Precious Faith Considered, Chapter 11

Precious Faith Considered · Chapter 11

p. 325CHAP. XI.

Precious Faith conſidered in the Crowns and Statures thereof. The Divine Experiences of Faith, as it Experiments the Divinity of Scripture in the Precepts, Promiſes, Threatnings and Supernatural Truths thereof: Concerning the Bleſſed Trinity of Perſons in the Unity of the Divine Eſſence, Jeſus Chriſt the Mcdiator, and the Efficacy of Grace.

HAVing treated of Juſtification, Adoption and Sanctification, which are Fruits of Faith, and are more or leſs in all Believers; I now proceed to ſome other, which are The Crowns and Statures of Faith, and to be found not in all Believers, at leaſt not at firſt; but in ſuch as have made a good progreſs in Grace. Faith, have made a good progreſs in Grace. Faith, having obtained the Holy Spirit with all its Graces, doth now go on like The Baptized Eunuch, rejoycing in the ways of God, glorying in Free Grace, triumphing in Jeſus Chriſt, warring againſt Corruptions, actuating Holy Graces, bowing down under the Commands of Heaven, ſucking the Sweet-Breaſts of the Promiſes, and waiting for the Heavenly Dews and Diſtillations of the Spirit; and in this holy Progreſs gathers up many p. 326choice Experiments more worth than a World. All learned Men are for Experiments, and every one would cry, foreign, I have found it: the Sages of the Law are for tried Caſes, which have been ſub judice; the Phyſitian ſets a probatum eſt on approved Medicines; the Anatomiſts hunts after the arcana of Nature by Diſſection of Bodies, and the Chymiſt by Diſſolution thereof. Experience is procreatrix Artium, the very Parent of Arts, whoſe univerſal Precepts are collected by an induction of particulars; but there are no Experiments like thoſe of Faith. Dr. Dees Spirits made as if they would reveal great Myſteries to him, ſuch as they called the Cabbala of Nature, the Numbers of the World, the linea Spiritus Sancti, the Mirabilia Dei, and the Nova terra bringing forth without Tillage, but all theſe were but Dreams and Impoſtures; and ſo I ſuppoſe are many things in Chymiſtry, like Helmonts Alkaheſt, wonderful, if true: But the Experiments of Faith are great Realities, and withal Divine, as much above thoſe in the Sphear of Nature as Souls are above Bodies, and Heaven is above Earth. God in the Prophet calls on his People to baing in the Tythes for his Houſe, and ſo by their Obedience to prove him, If he would not open the windows of Heaven, and pour out a bleſſing, that there ſhould not be room enough to receive it, Mal. 3.10. When Faith goes on in a Tract of Obedience proving of God, Heaven opens in wonderful Experiences of him, the Manna p. 327of holy Truth is then taſted, the Hony-combs of Free-Grace drop upon the Heart, Promiſes are realized & exemplified in Providences; Divine Helps and Salvations come down and call for Eben-Ezers to be ſet up for them; and Diſcoveries of heavenly things in their certainty and excellency are in a manner made, as if a Man could look into the Holy of Holies, and ſee God Face to Face. Some ſuch Experiences I ſuppoſe the learned Rivet had in his laſt Sickneſs, in which he ſaid of himſelf, In theſe ten days I have made a greater progreſs in Divinity, than in all my Life; but leaving Generals I ſhall come to Particulars.

