comest to a firm and well establisht assurance The least peeping out of light the least dawning of the day is pleasant and comfortable 5. If thou canst not spy out any grace in thy self borrow light of another Lay open thy soul to an Interpreter one of a thousand hâ— may explain thy condition and paraphrase upon thy soul better then thou thy self canst This Interpreter one of a thousand may more exactly analyse thy condition and shew the context and coherence of it 'T is the speech of Elihu Job 33.23 There meets him a Messenger an Interpreter one among a thousand to shew unto him his uprightness Hee 'l shew thee here 's grace and there 's grace here 's a true pearl and there 's a spark though in ashes and there 's an evidence A discerning and experienced Christian may shew thee cause of joy when thou canst finde none thy self 'T is no shame to borrow light especially spiritual light 6. One step further What if after all this there be not the least glimmering of light nothing of a spark nothing of a beam a total eclipse all Clouds and blackness and darkness and the very valley of the shadow of death yet even here will we fear none ill 1. When reflex acts are wanting be sure to multiply direct acts when there is no certainty of Evidence yet even then have a certainty of Adherence and Recumbency Now grasp a Promise take fast hold of that precious offer rolle thy self upon the free grace of a God in Christ lay all the stresse of thy salvation upon it with a gallant and heroical resolution If I perish I perish Thus Job Though he kill me yet will I trust in him Thus our Saviour My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And this must needs be a strong act of faith even then to rely upon God when he seems thine enemy to trust in an angry and displeased God and when he frowns on thee yet then to lean upon him Like men ready to be drowned be sure to take fast hold cast Anchor though in the dark 2. Study self-denyal and though thou long and breath after Assurance yet resign up thy self wholly to his will and be content to want assurance if he see it best for thee Take heed of murmuring in the wilderness in the saddest and most deserted condition Throw thy self at his feet with this resolution O my God I 'le bless thee for those eternal treasures of sweetness that are in thy self though I should never taste of them I 'le blesse thee for those smiles of thy face which thou bestowest upon others though thou wilt not cast one gracious look upon my soul I le blesse thee for those rich offers of grace thou makest unto me though I have not a heart to lay hold of them 3. Put thy soul into a waiting posture and stay till he please to display some of himself unto thee and make some of his goodness passâ— before thee One beam of his countenance onâ— gracious smile one propitious glance of his eye the least crumb of the hidden Manna 't is worth waiting for all thy life-time And when I speak of waiting I mean not that the soul should stand still and do nothing no this were against the Text Give diligence c. improve all present strength wait upon him in prayer beg one glimpse of him be earnest for a taste for a relish of the hidden Manna and wait upon him in his Ordinances here the spirit breaths here Manna's rained down here God shews his face here is the sealing place the spirit confirms the word and prints it upon thy soul Thus wait upon him in his own way I and wait upon him in his own time too don't think time tedious He that beleeves makes not haste which St. Paul renders He that beleeves is not ashamed as if to make haste and be ashamed were all one God will wonderfully prepare the soul that he means to fill with his love Assurance is too precious a thing to be powered into every spirit He won't put new wine into old bottles God is all this while making thee more capable of his love and though for the present thou hast no assurance yet thus trusting and waiting upon him thou art in a great tendency to it And put the worst that can be imagined that thou shouldst die under a Cloud yet thy condition were safe and thou shalt come then to a full assurance nay to a full possession of thine inheritance and thou shalt see the glorious Sun-shine of the face of God a beam of which thou didst so much long for here We come now to the fourth particular those special sealing times when Christians have their Assurance and Plerophory 1. Many times at their first conversion God does then seal up the work of grace in the soul When the spirit of bondage has past upon the soul and by a strong conviction has applyed particularly guilt and wrath unto it the fatal sentence is pronounc't and the soul is filled with the scorching pre-apprehensions of hell and damnation trembles at the very thoughâ— of eternity Now for the Gospel to bring theâ—â— welcom newes of a pardon and for the spirit oâ— adoption to apply grace and mercy unto thâ— soul for the prison-doors to be broken open and