united to him to Write his Law in their Hearts that is to conform their spirits to all his Blessed Will to make their Hearts answerable and sutable to the union with Christ and all the ways of God that they ought to walk in by vertue of that union 6. The Spirit manifests the Lords undertaking the preservation of the Soul by his own power to the full everlasting injoyment of all the fruits of union This the Spirit may and doth reveal it may be from that in Ezek. 36.26 27. when the Lord declares it to be his own resolution concerning those he accepts to be partakers of those promises of Love through union with Christ that his own Spirit shall dwell within them and he will cause them to walk in his Statutes and do them and keep them that they shall not depart from him That it shall not be in the power of the Soul to bereave it self of all those pretious fruits of that blessed union with the Lord Jesus but the Soul must of necessity unless the Almighty power of God should fail injoy the fulness of all love and communion as the consequence of the union with Christ And for the further evidence of this the Spirit may and doth reveal it by two things First The Spirit remembers the Soul that the Lord hath made it his own chosen delight to be carrying on the Soul towards the injoyment of that fulness and perfection of love and through his union even the perfection of communion Secondly The Spirit reveals the Lord to hang the highest manifestation of his glory upon the filllng those with all fulness of love and mercy that are received into that union with the Lord Jesus And hereby the Spirit satisfies the Soul and convinceth it that the Lord himself is so interested in perfecting the fruits and consequences of the Souls union with Christ that unless the Lord should deny himself there is an impossibility of the Lords failing to preserve the Soul by his own power unto the perfect and full injoyment of the perfection of communion as the consequence of the union with Christ The Sixth beam of Light the Spirit manifests from the Gospel is this Sixth beam of Divine Light The Spirit manifests the compleat sufficiency yea the abundancy and superabundancy of security that is given to secure Souls of their injoyment of all the Gospel thus discovers to them Now for the making this beam of light shine forth in its Beauty and Glory the Spirit may and doth evidence many things I. First The Spirit evidenceth the Lords entering into Covenant with Jesus Christ the Mediator and engaging himself in that Covenant to effect the mercy and love that the Gospel discovers for every Soul that shall embrace him Two things are to be opened here First That the Lord did thus enter into Covenant with Christ Secondly What security the believing Soul hath from thence of the Lords effecting of what is so discovered in the Gospel First That the Lord did thus Covenant with Christ himself is apparent 1. In regard all the whole bundle of the promises that make up the whole Covenant of the Gospel they run primarily to Christ and in his name To shew that God and Christ were the Covenanters together that the Covenant was struck up between the Father and the Son from before the foundations of the World were laid If you observe the first promise that ever God the Father gave or the first discovery of Gospel that ever was unto Souls in Gen. 3.15 The seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents head There is the whole Gospel the whole Covenant but observe in whose name it runs in the name of Christ The seed of the Woman that is Christ that is Christ mystically including his Members too but it is Christ primarily He shall break the Serpents head that is shall triumph over Satan shall get the victory over Hell and spoil him that hath formerly taken Souls captive 2. It appears in regard Christ himself takes God the Father as his God John 20.17 I ascend to my Father and your Father to my God and your God So that hence it appears that God the Father hath engaged himself in a solemn Covenant unto Jesus Christ as Mediator from before the foundations of the World were laid to effect what ever the Gospel discovers for every Soul that should embrace him And it is from thence that Christ prays in John 17.24 Father I will that those that thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory Secondly We may see what assurance this affords unto Souls of their unquestionable infallible injoyment of all that the Gospel thus discovers There is a two fold security from hence 1. In regard God the Father stands engaged in a solemn Covenant to effect all that the Gospel thus discovers unto those Souls that have in believing received Christ to be their Husband and Head 2. The believing Soul is to know and understand the Lord Christ to have represented every Soul that shall embrace him in entering into Covenant with the Father Though the Covenant runs to Christ it was but as Christ was the first Elect of God representing all the other Elect it was but as Christ was a common person a second Adam that had all that should believe in him in his person as the first Adam had all that were to come out of his loins included in him and bound up in him in the first Covenant II. Secondly The Spirit reveals the Father to have paid the highest and dearest price for the effecting it and for every Souls embracing Christ what the Gospel discovers in the surest way unto Souls apprehensions This the Spirit reveals in discovering God the Father to have given the dearly beloved of his Soul for that end to bring about Gospel mercies to be conveyed to Souls in the surest way to Souls own conceptions and apprehensions According to that in John 3.16 God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son c. For the clearing of this there must be two things opened First That the Father was at the highest cost and charge and did pay the greatest price to effect those mercies for Souls Secondly That one intent of the Father in paying so high a price for Souls was to satisfie Souls of the injoyment of them in their own apprehensions First That the Father paid so high a price for the effecting that mercy and love that the Gospel discovers for Souls that will embrace him will appear in three things 1. In that it cost the Father the abasement for a season of his own essential glory I do not mean as if there could have been an extenuation of the essential glory of God but I mean there was a vailing of that essential glory so as those resplendent beams of his glory shined not forth This the Father did in that his dearly beloved his only begotten Son that had but one
