for differing from them in profession of Religion But it is said when the Son of man comes shall he finde Faith on the Earth Which implyes the great defect thereof and the great Apostacy therefrom upon the Earth As indeed is made manifest by the lives and works of men For if by Faith the Son of God were received they would do the works of God Yea they in whom Christ lives they do the works of Christ And blessed be God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that he is again reviving of the truth and dispelling the darkness and begetting a People to himself not only to know his Heavenly nature better but also to live therein in their measure And he will yet more and more discover the false Fruitless and destroying Faith of Nominal and National Churches who pretend Faith in Christ and Hope in Christ and yet live in the nature and works of him whom Christ doth cast out and whose works he comes to destroy which kinde of believers or Professors of Christianity cause the gloryous name of our Lord Jesus Christ to be blasphemed that is evil spoken of among them that own him not as namely Turks and Jews and other infidels Therefore the Lord will bring down such Hypocritical Faiths And that shall be the fall of Babylon the great For what was the fall of the Jews Was it not the discovery of their false and Hypocrical profession of his name leaving them therein as in a Snare when he drew out from among them the upright and simple hearted who truely feared him and believed in him So the fall of Babylon that is of all false Faiths which work the works of Satan and hold the seed of Christ in bondage their fall shall be the discovery of their Hypocriticall Faith that shall be the fall thereof and she shall be discovered to be a habitation of Devils False Faiths that bring forth the works of the Devil lying deceit murder persecution pride envy hatred and such like such Faiths are fit receptacles and habitations for the Devil to act his part under and men living in his Spirit and doing his works are rightly caâ—led by his name as Peter was when he did so On the other hand they that live in the Spirit of Christ Jesus in his innocent nature following him they are rightly called the Sons and Daughters of God This was no strange thing in the Apostles dayes when their Faith was a living Faith and gave them fellowship with God though in our dayes since the memory of many some have been Pillored and Stigmatized for blasphemers for professing Sonship with God Which showes what grosse ignorance and darkness hath been over the Spirits of men though highly professing Faith in Christ For if they had known either the Scriptures or the power and Priviledges of a living Faith they durst not have done so Now are we the Sons of God saith John And as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God saith Paul and such having received the Spirit of Adoption draw nigh to God in that Spirit crying Abba Father Yea the Apostle goes higher and is very bold in his expressing of the near relation of the Sons of God with him If Children then Heirs Heirs of God and joynt-heirs with Christ if we suffer with him that we may be also glorifyed together Rom. 8. True and living Faith gives this Sonship As many as received him to them he gave power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe on his name So believing on his name is receiving Christ and with him Sonship and Heir-ship And then he being received and his Spirit leading us we are thereby taught to walke as the Sons of God without rebuke in the World And so the lives of the Servants of the Lord being blamelesse are ar lights in the World and preaches righteousness to the World and tend to the glory of God Let your light so shine before men saith Christ that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven To whom be glory and Honour for ever for his unsearchable love manifested to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS
the glory of God in this his mercy and the deeper is his humility and lowlines of minde Minde but the writings of the Holy Apostles of Christ Jesus and you will finde it so that still they are harping upon this string sounding forth the mercies of the Lord in Christ Jesus and his love in revealing his Son to them Yea observe but that high state of the Elders spoken of in the Book of the Revelations who were set upon seats round about the Throne and cloathed in white Raiment and Crowned The substance of their song was this Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the Seals thereof Now mark why For thou was slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy Blood out of every kinred and Tongue and People and Nation Mark Not a word of their own righteousness not a word of their works how good soever they were which doubtles were excellent but yet not a word thereof the riches of the mercy of God in Christ Jesus puts all that out of sight and layes them low at his Footstool for they are said to fall down before the Lamb and sing this Song Now what are these Elders but representatives of all the Elect seed of God from all parts of the Earth Seeing it is contained in their Song that they were redeemed by his Blood out of every kinred and Tongue and People and Nation Now there be many more kinreds and Tongues and Nations then four and twenty but all represented by these four and twenty Well then you see their faith in Christ is not like the Faith of the Pharisees in which they stand justifying themselves in their own works and exalting themselves thereby over poor Publicans But all their admiration and glorying is in the mercy of God And so we finde the Apostles sounding forth the same things