failing is when he cometh to answer that Question How shall I know that this is the voice of the Spirit A needful Question Because Satan may and doth transform himself into an Angel of light and deceive the soul This is saith he the usual way of men if the Word did bear witness to this particular voice of the Spirit in me then I could be satisfied But if the Word do not bear witness to this voice of the Spirit I dare not trust it The usual way Nay is it not the only way In the Old Testament thus it was all Revelations were to be examined by the written word Deut. 13. 1. Isa. 8. 20. And is it not so also in the New-Testament See that Text of our Savior Ioh. 16. 13. He that is the Spirit shall lead you into all Truth How so For saith Christ He shall not speak of himself but what he shall hear that shall he speak And what is that which the Spirit heareth Is it not that which is already contained in the scriptures So then no Revelation of any Doctrine no nor the Application of it which is not consonant to the Scripture is to be thought to proceed from the spirit but whatsoever is pretended to be revealed by the Spirit doth so far forth call for Faith as is agreeable to the Scriptures Well not to quarrel needlesly nor to be too strict in terms he doth alow it for a truth The Spirit of the Lord never speaks to the heart of a Believer but he always speaks according to the Word of grace revealed But then he addeth two limitations which spoil all 1. That by the Word we must not understand the Law but the Gospel And this I conceive is put to choke them who seek for signs and marks of Inherent Qualifications 2. That you must not make the credit of this voice of the Spirit to depend upon the Word i. e. to receive credit from it And why not Because saith he if you say that the Word is of greater credit then the Spirit wanteth something in it self of credit as if a man were trusted for a sureties sake But this saith he must not be alowed God never intended that any thing should be of such credit as to give credit to the Spirit The issue of all returns to this That the Testimony of the Spirit is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} self-sufficient as the principles of Arts and Sciences which are indemonstrable and must be received as altogether unquestionable and the meaning thereof is this If any urge how shall I be satisfied that this voice thus speaking is the voice of Gods Spirit his Answer is It is so because it is so Or thus I know it because the Spirit saith it So unwilling are these men that the Revelations and Illuminations on which they build their comforts should be searched into too far Object Nay you will say his meaning is I know it because the Spirit speaketh according to the Word Sol. If so Then he must recant what he said That it doth not depend upon the Word And well he may For howsoever the Truth of what the Spirit speaketh doth not depend upon the Word yet the credit of it doth The Scripture is already known and received as the Word of God And what cometh after it must borrow credit from it St. Peter speaking of the voice which they heard in the Mount saith yet We have a more sure Word of Prophecy 2 Pet. 1. 19. How more sure But because it was already received as the undoubted Word of God And so to them and in their Apprehension it was a more sure Word But to draw nearer to the point Doth this voice of the Spirit saying to an ungodly man Thy sins are forgiven doth it speak according to the Scripture True indeed the Scripture saith God justifieth the ungodly God hath reconciled the World unto himself But is it therefore alowed for any one to say I am an ungodly man I am one of the World therefore I am justified I am reconciled Is there then any Universal Reconciliation and Justification taught in the Text of Scripture I mean any such Reconciliation that is absolute and irrespective That Reconciliation is so far wrought by Christ indefinitely for the World of mankinde that whosoever will come in and lay hold upon Christ by Faith shall not perish this is revealed None other do I know or acknowledge Is it not rather taught us in the Scripture That before there can be any conclusion of comfort to the soul by the particular Application of the Gospel Promises any I mean more then this conditional If I will come in also I may as well as others there must come in the work of the sanctifying spirit purifying the soul and conscience and working in it those inherent Qualifications to which the Promise is made and upon which dependeth the conclusion of that practical syllogism which bringeth comfort The Text of Scripture saith They that Repent and Believe They that are lead by the Spirit of God are the Sons of God Then that renewed and sanctified conscience saith I do Repent and Believe I am lead by the Spirit therefore And so this conclusion thus deduced if the immediate Testimony of the Spirit manifested by an Heavenly impression and irradiation upon the soul if it come in with his attestation to confirm it we may not doubt of the truth thereof because now indeed it speaketh according to the Word and doth confirm that particular conclusion which was comprehended in the general Text of Scripture For where the Text of Scripture hath not a Quicunque for the Proposition there the Testimony of the Spirit that concludes for hic ille doth not speak according to the Word Object You will say to me there is a Quicunque in that of Isa. 55. 