affections with holy desires to imbrace him z Psal 24. 7 and to set open the gates and doores of our souls that this King of glory may come in and dwell with us for ever If we do sincerely from the heart desire such a glorious King and such a bountifull Inhabitant to make his perpetuall abode with us then we must presse hard upon him and importune him earnestly with our frequent and fervent Prayers to abide and dwell with us a Gen. 19 2 3. The two Angels that came to Sodome refused to tarry all night with Lot upon his first intreaty but when he pressed greatly upon them they turned in unto him and entered into his house and he made them a feast and they did eat and then they preserved him from the burning But behold b Revel 3. 20 Christ standeth at the door of our hearts and knocks if we hear his voice and open the door he will come in to us and will sup with us we shall sup with him O the happinesse of that soul that doth hear the voice of Christ when he calls and doth open his heart unto him when he knocks either by the Ministery of his Word by the motions of his Spirit by afflictions troubles crosses or by any other meanes whatsoever But if we will intertain Christ we must have no corrivall with him for God and Mammon Christ and Belial cannot dwell together Thus saith Christ c Luk. 26 13 Ye cannot serve God and Mammon for no man can serve two masters Also thus saith Paul d 2 Cor. 6. 14 15 What communion hath light with darknesse and what concord hath Christ with Belial e Mat. 10 37. If we love father or mother son or daughtor more then Christ we are not worthy of him If the affections of our hearts are carried after the riches preferments and pleasures of this world or after any darling sin then Christ will not dwell there and we lose the comfortable and blessed Presence of the eternall Son of God and the fulnesse of all his excellencies and rich endowments for that which is nothing else but vanity and vexation of spirit Wherefore now we may Meditate comfortably on God through Jesus Christ our Saviour for the terriblenesse of his Majesty is clouded with the vail of his goodnesse the severity of his justice is sweetened with his mercy and tender compassion Christ hath taken our souls out of the hand of Gods justice and hath put them into the hand of his mercy where they shall be kept for true blessednesse to all eternity If his greatnesse doth affright us his goodnesse will allure us if his justice doth drive us from him his mercy and love will draw us to him for by Christ we have a neer relation to God himself either as his servants by grace or as his children by adoption in both which respects our Meditations of him will be exceedingly delightfull to us So likewise if we fix our thoughts upon Christ though his excellencies and dignities are far above the reach of our humane capacity yet by faith we do apprehend him to be our Redeemer and our Advocate now at the right hand of God his Father in the highest heavens and therefore our Meditations of him cannot but ravish our souls with heavenly joy and spirituall consolation in the assurance of our Redemption and of our Atonement with God and also in the hope of our eternall salvation and to be heirs of the kingdome of heaven which he hath purchased for us with his own blood How to Meditate on the Holy Ghost THe Holy Geost is the same spirituall Essence and Being with the Father and with the Son coequall and coeternall with them both but as the Deity is distinguished into three Persons the holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father and from the Son and he is the third Person in the sacred Trinity Christ doth prove that the holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father in these words a Iohn 15 26 But when the comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father he shall testifie of me That he proceedeth from the Son is manifest by this of Paul b Gal. 4. 6 And because ye are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father John also the beloved Disciple of Christ maketh it plain that the holy Ghost is the third Person in the holy Trinity by these words c 2 Joh 5. 7 There are three that bear record in heaven The Father the Word and the holy Ghost and these three aâ—e One. The Prophet calls him d Isa 11. 2 The spirit of Wisdome and understanding the spirit of counsel and strength the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD e Heb. 9. 14 He is the eternall spirit of God from whom nothing can be hidden according to this of David f Psal 139 7 Whither shall I go from thy Sptrit or whither shall I flee from thy presence Christ calleth him the Spirit of truth g Ioh 14. 16 7. And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive John calls him h Rev. 11. 11 the Spirit of life because by the power of his grace de doth quicken our hearts and revive us when we are dead in our trespasses and sins Paul doth also call him i Rom. 8. 15 16 the Spirit of adoption to witnesse to our spirits that we are the children of God If we fix our Meditations on the holy Ghost as he is in his Divine Essence and Being or as he is one of the three Persons in the sacred Trinity we shall be confounded in these deep mysteries of the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity but if we Meditate upon him according to his proper Office as he is a Comforter or according to his severall operations in our hearts we shall then find much comfortable matter for our hearts to Meditate upon which will minister heavenly and spirituall consolation to our poor souls First therefore we must consider that the proper Office of the holy Ghost is to be a comforter to us in all our afflictions and sufferings for we are dayly exposed to many tribulations and calamities either for the profession of the Name of Christ for the triall of our graces or for our correction when we lye in sin without repentance which would easily swallow us up if we had not some true comforter to support and comfort us in them k 1 Pet. 2. 1â— 1 There is also an host of sinfull lusts in us that war against our souls which do dayly assault us with strong temptations and we are round beset with perills dangers and spirituall enemies which continually threaten our downfall and ruine and do seek to hinder our salvation But above all we are sometimes wounded in our
be so well disposed for such an heavenly duty or else the divell will be ready to suggest unto him evill thoughts or to bring into his remembrance some of his former sins to disquiet the peace of his conscience to trouble the tranquillity of his minde and so to interrupt his thoughts that his meditations may not be for the honour of God nor yet fruitfull and profitable to himself and therefore he must crave the assistance of the Spirit of GOD by Prayer Rules of direction for our holy Meditations VVHerefore now that our Meditations may be holy and acceptable to God and that we may finde sweetnesse and comfort in them we must carefully observe these few Directions following The first is to fix our meditations upon holy things and not upon that which is vain and unprofitable for they do most conduce to the glory of God and to the comfort of our soules This is Pauls counsell a Col. 3. 1 2 to set our affections on things above not on things on the earth whereby we shall give a clear evidence that we are risen with Christ from the death of sin to the life of grace As our affections are carried so are our meditations if they are carried to worldly vanities our mindes will be so incumbered that we cannot freely meditate upon those things that concern the Kingdom of heaven neither will our meditations be for Gods glory or for our eternall good But if our affections are carried toward heavenly things then our meditations will be spirituall and heavenly and our actions will be tending to the honour of God b 1 Chron. 29. 3. David set his affection to the house of his God and therefore he prepared abundantly of his own proper good of gold and silver which he gave to the building of it Wherefore it concerneth us very much to keep our hearts close unto God that our minds may be raised up to him in our heavenly contemplations and that he may be glorified in all our actions The second direction is that our meditations must be of the heart as well as of the brain otherwise this Duty is not so performed that God will accept it It is the heart which God respecteth in all our services to him without which our best duties are not regarded c Luk. 2. 19 The blessed Virgin kept all the sayings of the shepherds and others concerning Christ and pondered them in her heart Oh how acceptable is that sacrifice which is offered up to God with a pure and perfect heart how effectuall is that Prayer which is presented unto him with a true and faithfull heart how pleasing are those Almes to God that are given to the poor with a willing heart and how comfortable are those meditations which proceed from an upright heart The brain may work and the cogitations of the minde may be set upon holy objects and all to little purpose if the affections of the heart be wanting Thirdly the end of our meditations must crown the work with gracious acceptance and this must be the glory of God We do greatly honour God in our meditations when we ruminate upon his incomprehensible Essence how infinite he is in all his Divine Attributes and how wonderfull in all his works also when we meditate upon his Law and upon his gracious promises to us in Christ if hereby we are brought to reverence and adore his Sacred Majesty to love him for his goodnesse and to yield due obedience unto his commands and if we can rest upon his promises and discern his wisdome and glory by his Works This must be the main end of our meditations and if we do seriously meditate upon the holy things of God to an holy end then God will accept them and we shall be edified by them But if we propound any other end to our selves whether it be for discourse or vain-glory or the like we seek not the honour of God herein but we delude our selves and defraud our souls of that heavenly comfort which otherwise they might have Fourthly our hearts and consciences must be purified and cleansed from dead works by faith and true repentance that an holy zeal may be kindled in our affections and that our souls may feel the comfort of a spirituall warmth by our holy meditations For if there be any guilt of sin that cleaveth fast to our consciences because we have no assurance by repentance that it is washt away in the blood of Christ by faith it will cool the zeal of our affections and stop the current of Gods assisting grace so that our meditations can make no holy impression in our hearts no print of Piety in our lives and conversations neither can they send forth any beams of true consolation to our souls Wherefore if our hearts are not sanctified and seasoned with grace our meditations cannot be to the glory of God nor to our own spirituall good neither can we say as the Psalmist did d Psal 104 34. My meditation of God shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord. This will move our hearts and affections and will put a spirituall life into our meditations when our hearts are cleansed from the guilt of sin so that we can freely meditate upon the bounty and goodnesse of God in all his dealings with us this we may do if faith goeth along in all our holy meditations Fifthly we must have some spirituall understanding in those things whereon we desire to meditate that the holy Ghost may guide us in our meditations and then we shall glorifie God and comfort our souls thereby otherwise the thoughts of our hearts will wander and go far astray from the matter whereupon they should be fixed and we may easily lose our selves in the dark if the spirit of God doth not give us some spiritual light to guide and direct us therein and we can receive no benefit by this holy service if it be not performed with an understanding heart The more knowledge we have of what we intend to meditate the more will our hearts be enlarged for it and the deeper impressions will our meditations make in our affections and the greater will be the comfort of our souls This was the saying of the Psalmist e Psal 49. 3. The meditation of my heart shall be of understanding Thus saith Paul f 1 Cor. 14 15 I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the understanding also I will sing with thâ— spirit and I wil sing with the understanding also so likewise we must meditate with the spirit and with the understanding also How can we learn the Commandements of God and how can we keep his Law if the Lord doth not give us understanding in them by his Spirit This heavenly wisdome is the gift of God which we must with all care and diligence labour for according to this of Solomon g Prov. 4. 7. Wisdome is the principall thing therefore get Wisdom and with all
