THis Chapter containeth a part of the last and dying words of our dear Saviour. Knowing that his hour was come, wherein he must leave the World, and go unto the Father; He acquainted His Disciples with it (as in the foregoing Chapter) and observing that their hearts were full of Sorrow at the thoughts of his departure from them, and what should become of them when He was gone: He applies himself by many heavenly Instructions and Consolations, to support, [Page 2] encourage or comfort their hearts, as ver. 1. Let not your Hearts be troubled: And therefore in the first place, He doth direct them to the right way of removing the troubles of their hearts, i. e. Faith in God, and in Himself as Mediator; Ye believe in God, be­lieve also in Me, ver. 1. He would have them believe in himself as their alsufficient Lord and Saviour: and in all time to come to exercise their Faith in those gracious pro­mises, which he was now about to make to them; assuring them that He would make them good, and that they should be a suffici­ent Antidote, and Soverain Cordial to pre­serve their hearts from the malignities, ve­nome and poyson of all the troubles of the World.

As 1. He tells them, He was going to Heaven, to prepare a place for them, and that he would come again and receive them to himself, to be with him where He was, as ver. 2.

2. He assures them, [...] himself would be to them, the way, the truth, and the life, ver. 6.

3. That [...] take order for that, That all their prayers should be answered, ver. 13, 14.

[Page 3] 4. That His Father and himself would ma­nifest their love to them, ver. 11.

And 5. That He would send the Spirit as a Comforter to abide with them for ever, ver. 16, 17. and ver. 26.

Now after all these, here in the Text is another gracious Promise, comprehensive of all the former, and of all the good their Souls can desire, Peace, I leave with you, my Peace I give unto you, &c. and it is a conclu­ding promise; for although after this He continues His Discourse; yet He proceeds in another way: but here, after He had pro­mised to give them His Peace; He repeats and redoubles his first Exhortation; Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid: and so concludes the first part of His Speech.

I shall make way for the Doctrine by opening the words, and shewing you the meaning of our Saviour in this Text.

Peace I leave with you] By Peace in ge­neral, we are to understand Prosperity and Happiness, consisting in the absence of all Evil and presence of all good. It was the custome amongst the Jews, at their coming [Page 4] to, and parting from their Friends, to wish them Peace, saving, Peace be to you, or Peace be with you, Judges 19. 20. 1 Sam. 25. 6. and so the Apostles in their Epistles to the Chur­ches in their Salutations, they begin with Peace, and in their valedictions they end with Peace And thus our Saviour Christ being now to take his Farewel, He alludes unto that custome, not only wishing but lea­ving Peace to His Disciples: therefore he adds, My Peace I give unto you] wherein our Saviour speaks in the language of a dying person, making his last Will and Testament; by which he doth actually give and bequeath his Peace as his Legacy to his Disciples; a rich Legacy indeed! containing their free­dome from all real evil, & the presence of all true good; and from thence a quietness and rest unto their Spirits, in the midst of all the troubles of the World, Not as the World gives] shewing that the peace which he give to them was of another kind than the Peace of the World; As Christ's Kingdom is not of this World, so his Peace is not of this World, but quite of another kind. For

1. Worldly Peace is but an outward Peace, reaching only to the outward man; But [Page 5] Christs Peace is an inwaad and spiritual Peace, reaching to the Soul or inward man, removing and preventing the troubles of the heart.

2. Worldly Peace is an effect of the Ab­sence of worldly Evils, and presence of worldly good things, but Christ being the Lord from Heaven, He gives unto His an Heavenly Peace, consisting in their free­dome from spiritual evils, and the enjoy­ment of spiritual and Heavenly Blessings, as Eph. 1. 3. He hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings, in heavenly places and things in Christ Jesus.

3. Worldly Peace is a changeable thing: the good things of the World give it, and the evil things of the World take it away again; but the Peace which Christ gives is a durable and solid Peace, such as the world can neither give nor take away, John 16. 22. Your heart shall rejoyce, and your joy no man ta­keth from you: Also in Isai. 9. 7. Of His peace there shall be no end. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid: which words are an inference from the former; as if he had said, when you enjoy my Peace in your hearts, as you need not, so you should not, nay you will not be troubled at any present [Page 6] evils, nor afraid of any future evils you shall meet with in the World; For as my Grace so my Peace shall be sufficient for you until you come to Heaven.

The Words thus opened, the Doctrine is plainly this;

DOCTRINE,

The Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ is given by Him as His Legacy to his Disci­ples in the midst of a trou­blesome World.

For so in the Text, He doth not say, He will give them peace in another World, but even in this World, wherein they were to meet with much tribulation: they might be afflicted with troubles for the present, and a­fraid of more and worse for the future; but in the midst of all our Saviour Christ gives them an inward spiritual and heavenly Peace to be enjoyed by all Penitent, Obedient [Page 7] Believers, such as his Disciples were.

For Explication I shall only answer two Questions:

Quest. 1. What this Peace is which Christ gives unto his? What kind of Peace?

Answ. It is a Divine Peace, really distinct from all other sorts of Humane Peace; and quite of another kind then Worldly Peace: It is the same which in other Scriptures is called, The Peace of God, Col. 3. 15. Let the Peace of God rule in your hearts, Phil. 4. 7. The Peace of God shall keep your minds and hearts in Christ Jesus. Mark it, the Peace of God; it is a Divine Peace consisting in such a tranquility of the mind, and rest of the heart, as arises from the sense of a Re­conciled Estate, wherein we stand before God, under the influence of his Favour to­wards us in Christ Jesus. This is that grace wherein we stand, Rom. 5. 2. which is the Fountain of this Heavenly Peace and Safety we are speaking of. Hence it is that Grace and Peace from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, are so often joyned together in those Apostolical Salutations and Benedictions to the Churches of Christ: [Page 8] That is the true Divine Peace, which flows from, and is accompanied with the Grace of God in Christ Jesus; and this appears from a three-fold Scripture Expression con­cerning this Divine Peace.

1. It is Peace with God, Rom. 5. 1. Being justified by Faith▪ we have peace with God; the greatest trouble of the Soul is from Sin, and the wrath of God, that God hath a Controversy with a man for Sins unpardon­ed, and unrepented of; while it is thus, the Soul hath no peace; but when the Sin­ner is brought to Repentance, and Faith in Christ Jesus: now being justified by Faith, we have Peace with God. Because the Lord Je­sus was made Sin for us, and suffered the wrath of God as a Sacrifice for our Sins, and hath brought in a Righteousness to the Satisfaction of God, and hath procured his Mercy, Grace and Favour in behalf of all that believe in him. Hence Gods Contro­versy is ended with the penitent believer, that is no wrath from God, no condemnati­on to such as are in Christ, Eph. 1. 6. He hath made us accepted in his Beloved Son, not in our selves, but in him; and verse 7. In him we have Redemption through his Blood, even the forgiveness of Sins, according to the Riches [Page 9] of his Grace, and so God being Reconciled and at Peace with us, we come to have peace with God.

2. It is Peace from God. So in the begin­ning of all the Epistles you have read of Grace and Peace from God the Father; this is that created peace whereby God being Re­conciled to us in Christ, he sets in the sence and feeling of peace with him in the Con­science of a penitent believer, Isa. 57. 19. I create the fruit of [...], peace, peace, to him that is near, and to him that is afar off. This Peace from God is the blessed effect of peace with God, it is expressed in Rom. 5. 2. This is the Grace wherein we stand. For now we stand before the Throne of Grace, pardon­ed and accepted, and in a state of grace and favour with God, having the sense and comfort of Peace with God in our own Souls and Consciences, and that we rejoice in hope of the glory of God, and rejoice in tri­bulation, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given to us: And this is the second expression of this Divine Peace, namely, Peace from God.

3. It is also peace in God, as John 16. last. In me you shall have peace: In me as opposed to the world in which you shall have tribu­lation. [Page 10] This is a higher degree of peace, than meer peace of Conscience; it is peace and quietness of the Heart, Will and Affe­ctions, resting in God through Christ, as its last end and chief good, according to that in 1 Pet. 1. 21. Who by Christ do believe in God, that your Faith and Hope may be in God: when the weary Soul comes away from Sin, or Self and World, and comes un­to Christ, and by Christ comes unto God as the utmost end of all the souls motions, here it finds rest and Peace. Return unto thy Rest, O my Soul, Psal. 116. 7. God is the resting place of the soul of man, when the soul is returned and reconciled to God by Christ, now the Conscience is pacified, the heart quieted, the Will Satisfied, the Affec­tions well pleased, and the whole soul at rest in God; Thus you see that the peace of God, is peace with God, peace from God, and peace in God; this is that Divine peace which Christ gives as his Legacy to all that are His.

Quest. 2. But why is it called Christs Peace? My Peace I give unto you: There is an Emphasis in that pronoun My Peace, why is it called so?

[Page 11] Answ. There is a threefold reason of it.

Reas. 1. Because Christ is the purchaser and procurer of this Peace, therefore it is said, He is our Peace, Eph. 2. 14. i. e. He is the great Peace maker, between God and us; for this end he undertook that Office of a Mediator 1 Tim. 25. There being a controversy, a distance and enmity between God and man, and no possibility on our part to pacify the Anger of God; Christ interposed himself as our Mediator, and the Work of his Office is to Reconcile and make peace between God and us; by his Priestly Office, He re­conciles God to us, and by his Prophetical and Kingly Offices, he reconciles us to God, and so he was, and is for ever the Maker of our Peace.

