should never make pleasant musick no more would the Spirit it he should be alwaies a doing one thing in the soule therefore he acts variously sometimes he will shew himselfe a quickning Spirit sometimes an enlightning Spirit sometimes an humbling Spirit sometimes a rejoycing Spirit sometimes a sealing Spirit and alwayes a surporting Spirit c. Fifthly The testimony and witness of the Spirit is a sure testimony a Titus 1. 2. John 14. 17. 1 Cor. 2. 10 1 Joh. 4. 1 2 3 4 sure witness the Spirit is truth it self he is the great searcher of the deep things of God the Spirit of the Lord is the Discoverer the Confuter and Destroyer of all false spirits The Spirit is above all possibility of being deceived he is omnipotent he is omniscient he is omnipresent he is one of the Cabinet-Councel of Heaven he lies and lives in the bosome of the Father and can call them all by name upon whom the Father hath set his heart and therefore his testimony must needs be true It is a surer testimony then if a man should hear a voice from Heaven pronouncing him to be happy and blessed You may safely and securely lay the weight of your souls upon this testimony it never hath it never will deceive any that hath leaned upon it This testimony will be a rock that will bear up a soul When other false testimonies will be but a reed of Egypt that will deceive the soul that will undoe the soul As I am afraid many in this deluding age have found by sad experience Sixthly The testimony of Gods I do not say that the testimony of our spirits is always accompanied with the testimony of the Spirit No for a Beleever hath often the single testimony of his own spirit when he wants the testimony of the Spirit of Christ and the single testimony of his own conscience wil afford him much courage and comfort 2 Cor. 1. 12. Yea it wil make a paradise of delight in his soul c. Spirit is alwayes accompanied with the testimony of our own these may be distinguished but they can never be separated when the Spirit of God gives in witnesse for a man his own spirit doth not give in witnesse against him Look as face answers to face so doth the witness of a Beleevers spirit answer to the witness of the Spirit of Christ Rom. 8. 16. The Spirit witnesseth together with our spirits that we be the Sons of God Now if our own Consciences do not testifie first that we are Sons and Heirs the Spirit doth not testifie for the Spirit beares witness together with our spirits St. John is very expresse in 1 Joh. 3. 21. But if our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence toward God But if our hearts condemn us God is greater then our hearts and knoweth all things 1 Joh. 5. 8 9 10 11 12. And there are three that bear witness in Earth the Spirit and the Water and the Blood and these three agree in one The Spirit doth witness eminently and efficiently but Water and Blood materially and our spirits and Reason instrumentally By the Spirit we may understand the Holy Ghost by whose strength wee lay hold on Christ and all his benefits by Water we may understand our Regeneration our Sanctification and by Blood we may understand the blood and righteousness of Christ that is imputed and applyed by faith to us and these three agree in one that is they doe all three of one accord testifie the same thing Seventhly The witness of the Spirit is ever according to the Word there is a sweet harmony between the inward and outward testimony between the Spirit of God and the VVord of God The Scriptures were 2 Pet. 1. 20 21. all indicted by the Spirit and therefore the Spirit cannot contradict himselfe which he should do if he should give in any testimony contrary to the testimony of the word It is blasphemy to make the testimony of the â—pirit to contradict the testimony of the Word The Spirit hath revealed his whole mind in the Word and he will not give a contrary testimony to what he hath given in the Word The Word saith they that are born again that are new Creatures that beleeve and repent shall be saved But thou art born again thou art a new Creature thou beleevest and repentest therefore thou shalt be saved saith the Spirit The Spirit never looseth where the Word bindeth the Spirit never justifies where the Word condemnes the Spirit never approves where the Word disapproves the Spirit never blesses where the VVord curses In Deu. l 3. 1 2 3 4 the Old Testament all Revelations were to be examined by the VVord Isa 8. 20. To the Law and to the Testimony 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if they speak not according to this Word it is because there is no light or no morning in them So in that of John 16. We are not only blind but lame too therefore the Spirit shall lead us to the knowledge and practice of all necessary saving truths 13. The Spirit shall lead you into all truth for he shall not speak of himselfe but what he shall hear that shall he speak Here the Holy Ghost is brought in as some Messenger or Ambassador who onely relates things faithfully according to that he hath in charge Such as look and lean upon the hissing of the old Serpent may have a testimony that they are happy against the testimony of the VVord But where ever the Spirit of Christ gives in his â—estimony it is stil according to the VVord Look as Indenture answers to Indenture or as the Counterpaine exactly answers to the principall Conveyance there is Article for Article Clause for Clause Covenant for Covenant word for word So doth the testimony of the Spirit exactly answer to the testimony of the VVord Eighthly It is a Holy witness a holy Nil nisi sanctuÌ„ à sancto spiritu prodire potest Nothing can come from the Holy Spirit but that which is holy testimony it is formally holy it is originally holy it is effectually holy Nothing makes the heart more in the love study practise and growth of holines then the glorious testimony of the Holy Spirit and the more clear ful the testimony is the more holy and gracious it will make the Soule Nothing puts such golden Engagements upon the soul to holiness as the Spirit sealing a man up to the day of Redemption as the Spirits speaking and sealing Peace Love and pardon to the Soul Psal 85. 8. 1 Cor. 15. 31. 2 Cor. 5. 14. Nothing makes a man more careful to please Christ more fearful to offend Christ more studious to exalt Christ and more circumspect to walk with Christ then this testimony of the Spirit of Christ Verily that is not the blessed whispering of Christs Spirit but the hissing of the old Serpent that makes men bold with sin that makes men dally with sin that makes
