Mercies bountifully as to Noah after the Flood to whom the everlasting Covenant was given to Abraham after his great Sacrifice By my self I have sworn saith Jehovah because thou hast not with-held thy Son thy only Son in blessing I will bless thee c. Also Job was abundantly redintegraced Again at the Waters of Strife where God proved the People and they did but competently sustain it for they murmured yet there he made a new Statute and Ordinance he proved them and gave them a new Promise of which David thus Thou calledst in Trouble and I delivered thee I answered thee in the hiddeness of Thunder Now these things are written for our Instruction and ought to be great consolation to us in the height of our Tribulations when brought by God yea tho both the worldly Cross and Cross of Christ meet upon us at once as they did upon Job yet ought we to undergo them with his Patience and Faith the Lord gives and shall he not take I know I shall come forth as Silver tried in the Fire I know I shall see my Redeemer with these Eyes nay as St. James saith with Joy knowing all things shall be destroyed which are enemies to our Happiness and that preferved purified multiplied and exalted which is a Friend In Ezek. 14. there is this remarkable Passage If I send the Sword Famine noisom Beasts Pestilence to cut off Man and Beast tho Noah Job and Daniel were in it As I live saith the Lord they should neither deliver a Son or a Daughter they should but deliver their own Souls Yet therein shall be left an Escape of Sons and Daughters brought forth and they shall come forth to you and ye shall see their Way and their Actions and ye shall be comforted upon the Evil I have brought upon Jerusalem and you shall be comforted when you see their Way and shall know that I have not done what I have done without cause saith the Lord Jehovah Now this in an Allegory refers to this Trial and these four Evils to that Famine and Plagues which God shall bring in this Day For the Soul shall then hunger after Righteousness and not be satiated in its daily Bread because Christ is withdrawn and that is the Famine And all our Lusts shall perish by the Sword of the Spirit by the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and Pestilence by Noon-day Only the Famine of the Preacher of Righteousness by consumption the Patience of Job and self-judging Wisdom of Daniel shall deliver themselves And out of them shall spring forth a new-born Nature in which shall be comfort and we shall rejoice in the Wisdom and Goodness of God and perceive with Joy how he hath ordered all these to work together for the Good of them that love him and have kept the Word of his Patience 21. Whence therefore I say we ought to pray that we may not be led into this Trial and yet having so done to rejoice in it when the Spirit of God drives to it because he will keep us and that Saying shall be verified in us 1 Cor. 10.13 There hath no Temptation befallen you but such as is common to Men but God is faithful and will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able but with the Temptation will make a way to the Escape of Noah Job and Daniel and their Sons that you may be able to bear it But it is also remarkable how the Apostle bounds this before and after with the next Context even with those Bounds all the Faithful ought in this Warfare to confine within The first is Wherefore let him that standeth take heed lest he fall namely not to err by presumption of our own Strength or thrust into the Battel as the Horse for who doth so if he fall he hath his amends in his own hands The other bound is Wherefore my Beloved fly from Idolatry which is When the Call cometh make not Duties a Nehushtan but gird up your Loins and follow your Captain believe his Conduct and Banner are sufficient Pledges of Victory for now to rely on Horses or Chariots of your own setting forth is flat Idolatry and Idolatry is the Rock of Perdition in the way And he that thus stands upon his Guard at his Post and confined Station let him count his Temptation all Joy but if he go beyond these let him thank himself for all the Losses and Buffetings he finds 22. Lastly All Men ought to watch hourly for this Hour as oft is admonished under Penalties and Blessings As our Lord Watch for the hour comes as a Thief in the Night Watch for you know not the hour the Lord cometh Be ready for in an hour you think not of the Son of Man cometh and blessed is the Servant who when his Lord cometh he findeth so doing Which is not smiting his fellow-Servants or reproaching them as if he were more holy than they but being humble of Mind sensible of Infirmity diffident of his best performances knowing the Lord will come to try his Heart and Reins And this must be a most excellent preparative Posture foreseeing the far end of the Account is to subdue the Arm of Flesh and to account all our Righteousness by Works as loss and dung for the Cross of Christ it must needs be a good Introduction to know all Flesh is vain and light in the Ballance Now therefore thus prepared set thy Conscience for Watch-man bid it declare whatsoever it seeth and call by Night as well as by Day Watchman what seest thou what of the Night And if he says Behold my Lord comes as a Lion and it is the dead of the Night cease thou from folding thy Hands together rouze up and offer a Peace-Offering and if it shall not be accepted as formerly and thy Watch-man chargeth thee not with Omission Commission or lack of Zeal above wonted Infirmity suspect thy Hour is at hand and if thy Hunger after Christ encrease and satiation in Duties decrease be assured thy Lord cometh to prove thee how far for him thou canst deny all things And if thou be an eater of Herbs observer of Days or a truster in Ordinances of Man or beggarly Elements of the World these will be first required which quickly shake off as the Fig-tree doth her untimely Fruit when shaken by a great Wind. But perhaps next even commanded Duties may be brought under disgrace and then thy Case will be more difficult for they are Holy yet Christ being hid they cannot satiate for it is not the Ordinance that sanctified Christ but Christ the Ordinance thou hast stayed in Prayer and thy Heart was sleepy thy Tongue slow and thy return as blasted Fruit thou hast tried again and wert as a dumb Man without utterance but be not cast down but go the third yea the seventh time perhaps it may be granted thee to sigh and mourn in Spirit how knowest thou but thou mayest find a Tear of Godly Sorrow
If any man i. e. the Man of Sin corrupt this Temple him shall God destroy with the Spirit of his Mouth 18. Let no man deceive himself If any man think himself Wise in the Wisdom of his own Spirit let him be a Fool that he may be Wise in the Spirit of God 14. Next let us observe how in a gradation the Apostle proceeds from things which best abide the Fire to them that least abide it which in an Allegory aludes to such Works built upon the Sure Foundation as will best and worst abide or live in the everlasting Fires of Hulam But not to enlarge upon the particulars of the Allegory First Because it would be too long Secondly Because Conjectures are the best Evidence I shall briefly hint at some from sundry Texts Gold which abides the Fire without any loss seemes to refer to Works wrought in Spirit and Love or rather Spirit of Love and next Faith which seeing from one manifest Text it is the bearer of that Shield which can quench all the fiery darts of Satan we may not doubt our own experience witnessing that its Work 's not unstable in the Heavenly Flames Next Silver passeth not the Fire without some loss yet looseth not by its Trial because what it fails in matter of quantity it gains in quality i. e. Purity Now Silver is that we are forbidden to give in Usury therefore must be something which we are apt to put forth to that purpose and in that seemes to agree well with Workes of Obedience according to the true Rule or Form and saith our Prophet Psal 12.7 Thy words are pure words O Lord like Silver tried seven times in a Furnace of Earth Now this Word is the true Rule and Form of sound Obedience and tho through the vanity of our Hearts such Works we are apt to abuse to Usury yet may we affirm that such Works built upon the Right Foundation in the Spirit of Love are like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver for that rare quality pure Love hath as it cannot work for Usury or Reward but only to please its Beloved David again thus Psal 66.10 Thouâ— O God hast proved us thou hast tried us as Silver is tried We came through Water and through Fire through Baptism into the Death of the Cross and through the Fiery Tryal and thou hast brought us into an overflowing place Whence appears That David and the Patriarchs also had some throws of the Fiery Trial as well as the former Warfare and that Humane Spirit as well as Arm of Flesh ought to be subdued to Christ Next Precious Stones of which I have little to say for how far they will abide the Natural Fire I find not but probably some more some less They were used as deckings in Holy Things and also the Great Harlot gloried in them so that they seem such embelishments as shine forth both in Christ and in Antichrist The Brest-plate of Judgement was adorned with them according to the twelve Tribes also the twelve Foundations of the Heavenly Jerusalem which wrought in rows became the Frontispice of the Purse where the Vrim and Thummim lay by which the High Priest received Oracles and therefore Precious Stones may refer to Prophecy Vision gift of Tongues Knowledge in Spirit as they are from God and also to these in the Spirit of Antichrist but these must be melted down and cease when Charity shall abide 2 Cor. 13.8 Wood is easily consumed but is the common fuel which rightly disposed by Men is so useful as without it Man can scarcely and neatly subsist