are not deluded Then see whether that light that shined into your Souls have shined from the Lords written word Yet let me add a caution in this least I might possibly shake some Soul into whose heart some beams of light from the Spirit hath really descended to discover to the Soul his union with Christ though the light that doth shine into every Soul which truly proceeds from God to discover to the Soul its union with Christ doth and ought to shine forth from the Lords written word yet I dare not affirm that whenever the spirit of light doth discover to a Soul its union with Jesus Christ clearly both to faith and sense that then the spirit fastens some particular portions of the Lords word by name from such a Chapter and verse from whence the spirit doth make that light shine forth into that believing Soul certainly the spirit of Jesus Christ may send down precious beams of divine light into a dark Soul to discover to the Soul satisfyingly its union with the Lord Jesus both to faith and sense when such a particular sentence that is written in such a Book in such a Chapter in such a Verse is not brought to the Souls memory But there may be an extract of the quintessence that is of the prime light the most glorious light of many places of Scripture that concur together in one to testifie the fame truth to the Soul there may be an extract made by the Spirit of Christ of the grand truth that the Gospel reveals to faith and of the truth of the Souls believing act that the spirit reveals unto the Souls sense from many places of Scripture so as the light that the spirit causeth to shine into the Soul is still from the written word and the soul discerns it to his own satisfaction while the glory of the light actually remains that it doth shine from the precious written word though it may be the soul could not at that time be able to produce such and such particular sentences from such a Chapter and such a Verse though I dare not but say also but as the soul receiving that certain evidence doth discern that that sweet light that shines into his soul shines from the written word so likewise upon recollecting of himself and upon serious deliberation with himself he might be able to produce such portions of the Lords word as would sufficiently testifie to the truth of what the spirit of Jesus Christ had so revealed to his soul from the word yet observe this that the soul must then so deliberate and so consult with his heart about the matter while the heavenly lustre and commanding power of those evidencing beams of light remain shining into his soul for in case the soul be bereaved again upon any occasion of the lustre and glory of those precious beams of light the soul may so far forget the very sentences that the spirit of Jesus Christ did then dictate to it that the soul through the darkness and obscurity that passes upon him immediately again may for the present be uncapable of discerning in the written word of God what his soul clearly discerned in the same word formerly that the soul may in case the spirit of light should absent it self long perchance begin to draw some sad conclusion that the evidence that the Soul received was not a light shining from the Lords word but some delusion from the Devil transforming himself into Angelical Glory This is the second reason whence a soul may prove that the beam of light received is from God when the soul discerns it to shine from the written word The second sort of demonstrations whereby a soul may prove to himself his union with Jesus Christ must be a demonstration a posteriori A Demonstration taken from the effects that those beams of light that shine into the soul discovering to a soul its union with Jesus Christ do beget in the Soul Now all the effects that any thing that proceeds from God begets in believing Souls are but the accomplishment of the Lords eternal intent they are but the production of the Lords precious thoughts of love towards those believing Souls from before the foundations of the world were laid So that whatever is communicated to any believing Soul if it doth demonstrate it self to proceed from God by its effects that it begets in him it must then conduce in some degree to the effecting of the Lords precious eternal will towards that believing Soul Now those eternal intents of God towards believing Souls they may be reduced to three Heads according as the Spirit of truth sums them in 1 Cor. 3.22 23. All are yours whether Paul or Apollo or Cephas or the World or Life or Death or things present or things to come That is Heaven and Earth all are yours that is destinated unto your good to accomplish your Salvation And ye are Christs that is ye believing Souls are destinated to accomplish the glory of Jesus Christ And Christ is Gods that is Christ himself considered mystically as the Mediator is appointed for the manifestation of the Fathers glory for the exaltation of him in the hearts of Saints and Angels and before the eyes of all the world so as all may admire him