I may the more clearly manifest to this great Assembly what my understanding is in this weighty matter give me leave to preface foure particulars which may prevent mistakes as if any private or particular designe were aimed at in such a Doctrine as this First Man as a reasonable Creature is the subject of Christian Doctrine Man doth not throw away his mind and understanding when hee comes to be proselited into the Truths of Christ When God undertaketh to informe a man with heavenly doctrine hee doth not deale with him as hee would deale with a stone which he would raise up to be a child to Abraham for he findeth man already endowed with a minde and will upon which account Hee is capable to heare further from his God Mans understanding is of very good use in Christian Religion for by that is man able to communicate much of his sence in heavenly things unto others as also to plead for and by argument to back the Truth received against the Cavils and contradictions of such as oppose themselves I must confess freely what I apprehend That in the moment of a mans conversion when the grace of God powerfully ceizeth upon his spirit to turne him from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God those acts that he doth then performe are the most rationall acts that ever he did performe in all his life The acts of Repentance Faith and Selfe-denyall the act of turning from sin unto God which are the acts that appear in the first motion of the soule unto God these are in themselves and to the soule most reasonable equitable just and right yea in the further progress of the grace of God in mans minde when it growes up into sanctification and holiness the understanding of a man doth act and acteth understandingly The truth is This minde and understanding of a man is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} as the great Philosopher calls it the very flower of a mans soule which is not blasted and withered by the Truths of the Gospell but it is thereby reformed rectified repaired and restored to its primaeve perfection with great advantage So that I think in a sober sence what the Apostle speaks of the Law That it is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a School-Master to Christ may be sayd of mans naturall knowledge and understanding In which sence one of the Antients calleth true Philosophy {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} an inferiour Schoole or a fore-teaching to Christ as it is that which renders a man capable and fit to receive the impressions of a divine spirit For certainely a man in his witts and not a mad distracted man is the subject of Gods grace of his converting and sanctifying grace Secondly The written word of God in the Scriptures of Truth is the onely outward rule of faith and manners This is the norma fidei morum According to this rule must every man order his conversation Isai. 8. 20. To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because they have not so much as morning-light in them This is the royall Standard of Truth unto which we must bring all mens dogmata their assertions and opinions which are vended for Truth in the world Hereby may we examine and judge of all that which men would obtrude upon us I recommend to evry one that heartes me the constant studying of the holy Scriptures as being the Oracles of God It was that for which the Holy Ghost doth so highly commend the Beraean Christians That they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so and upon this account they were called {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} more noble as being better borne better bred better educated then those of Thessalonica I will onely adde this That the Letter of the Scriptures is but dead without a divine power joyned with it and a spirit moving mans mind without a word is very questionable and dangerous Thirdly The Holy Spirit which is understood by this anointing is no private spirit or particular impulse no singular perswasion or extraordinary inspiration but a generall and universall sense in all regenerate minds Holy men doe all agree by common consent in those Truths which the New Creature doth chiefly resent and rellish The Apostle to this purpose useth two expressions 1 Cor. 12. 13. and 2 Cor. 4. 13. By one spirit are we all baptized into one body and have been all made to drinke into one spirit and wee have the same spirit of Faith Where the Apostle considers the community of Christians under the notion of a body made up of severall members which must have a soule and spirit to informe animate quicken and enliven it This is that spirit of Jesus Christ which doth live in the soules of holy men and distinguish them from the common Herd of Infidels and Beastly sinners Although we may be ignorant of that which the Philosophers meant by their Anima mundi the soule of the world yet me thinks every gracious heart should easily apprehend what is that spirit and soule of the regenerate world But here I must acknowledge also That the eternall spirit of God doth sometimes come downe as from Heaven and particularly move upon a regenerate minde whereby it doth {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} blow off the ashes and stir up those heavenly sparkes which lay in the soule as buried under some clouds of sadness and hereby the frozen and benumined spirit of a precious saint doth finde it selfe thawed into a vivacious fitness for any service This is that which the spouse calls for in Song 4. 16. Awake O North winde and come thou South blow upon my Garden that the spices thereof may flow out This discourse I conceive may shew us the difference between the good spirit of God which sober minds converse withall and that fanatick and exstatick spirit which vaine men pretend unto and are deluded with This spirit in both the senses that we have spoken of may not be condemned as a groundless Enthusiasme for as the learned Cameron observes Enthusiasmus est ubi quis est merum organum sine omni usurationis judicij Then is a man acted by such a spirit when he uttereth Revelations without the use of his understanding and reason as sometimes the Prophets of old did who were but as a trunk or instrument through which the spirit conveyed those secrets which God would declare unto the world Fourthly The spirit of Christ signified by this anointing is first received in the way of his Ordinances and is thereby maintained and carryed on and doth live with great delight in the use of those Ordinances where it was first received He who hath received the anointing from the Holy one knows where he hath received it and he knowes also that