1. By his Priestly Office he reconciles God to us, and because there are two things in God relating to us, Justice and Mercy, Christ applyed himself to both. By the Sacrifice of himself, he gave satisfaction for the Justice of God for our sins, Coles. 1. 20. He made our Peace by the Blood of his Cross; and by his Intercession he prevails with the grace, mercy and favour of God towards us; [Page 12] so that now the Name of God is proclaimed the Lord gracious and merciful to all penitent believers, Exod. 34. 6.

2. By his Prophetical Office, he teacheth us inwardly and truly the right way of Recon­ciliation and peace with God, i. e. by Repen­tance towards God, and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, Acts 20. 21. and then by his Kingly Office, makes us his subjects, and subdues our Hearts unto Gods tearms and conditions of Peace, Psal 110. 3 Thy peo­ple shall be willing in the day of thy power; by his Kingly Power, he makes us willing and able to repent, believe and obey according to his Gospel, and so to enjoy this heavenly peace between God and us.

Reas. 2. Because Christ is the Possessor and Keeper of this Peace. The Man Christ Jesus, in the state of Humiliation, though for our sake he was a man of Sorrows, acquainted with Griefs, yet in himself he was a man of peace, he enjoyed this Divine Peace in a most eminent manner, for he always did the things that were pleasing to God, and God was ever well plea­sed with him, Math. 3. last▪ but much more in the state of Exaltation now in Heaven, he was, and is for ever made full of joy by the light [Page 13] of Gods Countenance, Acts 2. 28. and as he is the Prince of Life, Acts 8. 15. so also the Prince of Peace, Isa. 9. 6. and the King of Peace, Heb. 7. 2. So that as a King of Peace doth firstly enjoy that peace which he gives to his Subjects, so in a transcendent way this peace with God, peace from God, and peace in God, is firstly and fully possessed and enjoyed by our Lord Jesus Christ in the highest Heavens.

Reas. 3. Because he is the disposer and gi­ver of it, as in that Text, My Peace I give unto you, if any ask how come penitent Be­lievers to enjoy this inward Spiritual and Hea­venly Peace? the answer is, it is from the gift of Christ; this divine peace is the Royal Gift of Jesus Christ as the King of Peace to all his Subjects.

1. For first, he gives them a right and ti­tle to it in his Gospel of peace.

2. He gives them the possession and use of it. He gives it in to the hearts and con­sciences of his people by his Spirit the Com­forter, that we shall enjoy it in our selves, Gal. 5. 22. Peace and Joy are fruits of the Spirit.

[Page 14] 3. And thirdly, he gives it in that man­ner and measure, as it pleaseth him, as to e­very one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ, Eph. 4. 7. so to every one of us is given peace according to the measures of the gift of Christ.

Let us now gather up the summe of the Reasons.

If our Lord Jesus Christ was the purcha­ser, is the possessor and Disposer of this di­vine peace then it may well be called His Peace. He procures it, he keeps it, and he gives it, and therefore He might well say, My Peace I give unto you.

This may suffice for the Explication of the Doctrine.

Now for the Application of it to our­selves in several Uses.

USE 1. Of Reproof and Terror to all those that seek their peace out of Christ. [Page 15] All men desire peace, most men have some kind of peace; but if your peace be not the peace of Jesus Christ which he gives to those that are His▪ it is then a false peace, you are deceived, and will be destroyed by it, for it will end in everlasting trouble: There are four sorts to be reproved.

1. Those that bless themselves with Peace in sinful wayes, here as in Deut. 29. 19. He that blesses himself in his heart▪ saying, I shall have Peace, though I walk in the imaginations of my heart, adding drun­kenness to thirst; the Lord will not spare that man, but the Anger of the Lord will smoke a­gainst him until he be destroyed.

Let all men hear, and fear, and tremble at this Word of God: That if any man live in a way of known sins, that thy Consci­ence tells thee, thou dost walk in the imagina­tions of thine own heart, satisfying the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eye, or the pride of Life, that thou art guilty of the sins of Drunken­ness, and idle Company-keeping; or the sins of Whoredome, or Thieving, or Lying or unjust Dealing, or any such like sins; and [Page 16] yet dost thou bless thy self, and say, thou shalt have peace in such evil wayes? Know it for thy terror, thy peace is a false peace: It is not Christs peace; for Christ never gives peace to them that are at war with God; nay, it is so far from being Christs Peace, that it is the Devils peace, who keeps wicked men in a false deluded peace, till they be destroyed by it, Luke 11. 21. for it is certain, the great God of Heaven and Earth hath proclaimed War and de­struction against all impenitent Sinners, Isa: 57. 21. There is no peace sayes God to the wicked. If thou art either secretly or openly wicked, walking in wayes of known wickedness, there is no peace from God to thee, nothing but the wrath of God and destruction at thy latter end. Though such may seem to them­selves and others to have a calm time and freedom from trouble, yet the Word of God tells us▪ verse 20th. The wicked are like a troubled Sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast out mire and dirt; The Sea [...] its calm times till the wind rises, and then it is troubled; so wicked persons may be at quiet till their guilty Consciences are awakened, and the storm of Gods wrath fall upon them, and then their peace is at [Page 17] an end, For Indignation and Wrath, Tribula­tion and Anguish, is denounced from God a­gainst al Evil-doers, both here, and for-ever in another World, Rom. 2. 9.

2. It also reproves all such as content themselves with a worldly peace; not min­ding nor caring to make their peace with God, and provide for the salvation of their Souls: But if they prosper in the world, they satisfy themselves with that as the rich man, Luke 12. who blessed himself in a peaceable enjoyment of a confluence of earthly blessings without any thing of grace or peace from God, verse 19. He said to him­self, Soul take thine ease, eat and drink, and be merry, thou hast much goods laid up for ma­ny years; but mark what follows, verse 20. but God said unto him, Thou fool, this night shall thy Soul be required of thee, i. e. when thou diest the Devil shall seize upon thy Soul, and where shall those things be that thou hast provided, they will all depart, and thy worldly peace and prosperity will be en­ded, but thy troubles and misery will conti­nue for ever; world without end. So shall it be with every one that contents himself with worldly peace, not minding to make his peace with God. Such are men of this [Page 18] world, who have their portion in this life, but no portion in God, no peace with God, no part in Christ here, nor Salvation by him hereafter in another World.

3. Here is also a scourge of Rebuke unto all such as place their peace in their carnal security; when the carnal rest of the Soul in its natural condition was never broken, but a man continues blinded and hardened in the state of sin and death wherein he was born: Such neither see, nor feel, nor fear the danger their Souls are in. Hence they settle themselves in the security of their Sin­ful Estate, not apprehending any need of a Change, nothing troubles them, nor they will not trouble themselves, nor seek to be any other, or better than they are. Now this is so far from being Christs peace, that it is apparently the Devils peace, as Luke 11. 21. Satan as a strong man armed, keeps house in the Souls of such, and keeps them in a brui­tish and blockish peace and quietness; but mark what is said in 1 Thes. 5. 3. when se­cure sinners shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction shall come upon them, and they shall not escape.

[Page 19] 4. It reproves those that seek their peace in some conceited Righteousness of their own, as those in Rom. 10. 3. that went about to establish their own Righteousness; that so they might have peace. When the guilty Con­science of a Sinner is awakened to appre­hend the danger he is in by reason of his sins, and the wrath of God against him for them; and a man finds by experience that worldly things will not pacifie the consci­ence; now its the next and natural way of a mans heart, to humble himself, confess his sins, resolve against them and pray, and re­form his life as well as he can; and then to reflect upon his good duties, and make up a Righteousness of them wherewith to quiet his Conscience, and settle his peace; and this without any interest in Christ or his Righteousness, wherefore this self-righteous­ness being a false Righteousness, the Peace that is grounded on it, must needs be a False Peace which will end in Eternal Trouble.

USE II. For admonition to warn all men to beware of Seducers, and of such opinions as mislead people from the right way of obtaining the peace of Christ, and have a tendency to settle the Souls of men in a false peace; the [Page 20] Prophet Jeremy lamented this that there were such in his time, Jer. 6. 14. They have heal­ed the hurt of my people slightly saying, Peace, Peace, when there is no peace; and the Lord himself complained of this, Ezek. 13. 10. They have seduced my people, saying, peace, when there was no peace, and they builded a wall, and daubed it with untempe­red Mortar. As it was then, so in after-times, so in the days of Christ and his Apostles, they gave warning against Seducers and false Do­ctrines: So in this our Age, there have been many Seducers, and many that have been sedu­ced into a false peace which is dreadfully dan­gerous to the Souls of men: I shall mention three or four instances, and give warning against them. I intend not a set confutation, but onely a brief warning, according to that, Ezek. 33. 10. I have made thee a watchman, and thou shalt warn them from me.

1. Some pretend unto immediate Revela­tions from Heaven as the ground of their peace, they were greatly troubled in their minds, and they heard a voice, or it was im­mediately revealed to them, that their sins were pardoned, &c. and this they say was the witness of the Spirit, by which they have [Page 21] received much comfort, and now their souls are settled in Peace.

But the Lord hath said that his Word and Spirit shall always go together, Isaiah 59 last. v. therefore such a Revelation is not of the Spirit of God, but a delusion of the Devil, who transforms himself into an Angel of light; by Revelations and Voices, misleading peo­ple from the Word of God, and Gospel of peace. And therefore all men are to be warned that they keep close to the Word, and try all Revelations by the Word, it is not the Witness of the Spirit, if it be not in, by or according to the Word, therefore believe not every Spirit, but try the Spirits, whether they be of God, 1 John 4. 1.