and adore him There are three intents and precious ends of the Lord from Eternity towards those believing Souls First There is the accomplshment of the glory of those believing Souls Secondly The perfecting of Christs supernatural glory as he is Mediator And Thirdly The perfect manifestation of the Fathers glory through both these And therefore seeing these three are those prime and principal ends the very ultimate end of God the very sum and compendium of all those precious thoughts that wrought in the blessed Majesty of Heaven before the foundations of the world were laid thence whatsoever proceeds from God into a believing soul must in some degree or other tend towards the accomplishment of one of those ends So that it must demonstrate it self to proceed from God by one of those three effects if it any way can be proved by its effects to proceed from God himself Only by the way you must take this distinction for prevention of mistakes the dealings of God towards the Saints do either immediately to the exaltation of the Saints and the exaltation of Christ and the manifestation of the Fathers glory or else they tend immediately The Lords promissive will or the Lords sufferance of a Believer to sin doth not immediately manifest any of these yet mediately it doth perfect all that when the Lord doth suffer the soul to slide and fall yet then through the mighty Power of his love to the believing soul in Christ he doth send down the spirit of Jesus Christ so to work in that believing soul that those very falls and slips and backslidings of that believing soul shall produce more watchfulness over his own ways more charity towards others more abominations of those
Now in opening of it he amplifies it first by the original cause in the latter end of verse 9. which is the Lords good pleasure purely in himself Then he opens the ends of the Lords effecting this in this manner that is of the Lords revealing the mystery of his will to their souls in these words That in the dispensation of the fulness of time he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in heaven and which are on earth even in him Thus you see the occasion of the words They contain the intended effect or end the Lord aimed at in the revelation of the Gospel of Christ to their souls In this intended effect there are several things observable 1. The act it self in the producing the effect that is union of Souls with Christ That he might gather together in one Indeed the union is twofold First of all with Christ Secondly one with another they are made both one with Christ and one body within themselves 2. Observe here the object upon which this effect is to be wrought in these words All things The object is laid down in general All things that is all persons predestinated according to the counsel of the Lords own will to be his own in Jesus Christ that he might gather them together in one Secondly it is laid down more particularly and that by a double distribution of the persons into the several places where they remain in those words both which are in heaven and which are on earth that is to say that the Lord might unite to Jesus Christ all those that are already fully joyned and compleatly united to him in heavenly glory and all those that are upon the earth whom the Lord doth intend to bring into that glorious union 3. Observe here the subject with whom this union is to be perfected and that is Christ himself He is the very punctum as it were he is that one point in which all these are to be gathered together in one 4. Here is the time of the accomplishment of this effect And that is in the first words In the dispensation of the fulness of times Those words In the dispensation of the fulness of times seem to have some difficulty in them They are a Metonymy of the Adjunct as we use to speak where the dispensation of the fulness of times is put for the various successive times in their own orders variously dispenced by the wisdom of God The meaning is this In the various seasons purposed by God himself successively according to the Lords wise dispensation of those times in their orders the Lord might thus gather together all to be one in Christ Thus you see the words a little opened and the meaning of them to be briefly this That the Lord did reveal the mystery of his own will that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ to their souls for this end that in the successive times that he hath purposed according to the counsel of his own will as he is dispensing them in his own wisdom he might gather together all the souls of his own to be one in Jesus Christ There are divers things worthy our observation out of these words First we may consider them as they have dependance upon the former Verse and therein we must consider the act it self named in the effect and consider it as the end of the Lords revealing the mysteries of his will it is to gather our souls to be one in Christ From thence take notice of this conclusion Doct. That the purpose and intent of God in discovering the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ unto the Souls of men is that he might gather together their Souls into union with Jesus Christ that by vertue of that union they might be one with the Father as he and Christ are one By transgression in the loyns of Adam we are all estranged from God and there was an high wall of separation built up between him and our souls Hence in Col. 1.21 We are said to be alienated from God and from the life of God Eph. 4.18 But though we have dealt thus unworthily with God in our breach of union and despising communion the Lords love doth condescend so low and the bowels of his compassion have been so unconceiveably tender towards poor worthless sinners that he hath again provided a new and living way for such