A Sincere Believer Comforted and Encouraged, To the reader 2
CHRISTIAN READR,
HEre is preſented to thy view a Treatiſe,Cum de Trinitate loquitur ſapit Arrium, cum de gratia, ſapit Pelagium; cum de perſona Chriſti, ſapit Neſtorium. Bern. de quodam Petro Magiſtro Epiſt. Guidoni. 192. which will lead thee to the power of Godlineſſe; and the holineſſe of the inward man; which in this age I feare few ſtudy and ſet their hearts upon, men generally being taken up either with notions or novelties, in nothing more placing their Religion then in a taſte of every new opinion; a confluence of which water (an unclean Spirit in judgement being ſent forth) hath made up that floud with which ſo many in our time have been ſwept away.
It hath been a comfort to mee in many endleſs and inextricable queſtions,Zach. 13.2. that the Kingdome of God conſiſts not in meat and drinke, Rom. 12.15.but in righteouſneſſe, and peace, In abſoluto ac facili eſt aeternitas. Hilar. de Trin. l. 10.and joy in the Holy Ghoſt; not in doubtfull diſputations, and unpracticall curioſity, but the Doctrine of the free grace of God, Rom. 14.17.and the fulneſſe of the righteouſneſſe of Chriſt, are plaine to him that will underſtand, and that in the true and ſaving knowledge of theſe, is eternall life to be had.John 17.3.
And it hath been a Rule to mee, that the more holy and ſpirituall any man is, the more fully his heart is in theſe things. For the Word being a mould, foreign. Rom. 6.17.and theſe being the great things thereof, they muſt needs make the deepeſt impreſſion upon the heart that is rightly caſt into it. And it is obſerved of the Saints of old;Vincent. Lirinenſ. adverſ. haereſ. cap. 9. Mos iſte ſemper in Eccleſiâ viguit, ut quo quiſ que foret religioſior, eò promptius novellis adinventionibus contrairet.
Scientia viſus & guſtus.Of ſpirituall Truths there is a twofold knowledge held forth in Scripture, a ſeeing and taſting knowledge (for the new man hath his ſenſes as well as the old) and both are conjoyned in this Text and Tract.Heb. 5.14.
1. Seeing knowledge, Joh. 6.40. which proceeds from a ſpirit of renovation, ſpiritualizing the faculty, giving an underſtanding to know him that is true, 1 Joh. 5.20. and from a ſpirit of Revelation diſcovering by a divine light ſpirituall objects; not only to the ſpeculative, but alſo to the practicall judgement; and in theſe the teaching of God, and the demonſtration of the Spirit, Exportatio vini, olei, lignaminis, lege Imperiali interdicta fuit, ne Barbari guſtu illecti promptius invaderent fines Romanorū. Leg. 1. God: quae res exportari non debeant.doe conſiſt.
2. Taſting knowledge, 1 Pet. 2.3. when a reliſh of the goodneſſe is brought with the Truth into the whole heart, that it becomes to a man ſweeter then honey and the honeycombe; which ſweetneſſe doth effectually draw and inflame the ſoule after the things thus taſted,Accipe ſpeculum concavum, quod vocatur …ncendens, & illud pone ex oppoſito ſolis, & accendetur quod opponitur in puncto reflexionis. to obtaine a further and full enjoyment; the earneſt of the Spirit, and the grapes of Eſhcol, which leaves in the ſoule ſuch a taſte, that it can never be ſatiſfied, till he drink out of the rivers of his pleaſure.
There is indeed a ſight that unregenerate men may have of things ſpirituall,Sic etiam contingit ſpiritualiter, cum ſpiritus illuminatur ſimplici claraque notitia, accenditur & in aeternum amorem collabitur …imer ſus ſi…i mor…ens & in D…o v…vens. Hen. Harphius. theolog. Myſtic. l. 2. c. 63. and a taſte anſwerable to this ſight, Heb. 6.4, 5. (which are the higheſt works of the Spirit in a temporary beleever, not evill in themſelves, nor to be lightly eſteemed; ſo men neither reſt in them, nor fall from them) as the one is but a form, ſo is the other alſo, as being onelyonly from a ſuppoſed ſweetneſſe, and doth produce onelyonly a falſe joy, proceeding onelyonly from the Spirit …varing nature,So…o… …mnes qui… …et ca…juci…. Sic ſap…tia mu…as quas …, non conti… etr… acce…it. Bern. in Cant. ſer. 23 Odi …oros meo… & ſ… è o…io cos interire, quod me…uo ne more…tur lectores … …bducan… è …ctione ipſ…s ſcripturae quae ſola ſapientiae fons eſt, ac terreor ex…plo ſ…crio…is aetat…. &c. Luth. i… Gen. 19. and not renewing it; the Spirit working upon a man, and not dwelling in him: And ena…ing a man to taſte the goodneſſe that comes by ſpirituall things, and not the good that is in them.
The Author of this Treatiſe hath taken very good and profitable paines in opening theſe myſteries and ſecrets of God, which I doe commend unto thee; with this Caution, which I deſire may be taken in the Reading of all the writings of men, that they doe not take thee off from the holy Scriptures of God. And that the Lord may have glory, and the Church edification by all the Labours of his ſervants, is the hearty prayer of him who ſubſcribes himſelfe,
Thy ſervant in the Goſpel, WILL: STRONG.