make them weary of their profession and deter and affright others from entertaining that Truth which was thus persecuted in those that did profess it The other way hath been by secret subtilty and cunning Sophistrie to undermine and imbase the Truth to mixe his poyson with Gods wine whereby Hee might with less difficulty either cheat the Professors and owners of it or at least hinder the Genuine and naturall effect which pure Truth should have upon the mindes of men But upon all the glory there hath been a protection and defence and this defence hath been the munition of Rocks First That there have been violent assaults upon the persons of the Saints for the Truths sake I need not fetch an argument from farr to demonstrate unto you Every one that we meet withall is able to tell us of those primitive persecutions and to relate unto us ruefull stories of the bloody Massacres that have been abroad Who amongst us is ignorant of those Smith-field Butcheries and those whole-burnt-offerings of holy men which the bloody Priests of Rome did offer to their great Idol What shall we say to this dayes rehearsall of those not invincible Armadoes those Powder-plots and conspiracies those armies and insurrections those wars and tumults which have threatned as with open mouth to swallow up and devoure whole Nations and Common-wealths where Iesus Christ hath had his worshippers Certainly nothing herein is so wonderfull as this that Christ hath yet a Name in the world that Hee hath yet a Name in England And that which hath secured Truth and her subjects from the mischief of these designes hath been the powerfull providence of the Almighty He that holdeth the Reins of Government in his hand who is the great and supteam Moderator of this world hath taken to himself his great power and hath reigned Behold God hath been to his Churches and holy ones as a Refuge from the storme and as a shadow from the heat of their persecuting Adversaries whilst the blast of the terrible ones hath been as a storme against the wall so that as we have cause this day in our Anniversary Commemoration of these never to be forgotten deliverances wee may take up that Angelicall Doxologie and say Blessing Honour Glory and Power be given to him that sits upon the Throne and to the Lambe for ever amen Hallelujah Secondly That there hath been deceit and Sophistry used to steale away Truth from the professors of it nothing is more clear and manifest The Scripture speaketh expresly that there were false Prophets amongst the people and there shall false Teachers creep in who shall bring in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them And these Agents or Factors for Truths Adversary are either those Tenebriones Lucifugae those Owles and Night birds who doe secretly blaspheam the Truth but dare not come into the Light lest their workes of darkness should be revealed and made manifest Or else they are those whom the Father calls Meridiani Daemones those noon-day Devils who with an impudent forehead dare set themselves to cry downe and with most Devillish confidence to oppose that Truth which must prevail and conquer And these may be those white Devils that would appear in the shape of Angels of Light whilst indeed secretly and inwardly they are nothing else but Feinds of Darknesse But against all these hath our Lord Jesus secured his Church and people and hath brought off his Truth without loss or prejudice and that by the powerfull working of his own Spirit living in the hearts of holy men Now as we have cause every way to bless God for Truths safety so from a godly jealousie and holy fear we may admonish and call upon the Professors of Truth that they be not led away with the error of the wicked or ensnared with the craft and subtilty of Antichristian seducers And this was the occasion of that discourse which the Apostle falls upon in this Chapter as may be gathered from the 26. Verse These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you The aged Apostle in the beginning of his discourse doth well consult the condition of Believers to whom this Epistle should come and writes unto them as unto little Children In Vers. 18. Little children you whose attainment it is to know the Father even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and in him your God and Father My little Children It is Hora novissima the last houre and therefore you had need to stirr up your selves and seriously to consider how to save your selves from that great inundation of the mystery of iniquity which will endeavour to suppresse the mystery of Godliness My little Children It is the last houre and as you have heard formerly by those who instructed you in the Truth that Antichrist should come so now already there be many Antichrists for this is the last time And the danger is greater forasmuch as those Antichrists who are abroad were sometimes pretenders to the truth of the Gospell sometimes they professed themselves subject unto that Truth which now they endeavour to oppose and vilify Yet let me informe you in this That they went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us no doubt they would have continued with us but they went out that it might be made manifest they were not all of us Now after Hee had given this Alarum to Believers concerning the approach of the Antichristian Adversary He gives himself and them a Cordial and encouragement in the words which I have read But ye have an unction from the Holy one and yee know all things Which words you may please to look upon as the Saints security in evill times or the best protection of holy men against the impudent assaults of Brazen-faced error and Antichristian falshood In these words be pleased to observe these three things First A glorious Title given to Iesus Christ the King of Saints He is called the Holy one You have an annointing from the Holy one The spirits of Antichrist they are uncleane spirits they are profane debauched polluted and polluting spirits but the spirit of our Lord Jesus which is in you proceedeth from one that is holy harmless and separated from sinners This is a Title often given in the old Testament to the eternall Majesty that increated Being God himself And our Lord Iesus as the eternall Son of the everlasting Father is dignified with the same Title and called the Holy Child the Holy thing the Holy one yea in Dan. 9. 24. he is called the sanctum sanctorum The great Saint or the most holy of all There the Angel tells Daniel that after seventy weeks there should be a reconciliation made for iniquity and everlasting righteousness brought in and the most holy should be annointed that is our Lord Jesus Christ the true Messiah should come in the flesh and be inaugurated and installed into
the same spirit can breath no where so freely as in such holy aire The new Creature was borne under the Ordinances of the Gospell and is nursed and brought up under them Faith came first by hearing and Faith groweth and receiveth strength being nourished by the same Doctrine by which it was at first planted They who have heard and learned of the Father come unto Christ and know not whether to goe from him because he hath the words of eternall life The Apostle in 2 Cor. 3. 8. calleth the ministration of the Gospel the ministration of the spirit as being that by which the soul doth receive and grow up in this divine and heavenly life Therefore the Author of this Epistle writing to anointed ones tels them that as they had heard so it should be that Antichrist would come and that they should abide in the Truth whereby he doth commend them and their Teachers for their great care and diligence in searching out and receiving the Truth I need not spend time in shewing the lawfulness conveniency and necessity of Gospell Ordinances such as are Hearing the word prayer breaking of bread to shew forth the Lords death and the rest which are of the like institution Onely this I would speak by way of admonition as it is a serious and generall observation which holy men have made That no sooner do men cast off the use of the Ordinances and appointments of Jesus Christ but at the same time they doe cast off God and godliness and laying the Reins upon their own necks they set the foot upon the holy Law running desperately upon further mischeif Thus hath divine Iustice branded those who would not humbly submit to such sacred Institutions Such is the Majesty and Authority of these things that almost every man in the use of them doth finde an awe upon his conscience and feel himselfe commanded into a moderate and sober modesty a modest sobriety and moderation Having thus layd downe these foure particulars by way of prevention give me leave to explaine the sence of the Doctrine in these seven following propositions First The Lord Iesus as head of his Church was first