a poor captive set at liberty to have alâ— the Chains and fetters beaten off and to bâ— brought into a marvellous light to have all thâ— balm of Gilead powered into him Evangelicaâ— fruitions and cordials prepared for him and which is the very extraction and quintessence 〈◊〉 all the love of a Saviour shed into his heart What strong impressions of joy think you mâ— there be in such a soul What precious infâ—â—ons of spiritual sweetness What secret springings and elevations of spirit What triumphs what Jubilees what love-raptures I am my Beloveds and my Beloved is mine I must appeal to your breasts that have found this great and heavenly work wrought upon your soul 't is you only that have tasted the joy of the holy Ghost that is glorious and unspeakable And do you tell us had not ye then the first relish of the hidden Manna was not it very sweet and delicious hadst not thou then the first glimpse of the White Stone and was not it very bright and orient hadst not thou then the Spouses kisse and was not it precious and more worth then a world didst not thou then first hear the soft language and whisperings of the spirit and was not his voice lovely and pleasant I know your souls dance within you with the very recalling of so happy and golden a time and you pant and breath after more of this communion with a Saviour and truly he deserves an Anathema that does not prefer the very possibility of having of it before all the world Hosea 11. â—ct When Israel was a Child then I loved him I taught Ephraim also to go taking them by their arms
for when he does so often envy the men of the world and is ready to stumble at the prosperity of the wicked it was not so much for the outward things of the world which they injoyed for those he had himself too in a plentiful measure but it was for the quietness of their spirits they were calm and serene if compared with him not in such fears and doubts as he now was they had not such conflicts and Paroxysmes and tumultuatious of soul as he now had And yet he was one that once had the face of God shining out upon him And therefore he desires him to restore the joy of his salvation Lucem redde abes jam nimium diu Instar veris enim vultus ubi tuus affulsit populo gratior it dies soles melius nitent as he once spake to Augustus So that you see here are wayes enough to keep men from a carnal security And thus we have took off that bold calumny so as we hope that Nihil adhaerebit Having laid open at large the nature of assâ—rance we now come to handle briefly the second observation And that is Observ 2. Christian Assurance requires and calls for diligence Sure I need not tell you that the most precious things are Cabinetted and lockt up under difficulties If you look to nature you see how she reserves her Jewels in secret repositories she sets them in her own bosom and enhances their price by rarity There is indeed a vein for silver as Job speaks but nature is not so profuse to open it to let it run waste and exhaust her self She hides her Treasures and puts them out of the reach of an ordinary Plunderer Or if you look to Arts There are indeed some things which float at the top 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those that are but initiated into them are presently acquainted with them Hence some beginners when they have but tasted these think they have a present kinde of omniscience O but stay a while there are most mysterious things which lurk at the bottom and require a profounder search they must dive deep before they fetch up these Pearls Thus 't is in Languages the choicest elegancies many times are coucht in Idioms those arcana linguarum you may see them like so many Pearls glittering amongst the rubbish of the Tower of Babel Thus 't is in civil affairs some things are visible and obvious to a vulgar eye the rude heap and masse of people can take notice of them some wheels move so plainly as that they can see them I but there are more secret springs of motion more intimate contrivances politick riddles which they only can read that are a secretioâ—ibus Every design must not have a window in it 't is comely sometimes to see Moses with a veil upon his face And thus 't is in the wise Oeconomy and dispensation of the Gospel 'T is true the whole Gospel is pregnant with heavenly mysteries 't is like that heavenly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the milky way which the wise ones of the world take for a Meteor only a brief 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I but those that are enlightened from above know that 't is made up ex flore lucis 't is compounded of Starres lesse discernable and even here one Star differs from another in glory There are myst ria primae magnitudinis such transcendent and dazling mysteries as that the Eagle must be fain to shut her eye and the Seraphim must be glad to wink And there are not only intellectual but practical depths in the way of Religion And