One great Experiment of Faith is touching the Truths of God, a Believer in his holy Progreſs comes foreign, unto all riches of the full aſſurance of underſtanding, as the Apoſtle ſpeaks, Cal. 2.2. At the firſt he hath a Stock of Divine Knowledg, but after Experience Riches, and all Riches of it; at the firſt he hath a true perſwaſion of the things of God, but after Experience a Plerophory or full perſwaſion thereof. Here I ſhall Inſtance in that one Fundamental Comprehenſive Truth, which is pregnant with all other, viz. that the holy Scriptures are the very Word of God, and ſo to be embraced by all Chriſtians: The Papiſts ſay, That the Authority of the Scriptures depends, at leaſt quoad nos, on the Definition of the Church, and that upon that account chiefly it is to be beloved by us. By the Church they mean the p. 328Church of Paſtors, and thoſe gathered in a Council to deſine the Canon of Scripture. Saint Paul ſpeaks of a Church which is The Pillar and Ground of the Truth, 1 Tim. 3.15. But, as our learned Whitaker hath obſerved, That is not the Church of Paſtors but of Believers; and in truth the Word of Life is more purely held forth in the Lives and Experiences of Believers, than in the Gifts of Paſtors. This Theſis ſome of their Grandees have proſecuted even to Blaſphemy, ſaying, That without the Judgment of the Church they would give no more credit to Matthew than to Livy, and value the Scriptures much as they do Eſops Fables. That this Opinion is falſe is as clear as the Light: true Faith is a pure infuſion, which hangs on the irradiating Spirit as a Beam on the Sun, and in Scripture ſees, with the credenda, the reaſon of believing in the Divine Authority ſtamped thercon. The Miniſtery uſed about it may be Mans, but the Authority on which it leans muſt be Gods,Theol. Nat. Tit. 209. Tota cauſa, tota radix, totum fundamentum credendi verbis Dei debet eſſe, quia ipſe dicit, ſaith Raimundus De Sabunde. Unleſs we believe God for himſelf our Faith is not Divine; if the Fulciment of it be humane, it is ſuch it ſelf. Saint Paul would not have Our Faith ſtand in the wiſdom of men, Comment. in Mich. 7.Mic 71 Cor. 2.5. Saint Jerom ſaith, In homine ſpes vana, vera in Deo eſt; and a little after, Nolite credere in ducibus, non in Epiſcopo, non in Presbytero, non in Diacono, non in quâlibet hominum dignitate. If Believers believe p. 329the Scriptures upon the Authority of Paſtors, Paſtors believe them upon their own; Or if they ſay, that they have the Teſtimony of the Spirit, all Believers may ſay the ſame, and thereby believe as well as themſelves, and without their Authority. The Theſſalonians Received the Word as the Word of God without asking the Judgment of the Church, 1 Theſſ. 2.13. The Bercans Received it with all readineſs, and inſtead of conſulting the Church, Searched the Scriptures, Acts 17.11. The true Church cannot be known but by the Scriptures. De Uni… Feel ca… 3. & ….Thus Saint Auſtin writing againſt the Donatiſts ſaith, Sunt certe libri Dominici, quorum Autoritati utrique conſentimus, utrique credimus, ibi queramus Eccl ſiam, ibi diſcutiamus canſam: And again, Eccleſiam ſuam demonſtrent ſi poſſunt non in ſermonibus & rumoribus Afrorum, non in Conciliis Epiſcoporum, non in literis diſputatorum, non in ſignis & prodigiis fallacibus, ſed in preſeript… legis, in Prophetarum praedactis, in Pſalmorum cantibus, in ipſius Paſtoris vocibus, in Evangeliſtarum praedicationibus & laboribus, hoc eſt, in omnibus Canonicis Sanctorum Librorum Autoritatibus. And if I muſt know the Church by the Scripture, I muſt in all reaſon own the Scripture before I own the Church or its Deciſions. The Church may bear witneſs to the Scripture, but in a ſubordinate Miniſterial way: The ſupream adequate witneſs thereof is only that Spirit, which outwardly indited it in the letter, and inwardly imprints it on the p. 330Heart. The Church may bear witneſs to the Scripture, but it can add no Authority to it. If the Church hath Authority to define the Canon, it muſt have it from Scripture, and then the Scripture muſt have Authority even quoad nos before that Definition; unleſs they will abſurdly diſtinguiſh and ſay, That the Scripture-Authority before the Definition, is only as to Paſtors, and not as to Believers till after it. All the Churches Authority is from Scripture, and How can the derivative Authority add to the Primitive? The Scripture is Principium ſcientificum, and therefore to be received by its light without a quare, or reaſon why it is ſo; the Scripture is a Foundation to the Church, Eph. 2.20. and ſuch a one that the Church is no further a Church than as it is built thereon; and How can the Church be a Foundation to the Scripture? The Scripture is a Law to the Church, every Soul muſt be under it; and How can the Subject-Church give Authority to the Law which it Self is under? The Judgment of the Church hath been variable: in the Council of Carthage under Cyprian, it was Decreed that thoſe, which were baptized by Hereticks returning to the Church, ſhould be rebaptized, the one Baptiſin being only in the Church, and none without it, Ʋbi Eccleſia non eſt, Baptiſma non eſt. Afterwards, the firſt Council of Carthage (called the Firſt, not as if it had been firſt in time, but as omitting the firſt Cyprianical Council as antiquated) enacted that Baptiſm made in p. 331the name of the Sacred Trinity ſhould not be reiterated, all crying out, Abſit, againſt reiteration. In the ſeventh General Council of Conſtantinople the 338 Biſhops cried down Images might and main, Quomodo Dei matrem, quam obumbravit plenitudo Deitatis, vulgaris Gentilium ars pingere audet? non fas eſt Chriſtianis, qui ſpem Reſurrectionis babent, demonum culturae conſuetudinibus uti; flagitium eſt, as Gregorius Theologus ſaid, Fidem habere in coloribus non in corde. Quis gloriam & ſplendorem Chriſti effigiare poſſet mortuis coloriius? ſaid Euſebius Pamphili, in his Letter to the Empreſs Conſtantia. One would have thought that the broken Images would never have been ſet together again; but within leſs than half a Century comes the ſecond Council of Nice, and there the 350 Biſhops bring in Images again under the wings of the old Cherubims, and ſet them up upon Jacobs Pillar, and back them with Fathers and Miracles. They throw out Anathema's againſt the Iconoclaſts, and reject with a Curſe the Books of Euſebius as a Man delivered over in reprobum ſenſum. And are well perſwaded that Angels are Corporeal, and may be pictured. A little after, and within the ſame half-Century comes the Council of Francford halting between both the former, ſpeaking half in the Language of Aſhdod, and half in the pure Language, allowing Images, but denying any Worſhip to them. And as touching the Canon, it will afterwards appear, how the Council of Laodicea differs about that from p. 332the third Council of Carthage; and how the fixth Council of Conſtantinople in confirming them both varies from it ſelf. The Judgment of the Church hath been ſubject to Error; the famous Council of Nice had two lapſes in it: in the twelfth Canon it forbids Chriſtians, foreign, to return to their Military Employment; and in the Ninteenth, it commands Rebaptization of ſuch as were Baptized by Hereticks. The Emperour Zeno being expulſed, the Tyrant Baſiliſcus by the perſwaſion of Timotheus Aelurus wrote Letter in condemnation of the General Council of Chalcedon; unto which as impious as they were, no leſs than five hundred Biſhops ſubſcribed at the Tyrants Command. And touching the Canon, if the Council of Laodicea be right in it, that of Carthage is not ſo; and conſequently that of Conſtantinople, which takes in both, muſt needs be in an Error. Theſe things premiſed; Can the unvariable and infallible Scripture hang upon a variable and errable Authority ſuch as Mans is? May all the precious Promiſes of Life and Salvation be precarious and pendent on an Humane Arbitrium? Tertullian in his Apology ſpeaking of that old Decree among the Romans, that no God ſhould be conſecrated without the approbation of the Senate, ſaith, Apud nos de humano arbitratu divinitas penſitatur, niſi homini Deus placuerit, Deus non erit. If the Authority of Scripture depend on the Church, then we may ſay, Niſi homini Scriptura placuerit, Scriptura non p. 333erit; and by conſequence all the Faith of the Saints muſt be pendulous and hanging on uncertainties. If the Churches deſinition be ſo momentous to Scripture, let us ſee what the Church hath done in it; Hath it collected the Canonical Books into a body? 'Tis probable Ezra collected the Books of the Old Teſtament into a body, and ſo think many of the ancient Fathers. And I ſuppoſe St. John collected the Books of the New Teſtament together; for he lived after all the other Apoſtles, even unto the time of Trajan; that by his vigilancy the Canon of the New Teſtament might be kept pure and unadulterate. When after St. Pauls death there was a Book called, Periodus Pauls & Teclae, ſpread abroad under the Name and Title of Paul; St. John diſcovered it to be ſpurious, inſomuch that the Author of it confeſſed that he did it amore Pauli. And I believe what was done in this collection of the Canon was not done by an ordinary Spirit, but by a Prophetical Spirit in Ezra, and an Apoſtolical one in St. John. In the mean time it appears not to have been done by an act of the Church: but leaving this particular, When and how did the Church define the Canon? Such a momentous thing ſhould have been done by the Primo-primitive Church, in the firſt Century, whileſt the Church of Chriſt was a pure Virgin, as Egeſippus ſaid.Lib. 3. Diſt. 21. Queſt. 1. Thus the School-man Durandus lays it down, Hoc quod dictum eſt de approbatione Scripturae per Eccleſiam, intelligitur ſolum de p. 334Eccleſiâ, que fuit tempore Apoſtolorum, qui ſuerunt repleti Spiritu ſancto: No Church ſo fit to do it as that which had ſo much of the holy Spirit; but nothing was done in it in that Age. The ſo called Canons of the Apoſtles (which in the 85th. Canon take in three Books of Macchabees into the old Canon, and the Conſtitutions and Epiſtles of Clement into the new,) are clearly adulterate; theſe condemn ſecond Marriages, deprive not a Clergy-man of communion for Fornication or Perjury, or Theſt, and ſpeak of Altars, Oblations, Veſſels, of Gold and Silver ſanctified, Cantors and Lectors, and many other ſuch-like altogether unknown in thoſe Apoſtolical times. About theſe Canons Mirè inter ſe digladiantur Pontiſicii, ſaith one. Gelaſius in a Roman Synod of ſeventy Biſhops, declares them Apocryphal, in toto; Bellarmine rejects all but the firſt fifty, and I think all the Romaniſts caſt away the 85th. Canon touching the Scripture as Suppoſititious. The firſt Virgin-Century doing nothing in this grand matter; one might have lookt for it in the ſecond or third; but there is no foot-ſtep of it. In the fourth Century about the year 320 came the famous Council of Nice, and then it might have been expected, as the apteſt foundation for their Orthodox Concluſions againſt Arrius, and withal for a ſtated Rule againſt all future Hereſies; but there is a failure alſo, nothing was done in it. And into what Heart can it enter, that in all thoſe 320 years there was no Canon, no Authority of Scripture, no foundation p. 335for the Primitive Chriſtians to fix their Faith upon? In thoſe days Paganiſm was ſtrong, and Perſecutions hot, and Divine Cordials neceſſary; and yet the Scripture for want of the Churches Definition, was not of Authority as to the Chriſtians then living; I ſay, according to the Popiſh Theſis it was not. But to go on: Afterwards about the year of our Lord 368 came the Council of Laodicea, which in the 59th. Canon orders, That no Books ſhould be read in the Church but the Canonical ones of the Old and New Teſtament; and enumerates as Canonical ſuch as are received in the Reformed Church, only omitting the Apocalypſe: And now had not that Omiſſion been, and had this Council been a General one, the work had been done. But afterwards in this very Century about the year 398, the third Council of Carthage in its 47th. Canon reckons up as Canonical, Tobit, Judith, two Books of Macchabees, and five Books of Solomon, accounting Wiſdom and Eccleſiaſtious to be two of them. In this Council St. Auſtin was preſent, who yet in his Book de Civitate Dei, Lib. 17. cap. 20, ſaith, That Wiſdom and Eccleſiaſticus in the judgment of the more learned were not Solomens, and were chiefly received in the Weſtern Church; it ſeems the Eaſtern received them not. In the end of the next Century about the year 494. Gelaſius Biſhop of Rome with ſeventy Biſhops enumerates the ſame Books as Canonical which are reckoned ſo in the Council of Carthage, ſave only that he omits p. 336the Book of Nehemiah, and names but one of the Macchabees. Theſe particular Provincial Councils being of incompetent Authority to deſine the Canon for the Univerſal Church, and withal variant, nay repugnant among themſelves. Whither muſt we go but to a General Council? but Oh how late very late doth that come? How long will the Authority of Scripture and Faith of Chriſtians be ſuſpended? and to how little ſatisfaction will this deſinition be? About the year 682 was the ſixth General Council of Conſtantinople in Trullo, and as to this Point, what did it? It conſirmed the Canons of the Apoſtles, the Council of Laodicea, and the Council of Carthage; which three in this Point being totally inconſiſtent each with other, every one by the leave of theſe Fathers who confirmed them all, may chuſe what Canonical Books he will have, whether thoſe in the Canons of the Apoſtles, or thoſe in the Council of Laodicea, or thoſe in that of Carthage; and what pitiful incertainties are here? And now it is to little purpoſe to fly over many Centuries more till we come to the Councils of Florence and Trent, theſe are late ones; and as our Learned Whitaker ſaith, Non legitima Chriſtianorum Concilia, ſed Tyrannica Antichriſti Conventicula, ad oppugnandam Evangehi veritatem inſtituta; and thus it appears even Hiſtorically that the Authority of Scripture depends not on the Church. But waving this Popiſh Theſis, in which I have by the way made this long, Digreſſion: I proceed to the matter in hand.

