the Lord revealed things to us and our Children PART III. Setting forth the Publication of Gospel-Grace from the Fall to Abraham the State of the Church until that time the Covenant made with him the Nature of the Old Testament Church-State and the New Testament Church-State CHAP. I. Of the Publication of Gospel-Grace from the Fall to Abraham the Church-State during that Dispensation OUR first Parents Adam and Eve having by Disobedience brought themselves and all their Offspring being included in them under the Penalty of the first Covenant the great God whose Mercy Grace and Goodness is over all his Works doth in his threatning against Satan publish the glad Tydings of the Gospel and doth hold forth a Redeemer to come of the Seed of the Woman Gen. 3.15 And I will put Enmity between thee and the Woman and between thy Seed and her Seed it shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel In which Threatning we may observe that in the Word It and His the Person of the Redeemer was held forth unto our first Parents and upon the performance of this Threatning against Satan which did carry Gospel-Grace in it did the Children of God that lived in the World before Abraham relie They by Faith beheld him that was to come and through that Grace which was granted to poor Sinners in him they were brought to walk with God and to enjoy him In the prosecuting of the third Part of this Book I shall by the Assistance of the Spirit of God make it appear That the Gospel as to the Matter of it is one and the same with what is contained in this Threatning against Satan and that what renewals of Grace God hath in a Covenant-way bestowed upon any of his Children as upon Abraham and David they were but as so many Confirmations of the Certainty of a Redeemer to come and tended to streng-then this first Threatning and to confirm the Faith of the Fathers in the certain Performance of it That the Publication of Gospel-Grace did not br with God that were under the found of it is very clear It is not the bare Performance of those Duties required by the Gospel that doth evidence Persons being in Covenant with God but the Principle by which they are enabled to perform them An Instance of which we have in the two Brothers Cain and Abel Gen. 4.3 4 5. And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the Fruit of the ground an Offering unto the Lord. And Abel he also brought of the Firstlings of his Flock and of the Fat thereof and the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his Offering And unto Cain and his Offering he had not respect and Cain was very wroth and his Countenance fell We cannot think that these two Brothers as they were the Children of Adam and Eve could be ignorant of the Threatning against Satan That the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's Head But one of them offer'd a more excellent Sacrifice than the other by Faith having a view of this blessed Redeemer upon the account of whose Worthiness and in whose Name he offer'd up his Offering unto God Abel's Soul being led by Faith to the Redeemer and through him unto God meets with the acceptance of his Person and of his Offering Cain who wants Faith hath both his Person and his Offering rejected How small was the number of the Spiritual Seed yea into what a small compass was the outward face of the Church brought when God brought the Flood upon the old World the outward face of the Church confined to Noah's Family Gen. 6.11 12 13. And the Earth was corrupt before God and the Earth was filled with Violence And God looked upon the Earth and behold it was corrupt for all Flesh had corrupted his way upon the Earth And God said unto Noah The end of all Flesh is come before me for the Earth is filled with Violence through them and behold I will destroy them with the Earth Although wicked Ham lived in this religious Family whose Father hath this Character given him by God himself Gen. 7.1 And the Lord said unto Noah Come thou and all thy House into the Ark for thee have I seen righteous before me in this Generation And although he was preserved with his Father from the Deluge his Heart is not the least touched with it but he seems rather hardned in his Wickedness as appears by that brutish Act of his to his Father when he lay uncovered in the Tent. Although Christ had a Church in the World from Adam until Abraham's time and as far as Light can be afforded from the holy Scriptures the Church did remain privately in Families yet that all those that were in the Family were Members of the Church much less brought into the Covenant of Grace the Scripture gives us no ground to believe I cannot but a little wonder to behold the Confidence of some Men who do assert That there was no Covenant of Grace before Abraham and in publick in my hearing have affirm'd that to make the Threatning against Satan the Covenant of Grace is to make God covenant with the Devil And again That when God ever took any Person into Covenant with him he also took all the Offspring or all his Seed into Covenant with him To question the Reality of such Assertions is to bring one under the Reproach of being Deniers of the Covenant of Grace as if they had a mind to inhance a kind of Infallibility to themselves by making Persons believe things from their pare Assertions CHAP II. Of the Covenant made with Abraham and of the Old Testament Church-State what was required to be a Member of it THAT the Covenant made with Abraham had something in it peculiar to him as a Believer for the strengthning of his Faith and likewise relating to a numerous Offspring which were to proceed from his Loins is that which I hope to clear up in the following Discourse And first relating to him as a Believer for the strengthning of his Faith in the blessed Redeemer who then was to come He hath this exceeding great Favour bestowed upon him to have the Promise of the Redeemer's coming renew'd unto him and that by a new Promise with this additional Favour annexed to it that the Redeemer according to the Flesh should be of his Seed which must certainly bring a great deal of comfort with it to believing Abraham Gen. 12.3 And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee and in thee shall all the Families of the Earth be blessed compared with Gen. 22.18 And in thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed The Apostle Paul recites the very Words of the Promise and calls it a preaching the Gospel before unto Abraham Gal. 3.8 And the Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Heathen through Faith preached before the Gospel unto Abraham saying In thee shall all