in their Epistles Eph. 2.4 5 6 7 8 9. But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickned us together with Christ by grace ye are saved And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus For by grace ye are saved through Faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God Not of works lest any man should boast Thus all boasting is excluded by true Faith And as I have shewed before the right Faith works by love and that love is not of an exalting nature But as the Apostle saith it vaunteth not it self is not puffed up 1 Cor. 13.4 Thus the true and right Faith shuts out boasting and cuts down vainglory and makes humble Therefore saith our Lord Jesus Christ Verely I say unto you except ye be converted and become as little Children ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little Childe the same is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven Matth. 18.3 4. Fifthly To proceed this true Faith is accompanyed with an Vnction or an Anointing from the holy one John writing to those he calls little Children whose sins are forgiven for his names sake saith thus But ye have an Vnction from the holy one and ye know all things 1 Joh. 2.20 All things that is that appertained to life and godliness Why For this Unction or Anointing taught them all things that appertained thereto that so walking according to the teaching thereof they might abide in Christ Now this Unction is the Spirit which gives a sense and feeling of the will of God what he would have us to doe and what he would have us to forbear And we need not that any maâ— should teach us beyond the teachingâ— of that to amuse us with high notions and mysteries which the Unction gives us no openings of Anâ— so keeping to that keept us wiâ— to sobriety minding to doe thâ— will of God which the Unction inclines our Hearts to rather theâ— to fill the brain with knowledge 〈◊〉 things which add not to our comfort and profiting and grouth iâ— Christ Now that this Unction 〈◊〉 the Spirit appears by compearinâ— this Scripture with another Thaâ— is compare this 1 Joh. 2.20 2â— with Ioh. 14.16 17. Where it 〈◊〉 expressed by the name of the Spirit I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of Truth whom the World cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you This is that abideing Unction which abides with the Faithfull for ever The Unction is a constant abiding thing and so is the Spirit abiding for ever Thus the Lord fulfills his promise of old Isa 44.3 and chap. 59.21 I will pour Water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground Thirsty and dry these are such as hunger and thirst and fit to receive the Heavenly rain but he expresses â—t more plainly in the following words thus I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon â—hine Off-spring Then in ch 59.21 â—he promises the constancy of this Spirit with the seed of Christ in â—hese words As for me this is my Covenant with them saith the Lord. My Spirit that is upon thee and my words which I have put in thy Mouth shall not depart out of thy Mouth nor out of the Mouth of thy Seed nor out of the Mouth of thy Seeds Seed saith the Lord from henceforth and for ever So that this is a promise to all the Seed and that for ever which promise is fulfilled to all faithfull believers in Christ Jesus Therefore saith the Apostle if any maâ— have not the Spirit of Christ he iâ— none of his Rom. 8.9 And herein thâ— Son-ship is established even in thiâ— Spirit or abiding Unction oâ— Anointing As the Apostle witnesseth ver 14. For as many as are leâ— by the Spirit of God they are the Sonâ— of God Thus the Anointing witâ— the Spirit typifyed by the precious Ointment that was poureâ— upon Aarons head and ran dowâ— to the Skirts of his Garment thiâ— Anointing with the Spirit runâ— down from our High-Priest to thâ— lowest of his Servants He waâ— anointed with the Oyl of gladness above his fellows but we all of his fullness receive every one a measure of his Spirit and so are hereby stated by this Spirit of Adoption into Sonship and Heir-ship with him If Children then Heirs Heirs of God and joynt-heirs with Christ c. Rom. 8.17 And this state or Spiritual condition carryes its own evidence in it self for the Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit that we are the Children of God ver 16. And as this Spirit or Unction is a guide to the Children of light leading them into all Truth and as it is a witness to
the Children of God witnessing with their Spirits and administring comfort and Heavenly food to the Soul So also he administers words and matter to Christs little ones when they are called before Rulers and Magistrates for his names sake And Christ Jesus our Lord taught his to depend hereupon and not to perplex themselves with thinking before hand what to say to them Matt. 10.19 20. But when they deliver you up take no thought how or what ye shall speak for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak For it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you Hence it is that sometimes Women and unletter'd Persons have been enabled to confound great learned men for the Lord by his Spirit gives a mouth and wisdome which their Adversaries ar◠not able to gainsay nor to resist This is that Spirit which begetteth earnings and longings in our Hearts after the Lord and which helpeth our infirmities when we know not how to utter our minds to the Lord for then he maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered and these groanings being according to the will of God he hears them for he knoweth what is the minde of the Spirit Rom. 8.26 27. There be many Spirits gone forth into the World which are