Nations be blessed Compared with ver 16. Now to Abraham and his Seed were the Promises made He saith not To Seeds as of many but as of one And to thy Seed which is Christ From which Words I do observe this Truth That the Covenant entred into by God with Abraham was but a renewing of the same Promise of a Messiah to come which the Threatning in the 3d Chapter of Genesis and the 15th Verse contained in it granted unto him for the strengthning of his Faith in the Messiah whose Day of appearance he beheld by Faith and rejoyced to see it and so was justified before God by that which Faith beheld in these new Covenant Promises Rom. 4.21 22 23 24. And being fully perswaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform And therefore it was imputed to him for Righteousness Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him but for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead As Abraham by Faith was led to believe this Promise which related to the Coming of the Messiah and thereby was privileged in a large share of the Mercies which accompany the Messiah so all true Believers that can lay claim to the same Faith with blessed Abraham are reckoned his Spiritual Seed and become Sharers with him in the same Mercies Gal. 3.28 29. There is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither bond nor free there is neither male nor female for ye are all one in Christ Jesus And if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham 's Seed and Heirs according to the Promise As faithful Abraham was made Partaker of such pretious Promises by Christ to whom all New Covenant Promises do first run so every Believer coming to share in the same Faith with Abraham lays claim to the Promises with him and becomes a Sharer in them Abraham in respect of the Greatness of his Faith above others stands as a glorious Pattern before them where we may behold him led forth to God by Acts of Obedience in a wonderful manner not staggering how God would accomplish his Promises but minding his Obedience So that he that had received the Promises in Isaac offers up this his only Son accounting that God was able to raise him from the dead from whence he received him in a Figure We may by looking at what passed betwixt God and Abraham as in a Glass behold his sincere Obedience to God and God's Faithfulness to him in performing to a tittle what he had promised to his Servant which may be matter of Encouragement to us humbly to relie upon our Heavenly Father Having treated of God's renewing the Promise to Abraham of the Coming of the Messiah of his Seed I come in the next place to treat of that numerous Offspring which were to proceed from him and the Privileges of which his natural Seed as such were made Partakers In the 15th of Genesis ver 4 5. God promises him a numerous Offspring And behold the Word of the Lord came unto him faying This shall not be thine Heir speaking of Eliezer of Damascus but he that shall come forth out of thine own Bowels shall be thine Heir And he brought him forth abroad and said Look now towards Heaven and tell the Stars if thou be able to number them and he said unto him So shall thy Seed be As God did perform his Promise to his Servant Abraham in bringing forth such Multitudes of People from him as the Promise treats of so he is pleased to afford them Privileges above the rest of the World for many Generations together which are held forth in the 17th Chapter of Genesis Where God is pleased to grant unto the Seed of Abraham the Promise of the Land of Canaan for a Possession and a Church-State set up amongst them wherein his Worship should be carried on in such a way as was of his own appointing until the Coming of the Messiah Gen. 49.10 The Scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a Law-giver from between his feet until Shiloh come and unto him shall the gathering of the People be That God's End in affording this People his Worship before the rest of the World was thereby to gather the Elect that were amongst them into the Covenant of Grace is clear from a multitude of Scriptures but that their Admittance to be Members of this Old Testament Church which was a Privilege that they enjoy'd by Birth-right did of it self bring them into the Covenant of Grace is against both Scripture and Experience The Apostle in Rom. 9.4 5. doth reckon up the many Privileges that they enjoy'd In the 6th Verse he breaks forth Not that the Word of God hath taken none effect yea it had answered the end for which it was appointed the Elect were gathered in by it But all are not Israel that are of Israel Ver. 7. Neither because they are the Seed of Abraham are they all Children but in Isaac shall thy Seed be called That is they which are the Children of the Flesh these are not the Children of God but the Children of the Promise are counted for the Seed These Scriptures if compared with Gen. 17. do let us clearly see what that Covenant was even a Church-state unto which the Children of the Flesh had admittance to be Members by virtue of their Birth-right and that by the very appointment of God This Covenant having answered the end for which it was appointed is ended and a better state in respect to the Church doth succeed it which I hope to clear up when I come to treat of the Church of Christ now in the times of the New Testament CHAP. III. Of the Ordinances of the Old Testament Church what they did point at to the Seed of Abraham as descending from him by Generation and what they pointed at to his spiritual Seed IN the last Chapter I shewed the nature of