2. Others affirm, that though the Spirit witnesses according to the Word, yet it wit­nesseth pardon and peace without respect un to any condition or qualification wrought in us.

This also is as false as the former; for the Word never witnesseth Pardon and Peace to any but such as are qualified with the graces of Faith and Repentance wrought in them; therefore the Spirit of Christ by the Word witnesseth so too; as our Saviour [Page 22] Christ in his dealing with that penitent woman, Luke 7. who beleived in Christ, and he loved her much, He said unto her, thy Sins are forgiven, thy Faith hath saved thee, go in peace, verse 47, 48, 50. Here our Sa­viour speaks pardon and peace to her Soul, with a respect unto those gracious qualifica­tions of Faith, Repentance, and love which he had wrought in her heart; even so all Christians if they would not be deceived, must find the witness of the Word and Spi­rit together, clearing up the peace and com­fort unto their Souls with a respect unto the same.

3. A third sort have affirmed that Chri­stians need not trouble themselves about the graces of Faith and Repentance to be in themselves, because (they say) Christ hath done all for us, Christ hath Repented for us, and believed for us, and therefore we need do no more but only to be perswaded and assured, that our sins are pardoned, and that we are in a good estate of Peace and Safety.

Now this is as false and as dangerous as either of the former. For though its true, Christ hath performed all that legal obedi­ence [Page 23] (both active and passive) which the Law required of us, by which obedience of Christ we are made righteous, Rom. 5. 19. Christs legal Obedience for us is the material and meritorious cause of our justification: but for Believing and Repenting these are Evangelical Duties required of us in the Go­spel of peace, as conditions of our interest in Christ, and his Righteousness: and there­fore they must be performed by us. 'Tis true Christ by his spirit works Faith and Repen­tance in us; but then its as true, that we our selves must exercise these Graces. Repen­tance is the gift of God, but the Act of man, and so is Faith, Eph. 2. 8. Faith is the gift of God: and Acts 5. 31. Christ gives Repentance as well as remission of sins; thus in respect of the Graces of Faith and Repentance wrought in our hearts. But then the actual exercise of these Graces, that must be per­formed by us, Act. 26. 31. Believe thou in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved, Act. 3. 19. Repent ye of your sins that they may be blotted out. It is man a sinner that must repent of his sins, and believe on Christ as his Saviour. To say that Christ repented and believed is a kind of Blasphemy; it is as much as to say that Christ was a sinner in himself, and that he needed to go out of himself to another [Page 24] to be saved from his sins; in a word, He that Repents and Believes in Christ shall be pardoned and saved; this is the right way of peace according to the Gospel of Peace. But for any man to depend upon Christs be­lieving and repenting for him, and not to repent and believe himself, is contrary to the Gospel: it is one of the Devils wayes of false peace, whosoever goes therein shall ne­ver know peace.

4. The last false Opinion which I shall instance in, is, that of the way of Quakerism, in hearkening to the Light within as suffici­ent to guid men to Peace and Salvation. This is the Sink or Sodom of all the other Errors of the times: and sad experience hath proved it, that very many of those that have held the former false Opinions have by degrees fallen into this: having forsaken the Word and Spirit of Truth, and being hur­ried by the Spirit of Error, and following the Fools fire of the Light within, they have been led into this way of darkness, wherein if a man walks he shall never know peace; for as our Saviour sayes, Mat. 6. 23. If the light in thee be darkness, how great is that, darkness? 'tis true there is a light in every man: The light of Nature, of Reason, of the relicks of [Page 25] the Law, and of natural Conscience, Rom. 2. 14, 15. Jude ver. 10. Notwithstanding this Light, all men are naturally in a state of spiritual darkness, Eph. 5. 8. 1 Pet. 2. 9. But if men be so deluded by Satan, as to set the Light within them in the room of the Light of the Gospel, and to set it up instead of Christ the true Light of life, then it becomes a great and a dreadful darkness, and how great is that darkness! it leads men to the darkness of Heathenism, and therefore who­ever walks therein shall never see the light of life, nor the way of true peace.

Thus I have briefly given warning against these erroneous wayes which are contrary to the Gospel of peace. It may be remembred that when these Churches were infested with such like erronious Opinions which were condemned by the Word of God in the first Synod at Cambridge in the year 1637. It was then agreed on by all the Orthodox as a great Principle of Truth in opposition to the former Errors: That

1. The Being of Faith and Repentance in us, is necessary to our Being in a state of Reconciliation and Peace with God. And that,

[Page 26] 2. The seeing of Faith and Repentance in our selves is necessary, that we may see and know that we are in such a state: that so our peace and comfort may be of the right kind, according to the Gospel of peace. The Lord grant that this divine Truth may con­tinue and prevail for ever in New England, even unto all Generations to come: And so I pass from this, and come to the main Use of this Doctrine which is;

Use 4. Of Exhortation and Direction, to a four fold Duty.

1. To make our Peace with God by Je­sus Christ.

2. To settle our Peace, and see that it be well grounded.

3. To receive this Peace as the Legacy of our Saviour Christ.

4. And lastly, To improve it as a So­verain Cordial, and sufficient remedy, a­gainst all the troublesome and formidable things of this World.

In the handling of which four particulars I shall endeavour (by the help of Christ) [Page 27] to discharge something of that Duty, which is one main end of the Ministry of the Go­spel of peace, viz. by Scripture light to guid your feet into the way of peace, as it is expressed in Luk. 1. 77, 78, 79.

To begin with the first of these:

Exhortation:

If the Peace of Jesus Christ be that Le­gacy which Christ hath given to his Disci­ples: Then the first Exhortation is,

1. To call upon all men to make their peace with God by Jesus Christ: for though its true that this Divine peace is actually given by our Saviour unto penitent Believers, and to them only; yet its as true, it is graciously offered unto all men to whom the Gospel comes. Therefore when our Saviour sent his Disciples to Preach the Gospel, he said unto them, Luk. 10. 5, 6. Whatsoever house ye enter, say Peace be to this house, and if the Son of peace be there it shall rest upon it. If not it shall turn to you again; they were to offer the peace of Christ unto all men to whom they came; as the Lord spake even to those Re­bellious sinners, Isa. 27. 4. If they will make peace with me, they shall make peace with me, ver. 5. It was the Message which the An­gels [Page 28] brought from Heaven to men upon earth at the time of the Birth of Christ, Luke 2. 10, 11. Behold we bring you glad ti­dings of great joy unto all people, that unto you is born a Saviour, Christ the Lord: upon this ground, a multitude of the Heavenly Host did glorify God, saying, Glory be to God in the Highest, on earth peace, and good will to­wards men, verse 14. Here then is glad ti­dings to all people, declaring the good will of God unto men, and offering peace with God by Jesus Christ, unto all people upon Earth, even to whomsoever the Gospel comes. And it is the very reason why the Gospel is called the Gospel of Peace, Rom. 10. 15. and Eph. 6. 15. because it not only reveals Christ the great Peace maker be­tween God and us; and makes known the conditions upon which any sinful man may enjoy this peace; but it makes a real offer of Christ and his Peace unto all and every man that is within the sound of the Gospel; that, whosoever will Repent, Believe and o­bey the Gospel, they shall have peace with God, peace from God, and peace in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hearken to this all you that are yet in your natural, and therefore in a damna­ble [Page 29] condition, that live in your sins, and un­der the wrath of God, and in a state of en­mity against God, and therefore the great God is an enemy to you, Christ is none of yours. It is certain, that in this condition you are far from peace, and if you live and dye so, you will be damned eternally, and perish everlastingly from the presence of the Lord. Yet from the Gospel of Peace, here is an offer of peace from God through Christ unto you that are such, and in so sad a con­dition: that if now in the day of Grace you will return unto God, and seek reconciliati­on with him by Christ, and accept of his conditions of peace propounded in the Go­spel; God will then be reconciled to you, and Jesus Christ will give you his Peace, and you shall be amongst the number of the re­conciled, pardoned and saved ones of our Lord Jesus Christ. Mark and consider well the sure Foundation of this offer of peace which is now made unto you, 2 Cor. 5. 18, 19, 20, 21. That God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself, and hath committed un­to us the Word of Reconciliation, &c.

What remains then but that All you, whose Consciences tell you, that you are as yet Strangers from God, and from peace with [Page 30] him, you are to be exhorted in the Name of the Lord, and in the words of the Holy Ghost, Job 22. 21. Acquaint now thy self was God, and be at peace with him. Do not bless your self with Peace in any sinful way; nor content your self with worldly Peace, nor suffer your self to he deluded with any false peace; for this will be your destruction: but apply your selves with all speed and diligence making it the great business of your life to make your peace with God by Jesus Christ, according to the conditions of the Gospel of Peace.

Quest. If you ask what are the conditions of Peace propounded in the Gospel?

Answ. They are plainly declared by our Saviour Christ himself, when he called upon all men to Repent and believe, Mark 1. 15. Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. And in a multitude of other Scriptures.

Quest. If you ask again, what is required of us with respect unto these Conditions▪ of Peace?

Answ: Your willing acceptance of these conditions; with a suitable practise: thus in Psal. 110. 3. Thy people shall be willing in [Page 31] the day of thy power, Isa. 1. 19. If ye be wil­ling and obedient, Rev. 22. 17. whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely, Phil. 2. 13. It is God that worketh in you, to will and to do of his good pleasure.