consciences with the guilt of sin which is a burden heavier than we can bear Thus saith the wise man l Prov. 18. 14 A wounded spirit who can bear We can have no true comfort in these or the like afflictions but what cometh from the holy Ghost and no hope of succour or relief in our distresses without him if our spirits are wounded he onely can apply the true Balm of Gilead to cure them This Balm is the blood of Christ which is an universall Remedy to cure all the spiritual diseases of our souls and none but the holy Ghost can apply it to our hearts by Faith Also if the holy Ghost doth not refresh us with the comforts of grace and with the assurance of the love and favour of God we shall be ready to sink under the great weight of our calamities and miseries But we may draw comfort enough from the holy Ghost in what sad condition soever we be for he will sweeten the bitternesse of all our sufferings with true peace of conscience and tranquility of minde in the assurance of the pardon of our sins he will sanctifie all our afflictions and sorrowes with saving grace that they shall be for our good and will witnesse to our spirits that we are in grace and favour with God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour Also he will give us strength and courage to suffer any thing for Christ and for righteousnesse sake and likewise heavenly wisedome rightly to use every part of the whole armour of God to defend our selves from all our spirituall enemies and to beat back or quench all the fiery darts of the divell that his temptations and evill suggestions may not wound our souls to the death Lastly he will perfect all with the gift of perseverance so that we shall be able to stand fast in the day of tryall and we shall have assured hope of conquest and victory in all our conflicts and combates here and to be crowned with immortall glory hereafter Now let this be the desire of our souls and the Meditation of our hearts to draw comfort from the holy Ghost when we are afflicted troubled or any way perplexed with grief of heart sorrow of spirit or anguish of soul which we may do if we know that no outward comforts can support us without God and therefore we do not rest and rely upon them but do seek to the true comforter by earnest and faithfull Prayer in all our necessities which is a sure means to draw comfort from him when we want it Also if we be truly sensible that we do want his gracious assistance to carry us on cheerfully through all the difficulties and dangers that we shal meet with in this world upon our humble supplications to him he will return us a comfortable answer as shall be best for us So likewise if the guilt of our sins doth stick close unto us or if we possesse our former iniquities by a sinfull remembrance of them so that we are truly humbled in the sight and sense of them and that our hearts are touched with a godly sorrow for them the holy Ghost will then come with spirituall consolation to comfort our poor souls with an holy assurance that all our sins are washt away in the blood of Christ by faith Lastly we may draw comfort from this spiritual fountain by our pious and devout Meditations of him for then he will give us a sweet taste of his heavenly graces to comfort us in all conditions of life and he will give us spirituall joy in the midst of all our afflictions also he will unite us unto Christ by Faith and will seal our Redemption to us by his blood whereby we shall enjoy eternal felicity for ever O what sweet Meditations may we draw from this heavenly Comforter in all the sadnesse of our hearts Thus we may Meditate on the holy Ghost as he is the true comforter of our souls we come now to consider of his Divine Operations from whence we may also draw much profitable and comfortable matter for our holy Meditations And for our better understanding herein this eternal spirit of life is set forth in the holy Scriptures by severall resemblances to shew in what manner and how variously he worketh in our hearts that our Meditations may be ordered accordingly First the holy Ghost is resembled to a dove for when Christ was baptized m Mat. 3. 16 he descended in the similitude of a dove and rested upon him which was to shew his spirituall anointing to his Office of Mediatorship and to set forth the true nature of Christ how humble and and meek he was how innocent and harmlesse how loving and how ready and willing he was to do good to all These dove-like qualities were poured upon Christ above measure that we his members might receive the same in some measure from him by the holy Ghost for he will put all the faculties of our souls all the affections of our hearts and all the parts of our bodies into a new frame he will change the corruptions of our nature into an holy temper of proud and haughty minded he will make us lowly and meek of hatefull and malicious he will make us loving and courteous to all he will so season us with sanctifying grace throughout that our evill disposition shall be changed into a gracious condition This spirit of truth will bring us an Olive leafe n Gen. 8. 11 like Noahs dove to let us know that though we be in the midst of troubles dangers or distresses yet we shall be preserved and delivered and though we be troubled disquieted or perplexed in our mindes yet at the last we shall have peace tranquillity spirituall joy and comfort Now by this resemblance of the holy Ghost we may examine our selves what purity and holinesse he hath wrought in us what meeknesse of spirit what patience under the crosse what love to God and to our neighbour and how far we are sanctified in all the affections of our hearts in all the parts of our bodies also how much the corruptions of our nature are weakned in us and how far we are changed from that which is sinful to newness of life if we can finde these Operations of the holy Ghost in us they wil afford us profitable matter for our hearts to meditate upon to the glory of God and for the comfort of our own soules Secondly some of the operations of the holy Ghost are set forth unto us by the resemblance of that o Exod. 13 21 pillar of a cloud which went before the children of Israel by day when they marched out of Egypt to guide them the right way that God would have them go toward the Land of Canaan This pillar did also protect and defend them from their enemies it kept the scorching heat of the Sun from them and it cooled and moistned the earth with sweet and comfortable dewes which was a great refreshing
to the people of God in their march through that hot Countrey We are by nature under the spiritual bondage of sin and Satan which is far worse than the Egyptian bondage was to the Israelites and we have no means to be brought out of it but by an almighty power and if God doth deliver us yet we are so ignorant of the way to the heavenly Canaan that we cannot set one step toward it except the holy Ghost doth put a spiritual Light into our understanding to teach and instruct us in the right way to heavenly happinesse And because we shal meet with many spiritual enemies so long as we march thorough the wildernesse of this world the holy Ghost will so protect and defend us that they shall neither hurt our souls by their power nor keep us out of Canaan by their subtilty or malice He will guide and direct us into all holy duties he will give us holy desires and true endeavours to do the will of God and to walk humbly before him in this present world Also the holy Ghost doth protect us from the heat of Gods wrath by working faith in us to lay hold upon the merit of Christs death for the pardon of our sins and by conferring grace for the sanctification of our lives So likewise he doth refresh and comfort our fainting spirits with the sweet dewes of heavenly consolations and he doth mollifie and soften our obdurate and stony hearts with those influences of grace that descend from him that we may p Joel 2. 28 Gal. 5. 22 23. be fruitfull in all good works This holy Spirit doth also quench the fire of sin which otherwise would inflame the whole man with sinful lusts And lastly the holy Ghost doth purge and cleanse the soul from the filth of sin as water washeth away the filth of the body This doth God promise by his Prophet q Zech. 36 25. I will pour clean water upon you and you shall be clean from all your filthinesse and from all your idols will I cleanse you Wherefore we ought seriously to ruminate upon these operations of the holy Ghost for we cannot find the right way to the heavenly Canaan by all that nature or humane learning can afford us we cannot over power our spiritual enemies by our own strength we have no holy desires and no ability in our selves to any thing that is good nothing that is in our power can keep us from the wrath of God and we have nothing that can refresh and and comfort our afflicted spirits But here we shal find that the holy Ghost wil be our guide to this heavenly Country he wil be our Protector against all adversary power and he wil be a true comforter to us in all our sorrowes and upon all occasions in all conditions of life He will bring us unto Christ and wil firmly unite us unto him by faith r 1 Cor. 10. 1 2. for as the ancient Fathers were all under the cloud and all passed thorough the sea and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea so we are baptized unto Christ by the holy Ghost that our sins may be washed away in his blood and that we may be sanctified by this spirit of grace to live in true holinesse and righteousnesse all our dayes If we can thus Meditate on the holy Ghost it wil be exceeding profitable and comfortable to our souls Thirdly the holy Ghost is resembled to the pillar of fire that conducted the Israelites by night out of Egypt toward the Land of Canaan Now we must consider that such as are the properties of fire such are some of the operations of the holy Ghost in our hearts Fire is the most pure Element and purifies all other elements it doth naturally mount upward it is bright and shining and giveth light to all dark places It doth also warm and comfort every part of our bodies and it is the most active of all the other elements it purifies the gold and burnes away the drosse Thus it is with the holy Ghost for he is essentially pure in himself and purifies every soul from dead works into which he comes he wil not suffer any unclean lust or evill concupiscence to have dominion where he dwelleth and he wil raise up the cogitations of the minde and the affections of the heart to mount upwards in heavenly contemplations Also whereas by nature Å¿ 1 Cor. 2. 10 11. we cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishnesse unto us neither can we know them because they are spiritually discerned God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit for the holy Ghost wil put a spiritual light into our hearts to discern the deep things of God he wil also inflame our affections with an holy zeal to the glory of God and will make our love fervent to the truth So likewise the holy Ghost wil melt our hard and stony hearts and make them tender and gracious flexible and yielding to every holy duty And whereas our hearts are naturally bound up in unbelief and heavy and sluggish to any thing that is good t Psal 119. 32. the holy Ghost wil so inlarge them that with all cheerfulnesse of spirit and willingnesse of minde we shall run the way of Gods Commandements Wherefore now if we have found any of these operations of the holy Ghost in our hearts we shal be in some measure purified and refined from our sins and pollutions we shall have some of the drosse of our corrupted nature consumed and the heavenly graces of the Spirit of God wil shine forth in the integrity of our lives and conversations Also we shall have some spiritual light to guide our darkned understandings in the knowledge of God and of his wayes some fervency in our Prayers some love to the truth and some holy zeal to the true worship and service of God we shal delight in his Law we shal study to do good works and it will be the desire of our hearts and the comfort of our souls to Meditate day and night in the Commandements of God If these Operations of the holy Ghost which are resembled to these two pillars cannot easily work upon us if these cannot raise up our affections to heavenly contemplations and to be forward and ready to every good duty in the service of God then surely we are exceeding dull and stupid and we have great need to pray earnestly that the holy Ghost will be pleased to come with his unresistible power and break our hard stony hearts and molifie this extreme obduracy that is in them with his suppling grace that so we may more easily take the impression of his sanctifying grace in us Consider further that these two pillars which did lead the Israelites out of Egypt were a visible sign of the presence of God with them to conduct them in the way to Canaan to protect and defend them from all their