p. 337True Faith being a beam or irradiation from the holy Spirit, diſcovers, That the Scriptures in general are the Word of God; and which is to the Point in hand, in its holy progreſs it arrives at an experimental knowledg thereof; Peter Martyr wiſhes men to read the Bible ſeriouſly; and adds, Male ſit mihi (ita enim in tantâ causâ jurare auſim) niſi tandem capiantur, ſentient denique quantum divina haec ab humanis diſtent. Eraſmus ſaith, Expertus ſum in meipſo; That there is little good in curſory reading it; do it duly and you ſhall find the Divine efficacy. That a Progreſſive Faith may attain an Experimental knowledg, that the Scriptures are of God, will appear by the enſuing Conſiderations.

One noble piece of Scripture is the Moral Law; upon every apex of it hangs a mountain of Sence, ſay the Rabbins; every jot or tittle of it ſtands faſter than Heaven and Earth, ſaith our Saviour, Mat. 5.18. This is the Summary of all Duties; all the Moral Precepts in Scripture are but as ſo many Commentaries on it. That this is of God, Faith experiments ſeveral ways:

Firſt, Faith experiments it by the impreſſes and holy inclinations in the Believers heart, anſwering, truly though not perſectly, to the Law. A Progreſſive Believer finds by reflection, That the Law is written in his heart; That his Heart is the very Epiſtle of Chriſt written by the holy Spirit: And withal he knows, that it was not always ſo; Time was, when there were p. 338no ſuch characters or holy inclinations there, his Heart was worſe than a meer empty Table: And hence he ſurely gathers, that thoſe characters or imprinted propenſities are the writing of God himſelf; and ſo comes experimentally to know the Epiſtle of God in Scripture by that in his Heart, and the outward literal Edition of the Law by the inward Spiritual one, which is a counterpane thereof, and anſwers thereunto as the ſtamp to the Seal, or one Tally to another. The mutual agreement between them once diſcerned is a practical proof, that both are of God, and written by one and the ſame holy hand. But you will ſay, there needs no Faith to make this experiment; the very Gentiles have the Law written in their Heart, their natural implanted Principles comprize both Tables; the firſt in that they tell us, that there is a God to be worſhipped and reverenced; The ſecond in that they tell us, That we muſt do as we would be done to; which Alexander Severus much delighted in. Unto which I anſwer, That there is a vaſt diſſerence between the natural Writing the Law in the Heart, and the gracious; The firſt is a relique or broken fragment of the Divine Image; its only or at leaſt chief ſeat is in the Underſtanding, and there it ſtands in the dark in an abyſs of black Ignorance; and in the mean while there is an helliſh enmity in the carnal will againſt the Law of God. But the other is a pure perfect thing which ſtands in both faculties, being as an holy lamp in the p. 339Underſtanding, and as a Divine inclination in the will to do the Commends of God. Hence it appears, That there is not that ſoundation for this experiment in the Natural Inſcription of the Law, as in the Gracious; the Natural being to the Gracious but as a little glimmering is to ſplendor; or as the broken pieces of a Picture are to the intire Image. It is with a Believer in this caſe as it was with Bezalceel; the Word of God came forth for making the Tabernacle, but Bezaleel had a fractical proof of it in the ſpirit of Wiſdom given him for the work: Or as it was with Saul, the Word came forth touching the Kingdom, but Saul had a Practical proof of it in the ſpirit of Government vouchſafed unto him. And ſo it is with the Believer; The Divine Law is experimented in the ſpirit of obedience, and each particular Command is proved by ſome inward aptneſs anſwering thereunto. A notable inſtance of this Inſcription we have in Maius the German Divine, who in his extream ſickneſs, having Conſolatory Scriptures recited to him, bravely anſwered, Tace, tace, omnia cordi meo inſixa tenco; hold your peace, I have all in my heart: Promiſes I ſuppoſe he meant; and without diſpute the Precepts were there alſo.

Secondly, Faith experiments it by the Divine Preſence helping and comforting the Believer in acts of Obedience. The Rabbins ſay, That if two ſit together conſerring of the Law, the Shechimah is among them. And without doubt if but p. 340one ſingle Believer be not a talking meerly of the Law, but a doing of it, the Divine Preſence is with him. Thus the Prophet to Aſa, The Lord is with you, whileſt you be with him, 2 Chron. 15.2. Thus our Saviour, If a man love him and keep his words, the Father and the Son will come and make their abode with ſuch a one, Joh. 14.23. Such an one hath a Temple and Shechinah in his Heart; God will be there helping and comforting of him in his well-doing. The Church prays for help from the Sanctuary, Pſal. 20.2. becauſe that was a Symbol of Gods Preſence: And the obeying Believer cannot want help, becauſe he hath a Sanctuary within him. The way of the Lord is ſtrength to him, and waiting in it he renews ſtrength, and mounts up by Auxiliary Grace as upon Eagles-wings. Whileſt he is a doing the will of God ſtrength comes in, as it did to the Levites that bare the Ark, 1 Chron. 15.26. and with ſtrength holy comfort alſo; in keeping the Commands he hath great reward, inward peace, and joy unſpeakable; ſome of the oyl of Joy which is upon Chriſt the great Doer of Gods Will, drops down on the Believer in his ſincere Obedience. As all upright ones do, he dwels in Gods Preſence, as if he were in the borders of Heaven already; the light of Gods Countenance irradiates his Duties. When therefore the Believer reflects on himſelf, and conſiders, what a dry Land rebellion dwells in, and what rivers of Peace and Joy water Obedience; how weak and fooliſh his heart was p. 341in doing his own will, and how help and ſtrength came upon him in doing Gods; he comes experimentally to know the Command to be of God, whoſe Preſence gave him ſuch comforts and aſſiſtances therein: The good hand of God upon him is a proof that the way is right; the Peace growing on his work ſhews the righteouſneſs of it. When in Elijahs time the queſtion was, whether God or Baal ſhould be God, the fire coming down from Heaven on the Sacrifice made the People fall down and confeſs, The Lord he is the God, the Lord he is the God, 1 King. 18.39. anſwerably when the Believer in the doing of Gods Commands, feels the illapſes of the holy Spirit inflaming and comforting his Heart, he ſweetly experiences that God is in the Command of a truth.

Thirdly, Faith experiments it in that the hope of Heaven is enlarged and heightned in the doing of Gods will. The more a Believer doth it, the livelier is his Faith; the warmer his love, the ſtronger his other Graces; the meeter his Soul for Heaven, and the richer his entrance thereunto, 2 Pet. 1.11. He ſhall not go to Heaven poorly or with a ſeant wind, but with full gales and rich Plerophories; by ſucceſſive acts of Obedience his Hope riſes higher and higher, and ſo gives an experimental proof, That the Command is the very will of God, and way to Glory; otherwiſe Hope would not grow and flouriſh in it, but flag and wither; as it uſes to do in us, when we purſue our p. 342own ways. The Apoſtle would have men diligent in good works, foreign, to the full aſſurance of hope, Heb. 6.11. Ʋt pleniſſimè in animis veſtris ſpes confirmetur, faith Beza. Immediately after the giving the Law God adds theſe words, Where ever I record my name, there will I come and bleſs you, Exod. 20.24. a bleſſing attends his Service. If God bleſs Obedience with an aſſurance of Hope, which is a fore-taſte of Heaven, and preſage of Glory; it is a full proof that his name is recorded in the Command. When a Believer walking therein comes to aſſurance, and ſo to be within ken of Heaven, he is ſure that the way is right.