souls as are so departed from him to have access to himself He hath provided his Son a Mediator between himself and such wretched souls and in and through that one Mediator through that one Days-man he offers to make himself one again with the soul And least Souls should be ignorant of this incomprehensible kindness of his he hath written a glorious Gospel by the great Secretary of heaven discovering the pretious workings of his own love and sends messengers on purpose to proclaim it to every soul And the intent of God in all is only this that he might gather souls into union with the Lord Christ that so by that union himself and those souls may again be one For the opening of this proposition there are divers questions that souls would willingly have answered Quest 1. What is this union with Jesus Christ What is it to be one with Jesus Christ First I must answer you negatively what it is not Secondly affirmatively shew you what the union is Answ First negatively what it is not 1. It is not a personal union with Jesus Christ that men are called to by the Gospel That we call the hypostatical union which is the union of the humane nature with the divine Now it is the nature of man in general that Christ took upon him and not the person of man for then there should have been a fourth person taken into the Trinity 2. It is not an union of dependance The Lord being the primary being the first being of beings in the world every thing that hath a being proceeds from God the first being and is preserved in that being by influences from God Now should the union of dependance upon God be broken then the creatures should be broken and fall into nothing Now in that respect all the creatures may be said to have union with God so the poorest herb and weed hath an union of dependence 3. It is not the union of presence that is of the Essential presence of God The Lord being an infinite being fills heaven and earth and is not circumscribed in both that is he is not contained in both but is infinitely in heaven and earth And the Lord according to his own being is as present in Hell as in Heaven in this place as in that place Now the Lord is in the creatures and so it is called an union of presence Every creature sensible and unsensible hath such an union there is the presence of God in them God hath his way in the poorest weed that hath a being and it is impossible this
the evidencing to them from the promises their union with Christ and that is the manifestation or Irradiation of the promise it self or of the Gospel of Jesus Christ There are two ways how the Spirit doth reveal any thing to a Soul The 1. is by infusing of divine light The 2d is by manifesting the object to that divine light It is not sufficient light communicated to the faculty of discerning that inables it to discern a thing presently but there must be also an enlightning and manifesting of the object to be discovered unto that light communicated The most acute Eye that is of the greatest perspicuity and clearness can discern nothing any further then the things themselves are presented to them So that the Spirit in evidencing to the Soul from the promises must cast as it were beams of light some kind of holy rays from the promise it self upon the Eye as well as light into the Eye to discern the light that is cast upon the Eye That 's the reason that a Soul at one time shall discern the very Heart of Christ towards him in the promises or in the Gospel and at another time looking upon the same Word the same promise with the same diligence and yet it not so much as giveth a sufficient ground for an imperfect hope or an act of Faith in way of adherence and this is from a different manifestation of this Irradiation of the Spirit unto the Soul Now this manifestation or Irradiation doth consist in two things 1. The Spirit presents the Gospel or the promises to the Soul We are not sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves 2 Cor. 3.5 There must be as well an application of the object to the Eye as an application of the Eye to the object and yet both must be also by the Spirit of God Therefore John 14.26 it is put as a part of the office of the comforting Spirit or the evidencing Spirit to bring the pretious things that Christ had spoken to his Disciples to their remembrance again 2. The Spirit doth evidence the promise or the Gospel that it hath presented to the Eye It brings it to remembrance and then opens it and reveals the very nature and intent of it You must conceive there is a twofold evidence of things there is an evidence of narration and an evidence of the matter it self Now the Gospel is always evident in matter of narration that is as spoken from the mouth of God in his written Word But the Gospel is very inevident in regard of the matter or of the thing it self it is an hidden mystery so dark a riddle as cannot be found out without the help of the Spirit it self Now though the evidence only of narration of the Gospel be sufficient to excite the Soul to act Faith by way of adherence and recumbency upon God yet it is not sufficient to excite the Soul to act Faith by way of assurance Divers things there are in the promise or in the Gospel that the Spirit doth evidence to the Soul when it is revealing its union with Christ First beam of divine light First It presents and evidenceth to the Soul the Lord Christ fully unquestionably and everlastingly taking away all sin and wickedness from every Soul that shall embrace him You shall observe Rom. 8.33 34. that it was through the knowledge of this that the Faith of Paul took wing first to mount above in a tryumphant way saith he what shall we say to these things What things Things that he had before spoken of in the beginning of the Epistle especially Chap. 5. where he had made it appear