and so ought our Sacrifices and Performances to Burn to Cherish to Vanish in Smoak and all we may hope for is that God will accept them as a sweet savour Next Hay and Stubble is most combustible and burnt or not burnt useful for nothing and may refer to works in Antichristian Pride and gross Usury 15. But some may say What is this Fire how shall I know and find it To which I answer The last Quaery is not needful for it will find thee in due season and it is enough that thou give it free course for as the Spirit so may it be quenched And for the first Quaery It is as in my dimn Glass it appears not far distant from the Spirit John's Testimony of Christ was He shall Baptize with the Holy Ghost and with Fire That is through the Holy Ghost he communicates Gifts unto Men whereby they may work and by the Fires he consumes the Chaff and Stubble which grow up with those Works and yet both as it were but one Spirit exercising two Offices and know it thou mayest thus If any thing more thee in Meekness Gentleness Love Joy c. to Duties and raiseth thee up to good performance that call thou the Holy Spirit and if any spiritual searching any trying of Heart and Reins ensue examine if thou hast done all in Integrity without Usury Pride or Hypocrisy and burns down or destroys all wrought upon that account as Chaff and Stubble and leaves such a remorse and grating in thee as will make thee afraid to offend again in the like kind Know that this is the heavenly Fire first nibling at the Heel and after will bruise the Head of thy lusting Spirit So marest that that gently treads upon any thing which bears the Image of thy Creator or is Meek Merciful and Humble and yet with Feet of burning Brass tramples upon Pride Usury Lustings Call it this trying Fire As for Example one for many The Spirit saith Give Alms or Pray and so thou dost but after an Examiner comes Was this in Sincerity didst thou not Give or Pray for Gain or for vain Glory Pride c. and before thine eyes spares what thou hast wrought in Gold purifies thy Silver and consumes thy Hay and Stubble this I say is the fruit of the Fire of God which thus by the sence of thy loss and after regret not only consumes thy Work but by degrees undermines those Principles from whence this Building with vain Mortar proceeds and establisheth those Works which shall live in the everlasting Fires of Hulam 16. And now these things permitted we proceed to the Critical Trial to which because the Last Days are yet far off even every one though newly Regenerated cannot set their Seals to yet for some particular Assaults may have some prospect thereof Now I say when the Spirit of Antichrist hath prevailed in any Believer building upon the Right Foundation as far as the fore-known Decree had alowed to it bounds Hitherto and no further Christ comes to re-visit his Heritage and not in the company of Fishermen as poor and despised but in great Glory and companies of Angels like Refiners Fire and calling to the Soul for an account of its Stewardship This saith he was my Promise I will be with thee and keep thee which I have performed for tho I withdrew from thee yet my Grace which
Iniquities not imputed 12. Who shall dwell in thy holy Mountain This is the second Clause of the Question and doubtless Symbolical as in Scripture it frequently is upon which now to insist would draw forth a too long Discourse But briefly we observe God had many Mountains First Horeb Exod. 3.2 upon which the Worship of the first Patriarchs gave up its Scepter to the Tabernacle as after upon Mount Calvarie the Tabernacle resigned to the Gospel but Horeb is not that we seek because in Allegory it answers for Sinai and it are one to Hagar the Bond-woman and gendreth unto Bondage So also we find Tabor Herman Basan ascribed in peculiar to God also Carmel Lebanon Paran Moriah c. celebrated in Scripture for many great works But above all or at least most frequently Mount Sion comes under lofty Characters into remembrance where I say the Mountain in Allegory refers to a sacred Worship not standing so much in Types and Ceremonies as in the more weighty and fundamental parts of Piety And therefore seeing it must refer to some known Worship which was or had been and yet was not the then Tabernacle it necessarily points at the Worship of the old Patriarchs Noe Melchisedec Abraham Jacob Job c. And besides it is manifest from Scripture that in that Age the Fathers did worship upon Mountains in Faith Reverence Love and the rest consisted more in contemplation upon the high Attributes of God than Ceremonial Duties also without a Law that of Blood and Murder Gen. 9.4 excepted save that writ in the Heart by Nature which yet had then a condemning force for seeing no Law no Sin and no Sin no Death and yet Death reigned from Adam to Moses therefore then both Sin and Death were in Act and consequently a Law Also hence it appears that this Mountain-Institution was established in the Wisdom of the natural Mind yet not perverted by its own reasoning but purged from such in the sweeping Judgment of the Flood and illuminated by God to perceive what was best pleasing to him in the main Fundamentals And the Mind thus inspired was left to it self in point of order to present her best fruits in her best manner for even half debauched Nature knows that its Maker ought to be served out of the first and best stores which consisted more in Reverence Knowledge Prayer contemplative Holiness and Faith than practice of Ordinances in Moses's way For of Noah it is said He walked with God Gen. 6.9 That he was moved with Fear Heb. 11.7 And that he was a Preacher of Righteousness 2 Pet. 2.5 Which shews him to have bin acceptable for his Fear Wisdom Preaching and Contemplation in Doctrinal Holiness And Abraham through the whole Scripture is celebrated for Faith and as I take it Jacob's wrestling with the Angel and prevailing was by Faith and Prayer So as from those leading Men we may reasonably conclude that the leading Graces in Mountain-Worship were Reverence Knowledg Faith and Prayer naked and simple in themselves without other external performances of Touch not taste not handle not or any thing of that rule of Obedience which consisted in Tabernacle-Ceremonies or Form of Religion And yet did the Patriarchs under these attain to great perfection enjoying a more pacate state than under Tabernacle-Institution For Noah made an everlasting Covenant in behalf of all Flesh and was perfect and just Abraham was the Friend of God and Father of the Faithful who blessed him were blessed and who cursed him were cursed Isaac was the promised Seed in whom all Nations were blessed Jacob wrestled with the Angel the Messiah and prevailed Neither are these ever taxed with any gross Sin or Failing nor any other of the first most eminent Patriarchs But Moses failed and provoked God First refusing to accept of his Ambassage to Pharaoh because it was dangerous to the Flesh secondly in not circumcising his Sons and lastly at the Waters of Strife and therefore was not permitted to enter into the Land of Rest When the Father of the Faithful never staggered but at the first word left Father Mother Kindred and Country and followed God he knew not whither neither did he delay to sacrifice a dearer Son than Gershom was nor ever failed to believe in the Promise tho against hope So David failed exceedingly in the matter of Vriah and numbring the People yet these two were the great Pillars in Tabernacle-Worship and for their failings many Afflictions befell them And in like manner Eli Sampson Jephtha Solomon and others had their failings and afflictions Neither is this to be wondred at for the Knowledg and Fear of God are the foundation of Piety and Faith and Prayer the Spirit thereof and the Ceremonial part and rule of Typical Obedience but the formal the first stable and firm the second liable to Spiritual Whoredoms which in Scripture-Language is Superstition and Idolatry which are the beginning cause and end of all Evil Wisd 14.27 Besides it was a Yoak neither we nor our Fathers were able to bear So that Tabernacle and Mountain-Worship comprehend the whole Body of Religion which consists in two parts Contemplative and Practical the first excelling in Knowledg Doctrine Preaching opening the Word Prophecy Gift of Tongues and the other in Obediences Works Duties and Performances of the Things which the first teach Which also are twofold some referring to God as most Types do and are not simply by themselves holy but by the Command sanctified so as in their seasons they required an obedience which was necessary unto Salvation other referring to our Neighbours the sum of which is Charity and Justice in their lovely effects and indeed are more incumbent on the Gospel-Church now than they were upon the Legal before for then it was Love your Friends and hate your Enemies but now Love your Enemies c. Both briefly taught by our Saviour Love thy Neighbour as thy self and again Do unto others as thou wouldest others should do unto thee These are again signified to us in the two great Commandments but in a little different method the first referring to our Duty to God and Comprehending as well Tabernacle as Mountain-Worship for the first is Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart soul and mind in which Obedience to all Rites Seals or Types as well Legal in their season as Evangelical in our day was comprehended and was both contemplative and practical Mountain and Tabernacle-Piety The first is as our Lord saith the great Commandment and the second is like unto it Love thy Neighbour as thy self Which is wholly practical and as I said of more especial force in our Gospel-day So as indeed David's Tabernacle and Mountain differ not much from contemplative Piety and practical nor much from the two great Commandments for to love God is contemplative and to exercise Charity is practical and obedience to Typical Commands consists in both for to sacrifice to wash baptize c. is