enemies and to deliver them out of all dangers And they were in the form of pillars to be a clear evidence to them that the Lord would not leave them nor forsake them but would constantly abide with them until he had brought them past all danger and had delivered them out of all their troubles and until he had given them rest from all their enemies u Act. 12. Thus the Angel of the Lord delivered Peter out of prison and would not leave him untill he had brought him past the first and second ward and through the iron gate into the city where he might secure himself from Herod who sought his life These pillars were also a witnesse to them of the Covenant and Promise which God made to their Fathers that he would give them the land of Canaan for their inheritance and that the people should alwayes remember to the glory of God their miraculous deliverance out of Egypt and the wonderfull goodnesse of God to them all the time they travelled through the vast wildernesse for they had still a pillar to conduct them and God would have a memoriall kept of all his wonderfull works Thus w Josh 24 the Lord commanded Joshua to take twelve stones out of Jordan and to leave them in the place where they should lodge that night to be a perpetuall memoriall that the waters of Jerdan were out off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord when it passed over Jordan In Nehemiahs time x Neh. 9. 12 19. the Levites in their confession of Gods goodnesse do remember how God brought his people out of Egypt led them by those two pillars though they did highly provoke God by their molten calfe yet he forsook them not in the wildernesse the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day neither the pillar of fire by night y Gen. 19. 26. Lots wife became a pillar of salt because against Gods commandement she looked back toward Sodom z Luk. 17. 32 which great judgement Christ would have to be perpetually remembred a Gen. 31. 45 52. Jacob set up a stone for a Pillar as a memoriall of his integrity to Laban and for a witnesse of the Covenant that was between them Also b Gen. 35. 20 he set a pillar upon Rachels grave for a perpetual memorial of her c 2 Sam. 18. 8. Absalom reared up for himself a pillar in the Kings dale for the perpetuity of his name for he said I have no son to keep my name in remembrance and therefore he called the Pillar after his own name If we do well ruminate upon these things and imprint them in our hearts it will make much for our spiritual consolation for where the holy Ghost doth settle his abode it is to abide there for ever and if we enjoy his blessed presence it is the greatest comfort of our souls He will be as a strong Pillar for us to rest upon when we are assaulted with strong temptations or beset with perills and dangers or any way visited with sorrowes and afflictions he is also such a Pillar of true comfort as will not leave us in any sad condition or misery but will still continue with us untill he hath brought us out of all our troubles dangers and distresses This similitude of a Pillar doth so strengthen our faith and hope in God that nothing shall be able to overthrow the foundation of it This is also great consolation to us that we have the Spirit of truth to bear witness to our spirits that we are in the love and favour of God though the outward man be miserably afflicted perplexed and tormented This consideration will appease the clamours of our sins and the accusations of our consciences and though we are in our own apprehension as quite forsaken of God yet we shall hereby be preserved from sinking under so great a pressure of temptation and though the devill doth aggravate our sins to make us cast off all hope of pardon yet this blessed Spirit will make us look up to Christ by faith as he was upon the crosse and we shall see the guilt of all our sins nailed to the same crosse and the righteousnesse of Christ to be imputed to us which will frustrate the malicious designe of the devill against the salvation of our souls Here also we may find profitable matter for our instruction and edification for it doth teach us to rest firmly upon the aid and assistance of this blessed Spirit in all conditions of life and in all the calamities and tribulations that we shall meet with in this present world It doth also binde us to a thankfull remembrance of all the benefites which we have received from him of all the heavenly endowments which he hath bestowed upon us and of all the spirituall graces which he hath wrought in us that we may imploy them to the glory of God and to the good of our own souls and therefore we ought not to grieve the Holy Ghost nor quench his gracious motions but to yield all willing and ready obedience to his good will and pleasure This doth also teach us to rest upon the promises of God both for provision for succour in time of need and for the salvation of our souls for he that hath promised is faithfull and true and if we wait his appointed time he will assuredly perform it Lastly we must mark and observe what speciall operations of the holy Ghost we have found in our hearts either for the illumination of our understandings in heavenly things or working our perverse wills to the will of God or sanctifying of our affections to newnesse of life that we may glorifie God by our thankfulnesse for them Fourthly the holy Ghost is resembled to a seal for d Eph. 13 14. We are sealed with this holy spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance untill the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory Also Paul saith e 2 Cor. 1. 12 that God hath sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts Also again he saith f Eph. 4. 13. Grieve not the holy Sptrit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption Whatsoever God hath decreed for our preservation and salvation is sealed with this Spirit of Truth and cannot be reversed but is more firm g Esth 8. 8. than the law of the Medes and Persians h 2 Tim. 2. 19. for the foundation of God standeth sure having this seal The Lord knoweth them that are his In times of common calamities God will set 〈◊〉 seal of preservation upon his own servants that thâ—â— shall not be hurt i The Angel that ascended f 〈…〉 East having the seal of the living God cryed with a loud voice to the four Angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea saying hurt not the earth neither the sea nor the
trees untill we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads The holy Ghost doth also seal the New Covenant and all the gracious promises of the Gospel to our hearts by faith k Joh. 3. 33. and if we receive his testimony we do set to our seal that God is true Why then do we not rest upon them why is our faith shaken with every gust of temptation and with every little trouble that cometh nere us Are we so weak in faith that every blast of affliction shall blow us down Why are we so doubtfull of our salvation that we are ready to let go our hold on Christ when we look upon our dayly slips and failings that are caused by the subtility of the devill by the inchantments of the world and by the allurements of our carnall lusts We do not consider that we are sealed with the holy Ghost unto the day of Redemption And when we suffer afflictions or tribulations we do not consider that they shal not hurt us for we have the seal of God in our foreheads and he wil sanctifie all our sorrowes for our good whereas to the wicked they are the beginnings of those eternall torments which they shal suffer hereafter for ever Here we may find sweet consolation in all conditions of life for if we are loath to leave this world and those possessions which we do here enjoy let our hearts and mindes be raised up to meditate upon that inheritance and those possessions which Christ hath purchased for us by his blood which we shal enjoy in heaven for we have the seal of the holy Ghost for the truth of it and then we shal be willing to leave these vain and earthly riches and we shal earnestly desire to enjoy those heavenly and durable treasures which are there laid up for us If the foundation of our faith be shaken this seal of the holy Ghost will settle it sure The Lord knoweth them that are his The Covenant of Grace is confirmed to us by this seal and we may faithfully rest upon it for all the promises of God therein contained shall be performed in their season Our spirituall enemies our crosses and tribulations and death it self cannot hurt us because we have this seal of the holy Ghost for he will take away the print of the devils seal which by nature is upon our hearts and wil stamp his own image in the room l Rev. 9. 4. 5 But those men that have not the seal of God in their foreheads lye open to all the judgements of God to be tormented as with the torment of a Scorpion when he striketh a man Lastly the Holy Ghost is resembled to winde for when he hath any great work to do in us he will come with power to rectifie our stubborn wils our obdurate hearts and rebellious affections he will come like a rushing winde to make us quake and tremble before him and to beat down all the strong holds of sin that our hearts may be prepared to receive him and that he may freely work his own work in us Thus he came upon the Apostles m Act. 2. 2 3 with a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty winde and filled all the house where they were sitting and then he gave them the gift of tongues to speak the language of every nation whither he should send them and he gave them all spirituall graces and abilities fit for that Office and function whereunto he had called them Secondly he is resembled to wind because his Operations are free to himself and he is no way necessitated in his workings for he worketh in every one when and how he pleaseth Thus said Christ to Nicodemus n John 8. 3. The winde bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the spirit Gods election is of free grace not of works o Gen. 4. 4. he had respect to Abell and to his offering but he refused Cain and his offering p Rom. 9. 11 13 15 20. God did choose Jacob and rejected Esau the children being not yet born for thus saith God to Moses I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion We are as clay in the hand of the potter cannot he make of the same lump one vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour Shall the thing formed say unto him that formed it why hast thou made me thus Thus saith the Lord by his Prophet q Isa 45. 10 Wo unto him that saith unto his Father what begettest thou or to his mother what hast thou brought forth r Jer. â—8 6. for we are in Gods hand as the clay is in the potters hand So likewise Å¿ 1 Cor. 12. the holy Ghost bestoweth his gifts diversly some have one gift some another some have more and some have lesse none but Christ had a fulnesse of all gifts and t John 1. 16 of his fulnesse have all we received and grace for grace As there is great diversity in the gifts u 1 Cor. 12. 6. so there is as great in the operations of the holy Ghost and yet all proceed from the same Spirit for God worketh all in all Thirdly the holy Ghost is resembled to winde because he doth blow away the chaff and vanity of our sinfull inventions and idle cogitations that our mindes may be the better fitted and prepared for heavenly contemplations and for the worship and service of God Now to bring all this home in particular to thy self consider what comforts and benefites thou dost enjoy by the holy Ghost both as he is the true comforter whom Christ sent down from the Father to abide with thee for ever and also by his holy operations according to those severall resemblances and then thy meditations of him will be comfortable to thy soul He will be a carefull Father to provide for thee he will be a wall of defence round about thee he will dull the sense of all thy pains and torments that thou maiest the better bear them as he did to the three children in the fiery furnace and to some of the holy Martyrs in their torments Though thy sufferings are above humane strength yet he will give thee strength of grace to bear them contentedly for he will raise up thy heart u Heb. 11 20 to look to the recompense of reward which God will give thee in heaven of his own free love bounty and goodnesse Also if the crosse lieth long upon thee and thou canst not get it removed by thy earnest supplications yet thou needest not be out of hope for the heavenly comforts of the holy Ghost will never fail thee but will still bear thee up against all the boysterous billowes of temptations and sorrowes Though thy whole life be a life of misery yet the