that Covenant made with Abraham and his Offspring as they proceeded from him by Generation that it contained in it the Promise of an Earthly Canaan or Earthly Inheritance to all his Seed God intending to shew forth some particular marks of his Bounty to them as they were the Offspring of this holy Man To which Covenant or Promise Circumcision was added as a Seal even in the time of the Infancy of that Old Testament Church and the Paschal Lamb afterwards added when they were brought out of Egypt as a Confirmation of the fulfilling of the Covenant made with their Father Abraham of which Covenant the Apostle speaks in Heb. 8.7 8 9. For if that first Covenant had been fauliless then should no place have been sought for the second For finding fault with them he saith Behold the days come saith the Lord when I will make a new Covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah Not according to the Covenant which I made with their Fathers
secure to the Saints the certainty of persevering and of enjoying Heaven at last but was not able to reconcile them with other Scriptures where Promises and Threatnings were annex'd together and seem'd to stand upon terms with the Creature But he who hath been pleased to reveal his Son in me having brought me to see that the Children of Adam are distinguished as standing under the two Covenants of Works and Grace and standing in this different state the Scriptures speak a Language which meets the Experience of each of them I then with great pleasure beheld the Harmony that was in the holy Scriptures and having for many Years been trained in the School of the Covenant of Works I have taken it in my way to clear it before I entred upon that well-ordered Covenant by which all that are once enter'd into it are secured I wish thou mayst not be offended at the plainness of the Stile in which the Truths contained in this Book are laid down and so I rest a Lover of thy Soul Robert Prudom Truth Unvailed BY Scripture-Light c. PART I. CHAP. I. Of the first Adam the Excellency of the State and Condition in which he was created AFter God had made the World and all sorts of living Creatures in it he proceeds to make Man as the Perfection of this lower Region consisting of two Parts a comly Body more beautiful than the rest of the Creatures not attended with the least Infirmity and a rational Soul fitted to hold Communion with God and to bear Rule over the rest of the Creatures From a sight of the Creation and of Man as the Lord of it while he stood in his Obedience to his Creator the Psalmist David breaks forth into a holy Wonderment Psal 8.3 4 5 6. When I consider the Heavens the Work of thy Fingers the Moon and the Stars which thou hast ordained What is Man that thou art mindful of him and the Son of Man that thou visitest him Thou hast made him a little lower than the Angels thou hast crowned him with Glory and Honour Thou madest him to have Dominion over the Works of thy Hands thou hast put all things under his feet A curious Canopy over his Head and a furnished World for him to walk in all Creatures giving a willing Subjection to him And the great Creator that he might shew unto Man the Authority that he had invested him withal brings every Beast of the Field and every Fowl of the Air unto Adam to receive its Name and whatsoever Adam call'd every living Creature that was the Name thereof How great was the Happiness of Adam while he stood in that state in which he was created He knew no wants in his Body he had always a furnished Table before him the Earth affording him all the Varieties that Nature brings forth and that without any Toil or Labour he had a Garden and that of God's planting to walk in and furnished with Trees bearing Fruit of every kind What Gardener so skilful as the great Creator and what Fruit so pleasant as that which is of his own making He not only planted the Trees but causeth them by his own Power to bring forth and ripens them to the height of Perfection there were all sorts of Fruits that were pleasant to the sight and good for Food a pleasant River goes forth from this Garden to water it And to add to Adam's Happiness he is blest with the happy company of his Creator Stop a little my Soul and take a view of Adam before Sin entered and the Off-spring of the second Adam when wholly delivered from Sin and clothed upon with their glorified Bodies This beautiful Eden or Earthly Paradise is but a Type of the Heavenly Paradise into this Paradise did the Tempter enter into the Heavenly Paradise he cannot come this Happiness was but short but that which is to come is eternal In this God was enjoyed as Creator in the other God will be enjoy'd as a Father the Son as a Husband to us Thy Maker will be thy Husband the holy Spirit for ever tabernacling in thee the holy Angels and glorified Saints thy Companions O my Soul is this the happy Country that thy Lord hath provided for thee and hast thou indeed the clear Evidences of an Interest in it then surely thou wilt be pressing towards it and learn to live more and more above the things of this World CHAP. II. Of the Image of God in which Adam was created and the nature of that first Covenant-Light while in the state of Innocency THE Apostle John in the first Chapter of his Gospel and the 2d 3d and 4th Verses speaking of the second Person in the Godhead the eternal Word saith The same was in the beginning with God All things were made by him and without him was nothing made that was made In him was Life and that Life was the Light of Men that is That Divine Life which was in