he shall neglect to hear these two or three Witnesses then tell it to the Church that is let his Offence and his persisting in it after Admonition be laid before the Church to whom the Offender belongs as a Member but if he neglect to hear the Church in admonishing of him of his Offence then let him be unto thee as an Heathen Man and a Publican that is as a Person that is a Stranger from the Church and not belonging to it Thirdly A third Reason why the New Testament requires a Work of true Conversion upon the Heart as that which qualifies or fits a Person to be a Member of a visible Church is because as every Member doth receive Grace in a measure so it is their Duty to communicate of that Grace to their fellow Member holding the Head the Lord Jesus Christ who by Faith ties and knits every Member of the Body unto him and from that fulness that is in him gives forth Nourishment to every individual Member so that as they grow up by the strength of Grace they are enabled to add something to the edifying and strengthning of their fellow Members and to add to the Beauty of the Church to whom they do belong for altho many Men that are Members of the Church may not have received such Gifts as to fit them for publick Exercise in the Church much less Women who are strictly forbidden the contrary 1 Cor. 4.34 35. yet in their private Discourses one with another whether Men or Women if the Matter which they discourse of tend not to the advancing of the Lord Jesus Christ and the exalting of the Grace of God through him by which they may be edified such Persons little consider what is required of Church-Members in order to the discharge of their Duty to God and to one another CHAP. V. Of the Ordinances of the New Testament Church what is required to fit for the partaking of them and what they do hold out when administred according to the Rule of the Word THE Apostle Paul lays open the different state of the Church under the Old and New Testament in Heb. 3.5 6. And Moses verily was faithful in all his House as a Servant for a Testimony of those things which were to be spoken after That is Moses was faithful in giving forth the Pattern of the Old Testament Worship which was figurative of what was to be done by the Messiah at his appearance in the state of his Humiliation He by his appearance performing what was figured out by the Old Testament Worship it must follow that there was an end put to that Worship and with the Worship to the Church-state likewise Ver. 6. But Christ as a Son over his own House whose House are we if we hold fast the Confidence and the rejoicing of the hope unto the end The New Testament Church hath the honour to have the Son of God to be the first Discoverer by his own Mouth what was required to be a Member of it and to be the Appointer of the Ordinances to be continued in it Mat. 16.15 16 17 18. He saith unto them But whom say ye that I am And Simon Peter answered and said Thou art Christ the Son of the living God And Jesus answered and said unto him Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for Flesh and Blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in Heaven And I say unto thee that thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it Leigh upon the words faith that it was the Judgment of Hilary Cyril Chrysostom Theophilact and Ambrose that by the Rock is not meant Peter's Person but the Faith which he had professed in Christ an inward discovery of the Lord Jesus Christ by Faith accompanied with an outward Profession of the fame is the Matter of which the New Testament Church is built 1 Pet. 2.4 5. To whom coming as to a living Stone disallowed indeed of Men but chosen of God and precious ye also as lively Stones are built up a spiritual House an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ Every Member of the Church is not fitted to be a Publisher of the Gospel but every Member of the Church if such an one as the Word requires is brought through Christ to receive the Grace of God and from an inward feeling of this Grace received to offer up a thankful Heart devoted to him For the gathering in of such Members into the New Testament Church is the Commission given forth to the Apostles and direction is given to admit Persons thus gathered to the initiating Ordinance of Water-Baptism as appears from the words of the Commission and the Practice of the Apostles by virtue of the Commission Mat. 28.18 19 20. And Jesus came and spake unto them saying All Power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth Go ye therefore and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo I am with you alway even unto the end of the World Here three things lie fair from the words without any wresting of them First Outward Teaching the instrumental Means appointed by Christ and made use of by the Holy Ghost to bring to the inward knowledg of him and the acceptance of Grace through him thereby to