end shall be comfortable to thee according to this of David x Ps 37. 35 37 38. Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace But though the wicked are in great power spreading themselves like a green bay tree yet they shall be destroyed together and their end shall be cut off If we have these benefits and comforts and much more by the operations of the holy Ghost we must then study how to be thankfull to him for his goodnesse and how to expresse it by our conformity to his will and by our ready obedience to his holy motions Also we must have recourse unto him by fervent prayer for what we want as it may stand with his good pleasure to grant But we must take heed with what heart and with what affections we make our addresses unto him for if there be any secret or darling sin lurking in us he will easily find it out he can search into the most secret corners of our hearts and nothing can be hidden from his all seeing eye If our hearts are more set upon carnall pleasures or worldly profits than to meditate on his gracious operations and how to enjoy him he will soon discover our hypocrisie and it will stop the current of his graces to our hearts but if he findeth truth and sincerity in our inward parts he will then plentifully bestow his heavenly gifts and graces upon us for he will give us more meeknesse of spirit more patience in our troubles more comfort in our sorrowes and more grace to cleanse and purge away the leprosie and filth of our sins Also he will put our hard and stony hearts into a gracious condition fit to receive the print of his own image to seal unto us the assurance of our salvation No duty then in the service of God can be hard to us if we are guided by this eternall Spirit and nothing that we suffer can be bitter to our souls if this heavenly comforter hath made his abode in our hearts In the last place we must consider that no saving and sanctifying grace can be wrought in us but by the holy Ghost and we can discern nothing of the deep things of God for our comfort if we have not a spirituall light from him he worketh faith in us to unite us to Christ and to make application to our selves of the merit of his sufferings for our redemption he works repentance to assure us of the pardon of our sins and to manifest the power of Christs death and resurrection in us by the mortifying and killing of the power of our sins and by the quickening of us up unto newnesse of life The holy Ghost worketh our filiall love to God our hope in his promises our Christian patience in bearing the crosse with a meek and a contented minde our Christian fortitude and courage in all our spirituall combates and tryalls and our constancy to hold out untill we have obtained victory He gives us the assurance of our justification the sanctification of our lives ability to pray unto God and to meditate on him as we ought and he worketh the renovation of the whole man in us These heavenly graces are as so many precious jewells to adorn our souls that we may be all glorious within y Psal 45. 13 like Solomons Queen to be espoused unto Christ for if we be decked with these ornaments of grace and cloathed with the righteousnesse of Christ to cover the shame and the deformity of our sins then God will accept of our persons and of our offerings and will hereafter wed us to his own Son Wherefore when we come into the presence of God to partake of his Divine Ordinances or to perform any holy service unto him we must humbly crave the assistance of the holy Ghost to give us understanding hearts and sanctified affections and to put an holy zeal into our prayers and Meditations that they may mount up above all earthly things and ascend up to the throne of grace where they shall be heard and graciously accepted z Acts 7. 30 32 33. When Moses perceived that God was in a flame of fire in a bush he trembled and durst not behold untill he had put off his shoes from his feet because the place where he stood was holy ground So likewise a Josh 5. 13 14. though Joshua was so valiant as to withstand a man of war that stood over against him with his sword drawn in his hand yet when he understood that he was the captain of the host of the Lord even God himself he fell on his face to the earth and did worship and losed his shoe from off his feet because the place whereon he stood was holy Thus we ought to appear before God with fear and trembling and to come with all due reverence into his Presence when we perform any holy duties unto him also to put off all our filthinesse and to put on the righteousnesse of Christ by faith because we come into an holy place where God himself is present who will not suffer any unclean thing to come near unto him If we can thus Meditate on the holy Ghost we shall find much sweetnesse and comfort in our Meditations Now let thy heart Meditate freely on this blessed Comforter with an holy devotion and pure affections when thou art in any sorrowfull or afflicted condition or when any anguish of spirit doth seize upon thee for true consolation is no where to be found but onely in him Let thy heart also ruminate upon those severall resemblances of the holy Ghost which will help thine understanding to discern how he worketh in thy heart to purge thee from thy corruptions to instruct thee in the wayes of godlinesse to confirm thee in the Truth to change thy sinfull disposition into a sanctified condition to seal the assurance of thy Redemption to thy soul to blow away all vain and sinfull cogitations out of thy minde and to give thee all spirituall abilities meet for a Christian warfare in this life that thou maist have a Crown of righteousnesse in the life to come How to Meditate upon the Works of God IF we consider and look well upon the works of God in the Creation of the Heavens and of the Earth how he hath beautified and adorned the Heavens with innumerable glorious bodies and replenished the Earth with all varietie of Plants and fruitfull trees and with all kindes of living Creatures both great and small also how he hath filled the bowels of the Earth with rich and precious mineralls and the seas with fishes of all kindes we cannot then but admire the Omnipotent Power the infinite Wisedome the transcendent glory and the wonderfull Goodnesse of God the great Creatour who hath made them all for our use and service and that he might be glorified by them This consideration will help our understandings in the knowledge of God and to raise up our hearts
of sinne and Satan k Isa 53. He was a man of sorrowes he was despised he hath born our griefs he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastizement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed All we like sheep are gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all Hereby it appeareth that the justice of God cannot dispense with any sinne for he did severely punish it in his own dear Son because he found the guilt of sinne upon him though it were none of his own for he was in his own nature free from any spot or stain of sinne whatsoever Now learn this instruction that when thy heart doth meditate on Christ thy gracious and blessed Redeemer thy thoughts must not rest upon his humane nature but with the piercing eye and power of faith thou must raise them up to contemplate with all due reverence his Deity admire with great admiration that the eternal Son of God was pleased for thy sake thou poor silly worm to leave his glorious mansions in heaven and to lay down that heavenly glory which was ever his due and to condescend so low as to be clothed with thy nature which thou hast stained with the guilt of all manner of sinne that he might cloth thee with his own righteousness and restore thee again to the first purity and integrity in Gods account wherein thou wert created Now then canst thou ever put an end to thy meditations on his abundant love to thee canst thou be unthankful to him that he hath been so rich in goodness to thee so free in his mercies and so liberal in his benefits to such a worthless creature as thou art let him therefore be the chief joy of thy heart and put thy whole confidence in him by faith for thy salvation do not forget so great love but close with him imbrace him with the armes of thy faith be guided and directed by him in all thy wayes and yield all submission to Christ thy King and Governour to obey his Laws and to observe his commands Feed thy heart then and refresh thy soul by ruminating upon the excellencies and al-sufficiency of Christ thy Saviour with thoughts beseeming the honour and dignity of his sacred Person For if thou thinkest upon him onely as he is man thou doest too much undervalue his Highness and if thou conceivest of him as only God thou canst not draw then neer unto him without dread and terror by reason of his glory and majesty and also by reason of thy pollutions and defilements If Christ were onely man he could not have satisfied the justice of an infinite God neither had his blood been a sufficient price for mans redemption and if onely God he could not have suffered the penalty of the Law by his death But if thou doest meditate on him and apply thy self to him by a true and a lively faith as he is thy onely Saviour both God and man l Heb. 4. 16. then thou maist come boldly to the throne of grace where thou shalt receive and find grace to help in time of need and thy meditations of him will be exceeding comfortable to thy soul Thou maist safely fix thy faith upon him and ground thy hope in him for thy salvation m Act. 4. 12 for there is no other name under heaven whereby thou must be saved but by the name of Iesus and according to the esteem thou hast in thy heart of that Name such is thy faith and such is thy hope and confidence in him For if thy thoughts concerning him are low it is a manifest sign that thy faith in him is weak but if they are truly raised up to contemplate and acknowledge his Deity through his humanity it s a good evidence that thy faith is strong in him Wherefore renounce all that is in nature or in humane learning and trust not to thine own abilities or to common grace for thy redemption for they profit thee nothing for thy justification though they may conduce much toward a well ordered and civil life but strive to get faith and all sanctifying grace that the righteousness of Christ may be imputed to thee and that thy life may be truly sanctified and reformed to the will of God We must consider further for our better understanding of Christ our blessed Redeemer that he is set forth in the holy Scriptures by some resemblances which are very comfortable for us to meditate upon because they shew our union with him his special care of us and the great benefits that we shall have by him if we can make an holy application of him to our selves by faith First he is resembled to a vine and then we are the branches n Joh. 15. 5. I am the vine saith Christ ye are the branches He that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me ye can do nothing If we are ingrafted by faith into this true vine we are then so firmly knit and united unto Christ that no power nor policy can separate us from him for o 1 Pet. 1. 5. we are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation we shall be purged and pruned from the guilt and from the pollutions of all our sins and we shall be dressed and adorned with grace and vertue that we may bring forth much fruit in a pious life and holy conversation Secondly Christ is resembled to an head p Col. 1. 18. for he is the head of the Church and we are the members of that body to be guided and directed by him to be taught and instructed of him and as the head preserveth the natural body q Eph. 5. 23 so is Christ the Saviour of every member of his mystical body and as all the members of the natural body draw their sense and motion from the head and are serviceable and obedient to the command of the head as the hands to work the feet to run the back to bear any heavy burden and the like so do we draw all our sense and motion in heavenly things from Christ by reason of the operation of the holy Ghost and we ought to yield all duty and obedience to him to do what he commandeth with all cheerfulness of spirit and willingly to bear his Cross though the burden be very heavy to our weak nature This will give us great assurance that we have a neer relation unto Christ if we find this readiness of will in our selves to submit to his most blessed and holy will Thirdly Christ is called r Heb. 13. 20 that great shepheard of the sheep and thus he saith of himself Å¿ Ioh. 10. 11 14. I am the good shepheard and I know my sheep and am known of mine the good shepheard giveth his life for the sheep The Prophet telleth us