1. and Rev. 22. 17. Whosoever will and our Saviour Joh. 6. 37. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out Sol. I grant it No doubt but the Gospel doth hold out Christ to all none exempted Jew nor Gentile But how As a Physitian to cure them not as an Husband to receive them into union with him Or if you will as a Husband to take them into the Bed of love But not till he hath purged them and fitted them for his Bed is it not for this that the Scripture doth call upon sinners to wash and cleanse their hands and hearts Isa. 1. 15. Jam. 4. 8. To separate from the Wicked 2 Cor. 6. 17. with infinite other Texts of Scripture all of them calling upon us to labor for the work of the Spirit upon the soul that so we may finde the fruits of union and communion with Christ and by that work of the Spirit felt in the heart we way be assured that the word of the Spirit speaking comfort to the soul and assuring the conscience of pardon is the word of truth and worthy of belief For as when
God set down the Text of Scripture and revealed the same to the Church of God he confirmed it by his works from Heaven by Miracles which did convince the world that it must needs be the Word of God which was accompanied with such mighty and miraculous operations so when God will by the Spirit speak to the soul the Application of a Text for comfort he doth make way for the credit of it by the work of the Spirit the work of grace upon the soul If not believe it not the spirit of truth is a spirit of holiness There is no truth in that word which speaks comfort to that heart in which is not wrought the work of Holiness Consequently Thy sins are forgiven in the heart of a Drunkard Swearer Whoremonger is not the voice of the Spirit The work and the word of the Spirit go together Nay so evident is this that the Doctor having sought to establish this Revelation of the Spirit as a principle that may not be disputed and that cannot be demonstrated doth yet in the close come in with this Yet something more for the Spirit doth give men to credit what he speaketh His meaning I conceive to be That by this work of the Spirit by which mans heart is framed to receive the Testimony of the Spirit and to believe it by it doth it appear that it is the Spirit of God which witnesseth their Adoption so then it is the voice of the Spirit that saith Thy sins are forgiven and it is evidenced to be the voice of the Spirit because he frameth the heart to believe it It cannot be denied but that it is the Spirit that giveth Faith to believe it nor is it doubted but that if this perswasion do come from the Spirit it doth afford comfort but still the question is Whether this be the work of the Spirit or not of the other viz. The work of sanctification there is no doubt which if it do not accompany that work of perswasion I much doubt whether it be not an over bold presumption 2. Touching Faith This is delivered by the same Author 1. That the Scripture doth authorize Faith to give full evidence concerning Interest in Christ 2. That this evidence of Faith is not Revealing but a Receiving evidence viz. As it taketh possession of what the Spirit Revealeth and doth rest upon it This Faith saith he brings with it unquestionable evidence full assurance and what needs a man look farther The spirit within thee saith Thy sin is forgiven Faith receiveth it and sits down satisfied here is thine evidence saith he and thou hast thy portion For why the Text of Saint John saith He that believeth hath the witness in himself q. d. He hath as much as can be desired when he hath believing in himself And he that believeth not hath made God a lyar q. d. If when God hath spoken man will not sit down with Gods bare Word but seek for signs and marks drawn from his own works this man hath made God a lyar The sum of all returns to this That this act of Faith receiving the Testimony of the spirit that is when the soul doth rest in it without any farther doubting that this I say is the evidence of our Adoption and Justification so then ask him how do you know that sin is pardoned His Answer is because I believe it and rest satisfied in this perswasion And is not this I pray you a very satisfying evidence It is so because I believe it is so In this