and not equality for the Gospel hath in all things the preheminence above the Law even as Christ above Moses So as it may be said as the Law to Moses so the Gospel to Christ and as Moses to Christ so the Type is to the Antitipe Again it is to be observed that the Similitude betwixt them is in a reversed order in many things one whereof as most material to our present occasion we shall instance which is in respect of Time and Order for what was first in one must be last in the other For as a pure Innocence in our first Parents began the Law in the Command of the forbidden Fruit so must the last perfection of Gospel-Righteousness restore to a new State of Innocency as far excelling the former as the second Adam excelled the first And as the Sin of the first Adam in the beginning of time brought in the Curse Sin and Death so in the last of days shall Christ swallow them up in victory and deliver the Kingdom up to the Father as the Apostle fully shews in 1 Cor. 15. the whole Chapter but especially ver 24. 54. But of these things much remains to be said only here I add that the Law began in Innocency but Sin breaking in it ended in Death and the Gospel began in Death and shall drive away Sin and end in Life Eternal And therefore because in the Law Mountain-Worship preceded and prepared the way to Tabernacle-Worship therefore under the Gospel that Worship in the Spirit which answers to the Tabernacle must precede and make way for that which is the Spiritual Mountain-Worship And perhaps this may be the cause why David in his Questions first mentioneth the Tabernacle namely as having respect to Gospel-Order which without doubt in the Spirit he understood And upon this seems the Blessing of Moses to the Tribe of Joseph to be grounded Deut. 33.15 Blessed of the Lord be his Land for the chief things of the ancient Mountains and the precious things of the everlasting Hills 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 two words of great mystery the first looking back at the Age when Time dropp'd out of the Bosom of Eternity the other at that when it shall return to Eternity again Now by these antient and everlasting Hills are meant the first and last Glory of the Church of God as begun in Adam's Innocency and again debauched to Death and lastly re-edified to a more sure and a greater Glory by Christ in the last of Times Also to the like effect The Blessings of thy desire have prevailed above the Blessings of thy Fathers namely the ancient Mountain-Worshippers unto the ends of the everlasting Hills Gen. 49.26 Now these two Blessings of Moses and Jacob are but one thing and sweetly sing in the same Melody And thus often by Hills and Mountains the great Glory of the last Times are signified as Isa 2.2 And it shall come to pass in the last days that the Mountain of the Lord shall be established in the top of the Mountains and shall be exalted above the Hills and all Nations shall flow to it And many People shall say Come ye and let us go to the Mountain of the Lord to the House of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his Ways For out of Zion shall go forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem and he shall judg c. Which again is assured Isa 11.9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy Mountain for the Earth shall be full of the Knowledg of the Lord as the Waters cover the Sea c. I for brevity's sake only recite a few words but the whole Chapters ought to be consulted both shewing the Glory of the last Days when contemplative Knowledg in the Spirit of Wisdom Understanding Counsel Fear and Knowledg shall flow like a River Look also Isa 25.6 7. 16. Now these things premised let us proceed to what was first in our intention namely to enquire how the Shadow answers to the Substance and to reduce David's Question to the Evangelical meaning whereon the great Interest of the Gospel-Professors depends in which we have a sure Guide namely the Apostle to the Hebrews who in the whole Epistle industriously strives to shew First their likeness and secondly the great Prerogative the Gospel hath over the Law And seeing the whole Epistle would be too long for this place we will only insist and that briefly too upon some few more plain Testimonies The first whereof is Heb. 3.5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his House as a Servant but Christ as a Son over his own House whose House we are if we hold fast the Confidence and rejoycing of the Hope unto the end In which Scripture we have two main points of this Parallel explained the one in the Institutors Moses and Christ the second in their Houses or Institutions Now concerning the Institutors the one was but a Servant the other a Son the first a Sojourner the second an Heir Again Moses was not able to bring the People of his House into the Land of Rest but Christ hath made all his Sons Co-heirs and Possessors with him of his Riches and Grace for of his Fulness have we received Grace for Grace Just as the sealed Wax receives the lines and impression of the Signet so the Faithful receive the efficacies of Christ the only difference being that our Gifts are in measure and his without ours cannot uphold us from Sin but must leave us light in the Ballance of Justice his is without measure and able to make up where our account is defective And hence it is written He was like us tempted in all things Sin only excepted Again Moses and Christ were both potent in Miracles but with this difference That Moses's Miracles were most-what for destruction of Enemies as in the Fields of Zoan and Christ's always to save oft-time Enemies he pulling down the pride of the Flesh this healing and comforting the broken in heart And this difference Christ himself asserts Mat. 5.43 It was of old Love thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemy namely in Moses's House But I say Love your Enemies c. It is also observable that the first Plague Moses miraculously brought upon Egypt was turning Water into Blood and the first of Christ's was turning Water into Wine John 2. Now by Blood is meant Legal Fear and Self-condemnation even unto Death which was the end of the Law for unto Death it brings all Men even the Elect which Death yet is of Mercy because in it lies the streight Gate leading to Eternal Life and by Wine is meant Joy and Consolation which are the end of the Gospel From whence in part appears the Parallel betwixt the Institutors the one a Servant the other a Son the one bringing down to that Death which all must pass before they can be new-born of Water and the Spirit and the other raising from
Grace than thou and therefore thy Boast is not of Grace but pretended Merit and thy false Heart hath betrayed thee and thou in danger of being a Cast-away for when thou shalt say Lord have not I prophesied and cast out Devils in thy Name the Answer 't is to be feared may be Verily I know it not For assure thy self this one Ejaculation from the humble contrite Fool Lord be merciful to me a Sinner uttered in sence of Sin and Faith in Grace shall make a stronger Battery on the Gates of Heaven than a whole Quiver full of thy opinionated Abilities And therefore in this Case we ought again to bring our Hearts before the Judg and to know it is not enough before Men to cry out Unclean unprofitable a Worm a Wretch with the loudest but to teach our Hearts to speak this great Truth in secret between God and themselves their Consciences bearing witness And therefore let us beware lest we be not like Solomon's Buyer crying in the Market-place It is naught it is naught but being come home boasteth in secret of a rich Purchase for this is but confessing Christ in outward shew and our Hearts in the mean while far from him Wherefore when we come from Duties and especially when we hope we have performed best we ought to call our Hearts under examination and yet to suspect they will dissemble Art thou a Speaker and hopest that thou hast taught or spoken well to the Hearts of thy Hearers or prayed in Spirit yet let not thy Heart puff thee up but stop its Mouth by convincing it that it was not thee that spake but the Holy Spirit of Christ in thee and that out of a heap of Stones even of the Walls of that Auditory God can raise up a better Son and Teacher than thou art Art thou a Hearer and hast been attentive was thy Heart warmed in Zeal and Love so as it leaped for Joy at the words of the Salutation Then let it not boast but teach it to speak this great Truth That it was not in its Merit that thou thus heardest or didst understand but Christ in thee and that it was his Spirit that bare witness with thy Spirit that the Word is true and that thou art a Son of Adoption and in so doing thou shalt not unravel thy Joy but make it great sure and lasting But on the contrary if thou ascribe to it thy hopes are as the Grass upon the House-top it shall dwindle and wither away as it is writ Cursed is he that trusteth in Man or maketh Flesh his Arm for out of his Heart shall the Lord depart And Blessed is he whose hope is the Lord he shall be as a Tree planted by the Waters neither shall cease from yeelding Fruit. What shall we say to these things shall we bolster up our Hearts in proud and lying Hypocrisy or rather suspect them and watch over them as the most deceitful things in the World and yet have in them the Issues of Life and Death Weal and Wo trying them by the Word the Law the Conscience the Judg and setting Experience upon them as a Spy Informer and Sollicitor and at length teach them to speak the Truth namely That they are vain and deceitful above measure their Righteousness Loss their Merits a Shadow and that to God the Glory is due and to them Confusion of Face And so to attain the third Qualification which will entitle the Soul to a resting place in the holy Mountain of God Vers 3. 