counted that hour lost wherein he did not some good with his Tongue Pen or Purse Barlaam who being asked How old he was answered Five and forty years old to whom Josaphah replied Thou seemest to be seventy Truth saith he if you reckon ever since I was born but I count not those years that were spent in vanity Most men spend the greatest part of their time about things that are by the by that are of little or no value as And Solyman the great Turk spent his time in making of notches of Horn for Bowâ— Domitian the Roman Emperor spent his time in stabbing of Flies and Artaxerxes spent his time in making Hefts for Knives and Archimedes spent his time in drawing lines on the ground when that famous City Syracuse was taken and Myrmecides spent more time to make a Bee then some men do to build a house Sirs I beseech you remember that it was Cato a Heathen that said That Chilo one of the seven Sages being asked What was the hardest thing in the world to be done Answered To use and imploy a mans time well Alexander the Great gave him a check and not a reward that boasted that he could throw a Pease at a great distance upon the point of a Needle Ah how will God at last check those that spend their precious time as it were with throwing Pease upon the point of a Needle account must be given not onely of our labor but also of our leasure and in affirming this he affirms no more then what the Scripture speaks But O what a sad account then have some to make Well as Cleopatra said to Mark Anthony It is not for you to be fishing for Gugeons but for Towns Forts and Castles So say I Right Honorable and Beloved It is not for you to spend your time about poor low contemptible things but about those high and noble things that make most for the interest of Christ and the good of your Countrey It was Titus a Pagan Emperor that uttered this memorable and praise-worthy Apothegm Amici diem perdidi my Friends I have lost a day when he had spent it in company without doing good The Egyptians drew the Picture of Time with three Heads to represent the three differences The first of a greedy Wolf gaping for time past because it hath ravenously devoured even the memory of so many things past recalling The second of a crowned Lyon roaring for time present because it hath the principality of all action for which it cals aloud The third of a deceitful Dog fawning for time to come because it feeds fond men with many flattering hopes to their own undoing I have read of a man who upon his dying bed would have given a world for time he still crying out day and night call time again call time again So a great Lady of this land on her death bed cryed out time time a world of wealth for an inch of time One Hermanus a great Courtier in the Kingdome of Bohemia being at point of death did most lamentably Lamacus a Commander said to his offending Souldier non licet in bello bis peccare no man must offend twice in war So God sometimes wil not suffer men again and again to neglect the day of grace cry out That he had spent more time in the Palace then in the Temple and that he had added to the riotousness and vices of the Court which he should have sought to have reformed and so dyed to the horror of those that were about him I have been the longer upon this because I have been a sad Spactator of mens mispending their time and trifling away golden opportunities at Sea as well as at Land and though I thus speak knowing that this Treatise will come into other hands besides your own yet I hope better things of Heb. 6. 8 9. you to whom I dedicate it even such as do accompany salvation Thirdly Take no Truths upon trust but all upon tryall 1 Joh. 4. 10. Beloved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Satan may more easily disturb the truth then subvert it Aug. beleeve not every spirit but trie the spirits whether they be of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the world This age is very full of Impostors therefore trie the spirits as Lapidaries do their stones or as Goldsmiths do their metals a Bristol stone may look as well as an Indian Diamond and many things glister besides gold It was the glorious commendations of the Bereans That they searcheâ— Acts 17. 10 11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 better born and bred of a more noble disposition They were more Noble not by civil descent but by spiritual advancemet the Scriptures daily whether those things that Paul and Silas had delivered were so and this act of theirs made them more Noble then those of Thessalonica Christian Nobility is the best and truest where God himselfe is the top of the Kin and Religion the root in regard whereof all other things are but shadows and shapes of noblenesse A Father that had three Sons was desirous to try their discretions which he did by giving to each of them an Apple that had some part of it rotten The first eats up his rotten and all the second throws all his away because some part of it was rotten the third picks out the rotten and eats that which was good the third was the wisest Some in these days swallow down every thing rotten and sound together others throw away all Truth because every thing that is presented to them is not truth but surely they are the wisest that know Isai 7. 15. how to chuse the good and refuse the evil You must not with Pythagoras Amicus Socrates amicus Plato Amicior veritas Socrates is my Friend and â—lato is my Friend but above all Truth is my Friend Scholars magnifie the Ipse dixerit of the greatest Clerks especially in those things that are of eternal concernment to your Souls You will try and tell and weigh Gold after your Fathers deal so by the Truth you hear and let no man binde you to believe with Anaxagoras that Snow is black Truth saith Basil is hard to be taken by hunting and must be found out by a narrow observing of her footsteps on every side Many are like those in Clemens that thought Truth to be Cruelty Fourthly Be exemplary to those The complaint in Seneca is ancient That commonly men live not Ad rationem but Ad similitudinem Seneca de vita beata among whom you walk and over whom you command Bonus dux bonus comes a good Leader makes a good Follower Praecepta aocent exempla movent Precepts may instruct but examples do perswade Verily Gentlemen your examples will have a very great influence upon those that are under you It is natural to Inferiors to minde more what their Superiors do then what they say therefore you had need be Angelical in
is so fully perswaded of its eternal happinesse and blessednesse that it s carried like 4 There is a divine perswasion that flows from divine principles and causes Noahs Arke above al waves doubts and fears and Noah-like fits still and quiet and can with the Apostle Paul triumph over sinne hell wrath death and devill This is sometimes called Col. 2. 2. Heb. 6 11. 18 19 cha 10. 22. full assurance of understanding sometimes it is called full assurance of hope and sometimes it is called full assurance of faith because these are the choice and pleasant springs from whence assurance flows Now though this full assurance is earnestly desired and highly This full Assurance is the maximum quod sic the highest pinacle of Assurance prized and the want of it much lamented the injoyment of it much endevoured after by al Saints yet t is only obtained by a few Assurance is a mercy too good for most mens hearts it is a Crowne too weighty for most mens heads Assurance is optimum maximum the best and greatest mercy and therefore God will onely give it to his best and dearest friends Augustus in his solemne feasts gave trifles to some but gold to others honours and riches c. are trifles that God gives to the worst of men Rev. 3. 