anointed with the divine spirit Here began this holy Unction Jesus Christ was the first Receiver of the Spirit The eternall spirit powred forth an abundance of this ointment upon the person of our Lord Jesus He was anointed with the oyle of gladness above his Fellowes In the ancient anointings God had appointed certaine measures of this oyl to be spent upon the persons anointed Saul was anointed with a Cruise of oyle as not like to continue in the throne long David was anointed with a horne of oyle his Kingdome being to remaine longer but it pleased the Father that in Jesus Christ should all fulness dwell so that in Isai. 10. he is called The anointing and such is the savour of his good ointments that his Name is as ointment powred forth therefore doe the Virgins love him The Lord Jesus did Receive this fulness for our sakes that from it we might receive and grace for grace Hee was to be the head of his Church propter eminentiam influentiam not onely for superiority but also for influence and conveyance so that upon this account Hee was first considered in the business of anointing that he might be usefull for conveyance of this spirit to his people The ointment poured upon the head of the high Priest ran downe upon his beard and to the skirts of his clothing leaving a sweet fragrancie and savour behinde it so doth this spirit of our Lord Jesus flow from him down to all his saints and perfumes them with his owne sweetness And as the Prophet Elijah when hee went to heaven let his mantle and spirit fall upon Elisha so did our blessed Lord and Saviour after his ascention send forth his owne spirit to dwell with his Disciples as their solace and comfort in his necessary absence Secondly Iesus Christ as a second Adam doth begett Children after his owne Image The first Adam brought forth children in his owne likeness deriving to them the same naturall spirit which was in himselfe so doth the second Adam propagate his posterity and give unto them his owne spirit which is supernaturall and heavenly The Picture doth not so exactly resemble the face as the regenerate soule doth resemble her everlasting Father This Notion lyeth very obvious in the 5. of the Romans Where the Apostle discourseth of the two Adams and their two posterities with their severall advantages or prejudices that they received from their head As by one man sinne entered into the world and death by sinne and death passed upon all for asmuch as all have sinned which words referre to the whole posterity of the first Adam so by one man came life by one came forgiveness by one came such a universall reparation that as in Adam all dyed so in Christ all are made alive all the posterity of the second Adam are as much yea more advantaged by their Head Jesus Christ then all the posterity of the first Adam were damnified by his Apostacy and the influence that it had upon them The Lord Jesus findes the children of the first Adam in their naturall capacity and maketh them the subjects of his grace but Hee bringeth forth upon their minds and spirits a new creation which he did not finde in them no not in semine not in the seeds or root of it Hee cometh by his spirit to doe some thing in man which could not be done by the sublimation or improvement of those Rudera naturae those reliques and remainders of Shipwrackt nature for if so then what meaneth that bitter Cup what meant that pomp of bloody sufferings which Jesus Christ did undergoe What need was there that he should come endowed with so much spirit If Naturall principles which yet remaine in the broken posterity of the first Adam could have brought forth that which now is the great designe and undertaking of Christ in the world Hee seemeth to have come in the flesh and to have suffered such contradction of sinners and so shamefull accursed death upon the Cross upon too smal and too inferiour account Doth Jesus Christ after all this effect no more upon men then what the scattered peices of decayed nature being gathered together could effect upon them Surely Brethren Hee doth more then so for hee begetts children unto himselfe as a Father and uniteth members unto himselfe as an Head Hee transplanteth soules into an other soyle and they live in him deriving sap and spirit from him as from their better soyle their new Root The Apostle in Gal. 4. doth thus exprese it My little children with whom I travaile in birth {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} untill Christ be formed in you that is until the spirit of our Lord Jesus comes to be that to your soules which your soules are unto your bodies The reasonable soule in
yea and a regenerate heart doth by an holy Sympathy entertaine with infinite delight these precious and holy Truths Arguments and Syllogismes doe make a great noise in the world mee thinke they are not unlike to that appearance in Horeb unto the Prophet Elijah when the great and strong winde rept the mountaines and brake in pieces the Rocks but it is said the Lord was not in the winde nor in the earthquake nor in the fire but he was in the still small voice Lux spiritus sancti est lenis lux perfundens se mentibus The Holy spirit doth gently hover over the soule and brood upon it Heavenly Doctrine falleth downe upon the spirits of men not like a mighty violent raine but like a showre of oyle like a sweet honey-dew Fifthly The inward sense of a regenerate minde doth easily judge between Christ and Antichrist Such holy soules are well resolved about the things of God they do not halt between God and Baal arguing themselves out of all Religion and modesty but they have a naturall tendency towards these things and they feel a magnetick vertue secretly over-power them This is the naturall working of the new Creature whereby the soule doth inwardly savour and rellish difference and distinguish between the Doctrines of Christ and the Impostures of Antichrist Jesus Christ tells us in Iohn 10. That his Sheep do hear his voice but they will not follow a stranger for they know not the voice of strangers Whereby he would have us to understand That all his Disciples who are truly taught of him doe carry within themselves the Lapis Lydius the Touch-stone of Truth and such is the present Touch or Taste that some things do make upon their spirits that they doe easily discerne from whence they come although they doe not bring them to an externall Judicatory The Divine nature whereof we are made partakers doth put a difference between that which is really and truly heavenly and that which is onely counterfeit stuffe as the Touchstone doth between Gold and Copper It is worthy of our observation That every life doth attract and concoct that which is suitable to its nature and the most inferiour life hath such a faculty The Plants of the earth do draw unto themselves that sap and juice which is proper for them and do digest it into nourishment The Beasts of the field doe naturally move towards those things which will maintaine their lives and turne aside from that which is poysonous and destructive to them and what is by them received they turne in succum sanguinem into food and nourishment and doe grow thereby The rationall life in a naturall man doth by observation argument and dispute gather up naturall Truths whereby the man becomes well polished in his understanding and may deserve the name of an instructed Philosopher so doth that spirituall and heavenly life which we call the new Creature and Divine nature in a Christian it being indued with such an attractive and digestive faculty doth know what is suitable or unsuitable to it selfe and doth accordingly affect or dis-rellish it The Needle touched with a Loadstone doth not more naturally move towards the Pole then a soule