1. Not casting Reproach upon his Reproacher Now in the rendring of this and next Clauses also I confess I have departed from the Footsteps of the Flock for I think none do so read the English He that backbiteth not the Vulgar deceiveth not with his Tongue which seems not so agreeable to Gospel-Language because to backbite openly is only by the Tongue which tho restrained yet then the Heart not taught to speak the Truth may backbite more secretly and desperately and therefore I say Backbiteth not at all no not his Backbiter The learned Munster differs not much from us in effect for he reads Transgresseth not with his Tongue which comprehends all Backbiting and Reproach by it And indeed not to offend with the Tongue is a great and essential part in true Piety Hence it is said of Job that he offended not with his Tongue tho provoked thereto by his reproaching Friends And hence supposing the Hebrew will bear it as well as the other I read Not reproaching his Reproacher being well assured it is in fuller harmony with the Gospel-Precepts and a surer Step towards the holy Hill of Jehovah for saith our Lord Love your Enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you pray for them that despitefully use and persecute you And in this sence I take our Prophet I grant indeed not to backbite a Neighbour is a good profitable Precept because the natural Man is prone to abuse Friendship but yet is it no more than Morality writ in the hearts of all People and Nations by Nature And indeed as usually read here Backbite not with thy Tongue the Precept is dressed in the slenderest attire Divinity can well shape for it for without all Controversy 't is but a slender Morality not to reproach a Neighbour or Friend who hath not reproached us but may have done us good for even half-debauched Nature would nauseate such an Action and they not so doing may yet fall short of the holy Hill But not to reproach a Reproacher to render Good for Evil is Saint-like nay Christ-like and may as far as any Grace lay claim to the Promise And if it be said It was of old Love your Friends and hate your Enemies and David spake ac-according to the then Institution yet I say admit it were a Command yet doth it not affirm that not to backbite at adventure was more than a Moral Vertue but indeed I suppose Hate your Enemies was not by a Command but Permission as Bigamy was because of the hardness of hearts for assuredly it was not our Prophet's practice for he hated only the Enemies of God and not his own upon his own account for he spared Saul's Life twice and rendred him Good for Evil and in the case of Shimei the Son of Gera he said Let him curse So Solomon Doth thine Enemy hunger give him Bread doth he thirst give him Drink And therefore in this sence I proceed to the Text. 2. Now hitherto the Precepts of our Prophet do chiefly belong to the first great Commandment in such Matters as lie between God and our Consciences but now he comes to such as refer to the second between Man and Man and yet still is this a Link of the same Chain For until the Heart be taught to speak the Truth it is impossible to keep the Heart from lying and reproaching because Out of the abundance of the Heart the Tongue speaketh And again With
thee leave thy Gift there go thy way and be first reconciled to thy Brother and then offer thy Gift Mat. 5.23 But on the contrary if in the Fear of God Love of Christ and Charity with all Men thou sacrifice who will lay any thing to thy charge Is it not God that justifies Is not Christ at his right-hand And if he died for thee yet an Enemy will he now refuse thee bringing a Gift in the hand of Love his most beloved Grace that Grace which covers a Multitude of Offences fulfills all Precepts and without which no Gift can be acceptable And now to speak what hath been upon my Heart I fear the neglect of this Duty not returning Evil for Evil hath provoked God more against his praying People than any other Sin they through common Infirmity are subject unto and the more because it hath rather been indulged as a Vertue than contended against as an Evil as judging a small yea and uncertain Error worse than a manifest Breach of a Command ten times repeated deceiving themselves with that common saying which oft comes from a false Heart I love his Person but hate his Error Whatever therefore thou offerest do it in Love O how displeasing and broken must those Prayers be where all should be of one mind but indeed one asks one thing and another the contrary where one blesseth another curseth Ask saith our Lord in my Name and have but we ask and have not And what can be the cause save what the Apostle objects Jam. 4.3 We ask amiss to bestow it upon our Lusts Malice Pride Wrath for the Promise of Christ cannot fail but to him Glory to us Confusion of Faces belongs But O how powerful would Prayers be proceeding from a beloved and chosen People and centering in perfect Love towards God and Man when they meet together at the Throne of Grace not seeking their own but the Honour of God Good of the Church and mutual Edification one of another for hereby the return would be Ask of me things to come touching my Sons and concerning the Work of my hands command ye me Whence we see how great a thing and acceptable to God Love is perfectly fulfilling the Law and all the Prophets require in order to the establishing of our Peace for he that loves all Men cannot reproach his Reproacher nor wilfully do evil unto him that doth evil unto him 8. Not bringing Reproach upon his Inwards or Warfare that is upon his Mind or Conscience in the Conflict between the Law of his Mind and the Law of his Members which is whilst we are fighting the good Fight to ascribe any part thereof to the Merit of our own Sword or Bow as the false Heart is apt to do And that which seems parallel to this in Psal 24. is Not lifting up his Soul to Vanity or a Lie For there is no Lie or Vanity like that which would ascribe the beating down of Satan our Enemy to its own Arm no greater Reproach to the Judg the Conscience which hath so often discovered and condemned the Infirmities and Vanities thereof This indeed is read otherwise by Interpreters namely reproach upon his Neighbour And tho the Sister-Text doth favour our reading yet lest I might seem to have transgressed in departing from the old footsteps I shall give some further Reasons and submit all to the correction of the Pious and Learned First It is manifest from all the Questions Who shall dwell and Applications in all the three Sister-Texts that the Duties required in the Answers are those essential Vertues which are the price of the immoveable and immortal Crown which indeed are such things as Eye hath not seen Ear hath not heard nor hath entred into the Understanding of Man And therefore not reproaching a Neighbour being but a Moral Vertue known to all Men by the Light of Nature so expresly as debauched Man tho he do not practise it cannot blot it out I do not think it was the Prophet's most legitimate intention And furthermore because this whole Verse may be practised from a Natural Moral Principle by Men who yet may miss of immoveable Reward promised in the Close not that I deny that as Moral they are pleasing to God Secondly If we compare the first Clause of the Verse with this they differ little in words but in effect are the same For Thou shalt not backbite with thy Tongue and Thou shalt not reproach thy Neighbour are the same for tho thy Tongue is not expressed in the latter nor Neighbour in the former yet that both are necessarily understood is manifest because one is the Instrument of Backbiting the other the Object thereof without both of which it could not exist Reproach cannot be save by the Tongue nor can it be said we backbite any thing but a Man or a Neighbour for in Scripture-Language most usually by thy Neighbour every or any Man is meant So as so reading it is but a reduplication of the same which in Scripture which avoids Tautologies unnecessary Words or gingling Phrases is very rare and indeed I think never save for emphasy sake And therefore Gospel-Precepts which doubtless are the best and safest Interpreters of the Law Prophets avouching that the Graces accordingly as we express them are the price of immortal Life and the Hebrew it self according to the true legitimate root favours our reading as fully as the other and as I think more also I have adventured tho still confessing my self unskilful in the Sacred Tongue to depart from the trodden Path having this for my satisfaction that tho I may fall short of the pure Hebraism yet as long as I make it agree with a Gospel-Interpretation I cannot sow any dangerous or unwholesom Error but if any contend I shall submit 9. Of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we have already said something namely that it is that intimate part in Man where God writes his Law and in which the Spirit of Man resideth which I take to be the Mind or Conscience where indeed the Law of God is writ and God vouchsafeth to converse with Man Again it signifies the middle of a thing or within because the Mind is the very middle Center or Life of the Soul sitting there as God's Vicegerent exhorting reproving accusing condemning or excusing in great Majesty and Authority for where the Answer of a good Conscience is who can condemn When it is wounded who can bear it As the Apostle saith Which shews the Work of the Law is written in their Hearts their Consciences witnessing with them and their Thoughts between or within themselves accusing or excusing one another Thirdly 'T is a Battel or Warfare shewing that the Mind or Conscience is the middle part or Lists wherein the Spiritual Warfare is fought which is very often taken notice of by the holy Writers as Paul saith I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind Which Law I take to