Christian Plerophory is one of these For a soul to be filled with the breathings of the spirit And to move with full sail in the Ocean of Gods love And when it pleases to lie safe at anchor I and to be sure of coming safe to the haven certainly the soul must needs cry out all the while 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O the depth of the goodnesse and love of God! how mysterious are his wayes how are his mercies past finding out 1. Now for a Christian to arrive to so full a sense of Gods love hic labor hoc opus est It requires diligence For 1. There are but few that have any right and interest in the love of God in Christ at all 2. Of those few that have a share and portion in his love yet all of them have not assurance of his love There are but few that enter into the Temple I but there is only some Aaron that entâ—rs into the sanctum sanctorum and casts his Anchor within the Vâ—ile And First there are but few upon whom God bestoweth his love 'T was alwayes a principle in Morality that sweet and intimate friendship cannot be extâ—nded to many Friends usually go by paires Now God though he be of vast and boundless love and has love enough to satisfie a multitude of worlds yet he has chose to concentricate it all in a few pickt out of the world that he might thus engage them the more to himself His large and precious love is kept for his only spouse Secondly of those few whom he loves some are not assured of his love He loved them all from everlasting yet none of them could be then assured of his love A non-entity cannot reach to a Plerophory Well but when they peept out of their first nothing truly they were not any rare objects of love much lesse could they then be assured of the love of their God when they were in a state of enmity and opposition and the Children of wrath as well as others Well but when he put them into a state of love and made them lovely with that beauty and comliness with those Jewels and bracelets which he had put upon them when he loved them as his new Creatures as his vessels of honour that were now cast into their just mold and fashion When he loved them as his new-born Sons yet these babes in Christ could not presently cry Abba Father They were his Epistle written in a goodly character dated from eternity folded up and kept secret at length sent into the world the superscription was writ in time in Vocation Will but all this while they were not sealed till the spirit comes and stamps a clear impression of Gods love upon their softn d and melted spirits 'T is true they were sealed as soon as they were written in Gods eternal Decree but they were not visibly sealed till now Now what pantings and breathings What longings and intreaties what preparations were there in the soul before it could obtain this Secondly it requires diligence to keep assurance O take heed of wasting and crumbling away thy hidden Manna God may break the staffe of bread and what will thy weary soul do then Take heed of losing the white Stone take heed of forgetting thy new name O maintain the Oil of gladness in the Cruse Thou that art a Vine of Canaan laden with generous fruit wouldst
THE WHITE STONE OR A Learned and Choice TREATISE OF ASSURANCE VERY Usefull for all but especially weak Believers By Nathanael Culverwel Master of Arts and lately Fellow of Emmanuel Colledge in Cambridge 2 PET. ◠10 Wherefore the rather Brethren give diligence to make your Calling and Election sure LONDON Printed for John Rothwel at the Fountain and Bear in Cheapside 1654. THE WHITE STONE OR A Learned and Choice Treatise of Assurance very useful for all but especially weak Believers 2 PET. 1.10 Wherefore the rather Brethren give diligence to make your Calling and Election sure ASsurance of salvation is a truth of great and precious consequence of sweet and comfortable influence into the whole life of a Christian A truth which has scarce had liberty to unmask and shew it self in former times and so has seldom or never been fully treated of A truth which could never be more welcome and seasonable then in times of danger and uncertainty when all other things are in a doubtful and wavering condition then to make our Calling and Election sure to set up a spiritual Militia and to put the soul in a posture of defence in such an heavenly preparation as it may be fit to meet with all conditions He shall not be afraid of evil tidings his heart is fixed trusting in God He is just like the Philosophers good man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 four-square that cast him where you will like a Dy he falls alwayes sure and square He 's built upon the same foundation that the whole Church of God is He 's built upon a Rock and though the waves dash and the windes rise though the storm encrease and the floods beat in yet the house stands the foundation 's sure 't is built upon a Rock and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it I 'le make him