Christ is above all humane wisdom and therefore g 1 Cor. 2. 1 2. Paul came not to the Corinthians with excellency of speech or of wisedome to declare unto them the testimony of God For he determined not to know any thing among them save Iesus Christ and him crucified Wherefore if we can gain this heavenly knowledge by our studies and meditations of Christ we have enough to make our soules gracious here and eternally blessed hereafter Of Christs Prophetical Office NOw we come to the several offices of Christ from whence we may draw some profitable matter for our instruction and for our comfort And in the first place God ordained him to be a Prophet according as the Lord said unto Moses a Deut. 18. 18. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee and will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him This is that great prophet of the Lord Christ Jesus who had not his Prophetical gift by divine revelation as all the Prophets had but it was inherent in him and he had it from his own divine nature and by his own power and therefore he needed not that any thing should be revealed unto him Christ gave some manifestation of this his office by way of prophesie b Luc. 21. for he foretold the destruction of the Temple c Luke 19. 43 44. the great desolation that should shortly come upon Jerusalem d Lu. 21. 25 and also the signs which shall be before the day of Judgement likewise he foretold e Mat. 20. 18 19. what should be done to himself in his passion f Mat. 26. 34 and how shamefully Peter should deny him and not a word that proceeded out of his mouth could fall to the ground but must be fulfilled in due time because g Joh. 14. 5 he that was the Truth did speak it He h Joh. 2. 24 25. did know the secrets of every mans heart he knew who believed in him and who did not and also what mischief his enemies intended against him for nothing could be hidden from him Christ hath given some glimps of his Prophetical gift to his Ministers to foresee the judgements of God that will fall upon a Nation or people if they are above measure sinfull and will not be reclaimed nor brought to repentance but Christ by his own preaching hath now put an end to the gift of Prophesie ordinarily If it be so that every word which Christ hath spoken must be fulfilled how ought we to fear and tremble at his threatnings how careful should we be to make our peace with him by sound repentance and turning unto God before he puts in execution what he hath threatned also how comfortable are his promises which in their time shall be performed if we rest upon them by faith how can any affliction or sorrow tire if we rest upon a promise of succour from Christ and how can we despair of our salvation if we do believe that Christ hath perfectly wrought our redemption and hath made our peace with God his Father Also if it be so that Christ doth see by his divine nature into the secrets of all hearts we ought to be vigilant and careful to keep our hearts cleansed and purified from the guilt of sinne into the blood of Christ by the dayly renewing of our faith and true repentance that no darling sin may be cherished there for he can see it and find it out But this was not the chief end that Christ did intend in this his office for he was anointed by the holy Ghost at his Baptism to preach the Gospel of peace according to this prophesie of him i Isa 61. Luc. 4. 18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord c. Christ did execute the part of his Prophetical office in the whole course of his Ministry and k Mat. 7. 28 29. the people were astonished at his doctrine for l Luc. 4. 32 his word was with power and he taught them as one having authority His whole doctrine was pure and divine it was directed to the manifestation of his heavenly Fathers will and to the regulating of our sinful lives according to Gods commandements which he comprehended in this short sum m Mat. 22 37. 39 Thou shalt love the Lâ—rd thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self Christ did rightly interpret the moral Law and freed it from the false glosses of the Pharisees for whereas that commanded onely external obedience to the commandements according to their interpretation of them as not to kill not to commit actual adultery and the like n Mat. 5. his doctrine addeth internal observation as not to speak angry words to our neighbours hurt not to lust and the like And whereas the ceremonial Law commanded to offer up a sheep or an oxe for our sins the doctrine of Christ doth instruct us to offer up a broken and a contrite heart that our sins may be washed away in the blood of Christ by faith and to purpose and resolve the reformation of our sinful lives Christs doctrine tended wholly to the perfect service of God to draw our minds from the vanities of this world and to set our affections upon the Kingdom of heaven Also it tended to the depression of our spiritual pride to the mortification of our sinful appetites and to the stiring up of our heavenly cogitations to peace of conscience tranquillity of mind purity of body and the comfort of our soule in brief his doctrine did contain whatsoever is necessary to salvation for he did reveal the whole counsel of God As the doctrine of Christ was divine and heavenly so his whole life and conversation was exactly sutable thereunto for it was most upright and holy and a lively table wherein was expressed the perfection of his doctrine This may teach all the Ministers of his word to frame their lives according to the purity of their doctrine that their good example may confirm their doctrine and be a pattern for others to follow Christ doth still execute this part of his Prophetical office in his Ministers by the preaching of his Word and the vertue and power of his Spirit doth also joyn with their continual preaching to make it powerful for edification and instruction and effectual to salvation Wherefore our hearts and affections must be sanctified and seasoned with grace and our eares must be spiritually bored when we come to hear the Word of God preached and we must faithfully pray that his Spirit would accompany the
suppresse the violence of our passions though we be naturally inclined thereunto Lastly Faith will strengthen us against all doubtings and distrust when Gods corrections are upon us b Heb. 12. 6 7. for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth If we endure chastening God dealeth with us as with sons Thus saith Eliphaz to Job c Job 5. 17. Behold happy is the man whom God correcteth therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty Why then should we mistrust the love and favour of God when we are under his visitation Why do we not put more confidence in his power to defend us more trust in his care to preserve us and more hope in his promises to save and deliver us from our enemies and out of troubles and dangers Wherefore if we do piously meditate upon these things it will be a great strengthening to our Faith and exceeding comfortable to our souls in all our temptations sorrows and sufferings Consider in the next place that as Christ appointed the crowing of the Cock to be Peters remembrancer of his sin so likewise God in much mercy hath many waies to put us also in minde of our sins and to call us to speedy repentance for them which we ought with all care and diligence to mark and observe If God doth forbear and suffer us to go long unpunished for our offences d Rom. 2. 4. his goodnesse herein should lead us to repentance But if he doth give us any check of conscience or layeth any affliction upon us they are as so many warnings to make us remember our sins with grief of heart and to bring us to repent of them that we may escape the evill which otherwise our sins would bring upon us But when the holy Ghost doth touch our hearts as he did Peters he will work with unresistible power to make us think upon our sins with godly sorrow with true contrition and compunction of spirit with hatred and detestation of them he will make us confesse and acknowledge them before God and earnestly to crave the forgivenesse of them by Faith in Christ and to have an holy assurance of it by our true and sound repentance But if we remember our former sins with delight and approbation we sin them over again and this remembrance is sinfull and it proceedeth from our corrupted nature and not from grace which will never bring us to forsake them or to repent of them When Peter came to himself and remembred his unthankfulnesse to his Lord and Master and did see from whence he was fallen he was wounded to the very soul and presently went out to seek a place where he might ease the grief of his heart with his bitter teares Consider now with all pious devotion how dangerous it is and what advantage we give the divell if we reiterate any sins as namely swearing lying uncleanness drunkennesse Sabbath-breaking or the like for it will fasten the guilt of that sin closer to our souls which will not be removed without bitter teares but will press us down to the pit of destruction Consider also that great and crying sins require loud cryes deep sighs and grones and many teares which we cannot pour forth untill we do abandone all our wicked and lewd companions and all former occasions that did intise or provoke us thereunto and untill Christ doth look upon us and touch our hearts with his Spirit to let us know that he doth take notice of them e 1 Cor. 16. 13. We should therefore watch and stand fast in the faith that we depart not from Christ but support our faith with stedfast hope and assurance that he will stablish us with his free Spirit never to fall away from him totally and finally But thou wilt say as sometimes Peter did that though thou shouldst dye with Christ yet thou wilt never deny him nor forsake him but do not trust too much to thine own strength though thou art in the State of grace for if Christ doth not uphold thy faith the power of Satans temptations will prevail against thee thine own heart will deceive thee and the devill will be too cunning for thee f Ezech. 33. 31. Thou maist honour Christ with thy lips and yet in heart thou maist deny him for if the power of a Christian life goeth not along with thy outward profession thou dost then dishonour his holy Name dost forsake Him in thy heart If there be such unfaithfulnesse in thee to Christ thy Saviour and if there be such hypocrisie hidden under a fair profession then every rumour of trouble or danger for Christ every alluring vanity and every delightfull sin will make thee turn aside from him g Psal 78. 57. like a deceitfull bow because thy heart is not well seasoned with grace to make thee stand firm and stedfast unto Christ and to his truth against all opposition If this be thy fidelity to thy Saviour and if thou dost repose so little confidence in him then surely he will not regard thee though thou dost howle and call unto him day and night when thou art in any distresse or misery The Lord complaineth of his own people h Hos 7. 14 that they had not cryed unto him with their heart when they howled upon their beds for they did still rebell against him Wherefore let there be truth and sincerity in thy heart that thy heart and thy tongue may go together in thy Prayers in thy vowes and in all thy services to God and man let thy heart and thy hand go together in thy almes to the poor and in all thy works of charity for if thy heart be not faithfull to God thy best services and duties cannot be accepted Also keep thy heart closely knit to Christ by faith and then he will cast an eye of mercy upon thee as he did upon Peter if at any time through humane weaknesse or upon the violence of any passion or strong temptation thou shalt fall away from him Thy heart is that which Christ requireth for thus he saith by Solomon My son give me thy heart i Prov. 23. 26. give not thy heart therefore to the pleasures and vanities of the world nor to carnall lusts and delights but onely unto God Now Meditate seriously upon all the circumstances of Peters fall and thou wilt find thy self likewise subject to the like provocations and to the like frailties and failings and learn instruction thereby not to be secure because dangers and temptations do every where attend thee and not to presume upon thine own strength for that will not preserve thee but labour to be well rooted in the truth and well grounded in the faith and love of Christ and then no spirituall enemy shall prevail against thee and the cunning stratagems of the divell shall not hurt thee no fear of perills and dangers shall make thy faith in Christ to fail and no afflictions or troubles shall