the eternal Word Creator did give forth the Beams of its Life and Light in making of the Soul of Man Not that the Soul of Man did thereby become any part of the Godhead to think this is no less than Blasphemy but an Image of God Gen 1.26 27. And God said Let us make Man in our own Image after our Likeness and let him have Dominion over the Fish of the Sea and over the Fowl of the Air and over the Cattel and over all the Earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the Earth So God created Man in his own Image in the Image of God created he them This Image of God did not consist in the curious shape of his Body altho the Beauty of it did far exceed the rest of the Creatures for this were to make God to consist of Bodily Parts and so confinable to one place for a Body cannot be in two places as once but this glorious Image consisted in the Faculties of the Soul and the Impressions of the Law upon it The Faculties of the Soul consisted of a spiritual Substance which God breathed into that frame of the Body to give it Life it was not made of any earthly Matter as was the Body but of a spiritual nature like unto its Creator for altho it had not its being from Eternity yet it was to continue to Eternity and from the time of its Creation was never to come under a Dissolution it was not made like the Soul or Life of Beasts of the same Matter whereof the Body was made and therefore dieth with them but was created by God immediately out of nothing in which respect God is said to be the Father of our Spirits Heb. 12.9 Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live As it had Life in it self when it was join'd to the Body so it retaineth Life when it is separated from the Body and liveth for ever It consisteth of these five Faculties 1. The Vnderstanding
and giving attendance to it the Impressions of the Law which contains our Duty to God and to our Neighbour which is ingraven upon the Souls of all Adam's Offspring comes to be discovered to us and we are led to follow the Rule of this inward Law And by giving Obedience to it Peace is gain'd and by keeping in our Obedience Peace is continued the Light giving the Soul no further disturbance than as it becomes guilty of the breach of this inward Law which the Gentiles on the other side and every moral Person with them coming to witness makes them press after it more and more by which they come to shine forth before Men by a sober Conversation That this Light is a distinct thing from the Work of the Holy Ghost upon the Souls of the Saints is evident because all its dealings with God are as Creator and upon the first Covenant terms that is obey and live In its Obedience lies its Hope upon its Obedience is its enjoyment of God here bottom'd and the eternal enjoyment of God in Glory to these the Reward is not of Grace but of Debt Rom. 4.4 By Reward is meant eternal Life they are not brought to see the Imperfectness of their Works that so as Sinners they may come to Christ and through him to God to receive a Pardon upon Grace's account from a sensibility of Soul that they have a real need of it They never were yet brought out of the first Covenant but only stand as Witnesses of it and for God in it under high Attainments Their everlasting State we are to leave to him who is appointed to be the Judg of all Men only before I leave them or end this Chapter I shall shew by the holy Scriptures how their State differs from the State of Children The Light by which these Persons are led is by Will. Penn call'd the Light of Christ and that it is sufficient if followed to lead to eternal Salvation And indeed if his Christ which he describes unto us were the true Christ then the Gentiles on the other side and every moral Person were brought to the enjoyment of him but his words being brought to the Rule of the holy Scriptures and tried by the Experiences of Saints he is found to be a poor deceived Person William Penn's Christian Quaker p. 96 97. And this is unquestionably confirm'd unto us by that known and very weighty Expression of the Apostle Paul to the Romans chap. 9.5 Whose are the Fathers and of whom as concerning the Flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever Amen Since here both Christ is distinguished from the Body he took and made one with that God who is over all blessed for ever Amen As much as to say of whose Flesh Christ took therefore Christ was before he took it or his taking it did not constitute him Christ In Answer to William Penn If the Manhood united to the eternal Word Creator did not go to constitute him Christ then these Gentiles of which he treats were Christians for they were all led to the acknowledgment of God as Creator But herein he abuses the Apostles words and contradicts the Faith of Christians in all Ages the Apostle is shewing us that he who was held forth in the Promises to be the Lord 's Christ was to take his Flesh or Manhood of the Fathers that is according to the Promises he was to be of Abraham's Seed and David's Son and yet as to his Divine Nature was from everlasting God blessed for ever The Apostle is distinguishing his two Natures in this Scripture William Penn is endeavouring to throw away his Manhood Besides by the same way of arguing may his Godhead be removed from constituting him Christ Acts 2.36 Therefore let all the House of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ The holy Scripture is sometimes giving the name Christ to him as he was God in other places it gives the name Christ to him as Man that so we might have his two Natures distinguished