18. But Assurance is that tryed gold that God onely gives to tried friends Among those few that have a share or Most Saints I beleeve can give aloud testimony to this truth I shall rejoyce when their experiences shall confute â—r portion in the special love and favour of God there are but a very few that have an assurance of his love It is one mercy for God to love the soule and another mercy for God to assure the soule of his love God writes many a mans name in the Book of life and yet will not let him know it till his houre of death as the experience of many precious soules doth cleerly evidence Assurance is a flower of Paradise that God sticks but Rom. 8. 16 17. in a few mens bosomes It is one thing to be an heire of heaven and another thing for a man to know or see himselfe an heire of heaven The childe in the arms may be heire to a Crown a Kingdome and yet not understand it so many a Saint may bee heire to a Crowne a Kingdome of glory and yet not know it As the babes that passes the pangs of the first birth do not presently cry Father Father so the new borne Babes in Christ that have 1 Pet. 2. 2. past the pangs of the second birth doe not presently cry Abba Father they doe not presently cry out Heaven Heaven is ours Glory Glory is ours The third Proposition is this That The third Proposition a man may have true grace that hath not Assurance of the love and favour The blinde man in the Gospel called his faith unbeleef of God or of the remission of his sins and salvation of his soule A man may be truly holy and yet not have assurance that he shall be eternally happy A man may be Gods and yet he not know it his estate may be good and yet he not see it he may Mat. 15. 22. 29. be in a safe condition when he is not in a comfortable condition All may be well with him in the Court of glory when hee would give a thousand worlds that all were but well in the court of conscience The Canaanite woman shewed much love wisdome zeale humility and faith yea such strength of faith as makes Christ admire her and yeeld to her grace her and gratifie her and yet shee had no assurance that wee read of So Paul speaking of the beleeving Eph 1. 13. They that honour God by sealing to his truth those God will honour by sealing them with his Spirit Ephesians saith In whom ye also trusted after that yee heard the word of truth the Gospel of your salvation in whom also after that yee beleeved yee were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise First They heard the word and then secondly they beleeved and then thirdly they were sealed that is fully assured of a heavenly inheritance of a Saints have eternal life 1 In praetio 2 In promisso 3 In primitiis purchased possession So 1 John 5. 13. These things have I written unto you that beleeve on the name of the Sonne of God that yee may know that yee have eternal life and that yee may beleeve on the name of the Son of God So in that Isa 50. 10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord that obeyeth the voyce of his servant that walketh in darknesse and hath no light let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay himselfe upon his God So in that Mich. 7. 8. 9. verses Rejoyce not against me O mine enemy when I fall I shall arise when I sit in darknesse the Lord shall be a light unto me I will bear the indignation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Lord because I have sinned against him untill he plead my cause and Zagnaph Signifies vehement anger with a sad and lowring countenance Dan. 1. 10. vide Merâ— execute judgement for me he will bring me forth to the light and I shall behold his Righteousnesse Asaph was a very holy man a man eminent in grace and yet without assurance as may bee seen at large in that 77. Ps Heman doubtlesse was a very precious soule and yet from his youth up hee was even distracted with terrours Psalm 88. There are thousand Christians that are in a state of grace and shall bee Isa 8. 17. Chap. 49. 14 15 16. Ch. 54 6 7 8 9 10 11. saved that want assurance and the proper effects of it as high joy pure comfort glorious peace and vehement longings after the coming of Christ Assurance is requisite to the well-being of a Christian but not to the being it is requisite to the consolation of a Christian but not to the salvation of a Christian it is requisite to the well-being of Grace but not to the meer being of Grace Though a man cannot be saved without faith yet he may bee saved without assurance God hath in many places of the Scripture declared that without faith God never said except you be assured I will pardon you I will never pardon you except you are assured I will save you I will never save you this is language God never spoke and why then should men speak it there is no salvation but God hath not in any one place of Scripture declared that without assurance there is no salvation A man must first bee saved before he can be assured of his salvation for he cannot be assured of that which is not and a man must have saving grace before he can bee saved for hee cannot be saved by that which hee hath not Againe a man must be ingrafted into Christ before
loathed and long since crucified when those old sins which hath cost a soule many prayers and many tears and many sighs and may groans and many complaints when those sinnes that have been long buried shall bee againe revived and meet the soule and stare upon the soule and say to the soule We are thine and wee will follow thee wee are thine and wee will haunt thee Ah how will this cause a mans countenance to bee changed his thoughts to be troubled his joynts to be loosed and his heart to be amazed David and Job meeting with the sins of their youth long after they were Psal 25. 7. Job 13 26. lamented and pardoned makes their hearts startle and tremble Upon the new risings of old sinnes the soule begins to question all and thus to expostulate the case Surely my estate is not good my pardon is not sealed if it be how comes these sinnes to bee revived to be remembred hath not God ingaged himselfe in the promises Isa 43. 25 Jer. 31. 34. of Grace that those sinnes that are pardoned shall never be remembred and surely if these sinnes be not pardoned I have reason to feare that others bee not pardoned and if my sins bee not pardoned how shall I escape being destroyed Surely my repentance was not sound my sorrow was not sincere the blow the wound I gave sinne was not mortall if it had how comes it to passe that it now meets mee like an armed enemy Thus these new risings of old sinnes keeps many a mans soule and assurance asunder Again a man may have grace and yet want assurance and this may arise Perfection is desireable on earth but shall be onely enjoyed in heaven It was a sweet saying of One In libro tâ—o scribuntur omnes qui quod possunt faciunt si quod debent non possunt They are surely written all in Gods Book that doe what they can though they cannot but under do from his falling short of that perfection that the word requires and that other Saints have attained to Ah sayes such a soul surely I have no grace Oh how short do I fall of such and such righteous rules and of such and such precious Christians Ah how cleer are they in their light how strong are they in their love how high are they in their attainments how are their hearts filled with grace and their lives with holinesse all their motions towards God and towards man speaks out Grace Grace they pray indeed like Saints and live indeed like Angels Now many poore soules comparing themselves with