the power of sin will be killed in us that by the sanctifying Grace of the holy Ghost we may be raised up to newnesse of life If we did seriously consider these things we should not keep at so farre a distance from Piety and vertue and we should not be such strangers to a Christian life and conversation but we would use all means to get into nearer society with Christ by true saving faith and by heavenly contemplation that the spirituall dew of his heavenly graces may distill into our hearts to sanctifie us throughout both in soul and in body that in Christ we may be made new creatures To this end we must endeavour to keep our faith still in action and continually to use it upon all occasions and in every condition of life for thereby we shall draw strength and power from Christ to carry us on through all temptations and tryalls and to support and comfort us in all sorrows and tribulations it will purifie our hearts from dead works and suffer no sin to continue with us without repentance to hinder the salvation of our souls This rare example of the goodnesse and mercy of Christ to this believing Thief may keep us from despair because g Ezech. 18 21 22. there is mercy for a sinfull soul if at any time he doth truly repent and turn to the Lord with a full intent and purpose of will to reform his evill it doth also teach us not to be secure or carelesse of our salvation for it is extreamly dangerous to loose any opportutunity of grace that God shall give us or to take so much liberty to sin as to forget to make our Peace with God in time for we must give an account at the last day of all that we have done in the flesh and our condition then wil be most miserable if our reckoning be not made perfect in the righteousnesse of Christ by faith while we live here upon earth and therefore it is the greatest punishment in this life to have no sense of our spirituall misery and not to fear or remember the dreadfull day of judgement Also this consideration should keep us from rash judgement and censuring of any mans condition though he be a notorious sinner for God can give him grace to repent when he pleaseth As this one example of the mercy of Christ to this penitent sinner may keep us from despair from security and from rash judging of others so let it keep us from presuming upon sin in hope of pardon we do wilfully delay our repentance from day unto day and so continue impenitent to the last part of our life because this man had all his sins forgiven even in a moment and was received to mercy at the last hour for God may justly deny us mercy if we refuse grace when the means is offered to us So likewise let it keep us from presuming upon repentance because it is not in our power to repent when we will This heavenly grace is the gift of God and it is the first fruits of faith which the holy Ghost will work in us if we are ready to yield obedience to his holy inspirations or to make the right use of such meanes as he is pleased to use to make us willing to seek unto him for it for if the Spirit of God doth not work it in us we can have no hope ever to obtain it Now consider the strength of faith that was in this poor sinner he gave the highest title of honour to Christ when he we was scornfully mocked and in a most contemptible condition to the eye of all men he did imbrace him and vindicate his honour when he was upon the crosse he did believe that heaven was his Kingdom though he were now reviled and despised of all men and that he had the disposing of all honours and preferments in that Kingdom which made him pray unto him Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdome also his heart was touched with a sensible feeling of his sins he made a pious confession of them and therefore he did pray for mercy out of a true sense of his misery If we can shew the faith of this penitent Thief though our life hath been as vicious as his was and though we turn to Christ late as he did yet we may have good hope of the pardon of our sins and we may comfortably expect his felicity for Christ will return the like gracious answer to our Prayers and the like promise of future happinesse But what faith can we shew if we still dishonour Christ with our words and works how can we trust in him if we do not believe that all regall power both in heaven and in earth is given unto him And how can we hope for future blessednesse from him if we are not confident that he is the disposer of all the glorious mansions that are in heaven what godly sorrow have we for our sins if we still go on in a presumptuous way of sinning And what hope is there of true repentance if we still cherish foster our sins in our bosome if our faith and repentance be no better then thus Christ will not hear our Prayers nor grant our requests Wherefore let not the devill delude thee with security or presumption lest he brings thee to perdition for many have perished with the shadow of this deceitful hope Look well to the truth of thy faith that it be well grounded upon the true knowledge of Christ and of those excellencies that are in him that thou maist firmly rest upon him in all troublesome and dangerous times but chiefly for the redemption of thy soul Neglect not the means of grace and defer not thy repentance for God hateth such as upon confidence of repentance in their old age do presume to sin the moâ—e freely as if God did not know the deceit and hypocrisie that is in their hearts h Deut. 29. 19 20 If thou dost flatter thy self in thy wickednesse and doest blesse thy self in thy heart saying I shal have peace though I walk in the imagination of my heart to ad drankenes to thirst then know that the Lord will not spare thee but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoke against thee and all the curses that are written in his book shal lye upon thee and the Lord shall blot out thy Name from under heaven Consider further how much this penitent sinner was humbled in the sense of his sins and of his unworthinesse and also how bountifull and good Christ was to him for he durst not presume to beg any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ but onely some remembrance of him when he came into his Kingdome but Christ did grant him a present possession of his Kingdome Verily I say unto thee To day thou shalt be with me in Paradise This Paradise was the place of blessednesse where all the Saints of God shall be untill the generall
with Christ and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus that he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindnesse toward us through Christ Jesus b Eph. 4. 23 This renovation in the spirit of our minde is wrought in us by the holy Ghost through Christ for he was anointed with the holy Ghost for this end and purpose that by him we might be raised up from the death of sin to a spirituall life of grace according to the signification of his Name for as he is Christ he is Anointed of God and as he is Jesus he is the Saviour of the world to save us from our sins and to work salvation for us whereof we are not capable untill we have a spiritual life wrought in us Thus saith the Spouse of Christ c Cant. 1. 3. Thy Name is as oyntment poâ—red forth A precious Oyntment hath many excellent vertues d Psal 104. 15. for it maketh a chearful countenance it comforteth and strengtheneth all the parts of the body it healeth all diseases and it sendeth forth a sweet savour when it is poured out which refresheth and comforteth all the senses Thus is Christ to every true believers soul he is the Anointed of God as saith the Psalmist of him e Psal 45. 7. Thou lovest righteousnesse and hatest wickednesse therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oyl of gladnesse above thy fellowes f Act. 10. 38 for he was anointed with the holy Ghost and with power First by the power of his holy unction Christ doth put a spiritual light into our understanding by his Spirit that we may see how to walk in the paths of godlinesse and truth according to this of old Simeon g Lu. 2. 31 32. that God had prepared him to be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of his people Israel h Psal 97. 11 Light is sown for the righteous and the comfort and gladnesse of it for the upright in heart This Prophesie was fulfilled in Christ i Isa 2. 9. The people that walked in darknesse have seen a great light they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death upon them hath the light shined k Eph. 5. 14 Wherefore awake thou that sleepest in fin and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light If we want this heavenly light we must needs wander and go astray from God and we have no means to obtain such a light but by Christ It is sin that hath brought this darknesse and this spiritual death upon our souls and none but Christ can take it away This is the beginning of our spiritual life when we have some light to discern the spirituall things of God for the good of our souls Secondly Christ is the food and nourishment of our souls to preserve this spirituall life in us whose flesh we must spiritually eat and whose blood we must spiritually drink by faith in the hearing of his Word preached and Sacramentally when we come to his holy Table or else we have not this spirituall life in us l John 6. 48 53. I am that bread of life saith Christ which came down from heaven who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternall life and I will raise him up at the last day for my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed Wherefore if our souls do hunger and thirst after this heavenly food and do earnestly desire to be refreshed and fully satisfied therewith it is an evident sign that there is a spiritual life in us for Christ doth freely offer himself to every empty soul that can feed upon him by Faith in his Word or in his Sacraments But if our desires and the affections of our hearts are taken up with the love of this world and of earthly vanities it s no marvell if we have no hunger nor thirst after Christ and that we feel so little want and need of him Thirdly the blood of Christ is the true balm to heal and cure all the diseases and wounds that sin hath made in our souls it is like m Lu 10. 34 the good Samaritans wine and oyl for it hath a cleansing and an healing vertue There can be no wound so deep in the soul and no ulcer so festered but this precious Oyntment will cleanse and heal it if it be rightly applyed by faith and true repentance for repentance layeth open the wound by true confession and faith applyeth the remedy to it and then repentance giveth us an holy assurance that we shall be cured This is the way and the means of recovery when our souls are sick of any spirituall disease and also to preserve that spirituall life which is in us Lastly when the heavenly graces that flow from Christ are poured out upon our soules they will greatly refresh and comfort our spirits in all sadnesse of heart and they will so persume all our actions and services which we perform unto God that their sweet savour shall ascend up unto him that he may smell it and graciously accept of us and of our offerings n Gen. 8. 21. When Noah offered burnt offerings to the Lord after the floud the Lord smelled a sweet savour and accepted his sacrifice and blessed him exceedingly Wherefore if our souls are perfumed with grace they will so perfume all our holy oblations which we offer up to God that he will in mercie accept them for his Sonnes sake o I rev 5. 8. But the sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord and they stink in his nostrils because they proceed from a corrupt and unclean heart which is not perfumed with grace how much â— Eccl. 10. 1 more when he bringeth them with a wicked mind â—o 21. 27 Sin is like dead flies in the ointment of the Apothecary which causeth it to stink for sin maketh us odious in the sight of God Wherefore take heed with what heart thou comest into the presence of God and that thou bringest no oblation to him with a wicked mind but first purifie thy heart from sinne by faith in the bloud of Christ and see that thy soul be perfumed with sanctifying grace and then come and offer thy gift and God will accept it But if there be any sin in thy bosome unrepented of or any iniquity in thy heart which thou seekest to hide from God then he cannot smell a sweet savour of thy prayers of thy praises and thanksgivings or of any duty which thou performest to him to make it accepted because thy heart is not upright before God Now we must examine our selves what spiritual life we have by Christ and we must know how he is our spiritual life if we will have any comfort thereby First q 1 Joh. 2. 20 If we have this holy unction from Christ which was poured upon him above measure that