be made fit Matter for the Church under the New Testament This I have spoken so fully to in the last and in this Chapter that the visible Church of Christ under the New Testament doth consist of such as are call'd out of the World by true Conversion to lay hold of the Lord Jesus Christ and Grace through him that I need not enlarge upon this first Head The second thing contained in the Commission is the admittance of such to the initiating Ordinance of Baptism Acts 2.41 Then they that gladly received the Word were baptized and the same day were added to them about three thousand Souls Thirdly Here is the continuation of what is commanded by the Commission in these words And lo I am with you alway unto the end of the World The Apostles liv'd not till the end of the World therefore I am with you and your Successors who shall be fitted by me for the preaching of the everlasting Gospel appointed to gather the Elect unto God until this World come under a Dissolution As by the Commission and the Practice of the Apostles upon the Commission Baptism is appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ as the initiating or entering Ordinance into a visible Church of Christ under the New Testament so his last Supper is appointed by him to be practised by these that are in a visible Church-state Luke 22.19 20. And he took Bread and gave Thanks and brake it and gave unto them saying This is my Body
experience and that is by leading a poor sensible Sinner to the Declaration of the Sufferings of the Blessed Jesus and conveying the Declaration into the Soul and with it giving the Soul an inward Glance of the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ from whom the Soul by the help of the Spirit doth draw such Virtue as causeth an immediate removal of inward Guilt which the Soul hath contracted by Sin and under much Brokenness the Soul is brought to close with him Where this Closure is witnessed there doth an Intercourse with the Father attend it The Name of the Blessed Jesus is with this Closure engraven so on the Heart that the Injoyment of him becomes exceeding pleasant and comfortable 3ly I shall proceed to shew how the Holy Spirit doth break down Corruption in the Soul and carries on the Work of Sanctification 1. By discovering unto the Soul the polluting Nature of Sin that unless the Soul be preserved from it Communion with a holy God cannot be enjoyed It leads the Soul to watch against Temptations that draw into Sin and it leads the Soul through Christ to the Father for power to be kept from it The Lord Jesus Christ as Mediator is the Person upon the account of whose Worthiness the Soul craves help from God No sooner is the Soul come before God to seek him in its private Addresses but if Christ be enjoy'd by Faith the Outgoings of the Heart are to him and through him to the Father The Soul claims a Right of Relation or Kindred with him and so useth Plainness of Speech with him about its State and Condition and by beholding that its own nature in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ stands nighly related to the Father it puts him upon taking its Condition and the managing of it into his own hands as being able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him seeing he ever lives to make Intercession for them 2. The Spirit of God doth put the Soul upon seeking unto God for more light that so those Seeds of Sin that lie undiscovered in the Soul may not only be brought to light but likewise be rooted out as saith the Psalmit Search me O God and know my Heart try me and know my Thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting Such is the nature of Holiness in the Souls of the Saints that it would have the very Seeds of Corruption removed and as the Spirit of God doth put the Soul upon the using that means which God hath appointed for the subduing of Sin and Corruption so it likewise doth not only beget a Principle of Grace in the Soul by the Soul's Union with the Lord Jesus Christ but by its inward Supplies it puts fresh Vigor and Life into it by which the Heart comes more and more to be led forth unto God to seek after him and engaged more closely to follow him 3. The H. Spirit doth encourage the Soul to persevere in the Way that leads to Communion with God by letting the Soul feel the peaceable Fruit that it doth bear in it in this Life and likewise that eternal Happiness that it fits the Soul for in glory The Saints sow in Tears here but they shall reap in Joy they go on their way weeping bearing pretious Seed but at the Morning of the Resurrection then they shall appear bearing their Sheaves with them I come now in the third place to prove how all this is subservient to the Decree of Election and answers the designs of it Ephesians the first Chapter ver 3 4 5. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual Blessings in heavenly places in Christ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the World that we should be holy and without blame before him in love Having predestinated us unto the Adoption of Children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his Will to the praise of the glory of his Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved Compared with the first Epistle of Peter the first Chapter 2 3 4 5th Verses Elect according to the Fore-knowledg of God the Father through Sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ Grace unto you and Peace be multiplied Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant Mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you Who are kept by the power of God through Faith unto Salvation ready to be revealed in the last time These Scriptures do fully prove the Truths of which I have been treating the Oneness of the Covenant of