For this end, let me propound unto you, two or three motives to perswade you to be really willing to be Reconciled unto God by Christ upon these tearms, and then a few means to direct you in the practice of Re­pentance towards God, and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, that in this way of the Gospel you may obtain Peace with God. And in the first place,

1. Consider I beseech you whoever you be, that God is really willing to be reconci­led unto you. I might here bring in the Commands, the Promises, the threatnings and the perswasions of the Gospel, as con­vincing Arguments of the Lords willing­ness on his part. I shall only mention two things here.

1. That Christ Jesus came from God on purpose to declare his willingness by preach­ing peace to the children of men, as Acts 10. 36. The Word which God sent to the chil­dren [Page 32] of Israel, preaching Peace by Je­sus Christ: as Eph. 2. 17. He came and Preached Peace to you that were far off, and to them that were nigh: And how did he Preach it? You may see it in Mark 1. 14, 15. He began and went on to Preach the Gospel saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, Repent ye and believe the Gospel, and John 6. 38, 39, 40. He tells the People there, I am come down from Heaven to do the good will of my Father, and this is my Fathers Will, that whosoever seeth and believeth on the Son of God shall not perish but have everlasting life. Mark the word, Whosoever, i. e. what ever thy sins have been, whatever thy case is, though thou shouldest be in as bad and sad a condition as any in the World ever was; yet it is the will of God, and thy duty to repent and be­lieve, and then it is his will also, that in this way of Believing, thou shalt not pe­rish but have everlasting Life.

Our Saviour Christ came into the World not only to make our Peace with God as our High Priest; but also as the great Prophet of his Church to Preach and make known this Peace from God unto all sorts of sinners, that He is willing to be reconciled upon the [Page 33] terms of the Gospel, and should not we be willing then?

2 When Christ had finished his work up­on Earth, He gave Commission to his Mi­nisters to Preach the Gospel of Peace unto the World in his room, and in his Name, and so to carry on the treaty of Peace be­tween God and sinners: Thus when He was ascending to Heaven, he said unto His Apo­stles, Go ye into all the World, and Preach the Gospel to every Creature; i e. to every man, to every reasonable and sinful creature, and in Luke 24. 47. He commanded that Repen­tance and Remission of Sins should be Preached in his Name. Upon this ground the Apo­stle says, 2 Cor. 5. 19. He hath committed the Ministry of Reconciliation unto us; there­fore in verse 20. he applies himself to it, saying, Now then we are Ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christs stead be ye Reconciled to God. As when a great King that could easi­ly destroy all Rebels and Traitors, yet being graciously enclined unto mercy, He sends Messengers to offer tearms of Peace, and to perswade them of his willingness to pardon them, He gives them Commission to pro­ceed so far as to tell them, that he doth [Page 34] stoop so low as to beseech them to be recon­ciled unto him. So it is in this case, we are all by nature Traitors and Rebels against the great God and King over all; He hath us at an infinite advantage, and could easily glorifie his Justice in our Eternal Destructi­on; but intending to magnify his Mercy to­wards all that will submit and return to him by Christ; He hath sent Jesus Christ as his great Embassador of Peace, and Christ hath employed under him, all the Ministers of the Gospel to carry on this treaty of Peace, and to give us the utmost assurance of the Lords real willingness to receive and pardon Sinners that come unto him by Christ: nay that he condescends so far as if he did be­seech vile Sinners that they would be Recon­ciled to Him. How should this Condescen­dency of the Great God melt and break our hearts, and not only make us willing but cause us to fall down in the dust adoring the Riches of his Mercy, and beseeching him to be Reconciled unto us: being restless till we have made our peace with God. In the next place,

2. Consider the great good you shall get by making your peace with God. For if you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the [Page 35] good of the land, Isai. 1. 19. the Land of Ca­naan being then a Type of Heaven, and of all the good thereof, as Heb. 11. 16. and therefore as in Job 22. 21. Acquaint now thy self with God, and be at peace, for thereby Good shall come unto you; if you say, what Good: O Brethren, I want words to express it, and thoughts to conceive it: O how great is that goodness! For all the good of the Promises of the Gospel shall be yours: You shall have a general pardon of all your Sins past, you shall have the Acceptation of your persons, and Audience of your pray­ers; and grace to help in the time of need: You shall have the Holy Ghost the Com­forter to abide with you for ever; Grace and Peace shall be always coming to you from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ; and the goodness and mercy of God shall follow you all the days of your life; and when you die, you shall dye in peace; and when you go into another world, you shall enter into peace, everlasting peace, rest and blessedness in the Heavens shall be your portion for ever. O how great is this goodness! Methinks it is enough to move the most Adamantine Heart, and make us all to be not only willing, but earnestly de­sirous [Page 36] of it, to be at Peace with God, that thereby all this good may come unto us.

3. In the last place consider, That if you will not be perswaded to be Reconciled to God, if you will not accept of Gods Tearms of Peace, this will be your everlasting ruine, both in the loss of all the forementioned good, and suffering all the contrary evils and miseries that will come upon you. For if you refuse and Rebel, you shall be destroyed for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Isa. 1. 20. Now that there is such a thing in the Spirits of many that live under the treaties of Peace between God and Men, that they will not submit to Gods terms of Peace, but will stand out, and go on in the Rebellion of their hearts and lives, this is evident in many Scriptures, as in Jer. 18. 11. When the Lord called upon them, saying, Return ye now e­very one from his evil way; the refu­sing answer of many desperate Sinners is expressed in v. 12. they said, there is no hope, but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the Imagination of his own evil heart; and in Jer. 44. 16. they speak it out as it were in plain English to the Prophets face, As for the Word of the Lord which thou hast spoken unto us we will [Page 37] not hearken unto thee, but we will certainly do whatsoever comes out of our own mouths; and the Son that was commanded to go and work in the Vineyard, said plainly, I will not go, Mat. 21. 20. and those that were cal­led to the Wedding, returned their answer, That they would not come, Mat. 22. 3. and our Saviour Christ charged this upon the generallity of the Jews, John 5 40. You will not come to me that you might have life. Hear and consider this with fear and trem­bling, least thou shouldst be amongst the number of those that say, they will walk on in their sins still, and will not accept of Gods tearms of Peace. For these multi­plyed will not break off the treaty of peace between God and such Resolved Rebels, the Lord commonly (after some time of waiting) leaves such to themselves, and de­livers them up to the dominion of Sin and Satan, and then they run riot in wayes of Sin to their own ruine, as in Rom. 1. 26 for this cause God gave them up unto vile affecti­ons; and in Psal. 81. 11. the Lord there complains, They would not hearken to his voice, and they would none of him: but mark what follows in the next verse, v. 12. So I gave them up to their own hearts lusts, to walk in their own Counsels, to have their Sins, and [Page 38] to have hell and damnaton with them at their latter end. And this was the reason why our blessed Saviour in the days of his flesh mourned and wept over such in the foresight of the unavoidable destruction co­ming upon them, Mat. 23. 37. O Jerusalem how often would I, but you would not: there­fore desolation is coming upon you, and Luke 19. 42. If thou hadst known even thou, at least in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace! O how happy hadst thou been; but now they are hid from thine eyes! and be­casue thou knewest not the time of thy vi­sitation, therefore thy destruction is coming fast upon thee. It is indeed from the abun­dant goodness of God, that He gives unto Sinners a day wherein they may know the things that belong to their peace, for the good of their Souls; and then they have a golden opportunity of making their peace with God. But if men know not, if they care not, and if they will not improve this time for that end; the issue is, the day of peace is done, the treaty of peace is ended, and the things of their peace are gone, and they are undone forever, if they had a thou­sand Souls.

Quest. If any say, God forbid that we should [Page 39] be unwilling to accept of Gods tearms of peace, we hope we are willing; but how may we be directed in the right way of making our Peace with God?

Answ. I answer in these following seven Directions.

If indeed you would be Reconciled to God, and make your Peace with him: Then in the first place,

Direct. 1. You must confess your Sins and Wrongs against God, as the cause of that controversy which God hath against you; the Lord looks for this before He will make peace with us, that we give glory to Him by an humble acknowledgment of our sins, justifying God, and taking the blame and shame of all our sins to our selves; this the Lord himself directs us too, in Jer. 3. 12, 13. Go and proclaim these words, saith the Lord, Return thou [...] Israel, and I will not cause my Anger to fall upon you, for I am merciful saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever; only acknowledge thine iniqui­ties that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and that ye have not obeyed my voice. Art thou afraid of the Anger of God, and [Page 40] that He will not be merciful to thee? mark what the Lord says, only acknowledge thy transgressions, and I will be merciful to thee; thou shouldest therefore take the Lord at his word, and apply thy self to a free and full confession of all thy sins against the Lord? What ever thy Conscience tells thee of, and troubles the for, thou shouldest ac­knowledge them with shame and sorrow, and self-loathing, and self judging, for if we judge our selves, we shall not be judged of the Lord, 1 Cor 11. 31. therefore what ever sins thou art afraid thou shalt he damned for, be sure you accuse and condemn your self for them before the Lord. And do this especi­ally with respect unto your special sins that have been most natural and habitual, where the power of Original Sin hath vented it self most, knowing the plague of thy own heart, and finding thy sins to be thy great­est evils, confessing as David did, Psal. 51. 4. Against thee, against thee, (a God so great, and yet withal so good) have I sinned, (and then tell him in what: and how thou hast sinned) have done these evils in thy sight; (and then say also as he did) that thou mayst be justified when thou judgest, &c. So we should justify God, and condemn our selves, [Page 41] confessing we deserve to be eternally con­demned for the least sin.