Another excellent part of Scripture ſtands in the Promiſes: Theſe are the Pearls of the Goſpel, breaſts of Conſolation, and wells of Salvation, flowing out to Believers in temporal, ſpiritual, and eternal good things; each of theſe Faith more or leſs experiments to be Divine.

As touching Temporal Promiſes Faith experiments them in every bleſſing which the Believer hath. Indeed outward things are but the nether-ſprings, and bleſſings of the left hand, diſpenſed promiſcuouſly as if they were ludibria fortunae, the ſports of chance. Providence is ſtill ringing the changes; here an Iſhmael may have his portion and full cup; even Crowns and Kingdoms, which lie at the upper end of the World, may come to the baſeſt of men, Dan. 4.17. All things come alike p. 343to all; the Sun of Proſperity ſhines on the Bramble as well as on the Flower; the tempeſt of Adverſity falls on the Garden as well as on the Wilderneſs. Love or Hatred cannot be known by theſe things, not by them as they are in themſelves, or meerly iſſuing out of Providence: But the Believer hath them by a ſingular Priviledg, and in a way of Promiſe, and by reflection may know that he hath them ſo: When he doth not arrogate ought to himſelf, or like churliſh Nabal, all in his Poſſeſſives ſay, My bread, my water, and my fleſh; but really confeſs God to be ſupream Lord of all, and himſelf but an accountable Steward of them; When he can caſt his goods on the waters, and as it were ſend them to Sea in a voyage of Charity, expecting no return but in the other World, where theſe Corruptibles ſo uſed will riſe in the incorruption of eternal glory; When he can charge all outward things to ſtand without in their own ſtation, and not approach that heart which is a facred Temple or holy place for God to dwell in; When he looks on all the World as forfeited by Sin, and new founded by Chriſt the Mediator, and ſo taſts his precious blood in every good thing, and gathers all his comforts from his reconciling Croſs; When upon a juſt call to Suffering he is willing to venture all his part in this life upon the meer Promiſe of a better, and had rather caſt all his Mundane pearls over board than hazard a wrack of Faith or Conſcience; When the pureſt ſweeteſt Comforts here below do not p. 344ſatisfic his Soul, as ſmelling of the cask and chanel of Creature-vanity, but in the fulleſt affluence of them he crys out, Dul…ius ex ipſo fonte; a ſingle God is inſinitely ſweeter than all; and none but he can ſill up the gaping chinks and chaſmes of my Hear; Deus meus & omnia, My God, and my all: Then undoubtedly he hath outward bleſſings not upon the common title of Providence only, but in a way of Promiſe; and by reflection on ſuch things as theſe he may know that he hath them ſo, and arrive at a ſweet experience of Temporal Promiſes. Such an experience multiplies the Loaves and wonderfully doubles and trebles the ſweetneſs and comfort of every Bleſſing. Some learned Men have obſerved a difference between Jacobs Bleſſing and Eſaus; Jacobs runs thus, God give thee of the dew of Heaven, and the fatneſs of the Earth, Gen. 27.28. Eſaus thus, Thy dwelling ſhall be the fatneſs of the Earth, and of the dew of Heaven from above, ver. 39. In Jacobs the name of God is mentioned not in Eſaus: its true all Bleſſings are from God, but his name is mentioned in the one not in the other. The experienced Believer hath more of God and his federal Love in every Bleſſing than other Men. The Jews by a pious cuſtom uſed to ſay over their Bread, Bleſſed be God who brought Bread out of the Earth; over their Wine, Bleſſed be God who created the fruit of the Wine; over their Fruits, Bleſſed be God who created the Fruit of the Tree; nay, and over their Flowers, Bleſſed be God p. 345who made the ſweet ſmelling Herbs: and in general they added this, Whoſoever takes ought out of this World without a benediction is as it were a robber of God. But the experienced Believer, as he hath a ſweeter title to theſe things; ſo he may raiſe up his Praiſes for them to an higher ſtrain than other Men; not only ſaying, Bleſſed be God and his Providence for ſuch and ſuch things, but bleſſed be God and his Promiſe alſo: All good things as well thoſe of this life, as thoſe of the other iſſue out of the Covenant of Grace. You will ſay, the Believer cannot yet make this experiment; for though he have ſome of the Temporal Bleſſings mentioned in the Promiſes, yet often and ordinarily he wants other of them. To which I anſwer, The Promiſes of Temporal Bleſſings are not abſolute, but carry a tacit limitation of expediency. The main deſign of the Promiſes is Mans Salvation, and to this Temporals are not, as Spirituals are, ſimply neceſſary; but only have a remote tendency thereunto, and that not of themſelves, but as they are over-ruled by God, who makes omnia cooperari in bonum, all things work together for good to them that love him. And hence the Believer expects from the Promiſes no other meaſure or proportion of outward things than what may conduce to his Salvation; and becauſe he knows not what that meaſure or proportion is, he refers himſelf to the Wiſdom and Faithfulneſs of God to order all for his good: and hence God doth not fulfil Promiſes of Temporals as he doth thoſe of p. 346Spirituals: Promiſes of Spirituals he fulfils in ſpecie, becauſe they cannot otherwiſe be made good, a drop of Grace being more worth than a World; but thoſe of Temporals he fulfils disjunctively, either in the Bleſſing it ſelf, or in that which is equivalent by inward contentation and ſupportation, compenſating the abſence of the thing it ſelf. Theſe things being ſo, the Believer in what he hath may experience the Promiſe in the true proportion and meaning of it; and not withſtanding his wants, may know, That in Chriſt he is ſo far heir of all things, that if he could want a world he ſhould have it.

As touching Spiritual Promiſes, theſe are either Promiſes of Grace, or Promiſes to Grace. As touching Promiſes of Grace, Faith may know theſe experimentally. The Believer reads in his Bible, That God hath promiſed to give an heart of fleſh, to make a new heart, and a new ſpirit, to write his Law in the heart, to give an heart to know him, to circumciſe the heart that it may love him; and many more ſuch-like: and afterwards reading over his own Heart, he may find theſe precious Graces all there, and be able experimentally to ſay of theſe Promiſes, as Joſhua did of thoſe made to Iſrael, Not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord hath ſpoken, all are come to paſs, Joſh. 23.14. In every holy melting he finds the heart of fleſh; in every holy frame the new heart and ſpirit; in every holy inclination the inward engraven Law; in every holy beam the Divine Teaching; in every holy affection p. 347the Spiritual Circumciſion; all the Promiſes are ſcaled and really exemplified in his Heart; and what an admirable experiment is this? To ſee a Work within anſwering to the Promiſe in the Word, is a greater ſight than if a Man could have ſtood by and ſeen the light ſtart forth into Being upon the Almighty fiat ſpoken by God in the Creation; unto which the Apoſtle alludeth in ſetting forth the Divine light ſhining into the Heart in the face of Chriſt, 2 Cor. 4.6. The Magnalia of Grace are more wonderful than thoſe of nature. Hence St. Chryſoſtom upon thoſe words of the Apoſtle, We are his workmanſhip created in Chriſt Jeſus, Epheſ. 2.10. ſaith of Regeneration, That it is foreign, really a Creation, and more noble than the old one; as adding a benè vivere to that life which came from the old one. The experienced Believer hath cauſe to ſay, what hath God wrought? how fearfully is the New Creature made? all its Graces were written in the Promiſe, and now are faſhioned in the Heart, where before there were none of them; How precious are thy thoughts to me, O God? how great is the ſum of them? This Experiment was notably typed out in Iſaac; he was by Promiſe; and as ſoon as he was born, the Promiſe was experimented notwithſtanding the dead body and dead womb. The Believer the child of Promiſe is as Iſaac was, ſaith the Apoſtle, Gal. 4.28. All the regenerating Graces are by Promiſe; and when theſe are brought forth, the Promiſe is made good maugre all p. 348the deadneſs of nature. By the Promiſes we are made partakers of the Divine Nature, ſaith St. Peter, 2 Pet. 1.4. that is, we have thoſe Divine Graces which as the Creature-module will admit, reſemble the Holy One, and ſo we have the Promiſes ſealed up to us in Graces.