the perfect rule of righteousnesse and with those that are in the highest formes in Christs Schoole and that are the noblest and choicest patterns for purity and sanctity and finding such a vast disproportion between their hearts and the rule between their actions and lives and the lives and actions of others they are apt to fit downe sadded and discouraged Suetonius reports of Julius Caesar that seeing Alexanders statue hee fetched a deep sigh because hee at that age had none so little So many precious Remember this Though your consolation depends upon degrees of grace yet your salvation depends upon the truth of grace soules sit downe sighing and weeping that they have lived so long and done so little for God and for their owne internal and eternal good This wounds and sinkes their spirits that they are so unlike to those in Grace that they desire to be like unto in Glory and that they are so far below such and such in spirituals whom they are so far above in temporals 5 Again a man may have true grace and yet want assurance and this may arise from that smoak and clouds those feares and doubts that corruption raises in the soule so that the soule cannot see those excellent The being of grace is a different thing from the seeing of grace The blind man you know in the Gospel calls his faith unbeleef graces that otherwise might bee discerned though there may bee many precious gems and jewels in the house yet the smoak may hinder a man from seeing them sparkle and shine So though there be many precious graces in the soules of Saints yet corruption may raise such a dust such a smoak in the soule that the soule is not able to see them in the beauty and glory Gen. 21. 19 20 The Wel of water was neer Hagar but she saw it not till her eyes were opened by the Lord. So grace is neer the soul yea in the soul sometimes and yet the soul doth not see it till God opens the Gen. 28. eye and shews it The Lord was in this Yet a Saint at worst is not like him in Plutarch who would not bee resolved of his doubts because he would not lose the pleasure in seeking for resolution No he loves and looks and longs for resolution to all his doubts place said Jacob and I knew it not so many a precious soule may say Grace was in my heart and I knew it not I saw it not Blessed Bradford in one of his Epistles saith thus O Lord meethinks I feel it so with me sometimes as if there were no difference between my heart and the heart of the wicked my minde is as blinde as theirs my spirit as stout stubborne and rebellious as theirs and my thoughts as confused as theirs and my affections as disordered as theirs and sâ—rvices as formal as theirs c. Ah Christians have not many of your soules found it so Surely yes no wonder then that though you have grace yet you have not seen it sparkling and shining in your soules as some have thought that their fields have had no corne because they have been so full of weeds and that their heap hath no wheat because nothing hath appeared but chaffe that their pile hath no gold because it hath been covered with much dross So some have thought that their hearts have been void of grace because they have been so full of Matth. 14 30 Mat. 12. 15. Gen 20. Chap. fears and doubts Peter at one time beleeves and walkes at another time he doubts and sinkes Abraham beleeves and offers up Isaac at one time hee feares and falls at another time Say thou art my sister lest they kill mee So David and Job they had their shufflings tremblings faintings shakings Psal 116. 11. Psal 31. 22. and questionings It is not alwayes high water with Saints sometimes they are reduced to a very low ebbe The best of Saints are like the Rara hora brevis mora Ber. Arke tossed up and downe with waves with feares and doubts and so it will bee till they are quite in the bosome of Christ 6 Lastly a man may have grace and yet not see it yet not know it and this may arise from his non-searching his non-examining his non-ransacking of his owne soule there is gold in the Mine and men might finde it if they would
the day Dan. 3. 28 29 30. of their sufferings O the sight of so noble a spirit in the Saints cause others Dan. 6. 25 26 27. to admire God to lift up God to fall in love with God and to glorifie God for owning his people and for being a light to them in darkness a joy to them in sorrow and a pallace to them in a prison God is very sensible of the many praises and prayers that he should lose did he not cause his love and his glory to rest upon his people in suffering times There is Isa 48. 11 nothing that God is so tender of as he is of his glory and that his heart is so much set upon as his glory and therefore he will visit them in a prison Gen. 39. 20. ult and feast them in a dungeon and walk with them in a fiery furnace and shew kindness to them in a Lyons den that every one may shot and cry Dan 6. Grace Grace God loves to act in Zech 4. 7. such ways of Grace towards his suffering ones as may stop the mouths of their enemies and cause the hearts of his friends to rejoyce Fourthly Believing times are times Reas 4 wherein the Lord is graciously pleased to lift up the light of his countenance upon his people when his children are in the Exercise of Faith then the Lord is pleased to make known his goodness and to feal up to them everlasting happiness and blessedness Eph. 1. 13. In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the Word of Truth the Gospel of your Salvation In whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise or In whom believing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vide Beza and Calvin ye were sealed that is As you were in the very Excrcise and Actings of Faith upon the Lord Jesus Christ the Spirit of the Lord made sure and sealed up to you your Adoption your Reconciliation your Pardon and everlasting Inheritance Him that honors Christ by believing by fresh and frequent actings of Faith upon him him will Christ certainly honor and secure by setting his seal and mark upon him and by assuring of him of a Kingdom that shakes not of riches that corrupt not and of glory that fades not Ah Christians you wrong two at once Christ and your own souls whilest you thus reason Lord give me first assurance and then I will believe in thee and rest upon thee whereas your great work is to believe and to hold on believing and acting of Faith on the Lord Jesus till you come to be assured and sealed up to the day of Redemption This is the surest and the shortest way to assurance That is a remarkable passage of the Apostle in Rom. 15. 13. Now the God of hope fill you with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shall fill you from signifies to be filled with joy and peace as the sails of a ship are fillâ—d with wind all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost The God of hope saith the Apostle shall fill you with all joy and peace in believing that is whilest you are in the Exercise and Actings of Faith the God of hope shall fill you with that joy that is unspeakable and full of glory and with that peace that passes understanding Faith is the Key that unlocks paradise and lets in a flood of joy into the soul Faith is an appropriating Grace it appropriates all to it self it looks upon God says with the Psalmist This God is my God for ever and Psal 63. 