touched with a Divine Spirit doth move towards and freely embrace the truths of Christ it cannot rest at any point in the compass untill it be centered there Men in whom the spirit of this world lives and is praedominant do naturally affect worldly things the lusts of the flesh the lusts of the eye and the pride of life He that loveth profit is wholly taken up in getting wealth He that loveth honour and popular applause doth set himselfe to please men Hee that loveth pleasures studieth excess riot wantonness and dalliance and all these do finde their spirits move with a kinde of naturalness towards such things and take wonderfull contentment in them so that as the Apostle speakes These men are {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Lovers of pleasure lovers of mony rather then lovers of God The spirit of Iesus Christ in the hearts of holy men doth with savour and rellish entertain the things of God whilst other men that have but common spirits cannot take any delight or complacency in them Such was the hearty sincere affection of Timothy towards the Philippians that Saint Paul saith there was none like him who did {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} naturally take care of their affaires And it is much more true of a regenerate heart for none attaine to such a discretion in heavenly Truths as it selfe attaineth unto for unto a man void of such a life those precious truths are like the white of an egge without any savour Sixthly The true knowledge of heavenly things encreaseth according to the measure of Sanctification I doe not speak of knowledge falsly so called as the Apostle some where termes it but of true knowledge that is inward experimentall understanding and this grows up as holines doth enlarge it self in the soule The clearer the Glass the more perfect is the Reflection that it makes The more pure and spotless the soul is the better doth it receive and judge of heavenly things If it be but Day-break or a dim and duskie twilight we have a more doubtfull appearance of things that are before us but if it growes to a morning-light and once encreaseth into a noon-day brightness then have we a more exact and judicious vision of them When the soul begins at first to turn unto God it hath some taste or smattering of these spirituall dainties and it is like that taste which new-borne babes have of the milk which they suck from the Brests but when the Christian follows on to know the Lord whose going forth is prepared as the morning and when he doth resolvedly and strongly carry on the work of sanctification in his heart and life then doth he come to a more mature and ripened judgement of these things Hee was a child before but now he is grown up to a strong man in Christ The great Apostle tells us When he was a child he thought as a child Hee understood as a child but when he became a man hee put away childish things His apprehensions of truth were but low and weak because his capacity was not great but now he looks upon the brighter face of truth with greater complacency then he did before Our Lord Jesus tells us in Iohn 7. 17. If any man will doe his will hee shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God The best way to know assuredly and impregnably the truth of those things which God speaketh in his word is to observe and obey those things which God enjoynes The Holy Ghost which is the best witnes of Jesus Christ his Doctrine is given to them that obey him Act. 5. 32. and these men do sweetly rest in an assurance of the truth whilst others who are of impure spirits do quarrell and
word but the power of it implanting the minde of Christ in our mindes and turning of us from the ways of sin into the love of God I do not here determine what those larger measures or higher degrees of this teaching may be in the latter dayes when the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters doe the Sea Secondly If the best way to a certainty of knowledge in heavenly things be by a spirituall anointing Then proud man must be humbled and bee willing to bee taught by a divine spirit Flesh and blood cannot reveal unto man the things of the spirit neither can any man call Jesus the Lord but by the Holy Ghost for the flesh profiteth nothing it is the spirit that quickneth and these things they are spirit and they are life All things that Jesus Christ spake and did they were spoken in parables and done in parables to those that are without that hearing they might hear and not understand and seeing they might see and not perceive but to his Disciples he saith Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdome unto you these things are revealed from the Father The Apostle tells us in 2 Cor. 10. 5 That the weapons of our warfare are not carnall but mighty through God to the pulling down of those {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} those strong holds and reasonings those insulting notions that lift up themselves against Jesus Christ After all the Inquisition that our carnall reason can make into the Scriptures of truth to finde out articles of faith we shall still remain unsatisfied and may perceive that we are still ready secretly to aske the same question that Pilate did What is Truth Many men doe sometimes think that they throughly understand spirituall Truths when alas all their knowledge amounteth to nothing more then a zealous or passionate arguing for them The whole Bible to a reasonable man not regenerated will be as that book was which the Prophet speaks of when it was delivered to the learned to read it he returns it and saith I cannot for it is sealed and when it was delivered into the hands of the unlearned to read it he saith I am not learned We carry Bibles in our hands and say we study the word of God wee do well but untill we have a spirit from God teaching of us inwardly and reforming us according to the Tenor of that word we shall be no great Proficients in that knowledge Hence it is that in the 19. Vers of the Epistle of Iude one that hath not the spirit and one that is sensuall are accounted to be the same person sensuall not having the spirit The truth is vaine man would be wise though he be like a wilde asses colt Men would not onely be Masters of reason and naturall knowledge but would also have dominion over other mens faith and would subdue the spirituall sense of the new Creature to the Soveraignty and supremacy of humane arguments But as the Apostle speaks {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} where is the wise where is the Disputer of this world hath not God made foolish the wisedome of this world These men indeed be those {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} that would seem to be wise but is it not with them as the Apostle speaks in Rom. 1. 21. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} are they not become dark and vain in their imaginations yea doe they not cum ratione insanire even run madd with that which they call their reason though it be nothing better then a corrupt enmity against the honesty and simplicity of Christ Give me leave to speak freely in this point when the great mysteries of the Kingdome of Heaven such are Self-denyall reliance upon the grace of God revealed by the Messiah living by Faith in another and deriving strength from Christ through a promise I say when these things and the like are propounded to a naturall understanding and un unmortified heart will it not say that you doe lapides loqui speak stones unto it and offer that which is too hard to be received Me thinks when I offer such spirituall Truths to be judged at the Tribunall of naturall understanding which I call argumentative knowledge it is as when that which belongeth to one sense is presented to an other which cannot give a perfect judgement of it Hee that would make mee to understand what Musick is and the excellency of it must not bring mee to one that can with eloquence relate a story thereof and tell me in words what ravishing Harmony and rare delights it doth entertaine one withall and then bid me imagine how every note exceeded the other for this is not to touch upon the right string but he must bring me to a Consort where mine eare may receive a true impression from such musicall delights It is not enough to paint out the beauty of a Rose in the most lively colours and set it before mine eyes but I must smell to the rose it selfe and thereby come to know the sweetnesse of it Wee may thinke to make our selves great Doctors of the Law by a {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a forme of knowledge but thereby we deceive our selves attaining onely to a poor and beggarly understanding of the truths therein contained for the best way to know them is to obey and practise them He that hath his heart truly mortified to this world is crucified with Christ being made alive againe by that spirit of regeneration Hee alone doth attaine to the most quick and lively apprehensions of those Truths that are revealed by Christ in his Gospel Thirdly If they alone doe truly know the things of Christ who have received his anointing then certainly wicked men are no competent Iudges of Christian Doctrine Whatsoever their parts are or their acquired learing in arts and sciences yet as to heavenly things they are very darke and ignorant Perhaps this inference may provoke the great wits of the world to say as those Pharises did to Christ Are we blinde also But I am sure the Apostle tells us Hee that hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his and he that is not one of Christs flock I doe not know how he should understand Christs voice The prophaner Jews had the magnalia legis the great things of the Law delivered to them and they accounted them as a strange thing for as the Apostle speakes Moses hath a veile lying upon his face and when that people shall be converted unto the Lord this veile shall be taken away There is the flesh of Christ covering his spirit there is the letter and shell of the word of Christ as it is printed in our Bibles which doth like a Masque cloude and hide the beautifull face of Truth so that a carnall heart cannot discerne the beauty or judge aright of the excellency thereof so that the preaching of
an engrafted word there we may be perswaded with the Apostle that hee who hath begun a good worke will perfect it unto the coming of Christ This I must confesse That men by the improvement of their naturall understandings and by observing the Dictates of naturall conscience may reforme some externall enormities and scandalous vices of their lives and proceed further in profession upon account of some worldly considerations but from all this reformation though improved and carryed on very high they may againe revolt and apostatize because the principles thereof were externall and politicall not internall and genuine Such men as these are not like Timothy whom Paul calleth his naturall sonne in the Faith they are not naturall but artificiall Christians But hee that is not in appearance onely but in Truth also transformed into the image of Christ hath the seed of God remaining in him and eternall life implanted which shall never wither Hee shall never drowne himselfe in sensuality or fall away from the holinesse of a godly life into the filth and basenesse of a degenerate spirit The Apostle saith Oportet esse haereses There must bee haeresies That they which are approved may be made manifest The understanding Merchant knows which is the Pearle of price when one that is ignorant may be cheated with a counterfeit This is the excellency and glory of a spirit taught of God That when others fall away from the Truth of Doctrine and integrity of life that will still adhere and cleave unto him when the whole world shall lye in wickednesse that will preserve it selfe unspotted and blamelesse unto the comming of Christ Hence it was that the Martyrs of old though they could not dispute yet they could dye for Christ Hee that is alive in God shall not be religious onely when he hath the times with him for that is easie the dead fish can swimme downe the streame but when the wickednesse of the times and places where hee lives draweth other men into a dissolute loosenesse Hee shall stand like mount Zion and never be removed Sixthly If the Spirit of Christ be such a teaching spirit whereby we know him aright then it concernes every regenerate soule to deale kindely with that spirit Oh! Bee very tender of the good spirit of Jesus Christ I meane not onely that Gentle spirit which sometimes breaths upon the Garden of our souls and makes the spices thereof flow out and give their sent but that spirit of Christ also which is united unto and implanted in our Spirits that New Creature which is formed within us Oh! Take heed of grieving tempting or quenching this spirit Spiritus Sanctus est res delicata The divine spirit is a very tender thing Let none dare to cast water upon it whereby to coole or dampe it but let it act according to its own natural tendency It was the great request of Davids heart in Psal. 51. 11. Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy spirit from mee O Lord whatsoever thou takest away doe not take this away This spirit is that which puts me upon observance of thy will and doth many times recover and bring me back again when I have forgotten my selfe and thee Christians would you know what you are most of all beholding to in the world It is the good spirit and life of Jesus Christ This is the Life of your lives and the soule of your soules without this spirit you were but as other men yea you were unto God but as dead carkases and stinking Carryons Now if this spirit be our life and if by this men live Oh! then be kinde and tender towards it take heed least by any meanes you doe offend it Then doth a soule deale harshly and unkindly with this spirit when it opposeth resisteth and endeavoureth to stifle the motions of it when the will of Christ in the soul is gain-sayd Take heed Christians that you be not so rude as to offer violence and to force this holy spirit when that moves you towards God doe not you turne away from God What the Apostle beggs for patience I would begg for the spirit of Christ let the Nature Spirit and Life of Christ have its perfect worke in you let it act according to its owne freedome and latitude The Holy Ghost that dwells in you doth advise you not onely to be Christians pro hic nunc by fits and starts so as may serve your owne turnes but also to be enduring and universall Christians This divine Spirit is not satisfied if you bee onely moved by it in your publick Assemblies unlesse you be moved by it also in your Closets your Shops and in all your Relations for the Spheare of the new Creature is a sober righteous and godly life Where this holy Spirit dwells it will prompt the soule to something which is transcendent and above the straine of vulgar spirits Now suppose I should propound to this great Assembly the Question that Christ propounded to his Disciples in Matth. 5. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} what singular thing doe you more then others Yea let me but propound it to those who are called the holy ones of the most High Wherin doe you excell the Spirits of worldly men What is there that may speake you to bee anointed with this Divine Spirit Are you not as Proud as Covetous as vaine in your conversations as other men Oh! Then let me commend this unto you as seasonable and wholesome counsell Take heed how you use the spirit of Christ which dwelleth in you and suffer it to act like it selfe Seventhly and Lastly If holy soules know heavenly things by virtue of the anointing from the holy one which teacheth so sweetly and clearely then from hence wee may guesse at the glory of Heaven Wee may stand upon this Truth as Moses did upon the top of Pisgah and from thence view the land of Promise If the dignity of Christian in this world bee such as to have his minde enlightned with the pure spirit of Christ whereby he knoweth the minde of God with infallible certainty then what shall his glory bee in the world to come The Scriptures call that Spirit which Believers receive here the Seale the earnest and first-fruits of that which they shall receive hereafter And although this present knowledge which they have of heavenly Truths doth so farre exceed and transcend all the litterall knowledge of other men yet the Apostle accounts it dark and aenigmaticall in comparison of that knowledge which hee expects at the Revelation of Jesus Christ for in this mixture of flesh and spirit the soule doth use glasses and perspectives but then it shall see {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} face to face then shall it know even as it is knowne Oh! What infinite serenity and surpassing brightnesse shall then incompasse holy soules when they shall see all Truth in him who is Truth it self Here wee may often meet with vexations disputes from contentious Spirits but in Heaven there shall bee altum silentium a deep silence and everlasting rest where our soules shall wade into a Sea of light and enter into a vast eternity of Truth There shall be no spots nor blemishes no doubts nor scruples arising in our spirits for it shall bee all day even a day without clouds Wee shall never more be troubled with the importunity of busie arguments there shall bee no room for the Disputer of this world but the immaculate Lamb our Lord Jesus shall bee the light of that new Ierusalem and he shall enlighten our soules with his own light and glory for ever Amen FINIS Truth and Error at enmity Antichrists double designe 1 Open violence 2 Secret craft The Context The Text opened 1 Christ the Holy one Christs spirit 〈◊〉 anointing 3 Knowledge the benefit of anointing Doct. The Anointing best teacheth the Doctrine of Christ Foure Propositions preventive 1 Rationall man the subject of Christs Doctrine 2 The written word the outward Rule 3 The Vnction of the spirit a universall sense 4 The spirit of Christ lives in his Ordinances The Doctrine â—â—ened in 7 proâ—â—sitions Christ as â—ead first anoinâ—â—d 2 Christ as a second Adam hath his off-spring 3 Christ's spirit fitteth the soule to know his Truth Argumentative knowledge doubtfull and â—â—certaine 5 Inward sense judgeth between Christ and Antichrist 6 Heavenly knowledge proportionable to Sanctification knowledge by â—â—e anointing â—â—maineth 1 Use The promises of the spirit expounded 2 Use Proud man must be humbled 3 Use â—â—cked men not judge aâ—â— of heaâ—â—ly Truth 4 Use Litterall knowledge doth not make a Christian 5 Use Want of anointing the ground of Apostacy 6 Use Deal kindely with the spirit of Christ 7 Use A guesse at heavenly glory
that great office of an high Priest which had been for so many years past typified and shadowed out in their Priest that served in the Temple Now this is worth our consideration That if our Lord Jesus who is the Fountain from whence we receive this spirit be so holy and pure then surely the effects and operations that this spirit doth produce in those who receive it must be holy and pure also Impurity uncleanness and sinfull defilements cannot possibly proceed from so pure a spirit as the spirit of Jesus Christ is whose Name is The Holy one Secondly Another thing considerable in the words is An effusion of the Holy Ghost from Jesus Christ upon his people Yee have an unction or yee have received the anointing The custome of anointing was anciently used either to separate and consecrate to an holy use or to install and inaugurate to some office and service or to endow with gifts suitable to some notable and eminent employment And we finde in the Scriptures That the anointing past upon some of their Prophets their Priests and their Kings It is also further observed That in the second Temple the anointing or the holy oyntment was wanting which might signifie to the Jews that then were that their Ceremoniall Rites were beginning to waste they should therefore long for and earnestly desire the Messiahs comming by whom that anointing and other things should be supplyed and restored in a more singular and eminent way Our Lord Jesus as our high Priest was anointed and from him do all his people as so many inferiour Priests receive and participate of that anointing for as it is observed the High Priest of old had most oyle poured upon his head and the other Priests were but sprinkled with that holy oyle So then the meaning of this anointing which is poured out from Christ upon his people must needs signifie a communication of the same spirit of the same life of the same grace and nature that Jesus Christ as the chief Priest was anointed withall from the Father so that the same disposition and goodness of mind doth flow out from Christ to a gracious soule Thirdly Here is the great benefit that Believers doe Receive by this holy anointing which they have from the holy one and that is That they know all things You have an unction from the holy one and yee know all things There is some difference in the reading of these words The Syriack Translator reads them thus yee know all men and in that sence they may refer to that which the Apostle Paul speaks of in 1 Corint 12. 10. where amongst the gifts of the spirit which he reckoneth up this is one namely {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} the discerning of spirits And the truth is this great gift of discerning mens spirits was more especially given to some then unto others in the primitive times and they were able not onely probably to conjecture but also to give a judgement concerning many with whom they conversed and did thereby discover divers hollow and false-hearted Hypocrites which gift may peradventure though in a smaller measure and lower degree live even to this day in the hearts of holy men for verily they many times do give a very shrewd conjecture not to say judgement concerning Professors amongst whom they live but this they doe with a sober modest and compassionate spirit As for profane monsters and notorious sinners their condition is obvious and easily to be discerned by men whose eyes are in their heads who are not blinded with a Bride of favour or prejudiced with some fond and passionate affection But all the Greek Copies as is observed do read the words as we translate them Yee know all things that is all those maine necessary and fundamentall Truths which Jesus Christ came to declare as from the Father to the World or yee know all things that is All those Truths of the Gospel which those Antichrists that now are or that great Antichrist which shall come will sett themselves to oppose and contradict You who have this anointing doe most certainly and assuredly know and are well established in these principall and capitall Truths which you have received by vertue of this anointing Thus we have a brief account of these words presented to us And the point that I shal discourse upon with your Christian patience is this That the most certaine and assured knowledge of Christian doctrine is attained unto by a participation of the anointing of Iesus Christ Yee have received such an unction and thereby it is that yee know all