As touching Promiſes made to Grace, ſuch as are fulfilled in this life, Faith alſo experiments them to be Divine. In the Scripture the Believer meets with Promiſes of Pardon to ſuch as repent and believe; of comfort to the mourner, of filling to the hungry and thirſty, of the Divine ſecret to them that fear God, of encreaſe of Grace to the improver; and many more of the ſame nature. To experiment theſe the Believer by peruſing the Scripture, and his own Heart, doth two things; firſt, He clears it up to himſelf, that the Graces in his Heart, to which ſuch Promiſes are made, are true, through the irradiating Spirit vouchſafed to him. He may diſcover them to be ſuch by Scriptural Marks, he may find that his Faith purifies and works by Love; That his Repentance and Mourning are chiefly for Sin; That his Hunger and Thirſt are humble and induſtrious in the uſe of means, That his Fear is of God and his Goodneſs in a filial way; That his improving of Talents is in a way of dependence and holy diligence; and ſo certainly knows that theſe Graces in his Heart are real things. This foundation being firſt laid, then he proceeds to a ſecond review of his Heart, and there he may find how Pardons have ſenſibly broke in upon p. 349him in a way of Repenting and Believing, or how the Sheaves of Joy and Comfort have followed his Tears, or how Satisfactions Manna-like have dropped down on his hungry Soul, or how Divine illuminations have come in and Crowned his Holy Fear, or how Talents have multiplied in the faithful uſing and actuating of them: And the Experiment thereupon will be compleat, every Grace ſooner or later being in ſome good meaſure anſwered by the Promiſes, which let out their ſweetneſs to it as God hath ordained them to do. Thus the Believer ſenſibly enters the Land of Promiſe, and eats of the Fruit thereof, lifting up his Soul in The high Praiſes of him, who gave the Promiſes in the Scripture and fulfils them in the Heart.

As touching Promiſes of eternal good things in Heaven, where there are Plenitudes of Joy and Rivers of Pleaſure in the Preſence of Him who is All in All, the completion of theſe is in another World; nevertheleſs the Believer hath an experimental taſte thereof here. Whileſt his Hope hangs upon them, he finds ſtrength and comfort come into his Heart; whilſt the weary World is toſſing with troubles, O what a refreſhing is it to look into Eternity! Hope, Eatring within the vail, is an Anchor to the Soul; and ſo ſtabliſhes it, that it doth not rowl about with the wheelings of this changeable World, nor center its happineſs in any or all the Creatures. Let the World come in all its Fancies and glittering appearances of p. 350Good, it cannot call off the Believers Heart from Heaven, but it will be ready to point that way; or let it come with ſtorms of terror and troubles, it cannot looſen the Anchorhold: the Believer will rather part with all the World, and his Life too, then let go his hold of Heaven: Ye took with joy the ſpoiling of your goods, knowing in your ſelves, that ye have in Heaven a better and an enduring ſubſtance, ſaith the Apoſtle, Hebr. 10.34. Or, as the Words are in the Original; Knowing that ye have in your ſelves a better and abiding ſubſtance in Heaven. He ſpeaks as if they had carried Heaven in and about them, and in part they did ſo; for as Beza hath it on this place, Fide poſſidemus quod eſt in Coelis, By Faith we poſſeſs that which is in Heaven. All our Graces are foreign, Heb. 6.9. Things having or containing Salvation; No parts or pieces of this World, but ſuch as Heaven dawns and begins here below. The holy Spirit is as the Firſt Fruits to aſſure us of the whole Crop in Heaven, and as the earneſt of the total Sum of Glory which ſhall be paid above. The Believer here hath ſo much of Heaven as to make him ſtrive, wreſtle, run, work, watch and wait with his Loyns girt and Lamps burning; and as the twelve Tribes to ſerve God inſtantly, Acts 26.7. foreign; running with full ſpeed, and ſtretching out himſelf in the Race, that he may come to the Crown of Life; and ſurely, his Hope, if faſtned about a nullity, would not put forth ſuch p. 351ſtrong and vigorous operations. Heaven muſt be a real thing indeed, which ſo carries away the Heart from all the World and engages it unto it ſelf.

Another conſiderable part of Scripture ſtands in threatnings againſt Sinners. Touching experimenting theſe, I need ſay very little: our Good God doth not give out Threatnings in the ſame manner as he doth give out Promiſes; he gives out Promiſes that they may be fulfilled and experimented; but he gives out Threatnings that they may not be fulfilled and experimented, but rather that by them Men may be warned in a way of Faith and Repentance To fly from the wrath to come. The applying of a Promiſe in a right manner makes it to belong to us, but the applying of a Threatning makes it not to belong to us: judging our ſelves we prevent the Judgment of God. The Believer even before Converſion more or leſs felt the Threatnings taking hold of him, and ſhutting of him up under Wrath, till Jeſus Chriſt opened the Priſon-dores and made him Free indeed: And if afte Converſion he forget the old Chains, and run into wilful Rebellion again, he will feel them a ſecond time; The bones will be broken and Comforts loſt, the Conſcience will be wounded, and the Wounds will Stink and be corrupt becauſe of his fooliſhneſs. God may depart away, and leave the Graces withering, and the poor Soul all in the dark with Terrors round about it: This is a very p. 352ſad Experiment; and yet undeniably proves that the Threatnings are from God, his Juſtice appearing on the top of them like devouring Fire.