Grace and Redemption for here the Decree as it proceeds from God is eternal and passeth through Time into Eternity to the effecting or perfecting what was designed by it Can any Person separate the means comprehended in the Womb of the Decree to attain the End and not do manifest Wrong to the Decree it self Let the serious Reader judg Here is the Lord Jesus Christ the second Person in the Godhead set up by the Decree as the Head of the Elect all the Elect comprehended in him He appears in a State of Humiliation for the Elect they have the Offers of Grace by him and are brought to give Obedience to the Offers have his Blood applied to their Souls for their Justification and through him have the Spirit sanctifying them and by his mighty Power bringing them to the Glory which the Decree hath designed for them All these outward Acts which were transacted in time were but the gradual fulfilling of what was comprehended in the Decree which in it self was eternal which I hope doth prove that which was designed by the second Part of this Book that is that the Covenant of Grace and Redemption is but one Covenant For a Conclusion This Doctrine administers a great deal of Comfort to those that have the Marks of Election already wrought in their Souls to see their Salvation sixt upon such a sure Foundation and the Accomplishment in such a way as brings the greatest Motives with it to Humility and Thankfulness of engaging the Heart unto God And for those that are under the means which lead to attain the End it is not discouraging Doctrine to them because who are comprehended in the Decree is a Secret wholly reserved to God alone and we no otherwise know that our selves or others are in it but as we come under effectual Calling which is that which opens the Door into it Therefore it is in vain for the Creature to think to know what God at present conceals from him any other way but that which is of his own appointing Secret things belong to
and a share in the Worship of it But the time of the Old Testament Church-state being expired the aim of the New Testament being to gather together the spiritual Seed of Abraham the fleshly Jew must be broken off and the believing Gentile must take his place that so the Church in the times of the New Testament may consist of the spiritual Seed and if he spared not the natural Jew because there was a want of the Qualification be not high-minded but fear for if thou wantest the Qualification thou hast not long to continue a Member of the Church of Christ in the times of the New Testament I have in treating of this Covenant contain'd in Gen. 17. gone from the common Opinion of Expositors and through Mercy I can appeal unto the Lord that I have desired sincerely to follow the leadings of his holy Spirit in his Word If I have varied in any thing from the holy Scriptures which I desire to follow as my Rule and Guide if any can shew me my Error and will do it in the Spirit of Meekness I shall be greatly obliged to them I must desire the Reader 's favour to overlook the weakness of the Stile in which these Truths are laid down and to look at the Truth it self which shines the clearest when it appears in its own native Beauty If it agree with thy Experience bless God for it for thou mayst see in reading of the Appendix which contains the Author's Experience and Advice to his Children that the Author hath nothing to glory in before the Lord It was by rich and free Grace alone that he was brought to see the Truth and to give Obedience to it It is through rich Grace that he receives strength to walk in it and it is by Grace alone that he hopes to come to that eternal Blessedness that is held forth by it CHAP. IV. Of the New Testament Church and what is required to be a Member of it BEfore I come to the matter contained in this Chapter I shall speak of the Church of Christ in general and so it comprehends the whole Elect Body from the Fall to those that shall be living at Christ's second Personal Appearance Ephes 3.14 15. For this cause I bow my Knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Of whom the whole Family in Heaven and Earth is named Some of the Family are gotten to their rest others are conflicting with the World and some have only their being in the Decree of God to appear at the time appointed for them The Church so considered is the Body of Christ which he hath redeemed by his pretious Blood not having Spot or Wrinkle or any such thing when presented to the Father at the Last day But of the Church thus considered are many Members who are not brought to be Members of a gathered Church constituted according to the Rule of God's Word That Lot Job and his Friends were of the Body of Christ and so Members of the Church I think no Christian will deny yet it doth not any where appear that those were Members of the Old Testament Church who never imboided together and so became thereby visible to the Nations round about them As Christ in the times of the Old Testament had many Members who were not brought into the Church so hath he likewise in the times of the New Testament The idolatrous Church of Rome hath assumed to her self the name of the Church or the Spouse of Christ and so was owned for many Ages by the great Ones of the World while the Members of Christ were not visible to the World and in many places not one unto another In not distinguishing the Church as it is here laid down some Persons have driven on strange Designs against God's Children by their Cry That out of the Church there is no Salvation Which is true if we consider the Elect Body to whom Christ was given as a Saviour but will not hold true to any particular gathered Church for many Members of Christ are so scatter'd in the World that for many Ages it hath been and