to us not that thereby they might be separated And mark it Christian Reader that altho the Lord Jesus Christ stood in the Decree of God as God-man in one Person to appear in the fulness of time and was so held forth in the Promises to the Fathers in the Old Testament yet those Promises were subservient to his Appearance in the state of his Humiliation in the Land of Judea and pointed at it and so were the Fathers by the Light of Holy Ghost inabled to behold him and lay hold of him as their Saviour Hebrews the 11th Chapter and 12th ver 1 2. Christianity in the Power of it is a relinquishing the first Covenant-Principles of Light in the Creator and do and live as the Condition of eternal Life for the Light of Faith in the eternal Word made Flesh or join'd to Man's Nature John 1.12 But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe on his Name The Childrens admittance into the Presence of God is upon the account of a Redeemer upon the account of a Mediator held forth outwardly in the Scriptures apprehended inwardly by Faith through the help of the holy Spirit the Children go without Works when they go to Christ and through him to the Father They then leave their Works behind them before Men they take the Law with them and walk by it as a Rule of Life But seeing I shall have occasion to speak more of this in the second Part I shall here shut up this Chapter and the first Part which was to shew the nature of the Covenant of Works PART II. Clearing up that the Covenant of Grace and Redemption is but one and the same Covenant CHAP. I. Of Election bottom'd upon the Soveraignty of God How the Eternal Word united to Man's Nature is chosen by electing Love as the head of the Elect and made the way through which electing Love doth pass to every elect Person IN clearing up the weighty Truths contain'd in this Chapter I shall treat of it under these three Heads First Set forth the Soveraignty of God Secondly Shew that Election proceeds from him as an Act of Grace and Goodness the advancing of his own Glory being that which is carried on in the Decree of Election Thirdly I shall shew how the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the Elect and made the way through which electing Love doth pass to every elect Person First I shall set forth the Soveraignty of God from the holy Scriptures Isa 40.12 13 14 15. Who hath measured the Waters in the hollow of his hand and meted out Heaven with a Span and comprehended the Dust of the Earth in a measure and weighed the Mountains in Scales and the Hills in a Balance Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord or being his Counseller hath taught him With whom
which is given for you this do in remembrance of me Likewise the Cup after Supper saying This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for you The Apostles were the visible Church at that time and to them doth he appoint the Supper Ordinance and from the Appointment of Christ doth Paul recommend the Practice and the continuance of this Ordinance to the Church of Corinth After he had condemned their sinful abuse of the Ordinance 1 Cor. 11. from ver 20 to 23. at ver 23 24. he lays before them how that Ordinance was appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ to be continued in his Church For I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betray'd took Bread And when he had given Thanks he brake it and said Take eat this is my Body which is broken for you this do in remembrance of me After the same manner also he took the Cup when he had supped saying This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood this do ye as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me As the Ordinance of Baptism was appointed by Christ to be administred to those who were qualified according to the Rule of the Word to be Members of the Church so it was appointed likewise to be the entering Ordinance into a visible Church-state and the Ordinance of the Lord's-Supper to these that were visible Members Which serves to clear up the former part of this Chapter what the Ordinances are and what is required to fit for the partaking of them The second branch of this Chapter is what they do hold out when administred according to the Rule of the Word First To have the Ordinances administred according to the Rule of the Word there is required that the Administrator the Subject to whom the Ordinance is administred and the Way of the Administration have its Warrant from the Word of God for God is a God of Order and not of Confusion In the second Part of this Book and the third Chapter I shew'd that there was an extraordinary and ordinary Qualification The extraordinary Qualification was that of the Apostles who had a large extensive Power accompanying them granted by Christ for the first planting of the Churches That this Office of Apostleship is ceased is clear seeing there is no appearance of the Qualifications to that great Work in any of the Dispensers of the Gospel in these latter Ages so that for any Person either to preach or administer the Ordinances as sent out by Christ as Apostles favours of Pride and Presumption But there is a more ordinary Qualification from Christ to dispense the Gospel which depends upon the Inlightnings of the Spirit in the Word and a Gift of Utterance to declare it unto others and for the carrying on of this Work God hath pleased to raise up several Persons to dispense his Truth before they bore any Office in the Church or over it But the Administration of the Ordinances of Christ being that which particularly