not this Unction but work contrary to it and lead out from Christ into the World therefore the Apostle bids us try the Spirits whether they are of God 1 Joh. 4.2 Well but how shall we try them He tells us how to know them in the next verses following Hereby know ye the Spirit of God Every Spirit that confesseth Jesus Christ come in the Flesh is of God And every Spirit that confesseth not Jesus Christ come in the Flesh is not of God For so the words run more truely according to the Greek then to render them thus Every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh c. For this confession is such a confession as owns an interest in him or professes a relation to him by Faith in him and by love and obedience to him The evil Spirits did verbally confesse him Mar. 1.24 and so evil men may verbally confesse him tho they neither truely believe in him nor love nor obey him But this true confession of him hath these things necessarily conjoyned therewith 1. Faith Iohn 3.18 36. For that Spirit that wants that is under condemnation and wrath as this Scripture testifyes 2. Love 1 Cor. 16.24 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha 3. Obedience to him And therefore saith John he that saith I know him and keepeth not his Commandements is a lyar and the Truth is not in him So then every Spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ that suffered for our sins i◠Faith and in Love and Obedience to him that Spirit is of God But otherwise evil Spirits may confesse him and Children of the evil one may confesse him Also the Apostle draweth this down to himself and others who were in the pure and living faith and innocent life in whom Christ appeared ver 6. o◠the same Chapter We are of God he that knoweth God heareth us 〈◊〉 that is not of God heareth not us hereby know we the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of error So here you see he places the mark to know Spirits by upon their owning or not owning of Christ himself come in Flesh and of him appearing in others For they that know him not in his Children where he appears but deny his appearance there they are not of his Spirit themselves But then how shall we know his Children from the Children of the Devil The Apostle tells us this is manifest by their works 1 Joh. 3.10 He doth not say its manifest by any particular forme but by their works In this the Children of God are manifest and the Children of the Devil Whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God neither he that loveth not his Brother So then let men pretend what they will if their works be evil they are not of God So that by their works false Spirits and false Prophets are known and by them they shall be judged at the last day Though they shall say we have Prophecyed in thy name yet it shall be said to them Depart from me I know you not ye workers of Iniquity Now these must needs own his comming that Prophecy in his name And that they may doe and yet not own hi◠where he is come and appears i◠Flesh And so they may confesse hi◠comming and yet not confesse himself where he is come As the Iew owned Moses and the Prophets wh◠were come and gone but yet persecuted them that came in their Spirit they owned and confessed Abraham but owned not nor confessed the true seed of Abraham and so were not of Abraham thoug◠they confessed him In like manne◠many now confesse that Christ cam◠in the Flesh but persecute the◠that come in his Spirit that is persecute him in them for so he wil◠charge it upon them Because what done to his little ones is done upo◠this account that he is in them who hath no fellowship with th◠unfruitfull works of darkness in which they are who persecute them For if he were not in them who hath not fellowship with unfruitfull works of darkness they would not hate them but would love them The World loves its own and those of its own Spirit If you were of the World the World would love his own but because ye are not of the World but I have chosen you out of the World therefore the World hateth you Joh. 15.19 A little further still for the manifestation of this true Unction or Anointing to distinguish it from other Spirits not only from evil Spirits but even from some operations of the true Spirit Consider that this Holy Unction is an abiding thing keeping the Heart in the fear and love of God making that the maine care of him in whom it is to keep in obedience to the will of God and so in fellowship with God for that 's the Kingdom into which we are translated and whatsoever interposeth between us and that fellowship with God who i◠love that wounds and slayes And we are then like one banished hi◠native Kingdom and like an Exile until we be established in it again and then there 's rest and care and fear lest we grief the Spirit again And thus the promise to the true seed is fulfilled which saith I wil◠put my fear in their Hearts and they shall not depart from me Jer. 32.40 Now other Spirits which give no◠this fellowship in the love of God may doe great things whereby the person may be admired but they doe not keep the heart low watching to doe the will of God Balaam had an eminent Prophecy given him by the Spirit of the Lord which also strove with him to keep