at this time is morally impossible that they should be gathered into a Body according to the Rule of the Word Of the Church as taking in the whole Body of the Elect do I reckon Elect Infants Whether only all Believers Infants or Unbelievers Infants likewise be so to whom Grace is applied by the Holy Spirit I leave as a Secret which God is pleased to reserve unto himself But that they are uncapable of Membership in a visible gathered Church in the times of the New Testament and have no Right to the two Ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper will appear in the prosecuting of this and the next Chapter if regard be had to the Holy Scriptures as a Rule and Guide unto us By holding forth the Purity of the Church I do not thereby unchurch those several sorts of Protestants that differ from the poor despised Baptists in many things yet do hold with them the Foundation the Lord Jesus Christ as Redeemer and the one Mediator betwixt God and Man in opposition to the many Mediators brought in by the Idolatrous Church of Rome Yet if regard be had to the Holy Scriptures as a Rule many of the Protestant Churches will appear to have been building upon the Foundation Wood Hay and Stubble they have retained in their several Churches something that hath been handed down unto them from the idolatrous Papists and not from the Authority of the Holy Scriptures Although God hath born with these Churches several Ages as he bore with the Churches of Asia yet it is visible that his Presence is greatly withdrawn from them and may end in the unchurching of them when the Church comes wholly to be delivered out of her Wilderness State if there be not a hearty and speedy return unto him Having by way of Introduction open'd the way into what remains chiefly to be consider'd in this Chapter I shall lay down these two general Heads as that which may take in the whole matter First Treat of the Nature of the Publication of the Gospel under the New Testament Secondly What is required to be admitted a Member of the visible Church according to the Rule laid down in it First I shall treat of the Nature of the Publication of the Gospel under the New Testament and that is in a different manner from the Publication of it in the times of the Old Testament The Lord Jesus Christ was then held forth under such Types and Figures that the end for which they were instituted in the Church was beheld with great difficulty so that the Saints themselves that were waiting for his coming were ignorant of the manner of it and the nature of that Deliverance that should be wrought by him being much upon the expectation of a visible Kingdom in this World and outward Glory attending of it not being brought clearly to distinguish betwixt
beating me about the Head I was almost stupified and growing melancholy I was judg'd to be gone into a Consumption My Mother advising with Dr. Korbat about me he advised her to take me from the School which she did but my Father that I might not forget to read English well borrowed for me Fox's Acts and Monuments which I began to take great delight in And the first thing that fastened upon my Heart to do me good was a Letter of Bilnay's to Dunstal the Popish Arch-bishop of York in the Reign of Henry the Eighth wherein that holy Martyr laying before the Bishop the manner of his Life that he was a Mass-Priest to pray Souls out of Purgatory Reading saith he Tindal's New Testament at the last I came to hear of Jesus Which Passage was fixed upon my Heart as if it had been written upon it Leaving the Book I went out and began with great deliberation to consider of this Passage and the reason that should make this holy Man and others give up their Lives with such chearfulness in the Fire whenas by conforming to the Publick Worship they might many of them have lived in great Prosperity I begun to think of a future state and the manner of Life that I had led in the World to the great dishonour of that God that gave me my Being my Sins were then set in order before me and I began to be fill'd with such inward Guilt and Fear that I was many times afraid to be alone yet never made my Condition known to any Person but often bewailed it before God and resolved which I was enabled through Mercy to perform to turn my Back on my former vicious Company and betook my self to a very retired Life even beyond the most young Men that I was acquainted with not daring to allow my self the Pleasures of youthful Vanities My Mother being a Hearer of Mr. Luck I frequently went with her and was much affected with his preaching but two things fell out which wholly alienated my Mind from him and indeed almost from all Dissenting Ministers for his sake The Act against seditious Conventicles coming forth forbidding all Persons above four besides the Minister to assemble together under pretence of the Worship of God after Mr. Luck had finished his Exercise on the Lord's-day before the Act took place two Rooms being full of Hearers he stood up and acquainted them with the Act and that he could no longer preach to above four as the Act directed A second thing that gave me the greatest Offence was that going with my Mother to hear him after the Act was in force four Persons were gotten there before us and the Door lock'd we desired to let be in and were not willing to be denied until we were refused by himself which caused me to break forth into this or the like Expression That it could not be that he was a Minister of the Gospel who was more afraid of Man than of God and for my part I would never go to hear him more That which heightned my Aversness to him was my Father's frequent upbraiding of us with our careless Shepherd who in time of danger was asham'd to own his Flock From that time I began to have