concerns the Church it seems to me by the Rule of the Word that before such Administration of the Ordinances there should be a setting apart of fit Persons for Office by the Church and an Approbation of their Choice by the Elders of other Churches together with the laying on of Hands and likewise a solemn and earnest seeking unto Almighty God through Jesus Christ for a Blessing upon the Persons whom they have chose And this is to be done as a previous Qualification whereby to invest such Persons into a Right duly to administer the Ordinances I do remember that after God had fully convinced me of the Ordinance of Believers Baptism I went a great many miles to come under the Ordinance but the Person to whom I went not being able to give me a satisfactory account of his regular Admittance as an Administrator I was constrained to return unbaptized although at that time I had a very great desire to have been made a Partaker of that despised Ordinance This may serve to shew that to have the Ordinances administred according to the Rule of the Word there should be a fit Administrator Secondly To the orderly Administration of the Ordinances there is required a right Subject or such a Person as the Rule of the Word doth require And first I shall shew the Qualifications required of those that come to the Ordinance of Baptism and that is Repentance for Sins that are past Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and a seeking unto God through him for pardoning Grace and Power to walk with him Acts 22.16 And now why tarriest thou arise and be baptized and wash away thy Sins calling on the Name of the Lord. Compared with Chap. 8.37 38. And Philip said If thou believest with all thine Heart thou mayst and he answered and said I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God And he commanded the Chariot to stand still and they went down both into the Water both Philip and the Eunuch and he baptized him As the Rule doth require a Qualification to fit Persons for the orderly admittance to the Ordinance of Baptism so doth it likewise for the orderly admittance to the Lord's Supper 1 Cor. 11.27 28 29. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. But let a Man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup For he that eateth aad drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh Damnation to himself not discerning the Lord's Body He that eateth and drinketh unworthily that is as an ignorant Person not discerning the Lord's Body that is not having any inward apprehension of him by Faith upon their own Souls or come not with that holy humble Reverence and with that due regard which belongs to such an holy Action If it be so that the Rule doth require Qualifications of those that come to the Ordinances then it doth condemn the Practice of such who do administer without any regard whether the Qualification be there or no. And secondly It greatly condemns such who under the pretence of a spiritual Baptism and a spiritual Supper do lay aside the Ordinances which Christ hath appointed in his Church The more clear the Evidences are of the Work of the Holy Ghost upon the Heart it tends to hold forth the Persons right to the Ordinance of Baptism Acts 10.47 Can any Man forbid Water that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we We may in these words behold the different Path that Truth and Error doth walk in Error makes a pretended Enjoyment of the inward a ground to lay aside the outward Truth makes the real Enjoyment of the inward the Qualification it self to partake of the outward and the more clear that the Enjoyment of Christ by the Holy Ghost doth outwardly
secret before God for Counsel and Direction and blessed be his holy Name he did not leave me but open'd a way for my Escape which Mercy I desire to keep in remembrance while I am in this World The night before the Warrant was to be executed I was very sick all the night but in the morning something better the Officers meeting together about that wicked Work to which they were all averse sent for me but my Excuse of not being well would not serve their turn but they proceeded by Lot to take the Houses of that poor People and sent me my Lots which I received with a great deal of joy seeing they desired me either to send Mony or get one to officiate I sent them the Mony rejoicing and upon my Knees blessed God for that great Mercy and tho the poor Quakers did offer me my Mony again yet I durst not for Conscience sake receive it I leave this with you as my Judgment that a misguided Conscience ought to be informed not forced God hath appointed other ways in his Word to reclaim those that are in an Error than by ruining Mens Persons and Estates The Liberty for Dissenters being granted by King James I was brought to hear five or six dissenting Ministers at Richard Cockeril's which through the Blessing of God so far wrought upon me as to take off that Prejudice that I had conceived against them but my Understanding remained dark without any inward discovery of the precious Doctrine of the Gospel until I sat under the Ministry of Mr. Humphreys being before that time a high Asserter of Free-will and general Redemption which naturally falls under the first Covenant-Principle His Personal Failings which brought a stain upon the precious Truths f the Gospel through Mercy I abhorr'd and took the freedom at times to speak to him about it yet his Doctrine which he preached was the instrumental means to bring me and many other poor Sinners to join with the Truth which through Mercy I was inabled