way what prophane person is there in the world who may not conclude for himself if he will but force upon himself this perswasion Object Nay but it is not meant but of a perswasion which the Spirit hath wrought in the Heart If God saith he hath given thee to believe it this is thy evidence Sol. Yea but how shall I know whether God hath given me this perswasion or that Satan hath suggested it into my Heart Doth the Spirit of God take a man out of the Dunghil of filthiness and instantly without any work of washing and cleansing speak to him that word of comfort pronounce him pardoned and work in him the full preswasion of it or if he do speedily and as it were suddenly work him to this ful perswasion Doth he not at the same instant work a change upon his will and affections by which that light that is set up in the understanding may be discerned to proceed from the Spirit of God Surely thus we have learned Christ and thus we teach The Spirit of God doth work upon the whole soul and all the faculties at once and equally Understanding and Will Conscience and Affections Nor is there mroe light of saving knowledge in the one then there is heat of holines in the other That Faith which doth not purifie the heart and cleanse the conscience is not a saving Faith such a perswasion of pardon is but a presumption that of S. Iames remaineth an everlasting Truth Faith without works is dead Object That Faith saith he is not dead where the whole essence of Faith is Sol. True but wherein consisteth that essence of Faith This is nothing but the eccho of the Heart saith he to this voice of the Spirit Grant Faith to be the eccho of the Heart to the voice of the Spirit though this indeed be but one act of Faith yet by the voice of the Spirit we understand not that suggestion of Remittuntur but the whole Text of Scripture comprehending Precepts Promises Threatnings in all which there is indeed an eccho of the Heart by Faith Psal. 27. 8. But in this the Antinomian is farther off then the Papist The essence of Iustifying Faith doth neither consist in this eccho to the Text of Scripture nor in that eccho to that word of Revelation but in an act that cometh in between them ex gr. The Text of Scripture saith He that believeth shall be saved Is man justified by believing this for a truth or rather by doing that duty which the word Believeth doth intimate viz. The act of confidence and affiance in Christ Again the Spirit saith Thy sins are forgiven Is man justified because the believeth this word Surely no He must have it before the word that saith so be a word of Truth So then the first eccho goeth before the other doth follow after The right act of justifying Faith whence it is so named is that intermediate act of confidence and affiance Understand me to speak of these acts of Faith as first second third in the order of Nature not in the distance of time In the order of Nature justification doth not go before Faith but follow upon it Nor is man justisted because he doth perswade himself that so it is To wade no farther in this Argument By this I suppose it is evident That the new way of evidencing by the word of the Spirit and the subscription of Faith cannot lay the Ground of
all How then shall any one know whether his part and portion be in that Many or not Ans. Surely say we by the work of Grace in the heart by the Spirit of Sanctification which doth always go along with the Spirit of Adoption and the work of Justification This hath passed for a Truth without any opposition till of late The Antinomians cannot away with inherent Qualifications No certainty can be gathered from the say these men Against whom see the Ancient Truth maintained and the New way convinced of insufficiency Chap. 5. For he shall bear their iniquities This is the Confirmation of the Proposition He shall justifie because He shall bea By bearing iniquities we understand Suffering the punishment due to their sin as a Sacrifice to make an Atonement to satisfie the Justice of God and so to take away the sin of man Hence then we see that Justification is transacted by Christ and he is said to justifie many Not by the way of Instruction as say the Socinians viz. Propounding the Doctrine of the Gospel and the Covenant of Grace in which is contained the way and maner of Justification In this sense the Apostles to say nothing of Moses and the Prophets might be said to justifie many inasmuch as they had an eminent service in publishing the Gospel to the world but doubtless Christ had no partners in the Justification of these many So then not by the Instruction is it but by the way of Acquittance and Absolution This is plain but that is farther to be enquired How cometh sin to trouble and vex the conscience if it be taken away Hath Christ born yea born away for so we understand the word bear he doth not only ferre