clearly That where sin did abound grace did much more abound super-abound abound without measure in that Grace did triumph over sin through Jesus Christ Now saith he what shall we say to these things He stood in admiration at the thoughts of it and then began to say Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect Here Faith began to triumph from the knowledge of Christs compleat removal of all sin from every Soul that did embrace him Now the Spirit evidenceth divers things to the Soul for the clearing of this I. The Spirit makes it evident that the Lord Christ took upon him to be surety for every Soul that would embrace him He became the surety of the new Covenant Heb. 7.22 The Spirit makes the Soul discern that Christ stept into his Father to undertake to be bound to pay all the debts for every Soul that shall hereafter embrace him And herein the Spirit is wont to evidence two things concerning the suretyship of Christ 1. That Christ undertook to be a surety of the whole Covenant for Souls That he undertook to fulfil all that Justice or Mercy it self should require to be fulfilled for those Souls for whom he undertook 2. That he became such a surety as he undertook to pay the debt alone Hence Isa 49.8 he is called the Covenant it self Intimating that the whole Covenant concerning taking away sin is only between God the Father and Jesus Christ Hence it is said 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself not imputing their trespasses to them II. The Spirit evidenceth that Christ as Mediatour stood in the relation of a common person and took upon him to represent all the persons of those that should hereafter believe on him so that whatever satisfaction he should give to his Fathers justice in regard of sin should be not only in stead of satisfaction to be given to the Father by the Souls themselves but also to be done as it were in their stead to be accounted as if they themselves had given satisfaction This the Spirit may evidence from the promise from some such place as 1 Cor. 15.48 which shews that Jesus Christ stood as a common person in stead of all those that should believe on him as Adam the first man stood as a common person to represent all those that should come out of him Or from such a place as that Rom. 5.14 where the old Adam is called a Type of Jesus Christ that was to come The second thing the Spirit clears is the things themselves done by Jesus Christ in those relations unto Souls as he stood as a common person and as the surety for those that should hereafter believe on him I. Therein the Spirit cometh to clear the effusion of the Blood of Christ the offering himself by death as a sacrifice for sin Thence you shall observe the first thing Paul instanceth in when he lets his Faith look upon the removing of all Sin is Christ dying saith he in a holy Triumph of Faith who shall condemn Why Christ hath dyed As if he should say how shall either carnal reason or conscience or unbelief or Justice or Law or Hell or Devil bring any accusation against our Souls seeing Jesus Christ hath died he hath offered up himself by death as a
sparkling forth of his own Glory through it VI. A sixth Engagement that God hath laid upon himself to fulfil Gospel Discoveries is this That every unlovely Sinner that shall embrace them is prepared from Eternity by the Lords infinite Wisdom to be an Orient bright shining Pearl in the all beautiful Crown of the Lords accidental Glory Mistake me not the mighty Sun of the Lords infinite essential Glory cannot admit either of Augmentation or Diminution I mean either of Lessening or Increasing its Transcendent Brightness But the Lords accidental Glory that is to say the manifestation and Discovery of those precious Beams of his essential Glory may and do admit of Eclipses and Overshadowings and also of an increase and augmentation in their Brightness and Excellency Now every Forlorn Soul that shall embrace Gospel Discoveries is laid as it were as a precious Golden Thred in that rich Broidered Robe of that Glory that the King of Heaven Cloaths himself with to make himself Glorious in the eyes of Saints and Angels This is clearly manifested in Isa 43.6 7 if you compare it with John 1.12 Bring forth my Sons and Daughters saith God whom I have Created for my Glory Now they are only those that receive the Lord Jesus tendred in the Gospel To as many as received him even to them that believe in him to them gave he Power to become the Sons of God And hence you shall observe that the people of God are not only said to be Created for his Glory but they are called his glory Isa 46.13 Nay more they are called the Crown of the Lords Glory Isa 62.3 Nay further the Lord looks upon them as his Ornament Ezek. 7.10 And hence also they are called the Portion of God Jer. 12.10 Yea hence the Scripture declares the Saints in Heaven to shine as the Stars in the Firmament Dan. 12.3 In regard they shall be very Bright Shining Pearls that shall stand in the Crown of the Lords Honour Now there are three respects wherein every such Unlovely Sinner embracing Gospel Discoveries is one of the set Pearls that shine forth in the Crown of the Lords Glory 1. In regard the All beautiful Unparalleld Crown of the super added Honour of the Lord Jesus is Composed of all those Souls that shall embrace those Gospel Discoveries Thence it is that such Gospel Embraces are called the Glory of Christ 2 Cor. 8.23 And thence it is that the Church which is the Company of those is called the fulness of Christ Eph. 1.23 Now the Honour of Jesus Christ through the perfect Unity between the Father and the Son is also the Fathers Honour and so consequently every such Soul being one of those Beautiful Flowers in the Garland of Christs Honour he becomes also one of those rich Diamonds wherewith the Crown of the