to do upon the account of its own Worth and Excellency And mark it my Children that which must establish your Hearts in the Truths of God must be the holy Spirit 's inlightening your Souls to behold the Truth in the Scripture-Glass and inabling your Souls to see a native Beauty and Excellency in it above any Lustre that the Creature can put upon it by any Rhetorical Florishes whatsoever I cannot see what solid ground Persons can have to lay claim to an Interest in the Foundation-Truths of Christianity before the charming Simplicity that doth appear in Truth doth allure and win upon the Heart to lay hold of it When the holy Spirit doth present Truth unto the Soul it puts such a Divine Authority into it as constrains the Soul to bow before it and to submit unto it That Scripture which the Holy Ghost was pleased to make use of to present the Lord Jesus Christ unto my Soul and to seal unto it an Interest in God as my God through him was the words of Christ to Mary Joh. 20. the latter part of the 17th Verse Go to my Brethren and say unto them I ascend to my Father and your Father to my God and your God In which words the Lord Jesus Christ was presented unto my Soul as the Person by whom we are brought into relation with God and so was I inabled to lay hold of him with my whole Heart as the Person that opens the door of Grace and Mercy and under the inward sense and feeling of that Grace and Mercy which I did then receive from my heavenly Father as an Evidence of his accepting of me through his Son my Heart was exceedingly melted before him and drawn forth by the Spirit of Adoption into such a familiarity with him as to lay open my Heart before him being not then afraid to let him know the worst of my Condition from that Confidence that I had in that blessed Mediator that stood betwixt us I then experienced a new Principle begotten in my Soul which knit my Heart to the Person of the Lord Jesus I felt my Heart leaning towards him for Security and Safety and while the inward Evidence of my Union with him did last I look'd upon my self to be without the reach of the Tempter and altho many Clouds and Temptations have been upon me since the time of my first closing with him yet he hath not suffered me to be overwhelmed by them but in the midst of Troubles hath discovered himself unto me And this frequently I have experienced that when some sudden surprizing Providence hath fallen upon me that seem'd to be of a frowning nature my Soul being rouz'd did shake it self to see if it 's spiritual Strength remained Its first search hath been after its Union with its Lord and to get the Heart raised to God through him If Grace remained so as to keep the Heart knit unto Christ to wrestle with the Father through him generally slavish Fear fled away and a submissive frame of Spirit took place of it to be disposed of by God according to his Wisdom and before the Trouble was wholly over some comfortable Scripture was born in as an earnest that the Deliverance was coming My hope for Heaven lies in this that I am in the way that all the Flock have walk'd in unto this day For the New Testament stands upon the Credit and Authority of the Old If the Messiah were yet to come to work out Man's Salvation the Old Testament Prophecies concerning him could have their Accomplishment in no other way than they are laid down fulfilled in the New in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Acts 10.43 To him give all the Prophets witness that through his Name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of Sins And besides this my Heart hath been inwardly made sensible of the preventing Grace of God put forth outwardly towards me and his pardoning and renewing Grace hath been manifested inwardly in me First His preventing Grace hath been put forth outwardly towards me in that tender Watchfulness that my Heavenly Father hath shewed towards me to this day How many times have I been in danger of being led away by grievous Temptations and have been without the sense of the danger that I was in and yet something hath fallen out that hath prevented my falling by the Temptation and afterwards I have been made sensible of the Danger and of the Mercy received This was a great means of settling my Soul in the Doctrine of Election for I was many times constrained to cry out Why dost thou manifest such Grace unto me a worthless Creature For my Children I must acknowledg as standing under the first Covenant I was a Sinner before God and liable to his Justice His condemning of me could have been no Injustice in him therefore his dealing with me in Mercy 's way must lead me to acknowledg that it is by Grace I stand Secondly His
Work nor Device in the Grave If out of Christ when Death comes to you then miserable for ever if in Christ when Death comes happy for ever 6. Take care to get your Judgments throughly informd and settled in the Foundation-Principle of Christianity Other Foundation can no Man lay than that which is already laid which is Jesus Christ an all-sufficient Saviour Remember you must always go empty to him but have a care of returning empty from him Have the Saints in all Ages beheld such an Excellency in him and can you see none It 's a sign your Hearts are not right with him you talk of what you do not enjoy To you that believe saith the Apostle he is precious it 's such a Faith as gives a view of his Person in the Gospel-Glass 7. Endeavour to be much in the inward experimental part of Religion Have a care of sticking in the true Form without the Power and have a care of a pretended