1. 48. 14. ever it looks upon Christ and says My beloved is mine and his desires are towards Can. 7. 10. me it looks upon the precious promises and says these precious promises are 2 Pet. 1. 4. mine it looks upon Heaven and says Henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of 2 Tim 4 8. Righteousness and this fills the soul with joy peace Faith hath an influence upon other graces it is like a silver thred Tantum possumus quanium credimus that runs thorow a chain of Pearl it puts strength vivacity in to all other vertues it made Abraham to rejoyce and it made Noah sit still quiet in the midst of a deluge Faith is the first pin that moveth the soul it is the spring in the Watch that sets all the Golden Wheels of Love Joy Comfort and Peace a going Faith is a root of Grace from whence springs all the sweet flowers of joy peace Faith is like the Bee it will suck sweetness out of every flower it will extract light out of darkness comforts out of distresses mercies out of miseries wine out of Judg. 14. 14. water honey out of the rock and meat out of the eater 1 Pet. 1. 8. Whom having not seen ye love in whom though now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Upon the Exercise of Faith their hearts are filled with joy with unspeakable joy with glorious joy Faith sees in Christ Plenitudo abundantiae There is in Christ not onely plenitudo vasis but plenitudo fontis the fulness of a vessel but the fulness of a fountain and this makes the heart of a Saint leap when he sees it by an eye of Faith and plenitudo redundantiae a fulness of abundance and a fulness of redundancy and this fills the heart with glorious joy Ah Christians believing believing is the ready way the safest way the sweetest way the shortest way the onely way to a wel-grounded assurance and to that unspeakable joy and peace that flows from it as the effect from the cause the fruit from the root the stream from the fountain There is such assurance and such joy that springs from the fresh and frequent actings of Faith that cannot be exprest that cannot be painted no man can paint the sweetness of the honey comb the sweetness of a clustre of Canaan the sweetness of paradise the fragrancy of the Rose of Sharon As the being of things cannot be painted and as sweetness of things cannot be painted no more can that assurance and joy that flows from believing be painted or expressed it is too great and too glorious for weak man Rom. 4. 18. to paint or set forth When Abraham believed in hope against hope and when in the face of all dangers and difficulties he put forth such noble and glorious acts of Faith as to conclude That the Lord would provide himself a Gen. 22. 8. Dominus providebit the Lord will provide was Maximilians pious Motto and should be every Saints Motto in straits and troubles Lamb for a burnt-offering and that in the Mount he would be seen God is so taken with the actings of his Faith and the effects of it that he swears by himself That in blessing he would bless him that is I will
compleat satisfaction if thou wilt cast thy eye upon the particulars I doubt not but thou wilt finde that profit and content that will recompence More to that point I cannot easily say thee for thy pains And this I thought more convenient to hint to thee then to write over the same things that there thou wilt finde to thy delight and settlement The fifth Impediment to Assurance 5. Impediment is their grieving and vexing the Spirit of grace by not harkning to his voice Nil nisi sanctum a sanct◠spiritu prodire potest Nothing can come from the holy Spirit but that which is holy by refusing his counsel by stopping the ear by throwing water upon that fire he kindles in their souls and by attributing that to the Spirit that is to be attributed to mens own passions and distempers and to the Prince of Smoak drives away Bees and an ill savor drives away Doves Sin is such a smoak such an ill savor as drives away this Dove-like spirit darkness and his associates By these and such like ways they sad that precious Spirit that alone can glad them they set him a mourning that alone can set them a rejoycing they set him a grieving that alone can set them a singing and therefore it is that they sigh it out with Jeremiah Lam. 1. 16. Behold he that should comfort our souls stands afar off Ah doubting souls if ever you would have Assurance you must observe the motions of the Spirit and give up your selves to his guidance you must live by his Laws and tread in his steps you must live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit you must let him be chief in your souls This is the way to have him to be a sealing Spirit a witnessing Spirit and an assuring Spirit to your hearts Believe it souls if this be not done you will be far off from quietness and settlement The word that in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The soul will not quite leave wrangling till it be quiet in the bosom of Christ 1 John 3. 19. is rendred assure signifies to perswade to note to us that our hearts are very froward and peevish and apt to wrangle and raise objections against God against Christ against the Scripture against our own and others experiences and against the sweet hints and joyings of the Spirit and this they will do especially when we omit what the Spirit perswades us to omissions raises fears and doubts and makes work for Hell or for the Spirit and Physitian of souls or else when we do that which the Spirit disswades us from If you be kinde and obedient to the Spirit it will not be long night with your souls but if you rebel and vex him he will make your Isai 63. 10. life a hell by withholding his ordinary influences by denying to seal you to the day of redemption and by giving you up to conflict with horrors and terrors c. Therefore be at the Spirits beck and check and assurance and joy will ere long attend you The sixt Impediment to Assurance 6. Impediment is doubting souls making their Sense Reason and Feeling the judges of their Spiritual Conditions Now so long as they take this course they will never reach to Assurance Reasons arm is too short to reach this Jewel Assurance This Pearl of price is put into no hand but that hand of Faith that reaches from Earth to Heaven What tongue can express or heart conceive the fears the doubts the clouds the darkness the perplexities that will arise from the souls reasoning thus I finde not that the countenance Gen. 31. 5. of God is towards me as before therefore surely my condition is bad I feel not those warmings those quicknings those cheerings those meltings as before I am not sensible of those secret stirrings and actings of the Spirit and Grace in my soul as before I do not hear such good news from Heaven as before therefore certainly God is not my God I am not beloved I am not in the state of Grace I have but deceived my self and others and therefore the issue will be that I shall die in my sins c. To make Sense and Feeling the Judges of our Spiritual Conditions what is it but to make our selves happy and miserable righteous and unrighteous saved and damned in one day I in one hour when Sense and Reason sit as Judges upon the Bench Hath God made Sense and Feeling the Judges of your Conditions No. Why then will you Is your Reason Scripture is your Sense Scripture is your Feeling Scripture No. Why then will you make them Judges of your Spiritual Estate Is not the Word the Judge by which all men and their actions shall be judged at last The word that I have spoken John 12. 