Fathers Glory is richly beset According to that in 1 Cor. 3.22 23. where the whole Glory that Jesus Christ attains as he is Mediatour is revealed to be Terminated and ended in the Fathers Glory All is yours That is all things are finally for your sakes Or rather all things have a natural tendency through the Everlasting Decree of God unto your good And ye are Christs That is and all you by vertue of the same Decree have a natural tendency to all the good you attain unto the good of Jesus Christ All the Glory that is put upon you hath a natural tendency unto the Glory of Jesus Christ to make up the perfection of his Glory And then observe and saith he Christ is Gods That is all the Good the Glory the Honour that Jesus Christ attains through his being the Center wherein all your good meets all that meets in the Father that is all his Honour tends only to the exalting of the Fathers Honour 2. In regard the brightest Beams of the Fathers essential Glory are manifest in every such Soul The Lord from before the Foundations of the World were laid made choice of those Souls to be as so many Christal Glasses through which the Beams of his Incomprehensible Essential Glory should shine forth First In every such Soul is manifest the infinite Unsearchable depths of the Fathers Divine Wisdom The manner of the Fathers Disposing of those souls to suffer them by the free working of their own Wills to lose themselves and bring themselves under the Power of everlasting Wrath and Indignation and then his Wisdom in contriving a way to save the Honour of his own Justice and the Redemption of those Poor Lost Perishing Souls so wonderfully to make the Honour of Mercy and Love and Justice to meet together in one to make Mercy and Justice kiss each other is that which will be the matter of Admiration to all those Inhabitants of the Sacred Palace of Heaven to all Eternity Secondly The Brightest Beams of his unspeakable unconceivable love appear and are manifested to every such Soul The highest perfection of Love that ever the Lord manifested is in Loving such Unlovely Forlorn Loathsome Souls as these and that also while he Rejected and Disregarded Creatures far more Glorious according to their first Creation Thirdly The Almighty Power of the Lord is also Gloriously manifested in every such Soul in that he should create anew those Loveless Sinners that were opposite to their own new Creation I mean their own Regeneration Therein indeed did Power appear in that the Lord did raise the Soul from the lowest degree of Enmity into the neerest Union with himself and that against all the Oppositions that Hell can make and against all the Powers of the Soul it self when both concur together against God Fourthly The Glorious Independency of the Lords Will in all the Motions and Operations of it is manifested abundantly in every such soul The Freedom of the Lord in all his ways doth not shine forth so clearly in any of the Works of God as in that Pretious Mystery of his Election in making of the same lump one Vessel to Honour and another to Dishonour there being no Engagements no Motives to incline his Pretious Will either this way or that way 3. Every such Soul is a set shining Diamond in the Crown of the Lords Honour In regard it is destinated from Eternity to stand as a constant clear Christal Glass through which the Lord would manifest the Transcendency of his own perfection unto all Eternity And it is through those Communications of the Father unto the Soul that the Fathers Glory is discovered and thence it is that the Brightness of the Fathers Glory shall be shining forth Resplendently unto all Eternity in every such Soul Now we are to consider what full security the Spirit may give from hence to every such Soul concerning the Infallible fulfilling of all Gospel Discoveries to the utmost into its Bosom that shall embrace them 1. From thence the Spirit may reveal to the Soul that the Lord stands engaged by the Inseparable Disposition of his own nature which naturally tends to his
cursed dispositions in his own heart more abased thoughts of himself as he is in himself more distrustful of himself and his own heart being less confident in himself and in the strength of the power of holiness as yet communicated to him And thus those very falls or slips of that believing soul shall tend to their last end to make the soul partaker of more holiness causing the soul to hang more intire with a more precious constant dependance upon the Lord Jesus for the constant influences of the sanctified spirit and so shall exalt the name of God more in that heart and so shall cause the soul to grow more into a conformity to that mystical Head of his the Lord Jesus and so through that conformity to his Head and that mystical glory of Christ the glory of the Father shall be exalted Thus likewise you must consider again that the communication of God himself unto believing souls are secret invisible and insensible and also they are visible and sensible Now those communicarions of God himself unto the believing soul that are visible and sensible those do commonly immediately tend to the accomplishment of the believing souls glory that is to the perfection of the likeness of Jesus Christ in the soul and so consequently it tends also to the perfecting of Christs mystical glory and to the manifestation of the Fathers glory But those communications of God unto a believing soul that are invisible secret and insensible those commonly do tend only mediately to the accomplishment of those fore named blessed ends So that hence also you may collect that whenever any communication of God unto a believing soul doth demonstrate it self to come from God when it is sensible communication then it doth immediately tend to the accomplishment of these three ends This then being