Power without the true Form If you stick in the purest Form without the Power you get no further than Formalists and are no better than a lifeless Image without Motion in God's account For Revealed Religion was appointed to bring the Heart to Communion with God and where this is not attained the great Design of God in giving forth Revealed Religion is lost Have a care of a pretended Power without the true Form for by this you will be laid open to the Transformings of Satan and to his Deceivings as an Angel of Light Lend not an Ear to that Spirit that gets above the holy Scriptures as a Rule and Guide How many Persons who have seemd to be in a hopeful way in the Truths of Christianity have been led into By-paths through Satan's Wiles and many sincere Christians have so far fallen as to lose much of their former Experiences 8. If the Lord in Mercy to you make you fit Matter of a Gospel-Church and afford you the Means of giving up your selves to other Christians that are gathered together according to the order of the Gospel upon a Profession of Faith and sincere Obedience neglect not so great a Mercy you may then be serviceable unto others by the exercising of the Gifts given you which may be for others Edification and Improvement to your selves and your Hearts may be warmed by the Gifts and Graces of other Christians Besides your Mercy will be very great in having the watchful Eye of sincere Christians over you to incourage you in your Christian Course and to be faithful Reprovers of you if they see that you do not walk orderly according to the Rule of the Gospel This is one of the great Privileges that attend those that are in Church-fellowship Gal. 6.1 Brethren if a Man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the Spirit of Meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted Two saith Solomon are better than one because they have a good Reward for their Labour for if they fall the one will lift up his Fellow but wo to him that is alone when he falleth for he hath not another to help him If two Christians may be serviceable one to another how much more to have a considerable number of sincere Christians watching over you 9. Endeavour to get imprinted upon your Hearts that the Life of a Christian while he is passing through this World is a Life of Prayer When God takes Persons into Covenant with him he pours out upon their Souls the Spirit of Prayer and Supplication Prayer is the Intelligencer betwixt the Saints here on Earth and their Father now in Heaven it is that which keeps God's Ear open to us and our Hearts open for him The blessed Jesus speaking of John's Ministry the effect it had upon sinners to bring them to a sincere Repentance and by strong Cries to lay open their state before God he tells us Mat. 11.12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth Violence and the Violent take it by force He compareth these poor returning Penitents to a Company of Souldiers drawn up in Battel-array to force their Entrance into a Fort or Castle their Cries here on Earth piercing into Heaven Prayer made God use that familiar and condescending Expression to Moses concerning the People of Israel Exod. 32.9 10 11. And the Lord said unto Moses I have seen this People and behold it is a stiff-necked People Now therefore let me alone that my Wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great Nation And Moses besought the Lord his God and said Why doth thy Wrath wax hot against thy People which thou hast brought forth out of the Land of Egypt You may see in these and the following words to the 15th Verse what prevalency Prayer hath upon God when it is put up on the behalf of others much more when it is on our own behalf In treating of this Subject I shall First Shew what Prayer is and the nature of it Secondly I shall shew the necessity of the continuance of it while we are on this side Eternity First I shall shew what Prayer is and the nature of it We may take Prayer according to Scripture under a twofold Consideration First As proceeding from the Spirit of Bondage And here the Heart doth not cry unto God from an inward sight and feeling that it is interested in God but by the light of the first Govenant It looks upon God as Creator and as having an Ability in him to supply Nature's Wants and to deliver from approaching Misery This Prayer is Nature's Cry and is oftentimes put forth with a great deal of Earnestness where there is no Evidence of an Interest in God or Communion with God But that Prayer which I design to lay open is the Work of the Spirit of Adoption upon the Hearts of the Saints and this consists in these three parts 1st In giving inward Light to see the things necessary to be prayed for 2dly In giving Life and Motion to the Faculties of the Soul that so the Soul may be engag'd in the Duty 3dly In leading the Soul in the way by which an Entrance is obtained into Heaven First I shall shew the nature of the Inlightnings of the Spirit in the Duty of Prayer how they are discovered in the Soul of Man 1. The Inlightnings of the Spirit are discovered in the Soul of Man by discovering the inward Frame that the Soul is in The Hearts of the unconverted World are always in an ill Frame and that which is their great Misery they want Light to see it but if the Saints be in an ill frame they are in Mercy brought to see it remaining Corruption is discovered deadness and dulness and wandering of the Heart from God is discovered the holy Spirit gives Light that the Heart may be rectified and made fit for Communion with God because therein