be the Law of God writ in my Conscience And again I take the Word in the Heart and Mouth to differ very little from the Law in the Mind namely that God speaks immediatly in the Mind the sound thereof goeth forth into the Heart writing the same Law there and the Tongue speaking according to the abundance of the Heart declareth the Law to the whole Man as conceived by the Heart So as the Line goeth forth through the whole Earth of the little World and where the Heart is faithful God dictates from the Mind it believeth unto Righteousness and the Mouth doth confess unto Salvation but where the Heart takes part with the sensual Part Satan prevails in that Warfare and the Voice of God from the Conscience becomes a severe Judg and Executioner Whence I understand this thus He that bringeth no Reproach upon his Mind nor whom his Conscience reproacheth not who brings no scandal upon his Warfare nor Captain-General our Lord but like a faithful stout Souldier followeth him wheresoever he goeth 10. Now this is the sixth Link of the same Chain for until we have learned to walk in Love not to reproach or do evil to them that revile us we cannot keep our Consciences free from Spots nor follow our Captain 's steps who when he was reviled reviled not again But for those so learned we are in a capacity of being enrolled in his Host by which we as yet may not conclude that all Tears are already wiped from our eyes but to hope that by our Faithfulness we are in a sure way of obtaining it but not without Bickerings and many Blows Thorns in the Flesh and Buffetings from our irreconcileable Enemy Satan whom yet at length God shall tread under our feet Now this Spiritual Warfare is the keeping a good Conscience and the preserving of it unspotted is the fighting this good Fight As Paul to Timothy 1 Tim. 16. This Charge I commit unto thee That thou by them mightest war a good Warfare holding Faith and a good Conscience And the Weapons thereof as he next sheweth Chap. 6.11 are Righteousness and Godliness by consumption Faith which is the Shield Love Patience and Meekness with which saith he Fight the good Fight of Faith lay hold on Eternal Life And the Enemies against which we are to fight are not only the Flesh and Blood but Principalities and Powers Rulers of Darkness Eph. 6.12 That is You are not only to strive against those Spiritual Lusts and Infirmities which proceed from the Flesh as common to all Men but also those Spiritual Evils of the Heart and Mind which Satan would ensnare you in Superstition Idolatry Dependencies in Duties in Angels Spirits of just Men or any Power in Heaven or in Earth which is under Christ our Sun and Shield For when the Soul will not be captivated by the Lusts of the Flesh Satan that he may not lose his possession will transform himself into an Angel of Light and will preach even from Scripture-Texts Spiritual Idolatry as he did to our Captain-General For setting him upon a Pinacle above the Temple and holy City which were Gospel-Types he takes a Text and produces a Promise wherein a great Christian Prerogative is contained and all to ensnare our Lord in presumptuous Sin If thou beest the Son of God cast thy self down for it is written He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee c. Now this is a Spiritual Wickedness because he ensnared therein abuseth Grace and Love from Heaven into Wantonness a sore Evil and frequent in our Days So when Satan would persuade to live upon the Bread of our own purveying and not of the Word made Flesh 't is one of his Strong-Holds against which we are to fight in the way and words of our Captain-General Man lives not by Bread onely c. And therefore the Apostle adds Take the whole Armour of God the Breast-plate of Righteousness Helmet of Salvation Sword of the Spirit Prayer and Supplication but above all the Shield of Faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery Darts of the wicked One That is will be able to preserve the Answer of a good Conscience from all Guilt which wounds it as a flaming Fire Again which helps to clear this our Exposition 2 Cor. 10.4 For tho we walk in the Flesh yet do not we war after the Flesh for the Weapons of our Warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of Strong-Holds casting down Imaginations or Reasonings and every high thing that exalts it self against God and bringing into Captivity every Thought to the Obedience of Christ That is The Strong-Holds of Satan or Nature or whatsoever thing it be that would set up it self in our Hearts as a Mediator or Saviour or any way pretend to the Offices of our Lord must be utterly subdued and cast down Again 2 Tim. 2.4 Thus thou therefore endure Hardship as a good Souldier of Jesus Christ No Man that warreth intangleth himself with the Affairs of Life to the end he may please him who hath chosen him to be a Souldier And if a Man also strive for Masteries yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully Wherein again three Duties more are required in this Warfare First That he resolve to undergo all hardships and temptations the frost of Winter and heat of Summer want of Bread or Water in the Wilderness he must neither yield to the hardships of Legal Duties nor to the ease or pleasure of the Flesh Secondly He must not intangle himself with Martha in the Cares of this World but with Mary chuse the better Part or with Moses rather chuse to be afflicted with his Brethren and Fellow-Souldiers than to enjoy the Contents of a Carnal Life for a Season wholly give himself up to the Service of God who elected and called him to the War and be in all things obedient to his Captain And lastly He must strive lawfully not doing violence to any accusing no Man falsly nor murmuring at his hard Service and shortness of Pay but be content with such Wages and Rewards as God sees fit both when and how to give him and patiently wait for the Crown the final Reward neither must he break Parrole with an Enemy or tell a lie for the honour of his Captain because thereby he indeed defames him as if he could not conquer without Sin when indeed the end of the Warfare is by perfect Righteousness to subdue Sin and all its Supporters Lastly We shall add one Text more which shews the Reward of the Faithful Souldier 2 Tim. 4.7 8. I have fought a good Fight I have finished my Course I have kept the Faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto every good Souldier of Jesus Christ Which agrees exactly with the intent of the Prophet for what Paul calls a Crown David
beloved Teacher making him so happy in the Children of his Youth as he shall not need to be ashamed when he speaks with his Enemy in the Gate Let Doctrine pour forth the great Holy Name so in the sweet Odours of healing Ointments as the Virgin-Sisterhood may be sick of Love and reply Draw us that we may run after thee And so let them increase in Graces and Gifts as the Peace and Comfort thereof may make Obedience desirous to learn again and Obedience its Dutifulness may allure Doctrine to read study the Word and to enquire into the choice Treasures hid therein The sum is Hear and learn that thou mayest obey and so obey as thy great Teacher may delight to entrust thee For as thy Obedience is perfect so shall the Holy-Ghost the Spirit of Truth enlarge thy Knowledg and so whilst Obedience is weak so shall thy Knowledg be And all this in Love namely lest the Servant great in Knowledg and weak in Obedience should be beaten with many Stripes And better is it never to learn than so to learn as not to obey 10. And here we observe that in the Dispositions of Religion which God at sundry times and in divers manners hath given the last whereof was spoken by his Son some consisted more in the Gifts of the Man or Doctrine and Knowledg as Mountain-Worship did others in the Gifts of the Woman Obedience and Form And lastly the Gospel stood in more equal disposition of both yet so as in all the pure and undefiled Religion of St. James was strictly required as from the before-recited Texts are manifest which is enough to shew how well-pleasing that Foundation is from whence they arise namely Contempt and Vileness in one's own Eyes And consequently to be conversant in that part of Obedience wherein chiefly these Vertues are required is a high Duty Secondly It is observable that in all those Lapses of the Church of old which brought Wrath upon them the neglect of these Duties was still laid to their Charge Thus Esay and Hosea reproved Judah and Israel before the Captivity Zachariah a little before the Restoration and our Lord also a little before the Scepter departed pronounced Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees upon this account All which confirm that Religion without these is a dry formal and unprofitable Service 11. And hence it behoves all Professors in this our day to examin their own Hearts lest they may have warped a little from this sound Form of obeying towards Pharisaical Leaven in their own Righteousness preferring a Gift of Knowledg of Teaching Expounding to the under-valuing of this Duty of Vile in our own Eyes Nay sometimes Men pretending to high Gifts running tatling from House to House who in the end have discovered themselves to be Boasters in meer words for a long time ride on Horse-back while others great in Humility Mercy Patience and Charity have been esteemed no more than good formal Christians And verily this I fear is a sore Evil and perhaps a common Vanity in our Land I have in my time heard some esteemed true Israelites thus bemoaning themselves That verily to wonder Knowledg Preaching Praying and Doctrinal Religion had spread the Cord of their Tent but in the mean time they rather were puffed up than humbled and Meekness Mercy brotherly Love and Charity lagged strangely behind We hear of good things by