things Every man almost in these days thinks himself well instructed in his Profession that hee makes and in the Articles of Faith whereunto he declareth himself to bee a servant who is there that doth not judge himself to be as a Master of Israel well understood in all points of Theologie who yet like Nicodemus remaineth in the very darkness of ignorance as not knowing what Regeneration and the new birth might signifie for we shall finde that there is no such certaine and infallible way to come to the knowledge of heavenly Truths as by Receving an unction from Jesus Christ When Iob's three Friends had spent much time in arguing and redarguing the case with Iob Elihu standeth up and speaketh after this manner I did expect that dayes should have taught wisedome and that I should have found understanding in the multitude of years but now I finde there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding great men are not alwayes wise neither doe the Aged understand judgement I find a great difference between the judgement that these men though grave seniors give concerning Iob's case and the judgement that the spirit of God giveth The Censure of these men proceedeth from the peevish angry spirits of men but the judgement of the divine spirit in this case is according to Truth But that notable Scripture which I shall briefly speak unto is in 1 Corinth 2. 13 14. c. where the Apostle speaking of this very subject telleth us of many things That which is the substratum the maine business of his discourse are {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} the things of the spirit then he tels us of a naturall man and a spirituall man then he speaks of the spirit of the World the spirit of God and the minde of Christ and then Hee compares all these together and bringeth forth thus much namely That the spirit of the world the spirit of a naturall man which is a mundane worldly spirit cannot receive the things of the spirit of God for they are spiritually discerned and onely they can know them who have the same spirit living and dwelling in their soules which Jesus Christ had dwelling in him having received it from the Father Wee have the minde and spirit of God and hereby doe we know the things of the Spirit That
snarle against it He that would grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ let him grow in grace as the Apostle exhorts in 2 Pet. 3. 18. One that is newly entered into the School of Christ doth finde it a hard and difficult task to subdue every corruption The sins of education custome and naturall tendency are not easily mastered Hence it comes to pass that upon any laps or fall into any particular sin the soule begins to be haunted with scrupulosities doubts and fears yea it doth upon such occasions fall to question the truth of grace and the certainty of the Gospel whereas in case of a constant and close walking with God there be no such clouds arising but a constant serenity upon the face of the soul The truth is all those secret suspicions and jealousies concerning the certainty of the wayes of Christ or of the worke of his grace upon our hearts doe proceed from some guilt contracted by acts of violence against the light and principles of the new Creature Would you then bee perfect in and assured of the truths of the Gospel take the Apostles counsell Put yee on the Lord Iesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof Seventhly The holy anointing in a regenerate soule will remaine without pollution by Antichristian falshood This anointing which yee have received abideth in you and as it hath taught you yee shall abide in him so saith our Apostle in 1 Ioh. 2. 27. Paul in 2 Cor. 1. 21. shews the ground of a souls establishment in the truth to be this holy unction this participation of the divine nature from God He that establisheth us with you in Christ and hath anointed us is God Such a soule can do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth They who are perswaded into an Orthodox opinion or article of faith by an humane argument may againe be easily cheated of that opinion by that {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} that dice-play of men when some cunning Antagonist shall cogg an argument which may seem to import a fairer probability But he that hath this inward light of the life of Christ as his guide into the knowledge of holy things is not easily removed from the Truth or much affrighted with the terror of arguments but shall hold his owne for ever Children and fools may exchange their Gold for Counters but the wise mans eyes are in his head and he will not part with his most precious Faith upon such easie tearms This true knowledge of God and spirit of Christ in the soul is that immortall seed that eternall life which shall never die he that hath said Touch not mine anointed will suffer none to lay violent hands upon his tender off-spring and in case of any impudent assault or bold affront offered to his sacred image it shall appear That Hee who is in a renewed mind is greater then he that is in the world This holy anointing this new creation in the soule is a Principle of recovery in case of some particular Apostacy and may be signified by that voice behind one which the Prophet Isaiah speakes of which shall say this is the way walk in it when he turneth to the right hand and when he turneth to the left Suppose a man having received this anointing should at any time by a sodaine temptation defile himselfe with sin whereby his glory is stained his spirit disquieted his conscience wounded and his peace interrupted he shall finde such secret struglings and strivings within himselfe that he is never quiet untill his filthiness be washt off and the new Creature within him restored to former freedom Upon this account the spirit of Christ is an holy unction for as oyle will not easily mixe with other liquors or incorporate with other bodies so this divine spirit will preserve it selfe pure and hate the very garment spotted with the flesh An holy soule is like a fountain or well spring of water into which there may be thrown dirt and trash but the fountain will still be cleansing it self and purging out that filth which was cast into it the spirit of Jesus Christ dwelling thus in the soule will continually be working out of all darkness and leading it on from light to light Thus have we opened the Doctrine unto you and made it manifest That the most certain knowledge of heavenly truths ariseth from the anointing of Christs spirit within the soule and not from outward arguments The spirit of God doth convey these truths into the soule The new Creature doth resent them and this anointing doth establish the soule in a certain assurance of them Now by way of application give me leave to speak briefly to some few Corollaries or deductions which flow naturally from this notion which hath been thus explained First If the new Creature brought forth in the soul by the spirit of regeneration be that which teacheth the certain knowledge of Christian Doctrine Then here we may see what is the true meaning of that spirit of Christ which he hath so universally promised to bestow upon his people The Old and New Testament is full of promises in this kind All thy people shall bee {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} taught of God a new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes I will make a new Covenant with the house of Israel I will put my laws into their minde and write them upon their hearts and they shall not teach every man his Neighbour and every man his brother saying Know the Lord as if they were ignorant of him or unacquainted with him for they shall all know mee from the least to the greatest this spirit which I will poure out upon my servants and mine handmaids shall lead them into all Truth Now all these and the like glorious promises do signifie unto us that experimentall knowledge of God and Truth which is the proper effect of this Renovation of minde which hath been sett before us When the soule is borne againe of that incorruptible seed and transplanted into our Lord Jesus as into a new root partaking of his sap and spirit then doth it attaine to a more cleare understanding of the will of God and hath a more perfect savour and rellish of Christ and his wayes This holy Spirit is that true Shechenah that indwelling of God in the soule which was antiently shadowed out by that cloud of presence which sate between the Cherubims wings in Solomons Temple Then are we indeed taught of God when this spirit dwells within us then are wee under the fulfilling of these promises when we have received the truth not as it comes from Paul or as it is delivered by Apollo but the Truth as it is in Iesus when the spirit of Truth doth make us to know not the