Direct. 2. Unto your Confessions, you must add supplications for the mercy of God in Christ, to forgive your Sins, and subdue your iniquities and heal your backslidings, that you may not return to folly any more. This was the counsel of the holy Ghost, Job. 8. 5. Thou shouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy Supplication to the Almighty; and it was Jobs resolution, Job. 9. 15. I will make my Supplication to my Judge; and thus the penitent Publican in the sense of the great evil and danger of his Sins, he cryed unto God for mercy, Luke 18. 13. and say­ing, O God be merciful to me a Sinner, and so it was with David, in Psal. 51. he begins in the first verse, saving. O God be merciful to me according to the multitude of thy Mercies, and then in the following verses, he begs for pardoning mercie, and healing mercie, and cleansing mercy, and comforting mer­cy, and saving mercy. Thus also Manasseh, 2 Chron. 33. 12. He humbled himself great­ly, and made Supplication to the God of his Fa­ther, and he was entreated of him, and Paul tells us of himself, 1 Tim. 1. 13. that tho' he had been a great Sinner, yet he obtained [Page 42] mercy, but first he did seek mercy before he did obtain it, as Acts 9. 11. Behold be pray­eth; when the Spirit of Grace and Prayer was poured upon him, it both filled his heart with praying matter, and opened his heart, and gave it vent, and then he pours out his Soul in importunate prayers for mercy, and was restless until he did obtain it. And so it must be with you and me, and with eve­ry one that desires to find mercy with God, we must seek it in humble Prayer and in earnest Supplication for his mercy in Christ, and that as earnestly as a condemned man would beg for a pardon, and a dying man for his life, pleading with God that for Christs sake, and for his Name sake, he would have mercy upon us, as Psal. 25. 11.

Direct. 3. You must humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and submit yourself to God, James 4. 7, 10. God will have his mercy to be honoured by those that seek it before they do obtain it. As it is with Trai­tors and Rebels, when they seek mercy from an Earthly King, they acknowledge his Ju­stice if he should destroy them, and submit themselves unto his free mercy. So in this case we must give unto God the glory of his Soveraignty, which is, his absolute po­wer, [Page 43] to shew or not to shew mercy according to his good pleasure, Rom. 9. 15. For as he said unto Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have Com­passion on whom I will have Compassion.

His mercy is altogether free, He may give it ordering it as He please, He hath power to dispose of us, and of his own mercy also, as the Lord said, Mat. 20. 15. May I not do what I will with mine own. Now this is that which every humbled sinner must and will submit unto, as in Isa. 64 8. thou O Lord art the Potter, we are the Clay, we are the work of thy hands, thou mayst do with us, and dispose of us as it pleaseth thee. And therefore the penitent Sinner that seeks mercy, must lie down at the feet of the good pleasure of God; giving to God the glory of his Justice if he should proceed against him according to Law, as Levit. 26. 41. (mark it) the hum­bled Sinner must accept of the punishment of his iniquity, even whatsoever the Lord sees cause to inflict, saying as the lamenting Church did, Lam. 3. 1, 18. The Lord is righ­teous, but we have rebelled against him. Nay, that we have deserved Hell it self, and if the Lord should have inflicted the damnation of [Page 44] Hell for the least Sin, he would be just in so doing, and we justly miserable; but then also we must give him the glory of his mer­cy, that though there is nothing but Sin and misery with us, yet there is forgiveness with him, as in Psal. 130. 3. nay, that unto the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him, Dan. 9. 9. and that his mercy is altogether free without respect to any good in us to deserve it, or any evil in us to hinder it; and therefore whatever thy case be, lye down at the foot of the Lords good pleasure, eying of his mer­cy, confessing thy self unworthy of it, yet crying and pleading for it, resolving (by the grace of Christ) never to give over, but if thou dost perish, thou wilt perish in this way of seeking of, and waiting for the Mercy of God in Christ.

Direct. 4. Above all the rest, you must accept of Jesus Christ as the great and only Peace maker between God and you, For though you must confess and forsake your Sins, and submit to God, and seek his mer­cy; yet its not in the power of these, its only in the infinite value and virtue of the blood of Christ to reconcile us to God. For He made our Peace by the blood of his Cross, [Page 45] Col. 1. 20. and we are reconciled to God by the death of his Son, Rom. 5. 10. and therefore you must get Faith, and use Faith in Jesus Christ, making use of him as your only Me­diator and Advocate to plead your cause with God. We must close with him in his Priestly Office, that by the Sacriffce of him­self, hath given Satisfaction to the Justice of God for our Sins, and by his Intercession hath procured the Mercy and Favour of God towards us; again we must close with him in his Prophetical and Kingly Offices, to teach our minds, and to encline our hearts to the [...] of the Gospel of Peace; and in special, we should accept of Christ as the Prince of Peace, Isai. 9. 6. was the King of Peace, Heb. 7. 2. and if we do indeed cor­dially receive Christ as the Soveraign Lord of our Souls and Consciences, then we must shew our selves his Loyal Subjects, by accep­ting of, and submitting to the Laws of his Kingdom, both his Fundamental Laws of Faith and Repentance; and his Statute Laws in the Ten Commandments as the Rules of the our hearts and lives, so that e­very thought in us be brought into the Obe­dience of Christ, 2 Cor. 10. 5. and it is ob­servable in Isai. 9. 6, 7. where Christ is called the Prince of Peace, in the same [Page 46] place his Government and his Peace, are joyned together: We cannot have his peace except we be sincerely subject to his Go­vernment; but then, in him and from him, as the King of Peace, we shall have the forgiveness of Sins, the Adoption of Sons, the renewing of Gods Image, the Audience of our Prayers, and in a word, all saving good from him contrary to damning Evils in our selves, and therefore then we shall have grace and peace continually coming to us from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, as in the beginning of all the Epistles.

Direct. 5. You must also remember to for­sake, turn from, and depart away from all the sins you have confessed, and do beg for the pardon of: For it is an everlasting truth, not he that confesseth only, but He that con­fesses and forsakes his sins shall find mercy, Prov. 28. 13. and whoever he be that names the name of Christ, so as to make use of him, and rely upon him for pardon and peace, let him depart away from iniquity or he shall have no benefit by Christ, 2 Tim. 2. 11. thus also Ezek. 18. 30. Repent and turn ye from all your transgressions, and so they shall not be your ruine. This aversion and turning from sin must be [Page 47] seated and rooted in your Will, that you may say of every sin you see, it is the evil that I would not, as Paul did, Rom. 7. 19. Again, this turning of your heart must be from sin as sin, as it is offensive or displeasing to God, as Joseph said, Gen. 39. 9. How can I do this great evil and sin against God! and as David said, Psal 51. 4. Against thee, against thee O Lord, have I done this evil in thy sight. And therefore it must be from all sin, one as well as another, so as not to live in the practise of any known sin, nor to allow a mans self in the least sinful infirmity whatsoever; as Rom 7. 15. What evil I find, I allow not, but hate the same, and then indeed we do turn from out sins aright, when we hate them and loath our selves for them.

Direct. 6. You must also remember, to be alwayes returning to God from whom you have departed by sin, as Jer. 4. 1. If you will return, return unto Me, saith the Lord. We must return unto God in opposition to all the creatures, and as the only resting place of our Souls; 'tis true the next immediate object we must return unto is Jesus Christ, 1 Pet. 2. 25. You were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto him the Shepherd and O­verseer of your Souls: but then by Christ we [Page 48] return unto God that made us for himself as the ultimate object and end that our Souls aspire after and rest in: That our Faith and Hope may be in God, 1 Pet. 1. 21. That the infinite, eternal God may be the infinite eter­nal good of our immortal Souls: and that we enjoy the favour of God in Christ, may love him above all, fear him more than all, serve him in sincerity and truth all our dayes. And therefore this turning to God must be a returning to him with the whole heart, Jer. 3. 10. Joel 2. 12. and to God himself as our chief good, to the will of God as the Rule, and to the glory of God as the end of our lives, that we may live unto God here, and live with God for ever in another world.

Direct. 7. Last of all, You must get into, and walk in the wayes of Peace: It is said in Isai. 59. 8. That all the wayes of sin are crooked wayes, whoever walk therein shall never know Peace; and though wicked men know it not, yet there is a way of Peace, and it is the way of true Godliness, and sincere keeping the Commandments of God; the wayes thereof are wayes of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace, Prov 3. 17. So that when by the Grace of God a Christian is resolved, and doth accordingly practise to [Page 49] walk in the way of sincere Obedience according to the Gospel of Peace▪ in this way you shall assuredly find and enjoy this divine Peace which Christ gives unto His▪ For great Peace have they that love the Law of God, and nothing shall offend them, Psal. 119. 165. and Gal. 6. 16. Peace be upon all them that walk according to this Rule, and upon all the Israel of God.

Thus you have heard the seven directions, that guid us into the right way of making our Peace with God by Christ, according to the Gospel of Peace, viz. by a sincere exer­cise of Faith and Repentance; for though these are distinct in respect of their Doctrine yet in practise they are ever together, work­ing in the hearts of sinners that seek to be reconciled to Christ, after the manner now shewed in these Directions: So I have done with the first Exhortation, and now proceed unto the second;

Exhortation 2.

The next Duty you are to be Exhorted to, is, to settle your Peace, and see that it be well­grounded.