upon his Throne of mercy ready to receive us If our faith doth reach no further than to the knowledge of Christ what he is in his divine nature and what he is by incarnation or to his glorious excellencies and dignities as he is the Mediatour of the new Covenant or to the work of mans redemption as he is the Redeemer of the world it is but the bare notion of faith which is not effectual enough to bring us to eternal happinesse Unregenerate men may know and believe thus much of Christ by the letter of the Gospel and yet never be brought into the state of grace by Christ because they have not the grace of faith in their hearts to apply these things to themselves The devils did know who Christ was they knew the purity of his nature and what power he had over them and yet they continued devils still Wherefore we must not rest in the bare notion of faith but if we will believe unto salvation we must then f John 13. 8 9. As Paul and Silas said to the Jaylor Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ we must rest upon him and put our whole confidence in him for our salvation also we must apply him and all his excellent dignities to our selves that we may be well perswaded of our redemption by him and that we are invested into the Covenant of grace by our union with him and that we shall hereafter injoy the perfection of true happinesse If our Faith can reach thus high and lay such hold upon Christ by their particular application of him then let our condition be what it will we shall be happy while we live more happy when we dye and most happy after death for no afflictions or sorrowes of life and no violence or extremity of sicknesse in death shall be able to take this happinesse from us and after death we shall be out of the reach of all our enemies for Christ by whom we have this happinesse will not suffer us to loose it but by the grace and power of faith we shall still draw all spiritual comfort from Christ to our souls to make us truly happy in this life and everlastingly happy in the life to come This is the grace and power of true faith to apply particularly to our selves whole Christ God and Man and as he is our Prophet our high Priest our King our Mediator and Redeemer and then how mean soever our condition be he will make us happy in it and will crown us with everlasting happinesse hereafter for where this Faith is wrought there the holy Ghost will abide for ever and that soul must needs be happy that intertaineth him g Eph. 1. 13. For after that we have believed in Christ we are sealed with that holy Spirit of Primise unto the day of Redemption this Spirit of promise is the earnest of our inheritance which Christ hast purchased for us Consider further that by this means we are neerly joyned unto Christ h Eph. 3. 17. For Christ dwelleth in our hearts by Faith This spirituall union with Christ is more firm and close than the union of the members of the natural body is with the head or the union of the branches is with the vine for nothing can separate us from Christ but he will keep us by his Almighty power unto salvation If we be in this blessed condition nothing can hurt the well-being of our souls but all things shall work together for our good What comfort and what happinesse can we want if we injoy Christ His grace will carry us on cheerfully through all the discomforts that we shall meet with in this life his blessings will be upon all that we injoy and he will give us the fulnesse of happinesse in the life to come Though we be in Christ yet we shall meet with many sorrowes troubles and vexations in this life which will cloud the sense of this our fâ—licity for we have here but the beginnings of that blessed and happy condition which in the life to come shall be perfected and confirmed to us for ever in Christ Wherefore we ought seriously to meditate and study how to injoy Christ who is the true happinesse of our souls and though we have but a taste of this heavenly consolation yet it will sweeten the bitternesse of all misery and as we dayly grow in grace so we shall dayly finde more comfort by our assurance of the fruition of our future felicity in heaven Also the more we grow in grace the more we shall grow out of love with this world because we shall the better see the vanities of it and the more we shall grow in love with vertue and true piety which will bring us to this happinesse and to injoy it to all eternity Concerning our Iustification THe true knowledge of this high Principle of Religion what it is to be justified in the sight of God and how it is wrought in us by the holy Ghost is of great concernment to every true Christian and it doth minister exceeding much comfort to him in the assurance of the pardon of his sins and in the hope of his salvation Now we are justified not for any inherent righteousnesse that is in us nor for any foreseen works we are able to do nor for any grace that is wrought in us but as God doth elect us of his own free grace and love so he doth also freely justifie us First a 2 Cor. 5. 19. by not imputing our sins and iniquities to us Secondly by not inflicting the condemnation of sin upon us Thirdly by imputing the righteousnesse of Christ to us by faith Fourthly by pronouncing and declaring us to be just in the Court of heaven and by witnessing the same to our consciences by his holy Spirit and lastly by his gracious acceptation of us This is our Justification and thus we may be perswaded of it for God hath set up his seat of Judgement in every mans conscience so that when we remember our sins if our conscience doth absolve us by our faith in the righteousnesse of Christ and in the merit of his blood it is a sure evidence of our justification in the sight of God but if it doth condemn us then it will binde us over to answer for our selves at the last and general judgement when it will bring bitter accusations against us and witnesse terrible things against our poor souls for conscience is the highest witnesse next under God The ground of our justification is Gods free grace to us by Faith in Christ who hath taken upon himself the guilt of our sins whereby they are imputed to him and his righteousnesse is imputed to us so that now God doth account us just and righteous because we have no guilt of sin and are cloathed with the righteousnesse of Christ and therefore he will absolve us from all our sins and from the punishment that is due to us for them and he will
should highly prize our Faith because it is the principall grace that the holy Ghost worketh in our hearts and it maketh all other graces profitable and effectuall to us according to their severall natures Our repentance is not sound and true if it be not a fruit of Faith for we cannot truly humble our selves before God and freely confesse our sins unto him with a contrite heart if we do not look upon him as our mercifull Father by Faith in Christ that we may have good hope of the pardon of our sins neither can we shew any fruits of repentance by mortifying the corruptions of our nature but by the vertue and power of Christs death which we must draw to our selves by Faith and also by our regeneration to newnesse of life but by the power of his resurrection which we must also have by faith Our repentance can give us no holy assurance of the remission of our sins if we do not believe that Christ hath fully satisfied the justice of God for them all by the merit of his death g Lu. 21. 19 We cannot possesse our souls in patience when we suffer afflictions and tribulations and when we are under the crosse if we do not belive that Christ hath sanctified our sufferings to make them work for our good and that h Act. 14. 22 through much tribulation we must enter into the Kingdom of heaven We cannot love God with true filiall love nor obey him with filiall reverence and fear if we are not perswaded of our adoption in Christ by Faith i Mat. 10. 42 Our works of charity will not be accepted unlesse they are done in Faith as to the Disciples of Christ and then we shall not lose our reward Thus doth Faith put life and vigour into all other graces to make them effectuall and powerfull for our sanctification and for the spirituall comfort of our souls which is a special consideration to make us account of our faith as a principall Grace without which we can have no hope of salvation Thirdly k Mat. 13. 46 Faith is that Pearl of great price which the Merchant man in the Gospel found and sold all that he had to buy it for no humane learning no abilities of nature no wealth or riches can purchase we must renounce our trust in all these before we can buy this rich pearl for it is above the strength of nature to attain unto it and no power of men or Angels can procure it but we must have it of the holy Ghost he keeps it in his own power and we may have it of him without money and without price if in the true humiliation of our spirits we beg it of him But if we seek to buy this pearl of the world we shall pay dear for it and yet not have the right Pearl the lustre of these pearls can reach no further than to the object of the eye but the lustre of this true Orientall Pearl will shine in all dark places of woe and misery and it will pierce the very heavens to the eye of God himself Notwithstanding we do so highly value the pearls that nature or this world doth afford us that we will take any pains or be at any cost to gain some of them though they are of no worth to rest upon when we are in any spirituall misery whatsoever but as for this precious Pearl we are loath to part with any thing for it that by nature is near or dear to us or wherein we take pleasure and delight Thus we delude our selves with vain hopes and we rest upon that which cannot help because we know not the worth of true Faith to make it the instrument of our trust and confidence in God through Christ Let this consideration also advance the estimation of Faith in our hearts and affections because by it we gain Christ with all his excellencies and in Christ we gain the injoyment of the grace and favour of God and the assurance of eternall salvation Wherefore if this be the transcendent worth of true Faith we should then with all care and diligence seek out where it is to be had and labour by all means to obtain it If God seeth this holy desire in us he will then give us to understand by his Spirit that this rich pearl is no where to be found but in his own Cabinet also he will prepare our hearts and our will for it he will anoint our eyes with spirituall eye-salve to finde it and he will direct us to the means how we may obtain it First therefore we must know l Eph 2. 8. 8. that Faith is onely the gift of God which he bestoweth upon whom be pleaseth m Eph. 1. 19 and he works it in us by his mighty power Secondly God will give us hearts to seek it of him by fervent Prayer which is a powerfull means to obtain any thing of God Thirdly his Spirit will go along with the Preaching of his Word that if we hear it with sincere affections it may work Faith in us n Rom. 10. 17. for faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God Lastly when we have found this precious Pearl in his Word God will make us willing to buy it though we give for it our souls and all the faculties thereof our hearts our affections and all the parts of our bodies all which must be given up to the Lord or else we cannot injoy true faith and yet this is not all for we must empty our selves of all conceit of our own worth and quite renounce all confidence in worldly things all sinfull pleasures and every sin that presseth us down or that cleaveth close to us or else we cannot obtain this precious Pearl of God Fourthly we may conceive that Faith is of great estimation because it is so rarely found upon earth Thus saith our Saviour Christ concerning Faith o Lu. 18. 8. When the Son of man cometh shall he finde faith on the earth It is such a rare Jewell as is scarcely to be found few do injoy it and none can rightly esteem of it but onely such as have it p Rev. 2. 17. Christ promiseth to give a white stone to him that overcometh and in this stone a new name is written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it We cannot obtain this white stone of purity righteousnesse and true holinesse but by Faith whereby we are cloathed with the righteousnesse of Christ which is this white stone also we shall know this new name that is written in it for by Faith we shall put on Christ and shall be made new creatures to live as becometh new Christians in newnesse of life and in uprightnesse of conversation It is true which Paul saith q 2 Thes 3. 2. that all men have not faith for there is so much wickednesse fraud deceit and unbelief among men that true faith can hardly be found is it is