Whole-sale but the Retailers of Good are few But there is as Solomon saith a time and season to every Purpose of God under Heaven a time to speak and a time to be silent a time to learn and a time to obey what we have learned and the hand of God so in all as through his wise disposal all shall work together for good to them who love him and are called according to his purpose For first in the Gospel's setting forth both Doctrine and Obedience set forth together as Work-fellows equally yoaked together to the great increase of the Church but in process of time the Doctrinal Gifts began to shrink up and the Traditions of Man encroached upon the inspired Word blind Obedience began to speak and to usurp Authority over the Man teaching and setting forth the most gross and formal parts of her Form as pure Religion So Religion consisted in Zeal and Zeal in an ignorant benummed Obedience And now this having filled up Iniquity to a full measure of those Bounds God set them he in tenderness to his Church awaked the Spirit of Doctrine Teaching and Understanding and touching the Hearts of some chosen Instruments they began to enquire into the Touchstone of Truth Law and Gospel how far the imposed Innovations by the See of Rome had Divine Authority and finding that by this means many gross Idolatries were discovered and laid naked and that by reading preaching and expounding the Word Light sprang forth to many sitting in darkness and consequently perceiving in all this that abused Obedience placed the Snare and Knowledg breaking forth cut it off they did so far set their Affections and Interest upon the Doctrinal Part as the chief Streams of their Devotions and Labours turned into those Channels a little more to the Umbrage of Obedience than is now tho not perhaps then necessary But now Knowledg having for a long time even a whole Century rid on prosperously I hope the time is come that God will also yoak this together again in equal Fellowship and stir up his own to a more full Obedience in that part which is pure and spotless as by his Spirit he reproved the Church of Sardis Rev. 3.2 Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die for I have not found thy Works thy Obedience perfect before God Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent I come as a Thief in the Night But still to keep the Scales in equal Ballance and Hearing and Reading be by no means neglected we say That none can in seriousness hear or read too much but what we press after is that as by these Faith and Knowledg increase so pure and spotless Obedience may grow up with them And therefore seeing Doctrine and Teaching must precede Obedience let no Pretence delay us to hear and to read First because every new discovery of any Duty before unknown or not understood is like unto one of Jacob's new digged Wells flowing with living Streams of wholsom Water that is Every Precept Promise Admonition or what else is writ for our Instruction manifested is by faithful and upright Obedience made a replenisher of the Soul with good things Again our Saviour who was in all things tempted like us did upon every temptation stop the mouth of Satan with a Scripture-Text as Man lives not by Bread only and Thou shalt not tempt c. and he being our Example it behoves that we be ready at the same Weapon The Souldier that knows his Enemy will assault him but is ignorant whether by
than a Teacher abounding more in Alms in Charity in washing of the Feet of the Saints and those other Vertues which will not suffer her to be barren in the knowledg of our Lord Jesus Christ than a Master in Arts yet is not skilful in the greater Mysteries of Redemption but well skilled in a naked Christ and in chearful Obedience freely cast in her two Mites into his Treasury and consequently gives more than many others of far greater Abilities 17. And now the consideration of this reneweth upon us the great Commandment of Love more strongly than before For it is not enough only to love but also to honour And what then shall we say of our selves if we convert Honour into Dishonour and Love into Hatred Persecutions Envyings Defamations May not two of different Minds or Ways in many things both fear the Lord And shall that difference which is not manifestly decided in the Word but from the doubtfulness thereof and abilities of the Professors springs up into two Opinions break this so positive and often enforced a Command of Honour and Love Whence is it that some doubt in Mind touching the Service of God Is it not for fear of offending And is not that Fear rooted in the Fear of God How then shall we persecute and compel a Doubter seeing it is also a plain Text He that doubteth is damned because it is not of Faith Neither surely doth this Text need an Interpreter When ye so sin against your Brethren and wound their weak Consciences ye sin against Christ Canst thou give Bail for the Sin of another drawn into the Offence by thy means Canst thou bring back thy weak Brother for whom Christ died and is now perished by thy inducement If thou canst not who will plead thy Cause In what City of Refuge wilt thou hide thy Head from the Avenger of Blood Shall it not be less tolerable for thee than for him in the Day of Judgment And therefore I judg it a safe and excellent Rule Honour them that fear the Lord. 18. Here another Query offers namely Seeing this Fear Jara is an initiating Grace so necessary through the whole Warfare as without it no attaining of the immoveable State why the Psalmist did not at first require it and impose it as a Requisite To which I answer Tho it is not expresly named yet it is fully required for if it make every poor Cottage of Clay honourable where it is found much more is it self honourable and desirable If it was gross Idolatry in the Pharisees to prefer the Gold to the Temple and Gift to the Altar because those were the Sanctifiers and these but sanctified by them it is without controversy that the Gift which maketh honourable is more honourable than the thing by it made honourable Secondly The reason why it was not before required was not because it was not of special use before for as the Apostle hints all godly Conversation ought to be coupled with Fear and which is more our Obedience is vain without it our Warfare must miscarry and we left without the Seal of Sonship But because that even now a time draws near wherein its Master-piece-Service will be required And again because it now ought to appear in a renewed or rather regenerated State dying to tormenting Fear and living in the Love of Christ For in this great Crisis of our dying with Christ he makes all things new and not only so but he permits Satan to send for his Principalities of Darkness in new counterfeit Angels of Light For under the Legal State whilst it was Do this and live his Text was Live upon carnal Ordinances Stones made Bread and not to have regard to the Words or Spirit proceeding out of the Mouth of God but to walk on confidently and without fear in the Merits of his own Arm like the rich Man Soul take thy rest But now these Strong-holds being broken down he flies to a new Text teaching free Grace to Security and Presumption Fear not to dash thy Foot against a Stone for Angels shall bear thee up And now against this regenerate or Gospel-Fear which takes more of Love is the best Weapon for verily under the Law this Fear did oft-times put on frowardness and when Satan persuaded Confidence in superstitious Works and posted on to Idolatry this Fear armed the Conscience and it thrust thorns into the Flesh resisting the Pride thereof and convincing it was not able to perform what was required and consequently urged it to such Duties of Humiliation and Contrition as the Law required and still wrought more by fear and terror of Evil and Judgment to come than by the more gentle and noble Principles of Love But now the Table 's turned the whole Man and Pride of the Flesh become vile in its own eyes Do this and live abolished and in place thereof Believe and be saved and a Canopy of Love spread over them Satan also changes the Weapons of his Assault for if in the way of his old Deceit he should say Do and live one Whisper of free Grace would have rendred his Temptation ridiculous if he should sollicit the Arm of Flesh to buckle on its Armor again it would cry out O thou Deceiver from the beginning I am bruised and broken in thy Service I am less than a Worm And therefore he now comes in a new Disguise knowing his former Visage was discovered-and detested instead of Do and live he saith Stand still and live and for Work out thy Salvation by thine own Arm Work not at all thy doing and working is rotten and filthy they contaminate and hinder the work of the Spirit in thee sit still and let Grace make a perfect Work And now I say is the time that the regenerated Fear of God girds up its Loins to resist this Hypocritical Mocker with its two-edged Sword Legal and Evangelical threatning and entreating How darest thou O Worm as thou knowest thou art tempt the Lord thy God whom by late experience thou perceivest is a consuming Fire How canst thou hope for Salvation without giving all diligence to make thy Election sure in fear and reverence Then turning the other Edg I grant as the Tempter said Do and live is abolished but consider who brought it about if it was it self then go on and boast but if it was another then forget not how from thee a perishing Wretch he took that heavy Burthen which pressed thee deep as Hell and laid upon thee another which was easy and light and wilt thou not bear it for his sake Consider how he raised thee from Death and made thy dead Carcase a living Member of himself and wilt thou take his Members and make them the Members of an Harlot in Sloth and Lust If he hath given thee much dost therefore owe him less If all thy legal and painful diligence could not deliver thee will Abuse of Grace and Contempt of thy Deliverer carry thee to the far end