a pillar in the Temple of my God as Christ promises to the Church of Philadelphia even like one of those Pillars in Solomons Temple The name of the one was Jachin and of the other Booz nothing but stability and strength as the words imply Christian assurance fortifies the soul and prepares it against all conditions Now as for the drift of our Apostle in this Chapter 't was to perswade the Christian Churches of Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia Bithynia to whom he wrote that they would be fruitful and abundant in the graces of God that they would grow in grace and adde grace to grace so to increase in them all till they came to a full and perfect stature in Christ For he that lacks these saith the Apostle is blinde and cannot see a farre off he is pore-blind and cannot see so far as haven and heavenly things And then he is forgetful too of the very first principles and rudiments of Grace he forgets that he was purged from his former sins in the Laver of Regeneration in Baptisme when he first entered into Covenant with God Wherefore do ye rather give diligence to make your Calling c. You that have a spiritual eye and an enlightened soul and can discern the things of God and you that are mindful of the Covenant made with him do you brethren give c. for this if any thing will make you fruitful in the works of grace for by these you must maintain your assurance these are the fruits and evidences of your salvation the fruits of the spirit and the first fruits of eternal life Christians that make their Calling and Election sure will and must be fruitful in good works The Papists interpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this verse and Beza saies indeed that he found it in two ancient Copies but though it be left out in the letter yet we include it in the sense good reason to leave it out in the text because all the Greek Copies do two only excepted but yet we take it in in the interpretation and freely acknowledge that no Christian can be assured of his salvation who is not fruitful and abundant in good works as Fulke and Carthwright do very well satisfie the Rhemists Translation In the words you have 1. An usual compellation Brethren 2. An Apostolical exhortation and that to a double duty one subordinate to another The 1. and principal in intention to make your Calling Election sure The 2. which is a means to the former to give diligence And if you look upon the first again you shall finde in it 1. A propriety your Calling and Election 2. A method and order first your Calling and then your Election As for two of the particulars wee 'l but point at them because they are not so properly intended in the words For 1. The compellation is frequent and obvious in every Epistle and shews 1. An Apostolical Suada by which they were wont to winde and insinuate themselves with them for affection does strongly engage the judgement And all Rhetorick is little enough to win hearts and prevail upon some mens spirits 2. An Apostolical meekness Peter a Star of the first magnitude yet calls the lesser Sporades his brethren A glorious and eminent Christian a tall Cedar in Lebanon yet acknowledges the meanest and lowest Christians his brethren He learnt this of his Lord and Master who was not ashamed to call them brethren And shall the Disciple be above his Lord 'T were well if the Pope who will needs be Saint Peters successor would follow him in this And who art thou O prophane Ismael that scoffest at the Children of the Promise under this very name and notion of the brethren 2. And then as for the propriety 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 your Calling and Election 1. None can be assured of another mans salvation unless it be of such whom the Scripture tells us were in the state of Grace whose sincerity is made famous to all the world to whom the spirit hath set its broad seal and given them a publick testimony that they were within the Covenant for others we know in general that there are a select and peculiar company whom God has chosen out as his jewels but we cannot say certainly and infallibly of such a particular persons of any Individuum that he is a chosen vessel Of some 't is evident and apparent that for the present they are not in the state of grace we are sure that as yet they are not efficaciously called but we know not whether they be chosen for others we have great hopes and an high degree of probability that they are truly born again but yet we have no absolute certainty for Hypocrisies will go so far as that the best Criticks may be deceived And a man can never tell certainly another mans sincerity unless he could supply the place of conscience An Hypocrite may spin so fair a thred as that it may deceive his own eye he may admire the cobweb and not know himself to be the Spider how much more easie may he deceive a stander by And as for any