[Page 50] This Exhortation is directed in a special manner to all such as have been under the Word and Spirit of God, and have applied themselves in the practice of the former Di­rections to make their peace with God, and yet find not this Divine Peace, which out Saviour Christ hath left as his Legacy unto those that are His: but instead thereof they are haunted with doubts and fears, about their Spiritual State, and sometimes filled with Soul troubles; and why? Because (they say) though they cannot deny but they have found many workings in their hearts like unto Faith and Repentance, yet they doubt whether they have these Graces in sincerity and truth, they are afraid they have but common Grace, and not the special Grace of Gods Elect; and they fear that (after all they have done) they are but Hipocrites, and not of the number of true penitent Be­lievers, to whom only our Saviour hath pro­mised to give his Peace; and this is very common in Experience, that the Lord is pleased to make use of these doubts and fears about Hypocrisie, as a means to fright and fire many of his People out of that Se­curity, Sensuality and Formality, which are so dangerous unto their Souls, and to make them restless until they get some evidence of [Page 51] the Truth and sincerity of their Faith and Repentance; and then they shall not fail to have the sense and comfort of this Divine peace then (and not before) they shall have Ex­perience of that of the Apostle, Phil. 4. 7. The peace of God shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Therefore all you that are yet in the Dark about your Spiritual Condition, and unset­tled in your Peace, you are to be Exhorted in the Name of the Lord, and in the Words of the Apostle, 2 Pet. 3. 14. Give diligence that you may be found of him in Peace; i e. In a State of Reconciliation and Peace with God, having a right Title to the Promise of our Saviour Christ: In the Text, wherein he hath promised to give His Peace to all penitent Believers, such as His Disciples were. But that you may enjoy this Peace, and find the sweetness of it in your own Soul, you must give all diligence by a continual Exercise of a Penitential Faith, both to remove the causes of your Soul trouble, and to get from Jesus Christ the next and immediate Causes of His divine Peace: then your fears and doubts will be overcome, and the peace of God will rule in your hearts (as the Apostle [Page 52] sayes, Col. 3. 10.) And then shall you find our Saviours Legacy made good to your Soul; that, although you should live in a time when all other peace is taken from the Earth, and you may meet with many tribula­tions in the World, yet you shall have peace with God; you shall enjoy this inward, spi­ritual and heavenly peace of Jesus Christ in your own Soul and Conscience, with assu­rance of it that you shall die in peace, and so enter into everlasting peace and blessed­ness in another World.

For some help unto this end, I shall en­deavour to shew you,

1. What are the Causes of Soul-trouble, and how to remove them.

2. What are the Causes of Soul-peace, and how to procure them.

For the first of these, there are three inward Causes of Soul-trouble.

1. The guilt of sin in the Conscience.

2. The power of corruption in the heart.

3. Guile of Spirit.

[Page 53] Let all Christians that want an inward settled Peace▪ search their own hearts, and they shall assuredly find these three particu­lars to be the causes of their trouble, and hindrances of their peace.

1. The first cause of Soul-trouble, is, the guilt of sin lying upon the Conscience, as Rom. 1. last. Knowing the Judgment of God that those that commit such sins are worthy of death. Hence, when a man remembers his former sins wherein there hath been a spe­cial vent of Original Sin, that hath left a sad mark and memorandum in the Conscience, and finding the daily stirrings of sinful di­stempers, and being enlightned to see that the least sinful thought deserves eternal death. Now if a man have not thorowly repented, and got the pardon of all his sins; Conscience will be unquiet and clamorous, and that must needs cause trouble in the soul. As we see in David's case, Psal. 25. 7. Lord re­member not the sins of my youth, nor my trans­gressions. A sign that he did remember them, and was troubled about them; and in Psal. 51. he bewails his Blood guiltiness, and other sins: and Job complains, that God did write bitter things against him, and made him to pos­sess the sins of his Youth, Job. 13. 26.

[Page 54] Quest. Now the Question is, How may the guilt of Sin be removed from the Con­science?

Ans. I answer, Nothing can pacifie an awakened Conscience, but the Application of the infinite value and virtue of the blood of Christ; whereby the Justice of God is satisfied, and his Anger pacified towards us. For the chastisement of our Peace by the blood of his Cross, Col. 1. 20. by which blood of Christ as the only Sacrifice for our sins, the wrath of God is removed from him, and our sins removed from us, in Gods account.

But it is the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus upon our Souls, that brings in a sensible peace in the Conscience of a sinner: This phrase [The sprinkling of the blood of Christ] which you may find in, 1 Pet. 1. 2. & Heb. 12. 24. it relates to those passages in the Old Testament, which were typical of that blood of Christ.

As 1. The Blood of the Passover Lamb, which by Gods appointment was sprinkled on the doors of the houses of the Israelites, that the wrath of God might pass over them, when the Egyptians were destroyed, Exod. 12. 13, 22, 23.

[Page 55] And 2. The Blood of the Sacrifice sprink­led on the Book of the Covenant, and up­on the People, Exod. 24. 8. & Heb. 9, 19, 20.

And 3. The Blood of the Sacrifice sprink­led on the Mercy Seat, making an Attone­ment for the sins of the Children of Israel, Levit. 16. 15, 16. By all which is meant the the Application of the value and virtue of Christs blood unto us, for the remission of our sins: For without shedding of blood is no remission, Heb. 9. 23. Therefore Christ as the Antitipe, and Truth, and Substance of all the former shadows; He appeared once to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and by his own blood he entred in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal Redemption for us, Heb. 9. 12. Now the Application of all this to us is done by Faith in the blood of Christ, as the Apostle sheweth, Rom 3. 25. God hath set forth Christ as a propitiation, that through Faith in his Blood, we may receive the Remission of our Sins; for whosoever believeth on him shall receive the forgiveness of sins, Acts 10. 43. And when we receive the forgiveness of our sins then as the Apostle tells us, Heb. 10. 22. Our hearts are sprinkled from an evil Conscience, i. e. from a Conscience witnessing the guilt of our sins to ly upon our Souls, which though [Page 56] they did before, yet now they do not, for now our very Consciences are purified from our dead works, Heb 9. 14. And so our Consciences come to be pacified, that the same blood of Christ that hath taken away the Wrath of God from him, hath also taken away our sins from us; and then the Conscience is quieted, and peace follows in the Conscience.

Quest. But how should we exercise Faith in the blood of Christ, that the guilt of sin may be removed from the Conscience.

Answ. I answer in three Directions.

1. You must lye down before the Throne of God, confessing your self to be a guilty Sinner, owning the fault and guilt of all your sins, as David, in Psal. 51. 3. I acknow­ledge my Transgressions, and my Sins are ever before me: so must you acknowledge your sins in particular, what they have been with the aggravations of them, as it follows in verse 4. against thee have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mayst be justi­fied, &c when we come to beg the mercy of God in Christ for the pardon of our sins, we must give him the glory of his Justice, confessing that we are guilty Sinners, that [Page 57] our destruction is of our selves, that we are unworthy of any mercy, and have deserved death and damnation for our sins, and if the Lord should inflict it, he would be Righ­teous in so doing.

2. You must confess your sins (not only in a penitent way, but) in a believing way; so as to bring all your sins to Christ Cruci­fied, laying them upon him, and leaving them with him, that the guilt of them may be taken away by him. For the Lord laid on him the iniquities of us all, Isa. 53. 6. and He did bear our Sins on his own body on the Tree, 1 Pet. 2. 24. and 2 Cor. 5. last. He was made Sin for us, i. e. a Sacrifice for Sin; the guilt of our sins was so far imputed to him, as that he offered up himself a Sacrifice to God for our sins, Eph. 5. 2. therefore when we desire the benefit of his death, that we may be Reconciled unto God thereby, and receive the Remission of our sins there from, we must lay and leave our sins upon Christ as Crucified for us, relying wholly upon the Meritorious value and vertue of his blood to take away the guilt of our Sins from us. This we are directed unto by the practice of Aaron, in Levit. 16. 21. He laid his hand upon the head of the Sacrifice, confessing over it the [Page 58] Sins, iniquities, and Transgressions of the chil­dren of Israel, putting them upon the head of the Sacrifice, &c. So must we when we come to seek mercy from God in the forgiveness of our Sins, we must confess our selves to be the guilty sinners, who should our selves suf­fer the punishment due to our sins, and so to be made a sacrifice to the fire of Gods wrath for ever: but because God hath ordained and accepted Jesus Christ to be the Lamb of God in our stead, and for our good; therefore we confess our sins, putting them upon him and leaving them with him, depending upon him, and trusting wholly unto him to take away our sins.

3. You must pray much, and beg earn­estly this mercy from God, that for Christs sake he would pardon your sins; for the Lord forgives our sins only for Christs sake, Eph. 4. last. and for his sake also it is that our per­sons and prayers are accepted of the Lord, Eph. 1. 16. Gods Justice being satisfied for our sins by the blood of Christ, He doth graciously grant unto us the forgiveness of our sins, whereby we are absolved from the guilt and punishment of them.

But we must obtain the sence and com­fort [Page 59] of this great mercy, by humble and earnest prayer, Isa. 26. 16. Lord in trouble they have visited thee, they have poured out a prayer when thy Chastisement is upon them; every tittle of the 102. Psalm is a prayer of the afflicted, when He is overwhelmed and pou­reth out his Complaint before the Lord. If thus in the case of outward afflictions, much more in the case of soul affliction and soul trou­ble about the guilt of sin. You must pour out your hearts before the Lord, in humble confessions, and importunate supplications, and earnest pleadings with God, as David, Psal. 25. 11. For thy name sake, pardon my sins, for they are great, and as Dan. 9. 17, 18, 19. For thy name sake, for thy mercy sake, and for the Lords sake forgive our sins, and cause thy face to shine upon us, and so in Psa. 51. 8. make me to hear the voice of joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice, and in Psal. 80. four times one after another that request is made, Cause thy face to shine upon us, and turn us unto thee and then we shall be saved; when these and the like Scripture Petitions for the manifestati­on of [...] mercy are got into the heart, and dwell in the heart, and frequent­ly arise out of the heart, and are poured out before the Lord in fervent prayer: the God [Page 60] hearing prayers hath engaged himself by ma­ny promises to Answer such Prayers, and to grant such requests. So that we may con­clude with confidence, the Lord will speak pardon and peace to his repenting, believ­ing and praying people, as it is in Psal. 65. 8. I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, and to his Saints, but let them not return to folly.