Christs abroad I had well nigh said No Man can have the true Christ in the Beauty of Holiness until he himself be vile in his own eyes The conclusion is That legal Oaths in that Acceptation as this Text has rendred them never were of greater no nor so great avail as other such like Services commanded in the Law And forasmuch as it was left indifferent to swear or not to swear they never were necessary or a Cause without which the immoveable State could not be obtained But the Yea yea and Nay nay of the Gospel is so essential to it as who hath made and kept it in Integrity cannot miss of that high Calling VERS 5. 1. Not giving his Money in Vsury 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He desired or a desirable thing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He bit or biting Vsury This is the tenth Precept every way Letter and Spirit of great import for the literal Usurer rends two Commandments out of his Lesson and spoileth a third for he covets and steals and oft swallows up and murders distressed Families and which is worse the great Commandment Love thy Neighbour as thy self Do as thou wouldest be done unto he crusheth at a grasp In a word as Love fulfills so Usury breaks the whole Law as is written The Love of Money is the Root of all Evil. But neither is all that Usury in common Discourse so called nor doth it comprise all manner of Usury for all Oppression for Gain by the Powerful upon the Poor by extorting from them by Might Deceit or the like or for Revenge upon slight Trespasses is biting Usury but on the contrary to let out Money upon a Price is not always Usury but in many Cases lawful for he that hath a Stock in Money and not the capacity of improving it would by spending upon it at the end come to poverty In which Cases it is as lawful to let out Money as Houses or Lands especially where the municipal Laws of the Land have regulated the Rent for God hath committed such Matters to the Regulation of Law-givers to dispose them to the Profit of both Lender and Borrower But of this we shall not enlarge because the ugliness of its Visage appears in the Glass of Nature 2. The other is Spiritual Usury namely when a Man thinks by his Wisdom Works or Good that he profits God and hopes for an Encrease or Interest as due to him of right And verily tho no Man will confess this yet many use it as the Buyer It is naught it is naught yet boasts in his Heart For whoso thinks he hath by his Righteousness obliged God to encrease his Basket either in Natural or Spiritual Riches is an Usurer or yet he that upon Adversity or Losses or common Calamities grudges or murmurs that God hath not made a distinction between him and others more wicked as he thinks than himself or yet that such as these have Rule Riches Honour and he is despicable and poor or confidently prays for and hopes that God should go out of the way of his usual Providence to work Miracles for his sake Or lastly if a Man whom God vouchsafeth to give Wisdom or Riches or any Blessing unto and he presumes that God doth this for his Righteousness sake And amongst these I account the proud Pharisee I thank thee I am not like this Publican c. Also the rich Man Thou hast much Goods laid up for many years All these I say is Usury and in a like Allegory as by Whoredom Idolatry is signified so by Usury Covetousness and Love of Riches are these Evils for all these are the Branches of one bitter Root 3. Now our Lord thus It is easier for a Camel to go through the Eye of a Needle than for a rich Man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Which I say chiefly refers to Spiritual Riches that is He who hath large Possessions in Legal Merit and sells them not cannot pass into the new Birth or true Rest of God for these Riches cannot refer to literal Substance for Nicodemus was a rich Man and yet one of Christ's first Scholars in Regeneration so Joseph of Arimathea who in his Burial declared his Love for Christ also the Eunuch of Queen Candace the Church in Cesar's House c. Besides this seems to shut Abraham Isaac David Solomon c. out of the Kingdom of Heaven And to this the whole Context agrees for the usual Glosses of this Text were no further than to assure that worldly Riches are apt to draw the Heart aside in like manner as Honour high Birth or Education are and in that sence the Letter admonisheth well to beware of such Temptations whereof the Love of Money is the Root Some interpret it they who put their Trust in Riches which indeed if it were applicable to a Spiritual Trusting were most true and perfect but no Writing Memorial or Experience gives one Example of any who trusted to his worldly Riches in point of Salvation except Simon Magus and they in that Gall of Bitterness that suppose Money can purchase a Soul-saving Pardon But the Character of this young Man answers all those Glosses for he put no such Trust in his Riches for in haste he kneeling down cries out Lord what shall I do to be saved Neither did his Wealth withdraw his Affections from heavenly things for from his Youth he had kept the Commandments and saith the Text Mark 10.21 Christ loved him Which clearly shews that touching Righteousness by the Law he was rich and that from his Trust in them his Lack proceeded as our Lord told him Yet lackest thou one thing Go and sell all thou hast give to the Poor and follow me that is All thy Merit reject be poor in Spirit and follow me into Regeneration Again the Amazement of the Disciples at Christ's words It is easier c. further clear up the Matter Who then can be saved in which words they could not refer to the Riches of Nabal nor yet of Abraham but clearly to Riches in our sence namely in legal Merit which was in that day the best Evidence for Heaven And to this also Peter's Reply consents We have forsaken all for thee and what shall we have which by the way were the very words of an Usurer which all could not aim at worldly Riches because they had none but had changed a laborious penurious Life for an easy which never lacked necessary Food or Cloathing And hence some prophane Spirits reproach the Scripture as nugatory This All say they was a rotten Boat and Nets And indeed his words were slight if he meant them or if he did not mean that for Christ's sake they had forsaken all their Righteousness by Moses The sum is It is easier for a Camel c. than for a Man rich in his own Merits to enter into the Kingdom of the Gospel 4. Again our Lord Blessed are the Poor for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Blessed
the Servant of Corruption 2 Pet. 2.19 and thy latter end worse than the beginning And next follows Usury the Soul boasting of the Spirit and its Works in Grace to a rejection of what it thinks is useless and superstitious it now looking upon it self as pure in Spirit and rich in Grace it asks with Peter I have forsaken all for thee and what shall I have In which Christ's Answer to Peter is our best Directory namely Inasmuch as thou hast followed me into Regeneration thou shalt not lose thy Reward but when I sit on my Throne fitting Thrones shall also be prepared for thee and over many things thou shalt judg but the hundred-fold Reward the everlasting immoveable State is not yet ready thou must first forsake Father and Mother Wisdom and Understanding Wife and Children Obedience tho in Regeneration and Fruits begot by thee the humane Spirit upon it thou must esteem them too slight to expect Usury upon them And in a word all thy acquired Substance thou must but enjoy as if it were not Thou O Spirit thinkest thy self first but thou must be last and the last first There is an empty Innocence which comes last and yet will be in Glory before thee And to this our Lord adjoins the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard shewing that neither long Labour nor bearing the heat of the Day nor repining at our short Pay will obtain Interest-Money but that must at the length come through free Grace giving to all where none have merited And if we can thus work and be content with our Penny driving away Usury as well as Sloth and patiently wait until he see fit to reward us with his precious Gifts then all shall do well with us But if we say Our Service is faithful our Ways right and our Works in Grace we are in favour with God so as he hath already given us Wisdom and Knowledg above our Teachers we hope before long to have the Gift of Prophecy of Healing of Miracles of Interpretation for so vain is this Spirit of Man as to these things it dare aspire and boastingly call our own Spirits the Spirit of God when indeed it is the Spirit of Man led by the Spirit of Antichrist who always pretends to Prophecy and Miracles and verily in the universal Warfare shall obtain them to the deceiving of many Revel 19.20 And tho in the particular it hath not so far attained as yet yet hath it often pretended to such things a Dream a Vision a Prodigy which it interprets and thinks God is obliged to make its words good And of the same Spirit and Leaven they are who by their Prayers hope to prevail or rather to charm God to do Miracles on their behalf whose Faith is Presumption their Prayers Charms and their Religion spiritually Drunkenness And now when Satan hath brought the Spirit to this pass it resolves to give one Push more for the Dominion Come let us slay the Heir and the Inheritance shall be Ours For now the Spirit of Antichrist claims all Dominion to it self exalting it self above all called God and as God sitteth in the Temple of God the Body denying in substance That Christ is come in the Flesh or hath any Right there but counts it its Slave and Reason and all things besides it self Unclean and Rejected things And now shall this Wicked One fill the measure of its Iniquity and be revealed and the