to try their own spirits if that after all their diligence thet can't tell what to think of them All uses of examination were vain and frivolous which yet are the very life and spirits of preaching And Ames tells us of a donum discretionis which Christians have by which they can discern true grace from counterfeit There are certain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which they may distinguish them and judge of them in themselves though not in others certainly Object 2. If all thus by the testimony of conscience may know their own frame of spirit whether they be upright or no why then are not all true Christians assured of their salvation what have they not their consciences and hearts about them Sol. 1. Many are not sufficiently acquainted with their own spirits they do not keep so strict a watch over themselves they are not verst in their own hearts they don't try and search their wayes they have riches and a treasure and do not know of it Sol. 2. It is in so great and weighty a matter Eternity does so amaze and swallow up the thoughts as that they are ready to tremble where they are certain and secure A man on the top of a Tower knows that he is safe enough and yet when he looks down he is afraid of falling 3. Conscience sometimes gives a dark and cloudy testimony when 't is disquieted and charged with new guilt the soul can't so clearly read its evidences And then it begins to question its condition It may be it has dealt hypocritically in some one particular and now it begins to question all its sincerity We do not say then that Conscience does alwayes give a clear and full testimony but sometimes it does and that with absolute certainty 2. Now comes in the second witness and the great and supreme testimony of the spirit himself witnessing with our spirits that we are the Sons of God Rom. 8.16 we render it the same spirit but in the fountain is the spirit it self not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not only the gifts and graces of the spirit but the spirit it self Object This testimony seems to be coincident with the other for a man can't tell his own sincerity 't is the spirit that must reveal a man to himself The soul can't see its own face unless the spirit unmask it the spirit is more present and conversant with the soul then the soul is with it self He does not only know our hearts but he is greater then our hearts and knowes all things Sol. We 'l easily grant that to the least motion in spirituals there is necessarily required the concurrence of the Holy Ghost but withall we say that there 's a mighty difference between working of the spirit and the testimony of the spirit There 's a powerful and efficacious work of the spirit when faith is wrought in the soul but yet there is not the testimony of the spirit for every believer has not presently the seal set to him so that though the testimony of our own spirit cannot be without the help and influence of the spirit yet 't is clearly distinct from the Testimony of the spirit for here the spirit does enable the soul to see its graces by a present light by the soules light But when it comes with a testimony then it brings a new light of its own and lends the soul some auxiliary beams for the more clear and full revealing of it so that you see according to that plain text in the Romans There are two distinct Testimonies the spirit witnessing with our spirits And St. John is the most expresse Beloved if our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God Now the testimony of the spirit is 1. A clear testimony a full and satisfying light springs in upon the soul scatters all Clouds all doubts and questions 't is as evident as any demonstration 1 John 3.24 By this we know that he dwells in us by the spirit which he hath given us Christ when he went to heaven he left the Comforter not only to the Church in general but to every particular soul that beleeves to print his love upon the soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chrysost If a creature though never so glittering should tell men so there might still be some hesitancy I but the spirit witnesses The secret and inward testimony of the spirit is as strong and efficacious nay more powerful then if 't were with an outward voice If an Angel from Heaven were sent on purpose to a Christian by Christ himself Go tell him that I love him that I shed my blood for him c. 