43. says Christ shall judge you in the last day To the Law and to the Testimony Isa 8. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if they speak not according to this Word it is because there is no light or no morning in them Why then O doubting souls will you make your Sense and Feeling the Judge not onely of your conditions but of the truth it self What is this but to dethrone God and to make a god of your Sense and Feeling What is this but to limit and binde up the Holy One of Israel What is this but to toss the soul to and fro and to expose it to a labyrinth of fears and scruples What is this but to cast a reproach upon Christ to gratifie Satan and to keep your selves upon the rack Well doubting souls the counsel that I shall give you is this Be much in believing and make only the Scripture the judge of your condition maintain the judgement Inclinavit Deus Scripturas ad infantium lactentium capacitatem saith one God hath bowed down the Scriptures to the capacity even of Babes and Sucklings Id agit tota Scriptura ut credamus Deum esse misericordem Luth. Psal 119. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Word against the judgement of Sense and Feeling and if upon a serious sincere and impartial comparing of thy heart and the Word together of thy ways and the Word together the Word speaks thee out to be sincere to be a Nathanael to be a new Creature to be born again to have an immortal seed in thee c. Cleave to the Testimony of the Word joy in it rest upon it and give no more way to Fears and Doubts Let thy countenance be no more sad for nothing can speak or make that soul miserable that the Word speaks out to be happy Constantine would have all differences and disputes in the Nicene Councel ended by the Bible O doubting souls look cheerfully to this That all differences and controversies that arise in your hearts be ended by the Word there is danger in looking beside the Scripture or beyond the Scripture or short of the Scripture or upon sense
bosom that are not directed to his glory The end must alwayes be as noble as the means or else a Christian acts below himself yea below his very Reason Ah Christians it is not a flood of words nor high strains of wit nor vehemency of affections in Prayer but holy and gracious ends that will render Prayer acceptable and honorable to God comfortable and profitable to your selves and others yea the directing of one Prayer to divine glory doth more torture and torment Satan then all the Prayers in the world that are directed to ends below divine glory It is not simply Prayer but the souls aiming at divine glory in Prayer that addes to Christs Crown and Satans Hell And thus I have shewed you all the Requisits of Prayer even of such Prayer as accompanies Salvation I shall now proceed to some other particulars for the further and fuller opening of this truth Secondly That Prayer that accompanies It was a sweet saying of one O Lord I never come to thee but by thee I never go from thee without thee Salvation betters the whole Man by it Faith is increased Hope strengthned the Spirit exhilarated the Heart pacified the Conscience purified Temptations vanquished Corruptions weakned the Affections inflamed the Will more renewed and the whole Man more advantaged Prayer is a Spiritual Chair wherein the soul siteth down at the feet of the Lord to receive the influences of his Grace Prayer is the Regal Gate by which the Lord entereth into the heart comforting quieting strengthning quickning and raising of it The Scripture affords us a cloud of witnesses to prove this truth but I appeal to praying Saints Ah tell me tell me praying Souls have not you do not you finde it so I know you have and do and that is it that makes Prayer a pleasure a paradise unto you Thirdly You may judge what Prayer that is that accompanies Salvation by considering the difference that is betwixt the Prayers of the godly and the wicked Now the difference between the Prayers of the one and the other I shall shew you in the following particulars First Gracious Souls do trade and deal with God in Prayer onely upon the account and credit of Christ They It is a notable saving Luther hath upon the 130 Psalm Often and willingly saith he do I inculcate this that you should shut your eyes and your ears and say You know no God out of Christ none but he that was in the lap of Mary and sucked her Brests He means none out of him beg mercy to pardon them and grace â—o purge them and balm to heal them and divine favor to comfort them and power to support them and wisdom to counsel them and goodness to satisfie them but all upon the account of Christs Blood of Christs Righteousness of Christs Satisfaction and of Christs Intercession at the right hand of the Father Revel 4. 10 11. They seek the Father in the Son they present their sutes always in Christs Name for so is the will of Christ John 14. 13 14. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my Name that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son If ye shall ask any thing in my Name I will do it John 15. 16. Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my Name he will give it you Chap. 16. 23. Verily I say unto you whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name he will give it you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Greek is pregnant and may be read not onely whatsoever but also how many things soever ye shall ask or beg of the Father in my Name he will give them to you There is no admission into Heaven except we bring Christ in our arms Ephes 2. 18. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As no access so no acceptance without Christ Eph. 1. 6. Wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved the Father The Greek word signifies A leading by the hand it is an allusion to the custom of Princes to whom there is no passage unless we be brought in by one of their Favorites Plutarch reports That it was wont to be the way of some of the Heathens the Molossians when they would seek the favor of their Prince they took up the Kings Son in their Arms and so went and kneeled before the King Ah Christians Christ is near and dear unto the Father the Father hath determined to give out all his loves and favors through his Son if you bring As Jacob said See not my face except you bring Benjamin with you So sayes God See not my face except you bring Jesus with you Gen. 42. 20 to 34. And as David said to Abner 2 Sam. 3. 13. Christ in the arms of your Faith you gain the Fathers heart and in gaining his heart you gain all The Fathers Mercies melt his Bowels roul his Heart turns his Compassions are kindled upon the sight of his Sons Merits and Mediation As Joseph said to his Brethren Ye shall not see my face unless you bring your Brother Benjamin So sayes God you shall not see my face unless you bring the Lord Jesus with you Now gracious Souls in all their Prayers they present Jesus Christ before the Father and upon his account they desire those things that make for their external internal and eternal good Ah but vain men treat and trade with God in Prayer upon the account of their own worth righteousness worthiness and services Isa 58. 