considered and it being apparent that all the dealings of God with believing souls are for the accomplishment of those his three blessed intendments from before the foundation of the world was laid then it must be through discerning of one of those three intendments of God effected in the soul that the believing soul must prove that such a beam of light as discovers to him his union with Christ did proceed from God himself Now we shall begin with the highest and so proceed to the lowest All are yours and ye are Christs and Christ is Gods that is for God And from thence we may conclude that the prime and principal reason taken from the effects of a souls union with Christ where by it may be proved that souls evidence proceeds from God is this that the beam of heavenly light that shines into the soul to discover its union with the Lord Jesus doth exalt and magnifie the name of God in the hearts Gods exaltation of himself in the Believers heart was the great design of God from all eternity it was as it were the Alpha and Omega as I may so speak the very beginning and end of the Lords intention only his intention reached further to exalt himself through believing souls before all other Therefore then may the soul prove infallibly the light that discovered to his soul his union with Christ to proceed from God himself when it effects the prime intendment of God from eternity to the believing Soul when it erects a higher Throne from the Majesty of Heaven in its heart when it fills the heart with higher lowder more zealous acclamations of praise and honour and glory and worship to be given for ever to yonder God that the light carries the stamp and impression of Heaven upon it when it begins the work of Heaven in a believing way here then it is an earnest of Heaven when it implys the Soul in the work that it is destinated to from Eternity Pro. 19.6 God hath made all things for himself that is for the manifestation of his own transcendent glory so for the magnifying of his ever blessed name Now when the light that discovers to the soul its union do thus effect Gods general his ultimate end in the believing Soul the Soul may certainly conclude this beam of light did descend down from the Father of Lights Now there are four or five acts in the believing Soul wherein it exalts the name of God 1. Then the Soul exalts the name of God when it is filled with such sensible apprehensions of such transcendent brightness of glory shining sorth from God as the Soul is utterly unable to conceive of or apprehend Now this first act of that believing Soul to exalt God in his heart is the certain and infallible effect of every beam of light that proceeds from God to discover to his Soul his union with the Lord Jesus Indeed every act of the Lords mercy and goodness towards believing Souls is a Precious Christal Glass wherein believing Souls do see an incomprehensibleness of the beauty glory and unspeakable perfection of God and therefore much more unconceivable glory do the believing Soul apprehend in such an high act of the Lords mercy and love as is the discovery of his precious eternal love to the believing Soul through Christ This you shall see apparent in David upon the Lords discovering of his promises made unto his Soul in Christ and made unto his House also in 2 Sam. 7.18 19 20 21. Then went King David in and sat before the Lord then that is after the Prophet had declared the precious promise to his Soul in Christ and he said who am I O Lord God and what is my House that thou hast brought me hitherto Thou art Great O Lord God there is none like thee neither is there any God besides thee ver 22. Mark what sensible high apprehensions of a transcendent glory in God dwelt in Davids heart upon the discovery of such precious promises made to him and his House likewise upon a smaller mercy comparatively though indeed typifying the same mercy upon the deliverance of the Israelites from the hands of Pharoah and drowning their cruel Task-masters in the Red Sea the hearts of the Saints were filled with high apprehensions of the glory of God Exod. 15.11 Who is like unto thee O Lord yea they repeat their admiration twice as if they could not admire him enough who is like unto thee glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders you may behold the same workings of the believing heart 1. John 3.1 Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that me should be called the Sons of God There are three or four special beams of the glory of Heaven that a Believer apprehends as unspeakable unconceivable incomprehensible when a beam of light shines from God to discover to the Soul its union with Christ 1. There is then such a glorious brightness of the presence of God appears to the believing Soul as it stands amazed to behold it When the Lord lets such a beam of light shine into the dark Soul that it sees the Lords will
wills between God and a Soul is that top-stair of happiness that any soul can possibly ascend to Now thence seeing happiness is the object of the desires of every soul naturally the soul cannot be satisfied in it self without a perfect union of wills with that God in Christ and perfect communion with him So that thus it is evident both from Scripture from the experience of the manner of the workings and motions of the souls enjoying the evidence of their union with Christ and from reason it self that the spirits evidence given unto any soul of its union with Christ doth necessarily cause the soul to declare that a perfect conformity to the Lords will ought to be the only satisfying object of the Desires of any soul So that it is apparent that the blessed Name of God is exalted in every soul in the glory and brightness of its transcendent holiness to whom the spirit of Jesus Christ doth revael its union with