't were not so certain 2. A sure testimony for 't is the witness of the spirit who can neither deceive nor be deceived 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sufficientissimum Testimonium as Cajetan 1. He can't deceive for he is truth it self 2. He can't be deceived for he is all Eye Omniscience it self And he does 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he dwells in the breast and bosom of God he is fully acquainted with the minde of God and he reveals it to the soul The Papists make the spirits testimony to bring but a conjectural certainty But the most renowned Perkins answers them 1. That 't is such a certainty as makes them cry Abba Father not only think so and speak so but with all courage confidence intention of spirit cry Abba Father 2. It is opposed to the spirit of bondage and therefore takes away doubtings and tremblings 3. The very end why the Holy Ghost comes to the soul is to make all sure and therefore is called a seal and an earnest Now he assures the soul 1. By a powerful Application of the promise for as faith does appropriate the promise on our part so the spirit applies it on Gods part As Satan that lying spirit casts in doubts and fears and tremblings and working upon the remainder of corruption plots against the peace and well being of the soul so this holy spirit by the comforting working upon that principle of grace which he himself hath planted in the heart of a Christian does study and contrive the welfare of a beleever And as the spirit of bondage does strongly apply wrath and the curse so this sweet spirit of Adoption applyes grace and mercy The spirit of bondage strikes terror into the soul by a mighty Application of wrath this curse flames against thee this threatning this curse flames against thee this threatning is shot off against thee these vials of wrath are prepared for thy soul So the spirit of adoption does set on strong and vigorous apprehensions of mercy this pearl of price 't is to enrich thee these Evangelical cordials are to revive thee this balm in Gilead is prepared for thy soul The spirit of Adoption speaks love and peace and pardon and that by particular Application of the promise to us As when the promise of Remission of
love be When God had brought that great sickness upon Hezekiah and thus had dissolved and softned his heart he presently prints his love upon it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou hast loved my soul from the Grave God does then most expresse his love when they have most need of it The white Stone sparkles most oriently in the darkest condition O how gloriously does God shine in upon the prisons of Martyrs what frequent visits does he give them it might even make men ambitious of their sufferings that they might have some such expressions of his love towards them 6. Times of Victory and Conquests over lusts and temptations are sealing times God after such victories will give his people a triumph This is exprest in that text of the Revelation Rev. 2.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden Mannah c. Thus when Saint Paul was wrastling with and conquering that great temptation whatever it was that is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12. God then gives to eat of the hidden Mannah and strengthens him with this my grace is sufficient for thee He gives him the white Stone with that Motto graven in it my grace c. Thus that noble Christian and famous Convert of Italy Galeacius Caracciolus when he had scorned the pomp and lustre of the world and had trampled upon all relations for the love of a Saviour when Satan that cunning Angler of souls had spent all his baits upon him and he had refused them all O then what a deal of precious sweetnesse slides into his soul what rushings in of glorious joy he had never such joy at Naples as he had at Geneva You may hear him pronouncing an Anathema to all such as shall prefer all the gold and silver in the world before one dayes sweet Communion with Jesus Christ As none have more dregs of wrath then relapsing and apostatizing spirits Remember but Spira's case so none have sweeter and choicer mercy then the faithful Servants of the Lord Jesus that follow him in the houre of temptation Apostates are sealed up to a day of vengeance but these are sealed up to a day of Redemption Thus the mourners in Ezekiel that would not yield to the abominations of the times must have a seal set upon them Thus that Virgin-Company in the Reveiation that would not prostitute their souls to Antichristian folly have the seal of God in their foreheads This is the happiness of a Christian that he has a sweet satisfaction in self-denyal in denying sin in repulsing lust in conquering temptation in pulling out his right eye in cutting off his right hand in mortifyiug the body of death he has a sweet satisfaction in all these And thus you have seen those special sealing times when Christians have this high plerophory these riches of assurance we come now to speak of them in a more Applicatory way 1. Times of assurance they should be times of humility and dependance upon God When Moses had been so long in the Mount and had a lustre upon him by conversing with God himself presently at the foot of the Mount he meets with matter of humiliation The Israelites have made them a golden Calfe Thy people sayes God to Moses they have done this And the Apostle Paul when he had been rapt up into the third Heaven and had heard there some of Arcana Coeli things that neither could nor might be uttered for both are