but auferre so bear them as to bear them away Hath Christ born them away and are they brought back again Here again we must Conflict with these Antinomians Old Truths do not please them they have a New way for this also the unsufficiency whereof together with the right way of satisfying the Conscience and taking away the scruple of sin see fully explicated Chap. 6. According to this Method have I finished my Meditations upon this Text of Scripture chosen of purpose to examine the Truth or Falshood of some Points of Antinomianism An Enterprise to which I confess I had bound my self by Vow and Promise made to God in the day of some distress which had befaln me To the performance of which Vow I was engaged by obtaining at the hand of God the gracious grant of my desire which with all thankfulness I do acknowledge and by mine experience can witness That an holy and religious Vow is a ready mean to obtain of God the gracious grant of our just desires Holy and Religious I account that which is framed according to the Rules of Religion One special Rule of Religion is That each Christian in his place and calling do set himself with the best of his abilities to that work which the present times may shew to be most necessary for the advancement of Gods glory I in my place of the Ministery what could I do rather or more tending to this end then to set my self to oppose the present Errors which darken the Truth of God and defile the Purity of our holy Profession This Error of Antinomianism I chese to deal in because I conceived it one of the most dangerous Doctrines that are broached in these days Satan doth never more harm then when he is transformed into an Angel of Light Nor is any Error more dangerous then that by which Christian Liberty is used as an occasion to the Flesh by which the care and conscience of the Law the Rule of Holiness is weakned and worn away by which the Soul and Conscience is steeled and stiffned against the sense and remorse of sin and sinfulness In this I have done what I could If not with strength enough to convince or cleerness enough to perswade yet with a sincere heart and a desire to do good God is my witness And I bless God both for his Assistance enabling me to do what I have done and also for those blessed opportunities which his Providence hath afforded me to do mine endeavor in the course of my Ministery to set forth the Truth of God and to seek the glory of his Name AN EXAMINATION Of the chief Points of ANTINOMIANISM CHAP. I. Touching the Law of Moses Whether altogether abolished so that it is of no use to the Believer now in the time of the Gospel Also whether it do not binde Believers to the Duties of Holiness as well now as it did in the time of the Old Testament THere is a Generation of men risen up again in this last Age of the Church who would gladly banish the Preaching of the Law and all legal Duties out of the Church of Christ The Law say they is abolished the Conscience of the Christian is not bound to the Law they are false Teachers who call men to the practise of the Law and the Duties therein contained This Doctrine of theirs is a word that will eat as doth a Canker till it hath fretted out all care of Holiness and good Works if not prevented Let it not then be thought impertinent this being the time of their infection if by examining their Grounds and discovering the weakness and unsoundness of them I seek what lyeth in me to prevent the further spreading of this evil The Antixomian this name is given him for that he opposeth the Preaching and pressing of the Law he I say buildeth upon these and the like Texts Rom. 6. 14. 7. 4. 10. 4. Gal. 3. 10. 5. 1. whence they argue to this effect If Believers be not under the Law nay if dead to the Law by the body of Christ and so delivered from the Law whereupon Christ is termed the end of the Law Then to call them back again to the Law and the dominion thereof is to draw them from Christ and from that Liberty which Christ hath purchased for them whereas the Apostle doth charge the Galatians to stand fast in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free and not to suffer themselves to be again entangled in the yoke of Bondage Thus they as I finde by that Book of Ro Town Intituled The Assertion of Grace or A ' Defence of the Doctrine of free Justification For clearing of this our Divines distinguish The Law of Moses delivered to the Church of Israel was partly Moral partly Ceremonial Moral so called because it was the Rule of good maners toward God and toward man And it is to be considered either in respect of the Substance or the Circumstance In respect of the Substance it is the comprehension of those Duties of Holiness which God had either imprinted in the heart or revealed to the ear of Adam and his Posterity in that Age of the Church which lived before the writing of the Law And so it is the