a particular Eye upon the poor despised Quakers whom I look'd upon as the only People God had in the World for altho I had shaken off sinful self I had not shaken off righteous self and by reading a multitude of their Books I was more and more confirm'd in their Foundation-Principle of the Light in every Man which convinceth him of Sin being the Light of Christ which from an experienced Heart I have cause to speak it is no other but the Light of the first Covenant that shews Man his state and condition he is in by Sin but leads not into the Gospel-Dispensation but as the Light according to the tenor of the first Covenant calls for an Obedience to the Law so by keeping up to a strict walking according to its requirings much inward Peace is gain'd and this I very well remember that having through Temptations outwardly and from Corruption inwardly been led into Sin this Light which is God's Witness in the Souls of all the Sons and Daughters of Adam did begin to accuse me and I felt inward Guilt and fear of Punishment arising in my Breast which made me look for some trouble or other befalling me for running in the way of Sin and very seldom miss'd of it which Trouble was an instrumental means to drive me to my Knees to bewail my Condition before God and frequently with great earnestness of Heart have besought him that I might come to a sinless state never to go astray from him but to witness a being led out to behold the Lord Jesus Christ by Faith either as a Redeemer or as Mediator betwixt God and Man from any inward Work of God upon my Heart I did not in the least experience altho I do believe all that knew my Conversation will say that it was very strict yet under the leadings of this first Covenant-Principle And mark it my Children this I leave with you as one that to the praise of rich Grace be it spoken hath found Mercy at the hand of God that it is not your joining with the purest Truths of Christianity that ought to be the Evidence to your selves of your being such as God will own for Christians but it is the Principle by which your Hearts are guided in the Worship of Christ whether private or publick that must be the Evidence A Christian that is brought to walk with God by the Spirit of Adoption is taken off the old Foundation and set upon a new Foundation his hope of enjoying eternal Life is fixt upon his Union with the Lord Jesus Christ by Faith through whom eternal Happiness is secured unto him in such a way as is impossible it should miscarry But this I shall speak to by and by when I come to shew you how my Soul closed with the Lord Jesus and return to speak a little further of that poor despised People called Quakers who I did believe were in the Favour of God above any People in the World and altho I did not join with them so far as publickly to meet with them at their Worship yet I gave frequent Testimonies how highly I esteemed them The Persecution upon the account of their Consciences increasing about the year Eighty three I did endeavour to shelter them what in me lay by perswading the Towns Officers to endeavour to baffle the Informers and being chosen an Overseer of the Poor at that time and so being injoyn'd by Warrant to take their Goods I was driven into grievous Perplexity not knowing which way to turn me for I was grievously afraid of the Justices on the one hand and utterly averse to such an Act on the other hand believing them to be God's People which caused me to shed a great many Tears in
Immorality of the Times we live in most Persons being at Peace with the ways of Sin but unwilling to be brought to the Enjoyment of that Peace which the ways of Holiness do afford Surely my Children if God in Mercy to your Souls open your Understandings to see that great danger that your precious Souls are in you will see a great necessity laid upon you to keep close to God by the great Duty of Prayer that you may stand in his Counsel and that he may undertake to lead you in a safe way that so you may be kept from the Pollutions of the times you live in If the Lord be so gracious to you as by his Providence to open a door for you by which you may get daily Bread in a way that doth not expose you to those great Temptations that many are exposed to tho it be in a lower station in the World make choice of it before Greatness in the World with Temptations Consider the wise Man's words Prov. 28.22 He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil Eye and considereth not that Poverty shall come upon him It 's Corruption that insatiably drives him forward and suffers him not to consider how he is heaping Sin upon his Soul while he is gathering together these worldly things Altho God do let such Persons live out their days with the Enjoyment of these outward things yet what a heap of Guilt do such Persons carry with them into Eternity Remember what the Apostle saith 1 Tim. 6.9 For they that will be rich fall into Temptation and a Snare and into many foolish and hurtful Lusts which drown Men in Destruction and Perdition Another great thing that shews the necessity of the continuance of the Duty of Prayer as long as we are on this side Eternity is that till then Satan hath not his Power of tempting of us wholly taken from him It is the great Mercy of God's Children that the Rage of this devouring Lion is limited that he has not liberty to execute all that Rage against them which is in him But daily Experience shews us that the Father is pleased to give Satan so much Power against his Children as to vex and grieve them with those violent Temptations he at times suggests into them Now the only way to escape this Adversary and to be strengthened against his Temptations is to keep up Communion with God by Prayer for so long as God is inwardly injoy'd he