2 3. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways as a Nation that did Righteousness and forsook not the Ordinance of their God They ask of me the Ordinances of Justice they take delight in approaching to me Wherefore have we fasted say they and thou seest not Wherefore have we afflicted our souls and thou takest no knowledge Here you see they stand upon their own practises and services and expostulate the case with God in an angry manner because God did not answer their hypocritical performances So the proud Pharisee stands in Prayer upon his own worthiness and righteousness Luk. 18. 11 12. The Pharisee stood and prayed This Pharisee was like the Egyptian Temple painted without and spotted within varnish without and vermin within thus with himself God I thank thee that I am not as other men are extortioners unjust adulterers or even as this Publican I fast twice in the week I give tithes of all that I possess So did those Hypocrites in the sixth Chapter and in the three and twentieth Chapter of Matthew stand very much upon their outward services and performances though they were but shining sins but filthy rags Secondly Souls truly gracious pray more to get off their sins then they do to get off their chains Though Bonds did attend Paul in every place as Acts 20. 23. himself speaks yet he never cries out O wretched man that I am who shall
presumption that works men to play with sin to be bold with sin to make light of sin to walk on in wayes of sin Such Assurance will never bring a man to Heaven it will never keep him from dropping into Hell yea it will double his damnation and make him the most miserable among all damned miserable forlorn spirits Ah Lord from This made Auselm say That he had rather be thrust into Hell without sin then go into Heaven with sin such an assurance deliver my Soul and give me more and more of that Divine Assurance that makes sin to be more hateful then Hell and that makes the Soul to be more careful to avoid the one then it is fearful of falling into the other Seventhly A wel-grounded Assurance is alwayes attended with three fair Handmaids or with three sweet Companions The first is Love O! the Assurance 1. Handmaid of Divine Favor doth mightily inflame a mans love to Christ Mary Magdalen Luke 7. loved much Christs love to her drew out her love very much to Christ Assurance makes the Soul sing it out with that sweet Singer of Israel I will dearly love thee O Lord my Psal 18. 1. strength Lovers know not how to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To love intimately and dearly as a tender mother loves the fruit of her womb keep silence lovers of Christ are full of gracious expressions Magnes amor is est amor Love is the attractive Loadstone of love It is impossible for a Soul not to love Christ that knows he is beloved of Christ Christs love constrains the Soul to love not by forcible but loving necessity Praxiteles exquisitly drew Love taking the pattern from that Passion which he felt in his own heart A Believer cannot finde the heart of Christ to be beating towards him but his heart will strongly beat towards Christ Divine love is like a rod of myrtle which as Pliny reports makes the Traveller that carries it in his hand that he shall never be faint or weary of walking or loving Love alone over-powereth all power Love is the Diadem none but the Queen must wear it Love is the Wedding Garment none but the Spouse can fit it Love is a Loadstone to draw as well as a fire to warm he that doth not love Christ was never assured of the love of Christ The second Handmaid or Companion 2. Handmaid that attends a wel-grounded Assurance is Humility David under Assurance Psal 22. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Hebrew word Tolagnah that is here rendred Worm signifies a very little worm which a man can hardly see or perceive cryes out I am a worm and no man Abraham under Assurance cryes out that he is but dust and ashes Jacob under Assurance crves out that he was less then the least of all mercies Job under Assurance abhors himself in dust and ashes Moses had the honor and the happiness to speak with God face to face he was very much in Gods books in Gods favor and yet a more humble Soul the earth did never bear The great Apostle Paul under all the revelations and glorious manifestations of God to him counts himself less then the least of all Saints Ephe. 3. 8. That is Presumption that is a delusion of the Devil and no sound Assurance that puffs and swels the Souls of men that makes men prize themselves above the market above the value that God hath put upon them The third Handmaid or Companion 3. Handmaid that attends Assurance is holy Joy Ah this Assurance causes the strong waters of Consolation to overflow the Soule Assurance raises the strongest joyes in the Soul Luk. 1. 46 47. And Mary said My soul doth magnifie the Lord and my Spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour When a man comes to be assured that God is his Savior presently his Spirit rejoyces in God this truth is held forth by three Parables in that of Luk. 15. So in that of 1 Pet. 1. 8 9. Whom having not seen ye love in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to dance and leap for joy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 glorified already they have heavens happinesse before hand whom though now ye see him not yet bebeleeving ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Receiving the end of your faith even the salvation of your souls O the Joy the Joy the inexpressible Joy that attends a wel-grounded Assurance Assurance raises a Paradise of delight in the soul In quibus operamur in ill is gaudemus saith Tertull. In what things or persons we act in those things we rejoyce a Christian under the power of Assurance works all his works in Christ in him therefore and in him alone he rejoyceth Eightly and lastly A wel-grounded Assurance sometimes springs from the Testimony and Witnesse of the Spirit of God The Spirit sometimes witnesses to a Beleevers spirit that he is born of God that he is beloved of God that he hath union and communion with God that he shal reign for ever with God Rom. 8. 16. The Spirit it self beareth witness with our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That same spirit The Spirits work is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to witnesse together with our Spirit that is to confirme and ratifie what ou◠spirits have asserted concerning our Adoption c. spirit that we are the children of God The Spirit it self witnesseth not onely the Gifts and Graces of the Spirit but the Spirit it self witnesseth together with our own spirit that we are the children of God Sometimes the Saints have two Witnesses joyning their testimonies together to confirm and establish them in these blessed and glorious Truths that they are the Sons of God and Heirs of Glory And this is their honor as well as their comfort that the blessed Spirit should bear witness at the bar of their Consciences that they are the Sons of God 1 Cor. God sometimes assures his people of heaven aforehand 2. 12. Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God That is that we may know our Election Vocation Justification Sanctification and Glorification A man may receive many things that are freely given of God and yet not know them till the Spirit comes and makes them known to the soul Quest But you may say to me how shall wee know the whispering of the holy Spirit from the hissing of the old Serpent how shall we know the report the witnesse and testimony of the Spirit of Christ from that report witnesle and testimony that the old Serpent deludes and deceives many by in these daies wherein he mostly appears in his Angelicall Robes I Answer you may know the whispering Answ of the Spirit from the hissing of the old Serpent c. by these following things which I desire that you