persons are considered of God as believers no less then justified before the World they are fore-seen as believing before fore-seen as justified Because in the World till they believe they are not justified still that that in the execution of the decree hath the precedency is considered in the decree as fore-going Sin before Condemnation Faith before Iustification The elect have their sins taken away before they do believe But how Not otherwise save in the purpose of God and the purchase of Christ Else what use nay what sense in those Exhortations Act. 2. 38. Repent and be Baptized for the Remission of sins Act. 3. 19. Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out Act. 22. 16. Arise be baptized and wash away thy sins is it not evident that the sins of these were not as then blotted out and washed away that they might use these means to compass this end The Texts aleaged for Proof of the Argument speak not home to the point intended That of Isa. 53. 6. onely sheweth that designation of Christ to be the sacrifice of Expiation Not is there more in the 6. verse then was expressed in the 5. verse He was wounded for our Transgressions this onely excepted That v. 6. sheweth That Christ should make peace for us by the way of a sacrifice even the sacrifice of himself upon whom God would lay the iniquities of us all as Aaron laid the iniquities of the Children of Israel upon the Goat Lev. 16. 21. Say the same of Joh. 1. 29. It sheweth whom God had appointed to that work And the Text of 1 Pet. 2. 24. sheweth That he hath executed his Office but none of these Texts do say any thing concerning the benefit thereof redounding to any one in particular whether without or before or after Faith Truth it is That this was said and done long before many of the Elect did believe So also before many of them had any need of Faith and Iustification even before they had a being Nay in that Text Rom. 8. 33. brought to prove the Elect justified because Nothing can be laid to their charge It is evident that the Apostle speaks of the Elect now made actual Believers For that phrase of laying any thing to the charge of Gods Elect doth presuppose them living and standing before the Tribunal consequently actual Believers For against the Elect till actually believing doth Satan lay no accusation And we doubt not to affirm That the Elect of God believing in Christ and laying hold on him by Faith are so justified before God that in vain shall Satan seek to charge any thing upon them But till then notwithstanding the Purpose of God and the Purchase of Christ yet are they not actually discharged of their sins nor actually justified in the sight of God 5. Arg. We were made sinners in Adam before we had done any evil and so we are made righteous in Christ before we have done any good This is the Assertion of the Apostle Rom. 5. 18 19. Ans. The Text of the Apostle doth only set down this That as Adam is the Author of condemnation to all that be condemned so Christ is the Author of Iustification to all that are justified But as to the time when this is done in the one or the other the Text speaketh nothing Grant indeed That in respect of the Merit of Christ it may be said that we are justified in the sight of God before any good be done by us but now in respect of actual Application to particular persons as no man is condemned till he have an actual being and be found a sinner in himself so neither is any man justified before he have an actual being yea an actual being in Christ and in him made righteous Condemnation presupposeth sin in the party condemned and Iustification presupposeth Grace and Faith in the party justified 6. Arg. In Christ crucified before we believed was full satisfaction made Heb. 10. 11 14. And God was contented to rest in that satisfaction Mat. 3. ult. Isa. 53. 11. Therefore there will follow perfect Remission of sins Ans. No doubt of it perfect Remission will follow because satisfaction is made and accepted But when Not till the sinner need it not till he be fitted for it not till he have a being in Christ not till he come to Christ that he may receive In very deed the satisfaction was neither intended nor accepted but upon that condition That whoso will have it must come to Christ for it Hence they in Ioh. 5. 40. are blamed in that they would not come to Christ that they might have life That Text of Isa. 53. 11. is mis-applied to the Father being indeed spoken of Christ himself 7. Arg. Either we are justified in the sight of God before we believe or else even the Elect of God are for some time hated of him For he hateth all the workers of iniquity but certainly the Elect of God are at no time hated of God If so Then God should hate to day and love to morrow with much changeableness of Affection Nay more Gods love to us shall depend upon our love to God Ans. Set this down for a truth 1. That God hateth all the workers of iniquity whatsoever Psal. 5. 