2. The second Cause of Soul-trouble, is the Power of Corruption; this is every whit as troublesome as the former; for where Sin Reigns, it Reigneth unto death, Rom. 5. 21. the power of any Corruption predo­minate in the Soul will bring a man to death and damnation at the last; and this power of Corruption in the soul is called the power of darkness, Colos. 1. 13. there is a soveraign captiving power of Corruption in the Soul, which all the Saints are delivered from, when they are translated into the Kingdom of the Son of God, as the Apostle there speaks: but its long before some of Gods people find themselves delivered from the power of dakness, and long before they find any sensible experience of subduing the power of those Corruptions that have had dominion over them. Hence they have [Page 61] fallen again and again into the same Sins, and that after they have confessed and be­wailed them, after they have prayed and re­solved against them, this must needs cause trouble in the Soul: For when a man finds that after all his prayers and endeavours a­gainst his Sins, yet they live and are migh­ty to this day; this makes them cry out with the Psalmist, O thou that hearest pray­ers, iniquities prevail against me, Psal. 65. 3. and with those in Jer. 14. 7. Our iniquities testifie against us, and our backslidings are ma­ny; and though a man be preserved from the out breakings of scandalous sins, yet if he finds the prevailing power of any Cor­ruption in the heart in evil thoughts, vain imaginations, and disorderly affections, with a secret averseness from God, and ready in­clinations to evil; I say, experience of such things will cause much trouble in the Soul, and raise doubts and fears, whether a man be right or not, it will make such cry out with Paul, O miserable man that I am, who shall deliver me, Rom. 7. 34.

Quest. How shall we be delivered from the power of Corruption.

Answ. Nothing can do this, but the Re­deeming [Page 62] power of Christ coming in upon the Soul, He it is made of God Redemption to unto us, 1 Cor. 1. 30. and 1 Cor. 5. 57. thanks be to God that gives us the victory over Sin and Death through our Lord Jesus Christ, and I beseech you mark that expression in the foregoing verse, that the Law is the strength of Sin, the meaning is, the Lord in Justice according to the Covenant of the Law bro­ken by Adams Sin, and by our Sins, hath inflicted this punishment upon Sinners, that because they will be sinful, therefore they shall be so, and be under the power and do­minion of their Sins, this is the forest of all Judgments, that because they will have their sins, they shall have them, and have hell with them, as Rom. 1. 26. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections. And Psal. 81. 11, 12. They would not hearken to my voice, they would none of Me (saith God) therefore I gave them up to their own hearts lusts, and they walked in their own Counsels. Here is the revenging Justice of God against Sin and Sinners; and hence men are deli­vered up to the power and authority of Sin and Satan, which take possession of, and have dominion over the Souls of men; for while a man is under the Law sin hath domi­nion over Him, Rom. 6. 14. and hence, the [Page 63] power of corruption becomes so strong, as that it is beyond all created power; yea, it is impossible to be delivered from it by men or means.

But now, Jesus Christ, the Lord Re­deemer, I say,

1. Christ as Redeemer of his People doth first redeem us by the price of his blood, as 1 Pet. 1. 19. We are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, by which he satisfied Divine Justice, and purchased the persons of his E­lect, that they should be His, as 1 Cor: 6. last. You are bought with a price.

2. And then in the second place, He re­deems us by the power of his Spirit, which is indeed above all the power of Sin and Satan that is in us, Tit. 2. 14. He redeems us from all iniquity, not only from the con­demning power, but also from the com­manding power of all the Corruptions that are in us: When the Soul receives Christ, he gives a man power to be one of the Sons of God, and therefore power against what­soever is contrary to their Sonship. Christ gave his Disciples power over unclean Spi­rits, and when he will send the power of his Spirit into the hearts of his people, then [Page 64] they find shall themselves delivered from the power of all their Corruptions, and not till then. For its He only that says to the Prisoners go forth, Isa. 42. 7. 49. 9. and where that Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, 2 Cor. 32. 17. the Soul is now freed from the bolts and fetters of its Corruptions, so that it is no longer under the power and dominion of them.

Quest. But the great question is, How shall we get the Redeeming power of Christ to come in upon our Souls.

Answ. I answer in three Directions.

1. You must ly down before the Lord, confessing your utter inability ever to get po­wer against your corruptions of your self; and if Christ do it not for you, you are un­done for ever. For we can never do it: ac­cording to what Christ himself said, Mat. 19. 26. when the young man there mentioned came to Christ, and yet he was under such a strong power of his Corruption, that he neither would nor could part with the world at his Command, nor trust to his Promise for treasure in Heaven; where­upon our Saviour said, With Man it is [Page 65] impossible, mark it, it is not only difficult, but impossible for a man by any power of his own to disengage his heart from the se­cret strong Corruptions he finds in himself. Now if you find it so by experience, ly down before the Lord Jesus, and tell him, you have found his words to be true, and tell him what your Corruptions are, and that all the means you have used cannot subdue them, that all your Confessions and Prayers, and Tears, and resolutions, and endeavours have been all in vain, and that we find it impos­sible; that except the Lord Jesus subdue our Corruptions for us, we shall perish for ever.

2. You must go to Christ, and receive him as Lord Redeemer, that he would be a strong Redeemer unto you, and that we may have the good of his Redemption in our selves, that by the powerful application of his Blood and Spirit, we may find our selves redeemed from all iniquity, and from a vain Conversation, &c. The Redeemer shall come, and he shall turn away ungodliness from you, Rom. 11. 26 and Acts 3. last. He shall bless you by turning every one of you from your iniquities. It is he that must do it by giving us his grace to enable us thereunto. Thou shouldest therefore come and lye down be­fore [Page 66] the Lord Jesus, and shew him thy sin­ful Distempers and Corruptions which are too hard for thee, and which thou canst not overcome, and as the Leper said, Mat 8. 2. Lord if thou wilt, thou canst cleanse me, so do thou say to him, Lord Jesus if thou wilt, thou canst easily turn my heart from and against my special sins; thou canst loo­sen my Will and Affections from them, and give me power against them; we should e­ver believe his Power; and enquire after his will, that he will do this great thing for us, that none can do but He, 1 John 3. 5. it is said, Christ came into the World, to take away our Sins, and verse 8. for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the Devil; thou shouldst shew unto Jesus Christ, what spoyl Satan hath made in thy Soul, and say to him still, O that thou wouldst destroy these works of the Devil in my Soul.

3. Follow the Lord Jesus with Requests and Petitions for the power of his Grace and Spirit to be Communicated unto us, that. He would indeed take away our sins, subdue our iniquities, and enable us to mortify our most secret Corruptions; there are many Scripture Petitions that are upon record for [Page 67] our direction in this case, as Hos. 14. 12. take with you words turn to the Lord, and say, take away our iniquities, and receive us graciously. So do thou say to him, Lord these and those are the iniquities that have prevailed over me, I cannot put them away, and they will not go away of themselves, do thou take them away from me, take away the guilt of them, that they may not condemn me, and the power of them, that they may not rule over me, and say again with the Psalmist, Psal. 19. 12, 13. Cleanse me from secret, and keep me from presumptuous Sins, let them not have dominion over me, then shall I be upright. And that also in Psal. 119. 133. Order my steps in thy way, and let no iniquity have domi­niou over me. As David said, Psal. 63. 8. My Soul follows hard after thee, so our Souls should (as poor Petitioners) follow hard after the Lord with importunate prayers to the God that hears Prayers, that He would grant our Petitions, which if he do, we may have great encouragement from Pauls Ex­ample, 2. Cor. 12. 1. to 10. When He was greatly distressed by a thorn in the flesh, and a Messenger of Satan to buffet him, i. e. (as good interpreters conceive) He was vex­ed with violent stirrings of Corruptions and Temptations, in which case he besought the [Page 68] Lord often, to be delivered from them; the Answer was from Christ, That his Grace should be sufficient for him, and his Power should rest upon him. Even so, if the Lord help the Soul to make such Requests unto God thro' Christ as Paul did, we shall have the same answer that he had, the Grace of Christ shall be sufficient for us, and his power shall rest upon us, and then by the Power and Grace of Christ we shall be enabled to get such power against all our Corruptions, that they shall not disturb the peace of our Souls.

3. The third and last cause of Soul trou­ble is Guile of Spirit. Of which David had woful experience, when after He was deli­vered from it, he said, Psal 32. 2. Blessed is the man whose Spirit there is no guile, David had greatly sinned, and brought guilt upon his Soul, and for some time he did lye un­der the power of his Corruption, but the worst was, he had a guilefulness of Spirit in him that hindred his Repentance, he was (for a while) not willing to acknowledge his Sin in the exceeding vileness of it, nor to renounce the same so thorowly as true Repentance did require, this prevailing guil­fulness of Spirit in him did break the peace [Page 69] of his Soul as he tells us, verse 3, 4. while he kept silence (from true repentance) the hand of God was heavy upon him day and night his bones were broken, his comfort was gone, and in Psal. 38. 3, 4, 6, 8. there was no sound­ness in him because of Gods Anger, nor any rest or peace, because of his Sin, he was troub­led and bowed down, and mourned all the day long, by reason of the disquietness of his heart, v. 8. And so it will be with any Soul un­der the prevailings of a guileful Spirit.