Christ crucified is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} an offence to the Jew and to the Greeks foolishness but unto them that are called both Jews and Greeks it is the power of God and the wisedome of God Great men are not always wise men and the men of the world are not fit to advise withall in the things of God Some there bee whom God hath given up {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} to a Reprobate minde to an injudicious minde which hath no true judgement in heavenly things Would any one make a madd man his Counsellor No He would chuse one that is compos mentis one that is of a sober and discreet reason advise with him in a matter of difficulty He that is of a ranting spirit and given to the love of fleshly pleasures may verba conari may like a Parrot speake words which hee understands not but he is crazed in his intellectualls and knowes not the way of the spirit in the soule Let me heare one speake concerning the worke of Grace the actings of Faith the drawings of the spirit whose eyes have been opened as Baalam said of himselfe in another case one who hath had an internall sense and feeling of these things within himselfe for Hee is best able to unfold such hidden mysteries But let us cease from man for wherein is he to be accounted of The Day-dawning and the day-star arising in our hearts will give us better light into that more sure word of the Prophets and Apostles then all the learned School-men or voluminous Commentators who have not plowed with Gods Heifer Fourthly If knowledge of Christian Doctrine must be received by spirituall anointing then to be instructed in the Letter of the Scriptures is not enough to make a Christian A man may by naturall understanding exercised upon the Letter of the Bible attaine to very great Orthodoxie in Articles of Faith and severall points of Religion for that which is true in Divinity is true also in Reason but notwithstanding all this litterall knowledge his soule may be like Pharaohs leane kine a starved and ill-favoured soule The generality of men in the world are exceedingly mistaken in this businesse for they have thought it to be Reformation enough if they might but purge their Articles of Faith and set forth in print that which might vindicate the truth of their opinions and wayes from the prejudice that they lye under in the World whereas in the midst of such reformation men shall be as carnall and devilish as they were before they shall inwardly be as full of pride and covetousnesse of envy and malice of hatred and revenge as ever and they shall have leave to study mischiefe and conceive evill will against their neighbour notwithstanding all the elaborate nicenesse of a reformed System Brethren Wee must not onely reforme our Bookes though that be very good but we must reforme our hearts and our lives the power of this anointing must eat out the proud flesh of our distempered hearts and quicken us also into a more pure and refined spirit Professors doe thinke they attain to a great measure of heavenly skill if they are but so well read in the Bible as to turne from one Scripture to anoother and compare one place with another whereby they may more strongly back that opinion which they would defend whereas all this while The Scripture is a thing without them and the minde of God is in their Bibles not in their hearts but the true Christian hath the word of God transcribed into himself and can say in his measure as Jesus Christ did I delight to do thy will O my God Yea thy Law is within my heart Eunapius in the life of Porphyrie speaking of his Master Longinus sayth Hee was such an excellent Schollar That hee was {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a living Library a walking Studie all his books were so well digested and their notions concocted in his minde that he did as it were give life motion to his Books in a requitall for that learning which he had received from them He is a Christian to purpose who hath the Bible transpirited into his minde who hath digested the sense of Scripture into practice and vitall blood Hee is not a Jew which is one outwardly neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh but he is a Jew who is one inwardly and Circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit whose praise is not of men but of God Fifthly Doth the Apostle bring in this anointing of the spirit as that which secures holy men from Antichristian impostures then here may wee see the ground of those great Apostacies that are abroad Doe wee at any time see some eminent professor come tumbling downe like Lucifer from the height of his profession and immerd himselfe in the dung of worldly wickednesse let us know the reason is because he had no root in himselfe They went out from us saith our Apostle for they were not of us They were leviter tincti sed non penitus imbuti they have had perhaps some sodaine and transient tasts of sweetnesse in the wayes of God but never did feed upon them with savour nor digest them They went out from us that it might bee manifest that they were not all of us There be some men in the world who have much of that which we call light in their understandings but have no grace nor honesty in their hearts and it is no wonder if they turne away from the Truth in a time of Temptation and day of Tryall it is the good ground that bringeth forth fruit and it is the honest heart that stands in a tempest being well bottomed and grounded upon a Rock Hee that is hurryed into any profession by the impulse of his worldly affections can not be setled and established in that profession but must turn about when those affections give the word Hee is like a ship whose sails are open to every gale of winde but hath neither Ballast nor Rudder to keep it steddy in its motion Many people thinke themselves so good Protestants that they should never turn Papists who yet I feare would fall from their owne stedfastnesse into the error of the wicked and casting off the Protestant Articles would easily entertaine for Faith the dogmata of Rome the reason whereof is Their souls are not converted to that Faith which they professe To an unregenerate man who gives up himselfe to licentiousnesse All Religion is alike for Religion doth oblige and command the soule into a diligent obedience to some Rule but such an unmortified heart cannot endure the beautifull bands of a Religious Law But where the Gospell of Christ cometh as it did to the Thessalonians not in word onely but {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} in power and much full assurance where the word of Truth is made manifest in mens consciences and becometh