The Lord knoweth them that are his The second reason is drawn from the vertue and strength of the Covenant of Grace A Covenant between man and man is an ingagement of great force and the servants of God did alwayes exactly keep it how strong then is that Covenant which God himself hath made with us which his own dear Son hath sealed with his bloud and which God hath made of his own free grace and favour to us poor miserable sinners which Christ hath procured for us h Gâ—â— 9. God made a Covenant with Noah and he hath kept it to this day Also God made diverse Covenants with Abraham and he performed them all i Gen. 21 Abraham made a Covenant with Abimelech and did precisely keep it This new Covenant is for ever and it is so strongly confirmed that we cannot question the performance of it on Gods part whom in his own Esence is immutable and unchangeable and though we cannot perform our conditions to God yet Christ hath performed them for us and will also stablish us in the fear of God that we shall never depart from him Thus saith the Lord by his Prophet k Jer. 33 34. I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour and every man his brother saying know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them even unto the greatest of them saith the Lord for I wil forgive their iniquity and will remember their sin no more And again thus saith the Lord l Jer. 32. 40 And I will make an everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me Wherefore seeing we have this Covenant of grace from God and thus confirmed with the seal of Christs bloud we may rest confident that if we are ingrafted into Christ by a true and lively Faith we are then invested into this New Covenant and every condition and Promise therein contained shall be performed to the uttermost which doth give us an holy assurance that we shall never totally and finally fall away from God The third Reason for the stability of the Faithfull is grounded upon the power of God for as Peter saith m 1 Pet. 1. 5. We are kept by the power of God through Faith unto salvation The Lord Jehovah is our keeper the Lord is our defence all power is from him and no created power can take us out of his hand Christ is also our good Shepherd and we are his sheep though we go astray and wander out of the way in the Wildernesse of this world yet Christ will not loose us but will seeâ— us up and bring us again unto his fold n John 10. 28 29. Christ knoweth his sheep and will give unto them eternall life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck thâ—m out of his hand My father saith he which gave them me is greater then all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand Wherefore if there be any confidence to be put in the Almighty power of God if any trust in the care of Christ over his flock or any truth in his promises to his sheep we need not doubt of our perseveâ—ance in grace and in the truth we need not fear the malice the cunning or the power of the Devil that he can overthrow our Faith or destroy the habit of it that is planted in our hearts by the holy Ghost Fourthly the stability of our Faith is firmly grounded upon the faithfulnesse of God according to this of Paul o 1 Thess 5. 23 24. And the very God of peace sanctifie you wholly and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Faithfull is he that calleth you who also will do it Also thus he saith p 1 Cor. 1. 8 9. God shall also confirm you unto the end that ye may he blamelesse in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ God is faithfull by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Thus saith Moses to the children of Israel q Deut 7. 9. Know therefore that the Lord thy God he is God the faithfull God which keepeth Covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his Commandements to a thousand generations Holy David had great experience of Gods faithfulnesse to him and therefore he saith r Psal 36 5. that the faithfulnesse of God reacheth to the clouds And again he saith Å¿ Psal 119. 90. Thy faithfulnesse is unto all generations thou hast established the earth and it abideth We may therefore rest upon the faithfulnesse of God as well as upon his power for the keeping of his Covenant for the performing of his Promises for his aid and assisting grace in all our temptations t 1 Cor. 10. 13. for God is faithfull who will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able but will with the temptation also make away to escape that we may be able to bear it Also in all our afflictions miseries and calamities that we suffer in a good Cause God will keep and preserve our souls from hurt and therefore thus saith Peter u 1 Pet 4. 19 Let thâ—m that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithfull Creatour Thus saith the Lord unto his People u Hos 2. 19 20. I will betroth thee unto me forever yea I will betroth thee unto me in righteousnesse and in judgement and in loving kindnesse and in mercies I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulnâ—sse and thou shalt know the Lord. If we are thus betrothed unto God in faithfulnesse in judgement and in righteousnesse then we cannot be quite separated from him and our Faith in Christ which is the instrument of our betrothing cannot be quite lost The fifth reason why the Faithfull cannot finally fall away from God is taken from the love of God x John 13. â— for those whom he loveth God loveth to the end Love is essentiall in God and he can as well deny his own Being as deny his love to those that are united unto Christ by Faith and his love to them endureth for ever y Rom. 8 39 For noâ—hing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Thus saith John the beloved Disciple of Christ z 1 John 4. 10 16. Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins Again he saith thus And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us God is love and he
that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him Wherefore by our love to our neighbour we may know what love dwelleth in us how we love God and whether God dwelleth in us If we be in this gracious condition that God hath set his love upon us we cannot then lose this principall grace of Faith which is the bond of Gods love to us and we cannot fall quite away from God because a Eph. 4. 30 we are sealed with the Spirit of God into the day of Redemption The sixth reason is grounded upon the merits and intercession of Christ This is a strong reason so to stablish our Faith that it shall never be overthrown for by the merit of his blood we are redeemed out of the captivity of sin and Satan this was an infinite price which Christ paid for our redemption whereby also we are freed from the curse of the Law and from the condemning power of sin because we are made one with Christ by Faith If therefore we can be brought again under the same bondage and slavery or under the same curse or condemnation of sin which we shall be if our union with Christ can be broken then we shall have but little benefit by our redemption and Christ hath paid that great price for us to little purpose also we are not then perfectly made free but are still the servants of sin But Christ hath finished the whole work of our Redemption the eternall son of God hath made us free sin hath therefore no more power over us and the Devil cannot prevail against us to break that union which is between Christ and us by Faith Wherefore this consideration will much strengthen our Faith against all opposition and adversary power that if we are redeemed by Christ and made free by him our state and condition is firm and sure it cannot be removed for Christ will loose none of those whom he hath bought with so great a price and made free by his own power and for whom he hath made intercession to his Father If our Faith should fail then Christs intercession for us must fail we shall then lose Christ and all the benefits that come by him we shall lose all true comfort in this life and eternall blessednesse in the life to come If we conceive thus meanly of the merits and intercession of Christ it is blasphemy in the highest degree The seventh reason for the stability of Faith is drawn from the nature of saving grace which is in corruptâ—ble seed and planted in our hearts by the Holy Ghost whereby there is a new creation wrought in us for Peter saith b 1 Pet. 1. 23 that we are born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever Our first birth is of corruptible seed which is mortall and fadeth away like the flower of the field but our Regeneration or second birth comes from an immortal principle which cannot decay but continueth for ever This Birth is wrought by the Spirit of God and it hath a spirituall life by Faith in Christ which can never dye though it may lye gasping for a time through some violent temptation or sore tryall For if God begins to work a Work of Grace in us he will not leave it untill it be finished From hence we may draw great consolation to our selves in the apprehension that we are weak in grace for though we finde but the beginnings of our Regeneration wrought in us God will not leave his own Work imperfect Though we cannot perform our duties and services to God as we ought yet God will accept the will for the deed in Christ if it proceeds from a faithfull heart and though we find but some parts of true repentance wrought in us as to our own apprehension God will go on in his Work of Reformation untill there be a through change wrought both in soul and body to newnesse of life If Faith or any other spirituall grace be weak in us it will grow stronger it will increase and continue because the Holy Ghost will water his own seed which he hath planted with his spirituall dewes from above The last reason for the confirmation of our Faith is this because the holy Ghost doth dwell in our hearts by faith and where he doth settle his habitation there he will abide for ever If our hearts are purified by Faith in the blood of Christ then we are the spirituall Temple of God and the Holy Ghost will dwell there according to this of Paul c 1 Cor. 3. 16 Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you Thus saith John d 1 John 4 15. Whosoever shall confesse that Jesus is the Son of God God dwelleth in him and he in God The holy Ghost is that true Comforter whom Christ hath sent from the Father to be with every Member of his Church to dwell with them to be in them and to abide with them for ever and where he is there no grace can be wanting If we injoy his comfortable society he will then lead us into all truth for he is the Spirit of Truth no erroneous Doctrine shall infect our souls but we shall rightly understand the wayes of God and be able in some measure to walk in them He will protect us in all dangers he will comfort us in all our sorrowes he will uphold our faith against all assaults and temptations and will give us strength of grace to hold out and persevere in all our tryalls unto the end Wherefore grieve not this holy Spirit by whom we have so much comfort in all conditions of life and by whom we are sealed unto the day of redemption who will confirm and stablish us in the Faith of Christ that we may continue stedfast untill we shall come to live and reign with our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ for ever in heaven The Conclusion of this Treatise NOw for the Conclusion of this Work I do earnestly request every Christian Reader to enter into a serious consideration with himself which way the thoughts of his minde are chiefly bent and upon what he doth set the Meditations of his heart that he may know whether his way be steered towards heaven or not for they do neâ—rest affect his soul and plainly shew what is his chiefest joy and delight If his thoughts are too much set upon the vanities of the world then his heart cannot be Faithfull towards God and there will be no place in his soul to receive that true comfort which otherwise he might have in the sweet fruition of God by his pious and devout Meditations Also if he delighteth to ruminate upon his carnall pleasures or upon any other evill concupiscence or to call to remembrance with approbation his former iniquities he doth sin over again those former sins and doth defile his precious soul with uncleannesse and pollutions