Lord shall consume it with the Spirit of his Mouth and destroy it with the Brightness of his Coming 12. And now the Great Trial draws near Where first Observe That in the Pequeerings aforesaid we have alwayes stated the Case in the Extreams That is when the Soul resists the Temptation as it ought according to the Example of Christ Who was tempted in all things like unto us but without sin which whilst we imitate tho in sin this Trial will end in few throws rather Rebukes of Love than Anger But on the contrary as we represent it Overcome by the Tempter it oft perisheth by the way or at the best is but saved as a Brand pluck'd out of the Fire and these are rare Cases and most usually the Lot is cast between both in various degrees and still according to the measure of faithfulness or of failing so the ease or difficulty of the trial and in this mediocraty in the ensuing we represent it that is as in part faithful to its Yea and Nay in part overcome by Antichristian Pride 13. And things come to this pass Christ who like the true Shepherd loves the Sheep and will not loose a Hoof of what was given him returns in the nick of Time long before foreseen and decreed and demands an account of the improvement of his new lent Talent bringing that Fire with him whereby he will try every mans Work and forasmuch as the trial by Fire sometime hinted at by the Apostles is the same with this it behoves that we first take our Measures from 1 Pet. 4.12 Beloved think it not strange touching the Fiery Trial which is to try you as if some strange thing happened unto you but rejoyce inasmuch as ye are made partakers of Christs Sufferings that when his Glory shall be revealed ye may be glad with exceeding Joy Whence it appears First That this Trial is a common thing and none exempted Secondly That even our Lord did partake with us therein That is tho he Suffered but once for all yet in that once he suffered all that his Members suffer at many times Thirdly To rejoyce in it because thence exceeding Joy shall accrue to us when He shall so appear Fourthly From vers 14. We must then be reproached for Christ Who shall be evil-spoken by them i. e. Antichrists but glorified on our part Lastly Vers 19. That now it behoves We commit the keeping our Souls unto God who created them and is faithful Again besides what Paul teacheth of the Universal Day of which before again thus 1 Cor. 3.10 I have laid the Foundation namely Christ and other Foundation can no man lay than that is laid Now if any man Build upon this Foundation Gold Silver Pretious-Stones Wood Hay Stubble every mans Work shall be made manifest for the Day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by Fire and the Fire shall try every mans Work of what sort it is If any mans Work abide which he hath built thereupon he shall receive a Reward if any mans Work be burnt he shall suffer Loss but he himself shall be Saved yet so as by Fire Know ye not thae ye are the Temple of God and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you See unto vers 22. And now whereas before all Saints now all Works must pass this Trial. 2. This Trial is that whereby our Bodies are made Pure Temples to the Spirit of God namely That which confesseth Christ to be come in the Flesh and that the Dominion thereof belongs to him Vers 17.
hoped by this time to have been an Apostle or Prophet and to have fed upon the choice Mysteries of salvation and no secret too deep for me but these dry Ordinances are all my Food and therefore the Lord was sore displeased and the Fire of the Lord burnt amongst them and consumed the out-skirts of the Camp which yet at Moses his Prayer was quenched and the Place called Taberati i. e. the burning or brutish because the fire of the Lord burnt up their brutish lustings But for our teaching it's further observable that at Moses his Prayer though in his displeasure God to prove them gave them flesh dainty food as they lusted namely Quails by Interpretation Tranquility or ease which they receiving as due and still lusting as David reports it So they did eat and were filled for he gave them their Hearts desire but they were not estranged from their lusts the wrath of God came upon them and slew the wealthiest of them and smote the Chosen of Israel so as this was the soarer Evil for the former the fire only burnt the outcasts Hay and Stubble but this fell upon the choicest and the Place was called the Grave of lusts Whence it is again observable that to weeping though even murmuring Soules God somtime gives or as I may say humours with pleasant Gifts such as they lusted after more then their dayly bread which if they thankfully recieve and cease from Vsury and Murmuring it may go well with them but if they still lust God will bring their lustings to the Graves and Smite them in the choisest Gifts Secondly Though to covet the Golden Wedg is a great Sin yet it is much more displeasing when God condiscends to give Wisdom Knowledg Experience and you to abuse it to lust 22. But neither is this the utmost Tragedy which happens in this Trial for some loose all their Works and themselves though Saved yet throught Fire and sharp Trials some perish utterly for here abouts the Sin against the Holy Ghost seems to lie which are described 2 Tim. 3.1 more full 2 Pet. 3. and lastly Jude 17. which is thus Beloved remember the Words of the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ that they told you that in the last Time should be Mockers who should walk after their own ungodly lusts these be they who seperate themselves Sensual not having the Spirit which is of God but ye beloved by building up your selves on the most holy Faith praying in the Holy Ghost keep ye your selves in the love of God looking for the Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto Eternal Life and of some have compassion making a difference and others save by feare pulling them out of the Fire Thus Lot was plucked out of Sodom but surely after a sheep hath followed Christ into regeneration though in great infirmity he will not willingly leave it behind him 23. But leaving the bitter part let us enquire after the End of the Lord as James calls it and as it is most fully represented in Job who meek and patient as he was yet was not by all his affliction from God and stripes from his Friends sufficiently humbled nor vile in his own Eyes until God spake to him and reproved him Job 28.2.40.2 And lastly until by the Eye of the Mind he perceived him 42.1 Then Job answered the Lord and said I know thou canst do all things no thought hid from thee Hear I pray thee and I will speak I will ask and do thou make me know by the hearing of the Ear I have heard thee and now my Eye seeth thee therefore I contemn my self and repent in Dust and Ashes And now as after this humiliation and ascription of all Glory to God his sorrows ended and after he had prayed for his Friends for Charity is never out of Date his Peace and Riches were doubled so shall it be to all them who with him thus close up this Trial no more rumours of War only some such Sicknesses and Ridintigrations of Love as for the absence of her beloved as the Song of Sons Celebrates 24. And now I say this Tryal burning up our Spiritual lustings is not only matter of Joy profitable but upon the tenure of our Lords promise and our yea yea nay nay is necessary for on his part it is I will be with thee and bless thee and on ours thou vouchsafing so to do we will be thine and have no God but thee And forasmuch as God will not lead them to whom he hath not given Power to follow nor none have Power given to follow him who have enslaved their own Minds and Affections to their own by mistaking the Guid taking their own Spirits in which the Spirit of Antichrist is begun to Work for the Spirit of Truth therefore a necesssary Fundamental on God's part is that he consume the tincture from Antichrist and subdue our Wisdom to his and that we in the Strenght he affords cheerfully resign them to him and therefore as long as our Hearts by dayly and full experience convince us that our own Counsels are the Compass by which we steer our Course and our vild affections the Loadstone at which our Compass points it is necessary that God in his fit and long before seen opportunity visit us with such corrasives as his Wisdom hath predestinated to cousume the wicked one and subduing the will and all other affections that stood in the Gap of that performance of our mutual Stipulations which is the heavenly fire and brightness of his comming 25. And now seeing the subduing and consuming of what is to be consumed and subdued is necessary it is not fit to question whither it shall be done in our way or Gods and yet assuredly the great Remora is that Man perâ—mtorily persists to have it in his own way that is to have it speeily easily and by Usury and Merit as the Sons of Zebedee who but now warmed under the Wings of Christ ask Master we would that thou wouldst do whatsoever for us we desire i. e. that we pray for and perhaps the first desire would have been a Serpent for a Fish Wisdom Prophesy Revelation Healing Miracles all which were prepared for them in the set time and what else might puff them up make them glorious in the eyes of men so boundless is self-love opinion of self-merit not considering how these would inflame that pride which was already too strong for them for surely as our Lord answered these petitioners we should ask we know not what as after James reproving himself saith Ye ask and have not because ye ask that ye might bestow it upon your own lusts And now God's way is that first this lustings might be burnt up our wills conformed to his and the Spirit of Anti-Christ consumed which cannot be if asking for our lusts we obtain and working in Usury we gain the Hire 26. And here is another sore Evil we all even the most perfect presume we