to prepare for that which is to come after that we may in hope look for that day that is to come We are raised up here out of the death of sin that we may rise with comfort hereafter We are judged of the Lord here that we may not be condemned with the World and we are made to judge our selves here that we may not be judged Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection on him the second death hath no power So that Hope having so sure a foundation it is as an Anchor sure and stedfast And tends greatly to an essential Christian life to bear us up therein in holding on in patience doing the will of God and denying the pleasurable and easie paths of unrighteousness This Hope of an eternal inheritance makes us not ashamed to bear reproach for Christs sake and for observing his commands though we be accounted as the of-scouring or refuse of all things for so doing So that Hope is as a Helmet upon our heads to bear us up under all the vilifyings of the World I know it is a common thing with many if not with most to say I hope to be saved and I hope God will be mercyfull Yea and they will swear by their hope too saying as I hope to be saved Well I would not dash thy hope in Gods mercy but rather strengthen it and help to raise it up higher But take heed how thou exposes thy hope and thy self therewith to judgment in breaking the command of the great judge who is to judge the◠and all the World who hath said Swear not at all neither by Heaven nor by Earth nor by any other Oath Certainly if men shall give an account in the day of judgment of every idle word as the true judge hath told us they shall Matt. 12.36 then surely forbidden Oaths must be given account of therefore put away such things as are threatened with judgment And to raise up thy hope into strength and infallibility that it may be a comfortable stay to thee consider what it is that it is grounded upon and how it will operate in thee if it be right and see that the right foundation be layd Consult with the sayings of those who have had this lively hope in them and see how their's was grounded and what they testify of it I shall lay this one Scripture before thee to consider on and to set before thee as a marke to presse after 1 Joh. 3. the three first verses Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us that we should be called the Sons of God therefore the World knoweth us not because in knew not him Beloved now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is And every man that hath this hope in him purifyeth himself even as he is pure Wouldst thou have thy hope raised up to this pitch to expect to be made like the Son of God at his appearing by beholding of him or seeing him as he is Then thou must purify thy self from all uncleanness of Flesh and Spirit for he is pure and piercing If the Sun shine upon a dull thick Earthy body it doth not fill that with its beautifull light but if it shine upon a pure transparent Gem in fills that with its one glorious light Therefore there must be a purifying and cleansing going before to prepare us to be made partakers of the glory of the Lord. Every one that hath this hope in him purifyeth himself as he is pure Now there be two things requisite in this purification namely Faith in Christ and an obedient life Purifying their Hearts by Faith saith the Scripture and again If I wash thee not thou hast no part in mee thus he purifyeth the conscience from dead works by his Spirit working faith in us in his blood and by the same Spirit leading us in an obedient conversation And as many as are led of the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God And the same Spirit that leads the Sons of God the same witnesses in them that they are so And so giveth a most firm ground of Hope 〈…〉 So that we may say with the beloved Apostle now are we the Sons of God but it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Oh Brethren How can one think of these things and give himself up to a loose wicked life and conversation Nay this hope tends greatly to the essential life of a Christian and to preserve him therein from turning back again into the polluted wayes of the World As for Forms wherein since the Apostacy men professe the same Christ there may be something essential also to a Christian life But not as they are such or such a form but as the Lord shall require or lead men by his Spirit and exercise their Spirits for the tryal of them whether they will follow him whithersoever he leads either into them or out of the n◠bearing the reproach of the World and shewing their obedience in answering that measure of light wherewith he doth illuminate them and in which he goes before them by the movings of his good Spirit in them But herein is danger namely in urging men by the force of reason before the Lord lead them for men may lay that burden upon the Spirits of others which the Lord doth not lay and this work makes only Proselytes and Hypocrites It s safe to minde what Christ Jesus our Lord layes upon our Spirits and not what men lay I will put upon you no other burden but that which ye have already hold fast till I come saith Christ to some in the Church of Thyatyra Rev. 2.24 25. But there were some that would have layd upon them other burdens who undervalued the simple and honest hearted and counted them weak and dark not knowing the depths of Satan as they used to speak in their vaunting over them But the Lord encouraged them to keep to the burden which he alone layd upon them Again there is another danger in those that are urged before the Lord go before them to lead them I speak in point of Form and outward observations namely to be puffed up and exalted in themselves from their form and so to overlook the righteous life in others And then they fall into the number of those who being exalted in their form say in their Hearts stand by thy self come not near to me for I am holyer then thou And this now provokes the Lord to wrath and he will rather look to him that is of a humble and contrite Spirit standing in awe of him then to such It s good for both these to minde what 's said Isa 66.5 Hear the word of the Lord ye that