Paſſing over thoſe three great Pillars of Scripture Precepts, Promiſes and Threatnings; I now proceed to the Sacred Truths, which lie therein, as Rich Veins of Gold and Silver do in a Mine: And to avoid Prolixity, I ſhall pick out of them ſome ſupernatural Ones, ſuch as cannot be known by the mere Light of Nature, but drop down from Heaven in a way of pure Revelation; concluding with my ſelf, That if Faith can make an Experiment in theſe, it may much more do ſo in others. I ſhall firſt inſtance in that Sacred Truth of The bleſſed Trinity of Perſons in Ʋnity of the God-head: This is, as one hath it, Fundamentum Fundamentorum, The Foundation of Foundations; unleſs this ſtand faſt all Evangelical Truths fall to the Ground; we are no longer Chriſtians then we acknowledg it. So ſublime is this Myſtery, that as Saint Bernard ſaith, Scrutari haec temeritas eſt, credere pietas eſt, noſſe vero vita aeterna eſt. And when Gregory Nazianzen was preſſed to aſſign a diſſerence between thoſe words, Begotten and Proceeding, he made this anſwer, Dic mihi, quid ſit generatio, & ego dicam, quid ſit proceſſio, ut ambo inſaniamus; diſtinguere inter proceſſionem & generationem neſcio, non valeo, non ſufficio. This Truth is totally ſupernatural; it could never without a Revelation enter into our Heart; p. 353humane reaſon; no, not that of Adam could not reach it. Indeed there are ſtrange paſſages touching it in Triſmegiſtus and Plato: Triſmegiſtus ſaith, God who is Mind begat foreign, the Speech or Word which is another Mind, and with that Speech another which is the Fiery God and Spirit of the God-head. Plato ſpeaks of a foreign, A moſt Divine Word, and of the begotten Son of the Good; and the learned Grotius ſaith. Apud Platonicos reperias, foreign, three Perſons in one. But ſure theſe men knew nothing of this Myſtery; if they ſpake ſomewhat like, they ſpake not the ſame; or if the ſame, they borrowed it from Moſes. Plato is called the Atticizing Moſes; and his foreign, one and many, is an old Tradition derived from the Jews; and his foreign, is taken from Jehovah, or I am. Or, which is moſt probable, the notions of the Trinity in Plato and Triſmegiſtus were foiſted into their Works. How many Books have been put out under the names of the Apoſtles and ancient Fathers, which have not been truly ſuch? Such impoſture in the Primitive times was very ordinary: And if Men would be thus bold with Apoſtles and Fathers, what might they not do in Heathens? Beſides, ſome think there are clearer notions of a Trinity in ſome of the Heathens, than in Moſes's Books, and ſo by conſequence the Heathens ſhould know more of it than Iſrael; which is contrary to the Scriptures, which tell us, In Judah is God known, Pſ. 76.1. and He hath not dealt ſo with p. 354any Nation, Pſ. 147.20. It is therfore likely that ſuch paſſages in Heathens were inſerted into their Books, by Chriſtians, in a way of Pious Fraud, ſuch as was anciently uſed. This Sacred Myſtery was intimated in the Old-Teſtament; Elohim in the plural, Created, Gen. 1.1. Let us make Man, ſaith God, Gen. 1.26. By the word of the Lord were the Heavens made, and all the Hoſt of them by the Spirit of his Mouth, Pſ. 33.6. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hoſts, I ſay 6.3. The ancient Jewiſh Rabbins (as Petrus Galatinus hath ſhewed) embraced this Doctrine. Rabbi Simeon on that in the Prophet, ſaith, Sanctus, hic eſt Pater, Sanctus, hic eſt Filius, Sanctus, hic eſt Spiritus Sanctus: the three Middoth, or Properties in Rabbinical Writers, are the three Perſons in the Godhead. And the Cabbaliſts have theſe words, Pater Deus, Filius Deus, Spiritus Sanctus Deus, Tres in Ʋno, Ʋnus in Tribus. In the New-Teſtament we have this Truth clearly laid down; in the Baptiſin of Chriſt we have all the three Perſons appearing, The Father in a Voice, the Son in the Fleſh, the Holy Ghoſt in the Dove, Mat. 3.16, 17. The Primitive Chriſtians uſed to ſay to any that doubted of the Trinity, Abi ad Jordanem & videbis, Go to Jordan and you will ſee it. Chriſt Commands. That Baptiſm ſhould be In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoſt, Math. 28.19. Or, as the Greek Article imports, In the Name of that Father, that Son, and that Holy Ghoſt, which diſcovered themſelvs at Chriſts Baptiſm. p. 355There are three that bear Record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghoſt; and theſe Three are One, 1 Joh. 5.7. This Truth hath had many Oppoſites, as the Arrians, Samoſatenians, Sabellians, Photinians, and of late the Socinians, who have ſtrained their ſubtile Wits to undermine it if poſſible: tell them, That Baptiſm is in the Name of the Trinity; They will reply, That The Iſraelites were Baptized into Moſes, 1 Cor. 10.2. Tell them, That There are Three that bear Record in Heaven, 1 Joh. 5.7. They will ſay, Theſe Words are not to be found in the Ancient Greek Copies; nor in the Syriac; nor in the Ancient Latin Verſion,; but theſe are but Evaſions. As for the firſt, They were Baptized, foreign, unto Moſes, there foreign is put for foreign; as Acts 7.53. foreign is there put for foreign, as appears by comparing that place with Gal. 3.19. where Saint Paul of the ſame thing, ſaith, foreign, and ſo To be Baptized unto Moſes, is only to be Baptized by the Miniſtry of Moſes, who led them through the Red Sea: Hence in the Syriack it is foreign in the hand of Moſes. Again, it is one thing to be Baptized unto Moſes, another to be Baptized in the name of Moſes: Paul Baptized, but none in his own name, 1 Cor. 1.13. And again, the Iſraelites were improperly Baptized into Moſes; they were not aſperſed or immerged in water, neither was Baptiſm then an Ordinance of God as now it is. As for the ſecond in St. John, that place undeniably proves p. 356the Trinity. The learned Stephens ſaith, That place is wanting in ſeven Greek Copies, but it is found in nine more ancient. St. Cyprian de Ʋnitate Eccleſie, alledges this place for the Trinity. Athanaſius urged this place againſt Arrius in the Council of Nice, and then no exception was made againſt it. Had it not then been in St. John, Arrius would have eaſily rejected it. I believe in the times of Conſtantius and Valens the Arrians blotted out theſe words as moſt pregnant againſt them, out of divers Copies. St. Jerom aſſerted the truth of our reading from the Greek Copies which he had; publickly conteſting, That in thoſe Copies where it was wanting, it was razed out by the fraud of Hereticks. And St. Ambroſe ſaith, That the Hereticks did erade that place. This Truth ſtands faſt in Scripture for ever and ever; and Faith embraces it. And which is more and to the Point in hand, Faith in its holy progreſs may, as I conceive, experience it. My reaſon is, the Church in all Ages down from the Apoſtles have worſhipped the Sacred Trinity; Their Baptiſm hath been in its Name; their Doxology and foreign proclaim it; their Creeds all publiſh it; their Catechumeni were trained up in the knowledg of it; they ever worſhipped, as Athanaſius hath it in his Creed, one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Ʋnity; and that uno indiviſo cultu, as Divines ſpeak. This in all Ages hath been the Chriſtian Worſhip; and upon this Worſhip anſwers and returns have come down from p. 357Heaven in abundance of Glorious Spiritual Bleſſings, ſuch as are comprized in that Apoſtolical Prayer, The Grace of the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and the love of God, and the Communion of the Holy Ghoſt be with you all, Amen, 2 Cor. 13.14. The whole Trinity is adored, and the whole Trinity vouchſafes Gracious returns; Gratia quae datur, in Trinitate datur, ſaith Athanaſius. Every Believer ſo worſhipping hath returns from Heaven; and the Progreſſive Believer may know that he hath them; and in the experience thereof may experience That there is a Sacred Trinity of a truth. If the Trinity be a nullity, or as Servetus blaſphemouſly ſaid, An Idol, or three-headed Cerberus; Or, as Socinus belched out his impiety, A ridiculous invention of humane curioſity: Then the Chriſtian Worſhip is no other than ſtrange fire, vain' Will-worſhip, and Idol-worſhip; nay, it is no Worſhip at all; none, becauſe the Trinity its ſuppoſed Object is a nullity; none, becauſe God looks on it as none. As when the Samaritans feared the Lord and ſerved their Idols, 2 King. 17.33. The Text ſaith in the very next ver. That they feared not the Lord; their fear was as none, becauſe of the mixture of Idol-worſhip: So when Chriſtians worſhip one God, and a Trinity which is not, their Worſhip is as none at all. Upon ſuch a Worſhip God will not open his eyes unleſs to puniſh it, nor make any returns but thoſe of Wrath. When the Iſraelites worſhipped the Golden Calf, Gods Wrath waxed hot, and was ready to conſume them; p. 358much more may it do ſo, if Chriſtians worſhip a Trinity which is not. In that of the Calf, as they meant it, there was only error in modo, for they intended not to terminate their Worſhip in the Calf but in God, as appears by their own words, To marrow is a feaſt to Jehovah, Exod. 32.5. But in this of a Suppoſititious Trinity, there is error in objectio ultimo, which is more provoking to God. If the Trinity be but the Idol of the brain, God will no more be enquired of by its Worſhippers than he would by thoſe who ſet up their Idols in their heart. Ezek. 14.3. no gracious returns are found in ſuch a ſalfe way. A Believer therefore, who in Worſhipping one God in Trinity, finds returns ſrequently and ſucceſſively after Duties from the Mercy-ſcat, carries an inward ſeal and proof in his boſom, that there is a Trinity. This experimental proof of a Trinity ſeems to me evident in many places of Scripture. St. John ſaith, Truly our fellowſhip is with the Father and with his Son Jeſus Chriſt, 1 Joh. 1.3. He ſaith not barely, Our fellowſhip is with God, but with the Father and the Son; neither doth he ſay it at peradventures, but as a ſure known thing, ſuch as hath the joy of the holy Spirit with it. St. Paul would have the Coloſſians to be knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full aſſurance of underſtanding to the acknowledgment of the Myſtery of God, and of the Father and of Chriſt, Col. 2.2. Here is a Plerophory of underſtanding, nay, riches, and all riches of it: Here is foreign, which is, as p. 359one ſaith, Illuſtrior notitia rei prius cognitae; A further knowledg orpractical acknowledgment of a thing before known; and theſe muſt needs import ſomewhat of experience. Our Saviour ſaith, If a man love me and keep my words, my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him, Joh. 14.23. In the 21. ver. he told them, That he would manifeſt himſelf to the obedient; foreign, ſaith he, conſpicuum meipſum exhibebo, I will exhibit my ſelf though Spiritually, yet clearly as it were to eye, palam & in media luce, as Beza hath it. Hereupon Judas asks him, Lord how is it that thou wilt manifeſt thy ſelf to us? unto which our Saviour anſwers, That the Father and himſelf would come and make their abode in ſuch an one, ver. 23. The Abode of the Father and the Son in ſuch an one is in a glorious manifeſtative way, ſuch as gives an experience of their being there; and where the Father and the Son are, there alſo is the holy Spirit. Thus our Saviour in the 16. and 17. verſes of that Chapter ſaith, That the Spirit ſhould abide in them; and abide in them in a manifeſtative way: Ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, ſaith he. And in the 20th. verſe he ſaith, At that day, that is, the day of the Spirits in-dwelling, Ye ſhall know that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you. Oh what rich glorious Experiences of the Sacred Trinity are here! and how happy the Faith and Obedience which arrives at them! Godly Men ſhould labour to perfect Holineſs, to walk foreign, that is, foreign p. 360foreign, to get to the top of Godlineſs, and foreign, as the Apoſtle ſpeaks, Tit. 3.14. to be Maſters and eminent Preſidents in good Works, that they may arrive at this great Experiment.