5. 2. That the Elect of God are loved of him from all eternity Ier. 31. 3. 3. That there is no variableness nor shadow of change in God Iam. 1. 17. 4. That we love him because he loved us first Now if there seem any contrariety in these laid together we are forced to some distinctions by which a commodious interpretation may be set down So then consider of these Explications 1. The love and hatred of God to the Creature may be considered either in the purpose of God or in the execution of that purpose this execution is in the effects of love and hatred The purpose of God is this to appoint the Creature to be the object upon which in time he wil exercise the effects of love or hatred in this purpose of God the Elect are always Loved never Hated nor doth God vary and change in this his purpose nor doth this purpose of his depend upō the foresight of any good in man 2. In the execution of this purpose the suspension of the Effects and Fruits of Love hath the name of Hatred And God may be said to hate them as the Husband that Wife from whom he with draweth the Effects of Love Now in this doth God walk oftentimes according to the present disposition of the Creature wheresoever God findeth sin he hateth it sin is properly the Object of Gods Hatred sin I say not the Creature and if this sin be in a person appointed to love though he will not change his purpose yet will he suspend all effects and fruit of love yea and put forth the effects of hatred until the party do part with his sin Contrarily wheresoever he findeth any good he loveth it yea
and so wrong the Wisdom of our Saviour as if he could not make choice of such words phrases as might plainly and understandingly express his meaning And if these words Forgive us do signifie Make us to know that thou hast long since forgiven us then why shall not the next words As we forgive receive the same interpretation Nay why not so also in the other Petitions Lead us not into Tentation Give us our daily Bread i. e. in the Antinomian sense Make us to know that thou hast not lead us that thou hast given us our daily Bread Will not this be found a sensless gloss nay an utter perverting of our Saviours intention And why then should it hold only in the fifth Petition and in none of the other 2. Adde this That one end of our daily address to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper is to obtain the Remission of our sins by the application of Christs blood The words of our Saviour touching the Wine are these This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for you and for many for the Remission of sins That in it as we have often need by reason of our daily Transgressions so we may often look upon that Brasen serpent for the cure of our often bitings Thus what we ask of God in prayer the same in the Sacrament doth God bestow upon us viz. The daily pardon of our daily sins Were it not in this respect needful to provide for our wants was the pardon of all actual sins at once sealed in this Sacrament as is the pardon of our Original guilt sealed in Baptism what necessity to receive this Sacrament any oftner then we do the other sc. once for all 3. And above all it is a ground of Religion that nothing is to be received and believed but what is Revealed to us for a truth by the Word of God Now there is no ground in the Word of God for any particular person to believe that his sins are remitted already before he do repent and believe in Christ The Word of God sets down what counsel hath been given to men that they might obtain Remission Act. 2. 38. and 3. 19. But no where doth the Scripture say to this or that man Thy sins be forgiven And for any man to perswade himself of Remission before it be yea before he hath a word for it is presumption and not saith The Antinomian Doctors say That the Spirit of God doth reveal it in the heart of a man and the Voice of the Spirit is the Testimony of truth In very deed we may not refuse the Testimony of the Spirit nor question the truth of it But in as much as we know that Satan doth somtimes transform himself into an Angel of Light and that there be many false Spirits in which respect the Apostles bids us to try the Spirits nor doth Satan seduce only by the Doctrines of men but also by false suggestions whispering to the sinner comfort upon false grounds How shall we discern the Testimony of the Spirit from the suggestion of Satan They Answer Hereby it is discerned Because it speaketh things consonant to the Scripture Let this be manifested and the question is at an end But where doth the Scripture countenance that Voice of the Spirit speaking to the sinner and saying Thou art justified in the sight of God and thy sin pardoned and that long