implyed in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there then comes a Messenger of Satan to buffet him he must be put in minde of himself by a thorn in the flesh and that least he should be exalted above measure with abundance of Revelations A creature can't 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a little thing will puffe up a bubble a small happiness will swell up the Sons of men Pride as it twines about the choicest graces so it devoures the sweetest comforts But yet there is nothing tends more to the soul-abasement and self-exinanition then the beholding of Gods face then the seeing of his glory this will make the soul abhorre it self in dust and ashes The more God reveals himself unto the soul the more will the soul see that huge disproportion that is between it self and a Deity There 's none here below that ever saw more of Gods face then Moses and Paul had done and there were none that ever had lower apprehensions of themselves They knew well enough what the Sun-shine of his presence was what a glorious sight it was to behold his face and yet they had rather part with this then he should part with his glory They are like men amazed with the vastness and spaciousness of the Ocean and make nothing of a little inconsiderable drop of Being They that know not these treasures of love and sweetnesse those heaps of excellencies that are stored up in God these are the grand admirers of themselves But when the soul comes to have a prospect of Heaven and fixes its eye upon an object of the first magnitude the creature disappears self vanishes and loses it self in the fulness of God And if God do assure thee of this his love thou canst not but wonder at the greatness of his goodness especially when tho shalt recollect thy self and think upon thine own unworthiness Thou that didst not deserve a beam of his face what does he give thee a full Sun-shine Thou that couldst not look for the least taste of his love what does he give thee a whole cluster of Canaan Thou that didst not deserve the least crumb of the hidden Mannah does he fill thee an Omer full of it Nay yet higher Thou that didst deserve a brand from his Justice does he give thee a seal of his love he might have given thee gall and vinegar to drink and does he flow in upon thee with milk and hony he might have given thee the first flashes of Hell and does he give thee the first fruits of Heauen what couldst thou have lookt for but an eternal frown an ddost thou meet with so gracious a smile O then fall down and adore his goodness and let all that is within thee blesse his holy name Tell me now i◠there any ground for pride in such a soul doe◠not assurance bespeak humility and speak a meer dependance 2. Times of Assurance they should be time◠of trampling upon the creature and scorning of things below Dost thou now take care for corn and wine and oil when God lifts up the light of his countenance upon thee is this same Angels food this same hidden Mannah i◠it too light meat for thee Now thou art within the Land of promise feeding upon the grapes and pomegranates of the Land dost thou now long for the garlick and onions of Egypt Now thou art within thy Fathers house and the fatted Calf is slain wilt thou now still feed upon husks Art thou clothed with the Sun and canst not thou trample the
the Heathen could never content themselves with a fair probability only of summum bonum but did spin it out to an imaginary certainty The Stoiks would have a domestick Plerophory they must be unavoidably happy A meer certainty won't suffice them it must be condens'd into a necessity A wise man with them must irreversibly seal up himself to happiness And so though he were in Phalaris his Bull he must glory and triumph and sing Hallelujahs But the fairer Moralists were willing to depend more upon the bounty of heaven which yet they lookt upon as a sure and unquestionable thing nay they pleased themselves not only in a Plerophory but in a present possession For you know vertue with them was Praecox beatitudo as grace with us is glory not fully ripe And serenity of natural conscience was their hidden Manna their white Stone Thus were they fain to still their souls in some shadows and appearances of certainty This sweetned Socrates his Cicute and made him a chearful Martyr for Philosophy And all wicked men that go on merrily and securely in their wayes do frame some imaginary certainty to themselves which it may be they found upon sure principles but falsly applyed as this That God is merciful or the like All this I bring to shew that the soul does catch at certainty and assurance and will rest satisfied with nothing else For for men to apprehend themselves uncertain of happiness what is it else but to be for the present miserable Nay would not some do you think choose rather to be certain of a tolerable misery then to be in continual suspense of happiness And truly such men as have no assurance of