Thus far touching that center of Divinity, the Sacred Trinity.

In the next place I proceed to the rare Supernatural Truths touching Jeſus Chriſt; all which Faith may experiment. And here I ſhall begin with his Incarnation. Venit univerſitatis Creator, venit ad homines, venit propter homines, venit homo, ſaith St. Bernard. He was Immanuel, God with us; foreign, God and Man in one Perſon; The Eternal Word was made fleſh, 1 Joh. 1.14. God was manifeſt in the Fleſh, 1 Tim. 3.16. And what ſay the Socinian Rebels to this Truth? Rationi ſanae repugnat; duae ſubſtantiae proprietatibus adverſae coire in unam perſonam nequeunt, ut ſunt mortalem & immortalem eſſe, principium habere & principie carere, mutabilem & immutabilem exiſtere, ſaith the Racovian Catechiſm: One and the ſame Perſon cannot be Mortal and Immortal, have a Beginning and no Beginning, or be Mutable & Immutable. But reaſon it ſelf, though too low a bar for this Truth to appear at, will abſolve this truth from repugnancy: Body and Soul meet in one Perſon, adverſe in Properties; the one being Corporal, the other Spiritual; the one Viſible, the other Inviſible; the one Rational, the other Irrational; the one Mortal, the other Immortal. This is done naturally, p. 361how much more may it be done Supernaturally? It would be againſt reaſon to ſay, That Chriſt were Secundum idem, Mortal and Immortal, having a Beginning and none; Mutable and Immutable; But it is not repugnant to ſay, That he is ſo in reſpect of the two Natures Humane and Divine. Had not Chriſt been Man, he could not have ſuffered; had he not been God, he could not have ſatisfied: The Blood was from the Humane Nature, and the excellent Merit from the Divine. He that disbelieves either, muſt caſt away Scripture which aſſerts both. This Truth ſtands firm in Scripture, as might be ſhewed at large; but for the Point in hand, Faith may experiment it. The Believer may find in himſelf ſuch fruits of Chriſts Incarnation, as carry a reſemblance thereunto, and are a kind of inward Seal thereof. The humane Nature of Chriſt was not brought forth of the bleſſed Virgin generatione ſed juſſione, not in an ordinary way by knowing a man, but in an extraordinary, by the power of the higheſt and overſhadowing of the Holy Ghoſt: Anſwerably in the Believer, the new Creature is not born of blood, nor of the will of the fleſh, nor of the will of man, but of God, John 1.13. He that is ſuch hath not known man nor his power in this great Work, but hath had the holy Spirit and its gracious overſhadowings on the heart. They that dwell foreign in his ſhadow ſhall return, ſaith the Prophet, Hoſ. 14.7. Unleſs the mighty Power of God come upon us p. 362we ſhall have no hearts to return to him. This reſemblance is excellently ſet forth by Fulgentius; Forma praeceſſit in carne Chriſti, quam in noſtrá ſide ſpiritualiter agnoſeamus; De Incarnat. Chriſti cap. 20.ex eodem ſpiritu renati ſumus, ex quo natus eſt Chriſtas; eodem Spiritu Chriſtus formatur ſecundum fidem in corde uniuscujuſ que credentis, quo Spiritu ſecundum carnem formatus eſt in utero Virginis; The very ſame Spirit which formed Chriſt in the womb, forms him in the heart. The Humane nature in Chriſt was united to the Divine in an Hypoſtatical Union; God and Man met in one Perſon, that they might meet in the Covenant of Grace: Anſwerably the Believer is united unto God in a ſpiritual Myſtical Union, He is made one Spirit with the Lord, 1 Cor. 6.17. Chriſt was one fleſh with us, and we are one Spirit with him; God is at one with us in Chriſt, and we may approach to God with holy boldneſs. The Humane Nature of Chriſt had no natural Subſiſtence, but ſubſiſted in the eternal Word; ſutably the new Creature hath no ſpiritual Subſiſtence in it ſelf, but ſubſiſts in God and his Grace; By the grace of God I am what I am, 1 Cor. 15.10. St. Paul looked on his ſpiritual Being to be only by Grace. In Chriſt God was manifeſted in the fleſh, and tabernacled in it; nay, the fulneſs of the Godhead dwelt in it, Col. 2.10. As low abject a thing as Humane nature is, the fulneſs of the Godhead dwelt in it, and will dwell in it for ever; ſutably in Believers the Tabernacle of God is with men, he dwells and p. 363walks in them, and they may be filled with all the fulneſs of God, Epheſ. 3.19. that is, have abundance of his gracious Preſence with them. A Believer may find that he hath theſe reſembling fruits in himſelf, and withal that, unleſs the Son of God had been incarnate, none of them would have been; no new Creature, but all men lying in the old rubbiſh of the Fall; no Union, but an unpaſſable gulf ſuch as is between Heaven and Hell; no ſpiritual Subſiſtence, but a corrupt one upon the dregs of Free-will; no heavenly Fulneſs, but a vacuity of all Grace: And from hence he may have an experimental proof of Chriſts Incarnation, the Myſtical Union being a proof of the Hypoſtatical, and God manifeſt in the Spirit of God manifeſt in the Fleſh. St. John lays down this as a glorious Truth, That Jeſus Chriſt is the Son of God, 1 John 5.5. and for proof of it he produces ſix Witneſſes; Three in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghoſt, ver. 7. and Three on earth, the Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood, ver. 8. By the Spirit we may underſtand the holy Spirit breathing in the Scripture, and witneſſing in the heart; by the Water the ſanctifying Graces and thoſe ſealed in Baptiſm; and by the Blood the precious Sufferings of Chriſt which pacifie the Conſcience: A Believer may experience all theſe three Witneſſes on Earth, and ſo may experience the Incarnation of Chriſt. But to go on unto this of the Incarnation, I ſhall add two inſtances more touching Chriſt; the p. 364one is his Death, and the other is his Reſurrection: The experiment of both is emphatically ſet forth by St. Paul, That I may know him, and the power of his Reſurrection, and the fellowſhip of his Sufferings, being made conformable to his Death, Phil. 3.10. Tune recte cognoſcitur Chriſtus, ſaith Calvin, dum ſentimus quid valeat Mors ejus & Reſurrectio; Then we truly know Chriſt, when we feel the power of his Death and Reſurrection in our own hearts. Jeſus Chriſt died for us, His Soul was an offering for Sin, his Life foreign, a Ranſom for many; He ſatisfied Gods Juſtice, opened a door of Mercy, and procured the effuſion of the holy Spirit; and all this Faith may experiment. In the calms of Conſcience the Believer may feel the atoning Blood of Chriſt, purging his heart from dead works to ſerve the living God; In the mortifying of Luſts he may find a ſecret virtue from Chriſt crucified, enabling him for the work; In all the ſweet gales and operations of the holy Spirit he hath a proof of that meritorious Paſſion which procured them; and when he ſtumbles and falls into ſin and drives away that Spirit for a time, in its return he hath a proof, that Chriſt is a Prieſt after the Power of an endleſs life. The vexed grieved Spirit might utterly forſake ſuch faultring backſliding Creatures as we are, and leave us deſolate for an habitation of Devils and unclean ſpirits for ever; but the endleſs life of Merit in Chriſt cauſes it to return to us again, and thereby gives us a moſt precious experiment thereof. At Swerin in Germany, there was a little drop p. 365of Blood included in a Jaſper-ſtone, given out to be the very Blood of Chriſt: This every Friday at a certain hour was ſhewn, and upon view ſeemed to open and draw out it ſelf, as it were in three parts, and then to go together again: It was followed by great concourſes of people, and eſteemed very Sacred for 300 years. Had this Toy been true and genuine, I might yet ſay as Maius the German Divine did to one, who asked him, If it would not be a great Conſolation to a poor Thief ready to die, to be told, That Chriſt according to the Fleſh is ſo near him, that even in fune he may have him? At melius in corde, 'tis better having the Blood of Chriſt in the heart than any other way; ſuch an having produces the glorious Experiments before ſpoken of. And as the Death of Chriſt is experimented, ſo is his Reſurrection. In the Peace of God the Believer may read that the Debt is fully paid, and the Surety out of the priſon of the Grave; In the inward ſpiritual Reſurrecton he may find that Almighty power which raiſed up Jeſus from the dead; In heavenly elevations and affections he may feel holy touches from Chriſt ſitting at Gods right hand, and attracting his Heart into the upper world: In the excellent miniſterial Gifts in the Church he may know that Chriſt is above, and lets drop theſe for the perfecting of the Saints; and in his lively hope of the incorruptible Inheritance, he may prove the Reſurrection of Chriſt by which he is begotten again unto it. Such Experiments as theſe wonderfully ratifie p. 366the Faith of Believers, oyl their Obedience, and multiply their Joy and Peace in Believing; and make each of them able to ſay in particular, Chriſt died for me, and Chriſt roſe again for me; and lo here are the Witneſſes of it in my heart.