ago in the day of Christs Passion How I say is this proved to be according to the Scriptures They say The Scripture holdeth forth the Free Grace of God in Christ viz. That Christ is given a Saviour for sinners for Enemies for the Rebellious That God doth justifie the Wicked and the ungodly even when and while they are such That he calleth for no works of mans Righteousness nor any previous dispositions to qualifie men that may come to Christ So that neither Impiety nor Enmity can cast in any bar to hinder him that will lay hold upon Christ This we do not much question but withall we adde That the Scripture doth also call upon sinners to Repent and turn to the Lord that so they may be pardoned and their sins bloted out and in as much as we know that one Text of Scripture is no less truth then another nor may we so cleave to the one as to neglect the other for they are not contradictory if rightly understood we conclude that Christ is held forth a Saviour to sinners but so that they repent and forsake their sins not else no sin not the greatness of any sin no nor the multitude of great Transgressions can bar the humble Penitent Saint Iohn saith If we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us 1 Iob. 1. 7. Note that If q. d. If not then there is no ground to hope for it Again we say That God doth justifie the ungodly as Christ doth save sinners in sensu diviso i. e. Not while they are ungodly not while they are sinners but when they have forsaken their wicked ways have turned to the Lord by true and sound repentance That text of Rom. 4. 5. speaking of him that worketh not but believeth in him that justifieth the ungodly must not be understood simply of such a one that doth nothing at all but respectively of such a one as doth not rest upon his works nor rely upon his Righteousness but renouncing his own works doth cast himself upon the Free Grace of God nor doth it use that word ungodly in the common sense sâ— for one that hath no goodness in him at all but in a limited sense viz for one that wanteth such a perfection of goodness as on which he may build the hopes of his justification And the reason of this explication is because the proposition is drawn from the instance of Abraham a man certainly not altogether void of works and Righteousness though not so complete and perfect in them as that he durst rest upon them but renouncing his works he did cast himself upon the Free grace of God and so was justified by his Faith Consequently that voice of Revelation in man which teacheth him to comfort himself in the assurance of his justification without any respect to the work of Repentance wrought in him this is not the voice of Gods spirit but the delusion of Satan There is no word of God on which to ground such an assurance and therefore it may not be received nor believed for truth it being a ground of our Religion That nothing is to be received but what is revealed by the word of God I might adde this also Nothing is to be received as a truth which is cross and contrary to the Text of Scripture Now that sins should be actually pre-remitted before-hand and the person actually justified before that by Faith he be United to Christ how doth it not cross that Text of Saint Paul Rom. 3. 25. where speaking of the Remission of sin
so yet so intricate is this way of Examination that a Christian shall finde himself much puzzled in it Why so Because hard it is to know both what it is to love and who is a Brother And till these be known how can we try our selves by the Sign Sol. Grant it to be hard yet if not impossible we know that difficulty doth not take off but stirreth up diligence What it is to love we may learn from 1 Cor. 13. 5. and 1 Job 3. 16 17. And who is a brother from Gal. 6. 10. Quest But who can truly say I love the Brethren if those be acts effects and properties of love Who can approve himself to have loved in all those particulars Ans. Even he that hath received the Spirit of God for Love is one of the fruits of the Spirit And though peradventure he hath not attaind to that perfection of love which another hath himself desires yet is he not therfore excluded from the truth therof Quest But who can know that this or that man is a Brother Doth not this Brotherhood confist in being united unto Christ Doth any man know this but God alone Ans. Is not this in effect to tell the Apostle he speaks absurdly and sets down a mark of knowing which cannot be known For when the Apostle saith We know Because we love Doth he not pre-suppose that it may be known We love the Brethren both in respect of the Act and Object i. e. both what it is to love and who are the brethren But admit that I cannot infallibly discern who is and who is not a Brother yet may I discern the ground of my love to him viz. because I conceive him to be a Brother I love him under