man a servant to sin that breeds a contempt of Ordinances a neglect of holy Duties a carelesness in walking with God And from those hissings of the old Serpent O Lord deliver my Soul and the Souls of all thy servants that put their trust in thee Ninethly and lastly Assurance is a Jewel a Pearl of that price that God onely bestows it upon renued hearts The Spirit never sets his Seal upon any but upon those that Christ hath first Revel 2. 17. Ezek. 36. 25 26 27. compared printed his Image upon God gives to none the white stone but to those from whom he hath taken the heart of stone Christ never tells a man that his Name is written in the Book of Luke 10. 20. Life till he hath breathed into him Spiritual Life Christ never sayes Son be of good chear thy sin is pardoned Luke 5. 18 19 20. till he hath first said Be thou healed be thou cleansed Christ never gives a man a new name that is Isa 56. 5. 2 Cor. 5. 17. better then the names of Sons and Daughters till he hath made them new Creatures Of Slaves Christ first makes us Sons before we cry Abba Rom 8. 15. Ephes 2. 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20. Father Of Enemies he first makes us Friends before he will make us of his Court or Counsel Christ will never hang a Pearl in a Swines snout nor put new Wine into old Bottles nor his Royal Robes upon a leprous back nor his Golden Chain about a dead mans neck nor his glistering Crown upon a Ephes 1. 13. Traytors head The Spirit never sets his Seal upon any but upon those that Christ hath first seâ— as a Seal upon his Cant. 8. 6. heart The Spirit onely bears witness to such as hate sin as Christ hates it and that love Righteousness as Christ Psal 45 7. loves it that hate sin more then Hell and that love truth more then life A Soul sealed by the Spirit will pull out right eyes and cut off right hands for Christ such a Soul will part with a Benjamin and offer up an Isaac for Christ And this is to be seriously minded against those deceived and deluded Souls that remain yet in their blood and that wallow in their sins and yet boast and brag of the Seal and of the witness and testimony of the Spirit And thus I have shewed you the difference between the whisperings of the Spirit and the hissing of the old Serpent between a true testimony and a false CHAP. VII Containing Answers to several special Questions about Assurance BUt me thinks I hear some precious Souls saying Sir Quest 1 we have after much praying weeping and waiting gained this Pearl of price Assurance But O how shall we do to strengthen it How shall we do to keep it Satan will labor to weaken our Assurance and to rob us of this Jewel that is more worth than a world what means must we use to strengthen our Assurance and to secure it c. Now to this Question I shall give these following Answers First If you would have your Assurance strengthned and maintained then keep close to Soul-strengthning The old Rule was Hoc age ways be serious and sincere be diligent and constant in the use of those means and ways wherein you first gained Assurance as Prayer the Word breaking of Bread Communion of Saints c. A conscionable and cordial A cool spirit is always a losing spirit the doing heart the diligent heart turns the spark into a flame the mite into a million c. use of holy and heavenly means is blessed not onely with a preservation of Assurance but likewise with an addition and increase of it The ways of God and his goings in the Sanctuary have wrought wonders upon thee when thou wast dead how much more will they work upon thee and for thee now thou art by Grace made alive He that will not apply himself to Gods strengthning methods will quickly finde his Assurance weakned if not wholly wasted He that thinks himself too good for Ordinances will quickly grow weak in his Assurance The choicest Prophets and highest Apostles if I may so speak that had attained to the fullest Assurance kept close to the ways and precious institutions of Christ Verily those that pretend to live above Ordinances and yet live below them never knew by experience what a mercy it was to have a wel-grounded Assurance or else they have lost that blessed Assurance that once they had c. Secondly If you would strengthen and maintain your Assurance then dwell much upon your Spiritual and Eternal Priviledges viz. Your Adoption Holy and heavenly priviledges are the food by which Assurance is cherished and maintained Justification Reconciliation c. 1 Pet. 2. 9. This you will finde by experience will mightily tend to the strengthning and maintaining of your Assurance He that neglects this Rule will quickly finde his Sun to set in a cloud his Harp to be turned into mourning and his Organ into the voice Job 30. ult of them that weep Thirdly If you would strengthen and maintain your Assurance then look that your hearts and thoughts run more out to Christâ— then to Assurance to the Sun then to the Beams to the Fountain then to the Stream to the Root then to the Branch to the Cause then to the Effect Assurance is sweet Cant. 1. 13. but Christ is more sweet Assurance is lovely but Christ is altogether lovely Cant. 5. 16. Prov 3. 15. Assurance is precious but Christ is most precious Though Assurance be a flower that yeelds much comfort and delight yet it is but a flower Though Assurance be a precious Box yet it is but a Box. Though Assurance be a Ring of Gold yet it is but a Ring of Gold And what is the flower to the Root what is the Box to the Oyntment what is the Ring to the Pearl No more is Assurance to Christ therefore let thy eye and heart first most and last be fixt upon Christ then will Assurance bed and board with thee otherwise thou wilt quickly finde thy Summer to be turned into Winter Fourthly If you would strengthen and maintain your Assurance then look that your hearts are more taken up with Christ then with your Graces Though Grace be a glorious Creature Christ is the pot of Manna the Cruse of Oyl the bortomless Ocean the most sparkling Diamond in the Ring of glory c. yet it is but a Creature therefore let Grace have your eye but be sure that Christ have your heart Christ will not allow your very Graces to be corrivals with him He that mindes his Graces more then Christ or that sets his Graces upon the Throne with Christ will quickly finde what it is to lose the face and favor of Christ Your Grace are but Christs Servants and Handmaids you may look upon them but you must not match with