cannot enter The Apostle in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians Chap. 5. v. 17. saith Pray without ceasing He doth not mean that we should be always in the exercise of that Duty but that we should endeavour to have our Hearts always in a frame for it But secondly The necessity of the continuance of the Duty of Prayer doth appear while we are on this side Eternity because the Soul doth readily too often join with the Baits that gratify corrupt Nature The Body is yet unredeemed and therefore desires to be gratified in those things that delight the outward Man the Senses are as Doors and Windows unto the Soul to let in those outward Objects which are as so many Baits and Snares to draw away the Soul after them There is no keeping the door of the Heart shut against these things but as the Soul is led up by Faith to Objects of a higher nature and the Duty of Prayer is one of the great means made use of by the Spirit to give the Soul a view of those things that are of a more excellent nature than these earthly things are Again Endeavour to get imprinted upon your Minds the necessity of an even composed frame of Spirit under the various changes of God's Providence You know what is past but you know not what is before you whether Prosperity or Adverversity be appointed for you Have a care that with the change of Providences there be not a change of your Hearts for the worse Doth not daily Experience shew us that changes of Providence to poot unconverted Sinners have this effect upon them What a change hath a sudden Advancement to a higher Condition in the World made upon many unconverted Sinners They have hardly known how to behave themselves toward those that were their Familiars while they were in a low Condition much less how to carry themselves toward God who advanced them in the World This change from a low state in the World to a higher hath been a means greatly to eat out that Life and Power that hath been in God's Children when in a low Condition What a Change did it make in Joseph that in discoursing with his Brethren he so far forgets himself as to make use of the Courtly Oaths that were then in fashion By the Life of Pharaoh ye are Spies Again What an effect upon Persons hath a sudden change of Providence had when they have been surprizingly brought down into a low Condition in the World while they have been in an unconverted state that they knew not the way to go to God that they might humble their Souls before him Through the strength of Temptations accompanied with their Corruptions they have been so overwhelmed that they have broken out in unbecoming Expressions towards God and in a desperate manner have laid violent hands upon themselves yea some of God's Children when they have been under dark Providences for want of a settled frame have shew'd too much of a fretful impatient Spirit and like the Israelites have been fill'd with Murmurings and Repinings O endeavour to learn the Apostle's Lesson Phil. 4.11 Not that I speak in respect of want for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content That you may learn this Lesson take these following Directions 1. Endeavour to get your Minds exercised with the thoughts of God as to that absolute Power which he hath over you and all his Creatures that to him belongs the right of disposing of you and the things that he hath for a time given you even as pleaseth him that to you belongs a humble submissive frame of Spirit as you are his Creatures much more if he have brought you into the state of Children 2. Endeavour to see if you cannot find some of God's rational Creatures and some of his dear Children in one respect or other exercised with greater Difficulties than you are having found some under greater Straits than your selves search into your Hearts and Lives and see if you can find any moving Cause there why he should not deal with you as with those that you behold in a worse Condition and so learn Submission to him 3. Look into the Scripture-Glass and there behold that the way God hath taken with his Children to burn up the dross of Corruption and to fit the Soul for himself is by afflicting Providences Isa 48.10 I have chosen thee in the furnace of Affliction And let this be a means for you to press after the same sanctified use of
it when it hath answered the end for which it was brought upon you the Providence will be changed or you taken from under it home to your Father's House 5thly Endeavour to get imprinted upon your Minds the necessity of having your Zeal in the Worship of God regulated by the Word of God It is good for to be zealously affected always in a good thing mind that it be from the Inlightenings of the Spirit within you that you are led to behold the Truth in the Letter of the holy Scriptures and that by comparing Scripture with Scripture you receive full satisfaction concerning the Truth you lay hold upon Let this go before and then your Zeal in worshipping of God by it and in bearing a Testimony for it follow after How many Persons are exceeding zealous for things which they practise in their Religious Worship that they have no ground for from the holy Scriptures and do place all their hope in this their superstitious Zeal not being brought in the least to witness the dealings of God with their Hearts What mischievous work hath blind Zeal made in the Christian World All the Sufferings and Troubles that have befallen the Children of God in all Ages have come in by it true Zeal desires to destroy Error and to save the Person that is carried away with it false Zeal falls upon the Person and endeavours to ruin the outward Man for the pretended Errors of the inward Man Where Persons are one with you in the Foundation and do walk with God by Faith answerable