Christ Now I beseech ye you that are sutable according as hath been opened to take a righteous and just examination of your evidence of union with Christ received to try whether you can prove to your own souls or demonstrate from this precious reason that your evidence of your union with Christ received had God for its Father and came down from Heaven only But as I said formerly so I say again that I am confident that those souls whom the spirit hath blessed with the spirit of wisdom to discover to them their union with Christ and with whom the spirit of light remains those souls have a testimony to their hearts and spirits of the real descention of the evidence of their union with Christ from heaven from this reason now opened Certainly there is not a soul among us to whom at present the spirit of Christ doth witness his union but his own heart doth witness that that very testimony of the spirit of Christ did cause the blessed Name of God thus to be exalted through his soul there is not such a soul certainly but his heart testifies that ever since he enjoyed that precious witness of the spirit he hath born record and testimony to the world he hath professed apparently verbally and practically that a perfect conformity to the Lords purest holy will ought only to satisfie the desires of any soul And questionless the soul also understands in some degree that from thence hath proceeded the dissatisfaction of his soul in all the purest acts of obedience to the Lords blessed will Questionless the soul understands that thence it hath been that he could not but in his most holy duties when most assisted by the spirit of Christ be still groaning under the sense of his own unholiness under the sense of his want of that largeness and fulness of the concurrence of his will with the Lords blessed will and under the sense of his want of freedom and liberty of spirit in his compliance with the Lords will that he was convinced ought to have been in his soul and questionless also that soul understands that even from thence hath proceeded those precious desires that have ever since possessed his soul after a larger portion of the sanctifying spirit of Christ and that ever since he hath always been searching after the secret iniquities of his own heart and hath been appealing to the heart-searching God to find them out for him and hath been delighted with the discovery of the Lords will and his disagreement to that will And questionless that soul understands sensibly that since the spirit gave that testimony of his union with the Lord Jesus he hath had many struglings with his spirit to be content to live that he might be redeemed from the power of his contradicting will Thus I doubt not but the spirit of Jesus Christ also doth irradiate the precious Gospel-Truth that the soul is able to prove to it self the descent of its own evidence to be from heaven that God was the Father of that his evidence But yet here I must take in every confident soul without exception that thereby the power of the Truth of Jesus Christ might seize upon hearts And 1. I must desire all souls that think they shall be everlastingly saved by Christ to search into their hearts to know whether their apprehension of salvation by Christ did produce these blessed effects in their hearts or no. I must appeal to your own Consciences Did your apprehensions of salvation by Christ infuse that principle into your minds and hearts that a perfect conformity to the Lords blessed holy will ought only to satisfie the desires of any soul Let Conscience answer Was this blessed principle so rooted in your hearts by those apprehensions of salvation by Christ that thence your hearts have been unsatisfied ever since in your most holy actings in those acts of the purest obedience that ever you rendered to the Majesty of heaven that thence ever since you could not but be complaining when your hearts were most enabled to any act of obedience of the narrowness of your wills in compliance to God's will And that you could not but be complaining of the want of singleness and uprightness and simplicity of heart in every act of Obedience yea that you could not but be complaining of the want of freedom in your wills to comply with the Lords will that you have ever since been groaning for want of the liberty of your wills in that compliance the want of facility and easiness in your wills answering to the Lords blessed will Souls I can only call for Conscience to answer I beseech you stop not its mouth but let it give an Answer in the presence of God whether your hopes of salvation by Christ did so root that principle in your hearts that nothing could satisfie your souls but a full conformity to the Lords will so as you have been unsatisfied in the fullest acts of Obedience you have performed that thence you have caused the Name of God to be exalted through you that you have born witness to the world that the perfection of holiness dwells in God only and all ought to bow down in subjection to that absolute holy will of his 2. I beseech you try whether your apprehension of salvation by Christ did so sweetly build your souls up in the belief of that great Truth that no less than a perfect conformity to the Lords will ought to satisfie the desires of any soul that thence you have been perpetually groaning after a larger portion of the sanctifying spirit of Chrit What do your hearts answer Have you not satisfied your selves with freedom from gross sins and thought your condition should be safe enough because free from the gross pollutions of the world And others of you have you not satisfied your selves with holy duties and thought you gained a sufficient degree of holiness that your hearts never groaned after a larger portion 3. Examine whether your apprehensions of your salvation by