Unto theſe faced Truths of the Trinity and Chriſt, I ſhall only add one Inſtance more touching the efficacy of Grace in the hearts of men. The Pelagians, thoſe Inimici gratiae, aſcribe almoſt all to Free will, and little or nothing to Free-grace; making Grace rather to conſiſt in the external Doctrine than in internal Operations: or if they admit any thing internal, it is rather in the illumination of the Underſtanding than in the change of the Will. But the Scriptures tells us clean contrary, of opening the heart and new-making it; of working the Will, and a day of power cauſing it; of raiſing the ſpiritually dead and creating us again in Chriſt; of putting his Spirit into us, and cauſing us to walk in his Statutes: Theſe and many more Scriptures loudly proclaim the power of Grace, and the Believer may experience it. This is the clearer, becauſe the ſenſus communis of Chriſtians hath in all Ages run this way. David upon the willing Offering utters his experience of Grace in a way of admiration; Who am I and what is my people, that we ſhould be able to offer ſo willingly after this ſort! For all things come of thee, 1 Chron. 29.14. All things come of thee, even willingneſs and All: In ſo Offering we do but give of thine own, as the Greek Chriſtians uſe to ſay in their Oblations, p. 367foreign, thine from thine. St. Paul upon his experience aſcribes all to Grace; I live, yet not I, but Chriſt liveth in me: And I labour, yet not I, but the Grace of God which was with me. He acknowledges no I-neſs, but aſcribes all his Spiritual Being to Grace; By the Grace of God I am what I am, ſaith he. St. Cyprian might find in himſelf what he ſo excellently ſaid, In nullo nobis gloriandum, quando noſtrum nihil eſt. St. Ambroſe ſpeaking of Cain and Abel, ſaith; Cain, as his name is Poſſeſſion, acquires and arrogates all to himſelf; but Abel who knew his own Vanity, and that he had nothing de ſuo niſi mendacium & peccatuni, referred all to God. The former he calls improbum dogma, the latter bonum dogma; the good opinion which the juſt Abels are of and experience in themſelves. And in the laſt Chapter of that Book he ſaith, Quicquid ſancium cogitaveris, hoc Dei munus eſt, Dei inſpiratio, Dei gratia; which I ſuppoſe was his own experience. Bleſſed St. Auſtin that noble aſſertor of Free-grace (of whom Proſper ſaid, Dum nulla ſibi tribuit bona, ſit Deus illi omnia; Whileſt he attributed no good to himſelf, God became all things to him,) could never have wrote ſo magniticently of Grace, had he not had great experience of it. In his Book De Peccatorum Meritis, he gives a caution, Ne putemus naſtrum eſſe quod Dei; and adds, Qui error multum eſt Religioni pietatique contrarius; To attribute that to our ſelves which is Gods is an error much contrary to Religion and Piety: Chriſtian ſenſe is againſt it. p. 368Proſper who came after St. Auſtin hath this paſſage, Non eſt devotionis dediſſe prope totum Deo, ſed fraudis retinuiſſe vel minimum; gratia Dei repellitur tota, niſi tota recipiatur; To give 999 parts to Grace, and reſerve one only to Mans Will is too much; true Devotion will not bear it. Tutius vivimus ſi totum Deo damus. Gotteſchalcus preaching up the Doctrine of Grace according to St. Auſtin and Proſper, ſuffered a cloſe Impriſonment for above twenty years together for that Truth; and no queſtion he experimented the power of Grace whileſt he ſuffered for it. Bonaventura hath a notable paſſage, Hoc piarum mentium eſt, ut nihil ſibi tribuant, ſed totum Dei gratiae; It is the true genius of Believers to attribute nothing to themſelves but all to Grace. And in the ſame place he ſaith, That holy Men know the influences of Grace; Potius experiendo quam ratiocinando; rather by experience than argument. The profound Bradwardine confeſſes, That at firſt Pelagius ſeemed to be in the right; it was more grateful to him to hear of Mans power in the Schools of Philoſophers than of Gods Grace in the Church; But afterwards Gratiae radio viſitatus, being viſited by a beam of Grace from Heaven, What a ſecond Auſtin and Champion for Grace did he prove? His Book de Causâ Dei, againſt Pelagius is a ſufficient witneſs thereof. After all, the great Luther ſaith in plain terms, That Liberum arbitrium eſt merum mendacium; Mans Free-will is but a lie. And if any of the Fathers have p. 369predicated it, certè ex carne ut fuerunt homines, non ex Spiritu Dei ſunt locuti; they ſpoke according to the fleſh as Men, not from the Spirit of God; and ſaith of himſelf, That he would not have any thing of Salvation left in his own hand; and glories in this, Deus ſalutem meam, extra meum arbitrium tollens, in ſuum receperit; All is in the hand of Free-grace: And a little after concludes, Hec eſt gloriatio omnium Sanctorum in Deo ſuo. After this manner do all the Saints glory in their God, crying out over every. good thing in themſelves, Grace, Grace. Many Books have been wrote touching Will and Grace: But were the experiences of Saints written and viſible, there would appear ſuch Magnalia or wonderful works of Grace, that every unbyaſſed perſon would ſay, Concluſum eſt contra Pelagianos; There is no doubt but the efficacy of Grace is very great and glorious in the Hearts of men.

Thus much for a taſte may ſuſſice touching the experience of Scriptural Truths; Supernatural Truths may be experimented; much more ſuch as fall in with the Light of Nature.