to their discoveries of Truth tho you should differ from them in many other things let your Moderation be shewn towards them And for those that may differ from you in the Publick Worship of God upon further discoveries of Light received have you a care of condemning any such of being guilty of Error before you are able from the Letter of the Scripture to lay open their Error It is the Scripture laid down in the Letter that is the Rule and not Mens Consequences from it Consequences may be allowed to strengthen the Rule but must not be allowed to be added to it 6thly Endeavour to get imprinted upon your Minds the necessity of a holy Conversation before Men this is that which keeps up the Credit of Religion in the World in despite of all its Adversaries The World knows how to deal with Religion when they meet it in a loose Professor but they know not what to say to it nor how to deal with it when they meet it in a sincere self-denying Christian whose Conversation pleads for the Reality that is in Truth and gives a check to the Opposers of it By a holy Conversation we vindicate the Interest of the Son of God in the World and do invite poor Sinners that are convinced of the Evil that is in Sin to come and taste of that pleasant Fruit that the ways of Holiness do afford to those that walk in them There is a great difference betwixt the ways of Sin and Holiness Sin tho it affords a seeming Pleasure in the committing of it yet draws after it Guilt and Misery Holiness tho in the Acts of it we receive Reproach from the profane World a train of inward Peace and Comfort doth follow it A Profession of Words cannot be taking to any Person where the Conversation doth speak a quite contrary Language To be loose in Conversation under a pure Profession is for a Man to contrive how he may make himself the miserablest of Persons when he comes in Eternity The Prophet Isaiah speaking of the Gospel in Chap. 35. v. 8. saith And an High-way shall be there and a way and it shall be called the way of Holiness the unclean shall not pass over it but it shall be for those the way-faring Men tho Fools shall not err therein It shall be called the way of Holiness the unclean shall not pass over it Where pardoning Grace is inwardly received for all Sins the Soul under the sense of Divine Love hath an inward hatred against the very nature of Sin begotten in it and an inward yearning after Holiness as that which adds Strength and Vigor to the new Creature in the Souls of the Saints Where there is inward Strength and Vigor in the Soul against that Corruption which hinders Communion there will be a watchfulness against those things that tend to the dishonouring of God by our Conversation Holiness inwardly and sincere Obedience outwarldy are so inseparable that whoever hath the one it is impossible but he must have the other As by a growth in Sin Sinners do ripen for Hell and eternal Misery so by Holiness Saints do ripen for Heaven and eternal Glory Holiness makes us meet for the Heavenly Canaan without Holiness no Communion with God in this Life without Holiness no Enjoyment of God in Glory and as it makes us meet for the new Jerusalem so without Holiness no entering into that holy City Rev. 21.27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth neither whatsoever worketh Abomination or maketh a Lie but they which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life I shall conclude this Book and my Directions to you with the words of the Apostle Paul to the Philippians Chap. 4. v. 8 9. Finally my Children whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any Vertue think on these things Those things which you have both learned and received and heard and seen of me do and the God of Peace shall be with you FINIS The Contents PART I. Chap. I. OF the first Adam the Excellency of the State in which he was created page 1. Chap. II. Of the Nature of the first Covenant-light in the state of Innocency page 4. Chap. III. Of Adam's Fall the miserable change of his Condition thereby how all his Offspring were included in it page 13. Chap. IV. Of God's Image on the Heart of Adam how it discovers it self in the Hearts of his fallen Children The nature of the leadings of that first Covenant-light and the Condition of those that stand under the highest attainment of it page 25. PART II. Clearing that the Covenant of Grace and Redemption is but one and the same Chap. I. Of Election bottom'd on the Soveraignty of God How the Eternal Word united to Man's Nature is chose by electing Love as the Head of the Elect c. page 38. Chap. II. Of the Redemption of the Lord Jesus in two parts 1. Perfect Obedience to the Law 2. Satisfaction to the Penalty of it for the Elect c. page 47. Chap. III. Of Christ's Mediatorship in two parts 1. In sending the Spirit to fit for the publishing of the way of Salvation 2. For the Spirit 's accompanying the outward Declaration by opening the Heart c. page 61. PART III. Chap. I. Of the Publication of Gospel-Grace from the Fall to Abraham the Church-state during that Dispensation page 87. Chap. II. Of the Covenant made with Abraham and of the Old Testament Church-state what was required to be a Member of it page 92. Chap. III. Of the Ordinances of the Old Testament Church what they pointed at to the carnal Seed of Abraham and what to his spiritual page 97. Chap. IV. Of the New Testament Church and what 's requir'd to be a Member of it page 116. Chap. V. Of the Ordinances of the New Testament Church what is requir'd to fit for the partaking of them and what they hold out when administred according to the Rude of the Word page 132. PART IV. Being an Appendix which the Author leaves for a Legacy to his Children page 149. 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