that notion Object So do Papists and Sectaries these love their own and under the notion of Brethren Sol. It may be so but what then Is this therefore no sign or mark of our spiritual condition which St. John hath set down But indeed neither Papists nor Sectaries do love under this notion in St. Johns meaning if their love be confined to Papists and Sectaries He loveth a man under the right notion of a Brother who doth love him eo nomine because there is Aliquid Christi in him because he is of the Houshold of Faith a believer in Christ But if in case of a Brothers necessity yet there be no fruit of love to be seen except also there be in him Aliquid nostri viz. That he be of our Sect and Opinion If all Christianity be confined within the narrow compass of this or that Opinion surely this is not to love the Brethren Let all Sectaries look to it and the Antinomians by name who pretend to be the only Brethren because they only sit down by the free grace of God and rest themselves upon the promises of the Gospel though they see themselves full of sin Let them I say look to it for if their Charity will not extend it self to relieve the necessities and bear with the infirmities of those other whom they accuse to run after Moses and the Law for their peace and satisfaction of Spirit in as much as they cannot but know that if we do erre it is through mis-understanding of the Scripture according to which we desire to frame all our faith and practises certainly they cannot approve themselves to love the Brethren you will say this may easily be retorted Nor will I deny the justness thereof should I suffer the difference of Opinion so far to draw off mine affection from any that professeth Christ as in the case of his necessity to neglect him to reckon him no better then a Turk I should doubt whether the Spirit of Christ dwelled in me or not Is he a man that would not succor a man though a Heathen or Turk against a Lyon or a Bear And is he a Christian that will not succor a Christian though perhaps a Papist or a Sectary against a Turk Is not the Text of St Paul plain Do good to all but especially to the Houshold of Faith And why to them especially But because they embrace the Gospel and so profess themselves the subjects and servants of Christ Truth it is that among them there is some difference also by a different measure of the Spirit And as each is before other in it so the especially falls upon him We say that God himself is the first and chief Beloved other things are loved for Gods sake viz. All the Creatures but especially Man because there is in him more of God then in the rest All men but especially Christians Because they profess subjection to Christ All Christians but especially them in whom the work of the Spirit is most eminent This it is to love the Brethren But now if beyond all this there must be Aliquid nostri in them some special Relation to us or else no love extended to them This is not to love the Brethren Of such St. Iohn addeth He that loveth not his Brother abideth in Death The second Proposition That the new way of evidencing our Adoption and Iustification only by the Spirit and Faith cannot lay the Ground of a firm setled Peace except the work of the Sanctifying Spirit also do come in to give Testimony For the manifestation of which I shall shew 1. What is delivered touching each 2. Wherein I conceive it to fail of the Truth First Touching the Spirit It is termed The Revealing evidence which speaks to a mans own Spirit saying Be of good cheer thy sins are forgiven Christ administred this Comfort only in general But the Spirit cometh home to every man in particular Whence he is called The Comforter because he so speaks to the Soul that the Judge is also satisfied And when men do fear My sin is not pardoned The Spirit speaks to the Soul and saith They are pardoned Till this be revealed all the World shall never satisfie the Soul all signs and marks are meer riddles The Spirit of Adoption teacheth as to cry Abba Father The Spirit it self i. e. the immediate voice of the Spirit without any instrument what God hath determined of this or that man is not set down in the scripture But it is revealed by the Spirit Hence the Spirit is the seal and the earnest To this effect the Antinomian Doctor And hereupon he expostulateth Why do men scorn and cry out of them that teach and profess this as of Enthusiasts men that have Revelations Is not saith he the Spirit of God the Spirit of Revelation Is he not given to reveal these things And to confess the truth In all this I see not what can be denyed or much doubted of though all his proofs are not convincing that one Text of Rom. 8. 16. doth speak home to the point That the Spirit of God is the Revealing evidence The voice of the Spirit is the chief though not the only Testimony of our Adoption But all the