obtaining this great end of their being they are of all Creatures most miserable The Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests and shall not the Sons of men have where to lay their heads Every being loves certainty How do Naturals combine together and unite their forces that they may secure themselves by an happy association Nature will have a Plerophory won't admit of a vacuum the least schisme and rupture would prove fatal and put it upon uncertainties Sir Francis Bacon spies this in those fallings down of water that thred and spin themselves into such slender stillicids that thus they may preserve their continuity and when they can reach no longer so then they fall in as plump and round a figure as they can And if every Being loves assurance then surely such a noble Being as the soul of man cannot be satiated with a changeable good it can't fix it self upon a moveable centre Immortality is neer a kin to immutability Besides if it were only this that the soul did doubt of happiness it were a lighteâ— burden but there is necessarily conjoyned with this a fear of extreamest misery Now for a soul to be perpetually hovering betwixt heaven and hell nay to have far more ground to fear the one then to hope for the other and so to tremble at the very thoughts of eternity is not this a piece of the gnawing worm must the soul live in this perpetual slavery Is there no redemption from it Did not Christ come to take away this sting amongst the rest Did not he come to draw thee to himself to quiet thee in his own bosom Return thee to thy rest O my soul Return to thine Ark O my Dove And look upon this Gospel-Plerophory as one of those great priviledges that were purchased for thee by a Saviour For 1. By this thy soul thy darling 't is fully provided for for eternity Thy lot is falne to thee in a fair ground and thou hast a goodly heritage could thy soul open its mouth any wider could thy soul desire any more then this to be sure of being for ever compleatly happy What would the damned in hell give for a possibility of happiness What would some wounded spirits give for good hopes and probabilities when as thou in the mean time hast an overflowing Plerophory What would the one give for a drop to cool their tongue What would the other give for a pure stream to wash their bleeding souls When as thou all the while art bathing in the Fountain art sailing in the Ocean art swimming in the Rivers of pleasure Thine understanding may well rest satisfied for 't is sure to fix its eye upon an eternal beauty upon the face of its God Thy will may rest it self in the embraces of its dearest object for 't is espoused to the fairest good and is sure to enjoy it with an indissoluble union Thy purer and more refined affections may sport themselves in the Sun-beams of heaven There may thy love warm and melt it self and there may thy joy dance and exult All that thou hast to do here below is this Thy Virgin-soul that is here assured and contracted must wait a while for the Nuptials for a full fruition of its God for a full consummation of its joy 2. This must needs sweeten all present conditions to thee Eat then thy bread with joy and drink thy wine with a merry heart for God accepts thy person and smells a sweet odour in thy sacrifice Are there any pearls in the Gospel thou may'st lay claim to them Is there any balm in Gilead thou hast a share in it Are there any Gospel-priviledges thou knowest they are thine and are intended for thee Does God bestow temporals upon thee thou knowest that he first dips them in love and sweetness Mount Gerizim is thy portion And how art thou above waves when as some are shipwrackt others are tossed and disquieted thou hast an happy protection in all thy wayes 1. Thou art secure against the frowns of the world for heaven smiles upon thee Thou may'st laugh at the false judging and esteems of men It may be the world brands I but the spirit seals It may be the seed of the Serpent hisses I but the holy Ghost breaths What though thou beest fourty years in a Wildernesse Nay what though thou beest seventy years in Babylon Won't Canaan and won't the new Jerusalem make amends for all 2. Thou art secure in times of judgement As Job speaks of the Leviathan The sword of him that layes at him cannot hold the speare the dart nor the habergeon The arrow cannot make him flee darts are counted as stubble he laughs at the shaking of the spear Who is like him upon the earth one that is made without fear When God thunders upon the men of the world he speaks but in a still voice to thee he darts lightening flashes in their faces but he lifts up the light of his countenance upon thee Judgements are intended for the sweeping away of Spiders webs not for the sweeping away of Gods own Jewels Or if they be envolved in a common calamity yet how is it â—olled up in sweetness to them when as the other can taste nothing but gall and wormwood Their body may be tossed a little