This guilfulness of Spirit may be known by such marks as these, when a man hath a slight esteem of some sins, looking upon them as small matters, or sins of infirmity, that he need not trouble himself much about them; when there is a secret hiding and excusing a mans sins, also when a man tol­lerates himself in the secret workings of a­ny Corruption in his heart, with sinful mu­sings and some delight therein, and though it may be he doth oppose them, yet it is but faintly. Also when there is a secret willingness in the Soul to have Corruption gratified and satisfied, rather than mortifi­ed and destroyed, and though a man [...] against his Sins, yet there is a secret unwil­lingness in the Soul that God should hear [Page 70] a mans prayers, and take away a mans Sins wholly and thorougly, so as utterly to de­stroy them. In all these (and such like) there is an evidence of guile of Spirit and Treachery of heart in our dealings with God; which cannot choose but break the peace of the Soul. For such a one regards iniquity in his heart, there (is at least) a truce with Sin, and then God is at war with the Soul, and it is certain, a pre­valling deceitfulness of the heart, spoyls a mans Repentance, Faith and Prayers and all, and if there be any thing of grace in the heart, it is so darkned that a man can­not see it in himself because as the Psalmist speaks, Psal. 66. 18. If I regard iniquity in my heart, God will not hear my prayers, and then he will not pardon a mans Sins, nor subdue his iniquities, nor speak peace to him:

And therefore the Question is,

Quest. How may this Guile of Spirit be ex­pelled? how may the spirit of a man be cleared and cleansed from it?

Ans. Nothing can do this but the truth and power of the Grace of Christ prevailing in [Page 71] the Soul; this was Davids meaning, Psal. 51. 6. Thou lovest truth in the inward parts, and thou soalt make me know wisdom in the hidden man of the heart; and thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, Psal. 110. 3. when the truth and power of the Grace of Christ comes into the heart, and is settled therein; there will then be a discovery of all the secret iniquities of the heart, and withal a real conflict against them, with an irre­concilable hatred against them, and seeking the destruction of them: and because we cannot attain to that, but sin and corruption will have its being and working in the Soul still, therefore the truth of Grace in the soul keeps up the conflict full, that no sin shall have any peaceable profession in the Soul, Gal. 5. 17. and because we cannot help our selves against our sins, there is a real wil­lingness that Christ should help us, and do that for us that we cannot do for our selves; now here is truth in the inward parts; then shall we be able to say, as Paul did, Rom. 7. 15, & 19. These and those corruptions I find stirring in me, are the evils that I would not, I allow them not, I hate them, I would not have them live, nor to have any being in my Soul. And the Apostle saying, of himself, ver. 18. To will is present with me. And our [Page 72] Saviour saying of his Disciples, Mat. 26. 41: The spirit is willing though the flesh is weak; it shews that the truth of Grace lies in a real willingness to part with a mans sins, and to have Christ and his Grace in the room of them, when the Soul sayes (and that truly) I cannot destroy these and those Corruptions, yet I am willing that Christ should do it for me; this willingness is a sign of some truth of Grace in the heart. And altho' there will be still the relicks of sin for the exercise of Grace, yet there will be no prevailing guile; such a one will be like Davids blessed man, and like unto Nathaniel, of whom our Saviour said, John 1. 47. Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile, i. e. no prevailing guile.

But then the main Question is;

Quest. How shall we get this Truth and power of a gracious willingness in our hearts?

I Answer,

Ans. 1. By a free and full Confession, not only of our special Corruptions, but of all the guile of Spirit and deceitfulness of the heart which we find in our selves about our sins, and a thorow acknowledgment of the [Page 73] corruption of our wills, for there lies the malignity and venom of our sins. David was brought to this at last, Psal. 32. 5. I ac­knowledged my sin to thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid; I said I will confess my trans­gressions to the Lord, and thou forgavest the ini­quity of my sins. If the Lord help the Soul to this humble and thorow acknowledgment of his special sins, and guilefulness of spirit, without any hiding or excusing, but with ag­gravating a mans sins, just as they are in themselves, and all this with a heart broken for and from sin; such a one shall have ex­perience of the same effect as David had; the Lord will forgive the iniquity of our sins. And it is a certain truth if we would judge our selves we shall not be judged of the Lord, 1 Cor. 11. 31.

2. You must come to Christ for Truth and since my of heart from him; we must exercise Faith in Jesus Christ, that we may receive Truth in the inward parts from him. For He is Holy and true, Rev. 2. 17. He is full of Grace and Truth, John 1. 14. He is the way the truth and the life to us, Joh. 14. 6. therefore we should be alwayes coming to him, closing with him, and cleaving to him, that He by His Word and Spirit of Truth may commu­nicate [Page 74] the Truth to us that it may dwell in us, and that we may be made sincere and with­out offence till the day of Christ. It is cer­tain, that our own [...], and false-heartedness would destroy us if we should be left unto it; but when we see it and confess it unto God against our selves, and cry out, O the guile of Spirit that is in met and then come to Christ for this end, that the same truth that is in him may be in us; then He will make and keep us true and faithful to God in the great concernments of our Souls, and we should especially close with Christ for the truth of Grace in our wills, that it may be the day of his power upon us and in us, and keep us amongst the number of His willing people, Psal. 110. 3. it may be His good pleasure to work in us to will and to do Phil. 2. 13. there is nothing wherein a mans heart may more easily and dangerously de­ceive him, than in this thing, that a man is willing to part with his sins, when he is not; for the will is more corrupt than any faculty, of the Soul, the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, there is no hope of it, Jer. 179. when you confess your sins and pray, and resolve, and watch against them, and thereupon think you are willing to part with them; remember even then [Page 75] when you find your heart in the best frame; He that trusts his own heart is a fool, Prov. 28. 26. stay but a while and observe your self in times and cases of trial, and you will find many contrary frames of spirit, and much unwillingness to that which is good, and willingness to that which is evil; when you find it thus, fall down before the Lord, and tell him that you are so, and can be no otherwise of your self, but you bring your heart to him as it is, that it may be the good pleasure of His will, to work in you to will and to do.

3. Get and keep your heart full of Scri­pture Petitions, for truth and sincerity of heart. There are many of these, I shall mention some of them, Psal. 25. 4, 5. Shew me thy wayes, teach me, and lead me in thy truth, Psal. 86. 11. Unite my heart to fear thy name, that I may walk in thy truth; & Psal. 26. 2. & 139. ult. Examine me O Lord, Starch my heart, and see if there be any way of wickedness in me. O discover it to me, de­liver me from it, and give me power against it: when such petitions as these are wrought into the very frame of the heart, when they dwell in the heart, and frequently arise out of the heart, that a man is habitually prayer­ful [Page 76] and careful about sincerity and Truth in all his wayes; this will gradually clear and cleanse the Soul from all prevailing guile of Spirit, and then it will not trouble the peace of the Soul.

Having done with the first thing pro­pounded. viz. Shewing you the Causes of Soul-trouble, and how to remove them: I proceed unto the second, and that is, to shew you what are the next and immediate Cau­ses of Soul Peace, and how to procure them.

Now the true Causes of that inward heavenly Divine Peace, which our Saviour Christ gives unto His; are these three.

1. The Righteousness of Christ made ours in our Justification.

2. The Grace of Christ communicated to us in our Sanctification.

3. The Spirit of Adoption, divelling in us as our Comforter.

There must be a concurrence of these three Causes in producing and settling the Peace of our Saviour Christ in the Souls of all penitent Believers.

[Page 77] For the first of these;

1. The first Cause of Soul peace is, The righteousness of Christ made ours in our Justification, as Rom. 5. 1. Being Justified by Faith we have peace with God. For the righ­teous God loveth righteousness, and hateth ini­quity, Psal. 11. 7. Therefore we must have a Righteousness that is every way satisfactory to the righteous Nature and Law of God, or else we cannot have peace from God. And because we have no such Righteousness of our own, therefore we must have the Righ­teousness of Christ to be made ours: For it is Christ alone who hath wrought out, and brought in everlasting righteousness for the use and good of all that believe in him, Dan. 9. 24. He is made of God Righteousness unto us, and He was make sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, not in our selves, but in him, 2 Cor. 5. last. When therefore we have obtained this Righteous­ness of Christ to be ours, then we are ac­cepted as righteous before God; and so being justified, we have peace with God, being un­der the influence of the love and favour of God, then shall we find the truth of that by experience, that the Kingdom of Christ in [Page 78] us, is Righteouss, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, Rom. 14. 17. and that also in Isai. 32. 17. the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the Effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever.

Quest. But how may this Righteousness of Christ be made ours?

Answ. By Faith in Jesus Christ accepting Gods gracious imputing and accounting Christs Righteousness unto us. Now it is observable in the fourth chapter of Romans this Imputation of Righteousness is menti­oned no less then ten times in that one chapter; and it is exemplifyed in the two instances of Abraham and David, as verse 3. Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him for Righteousness, and verse 6, 7, 8. As David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works; saying, blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute Sin. Now this is writ­ten for our sakes to whom the same Righte­ousness shall be imputed also, if we believe with a Penitential and Obediential Faith as Abraham and David did, as the Apostle ar­gues, [Page 79] vers. 14. then shall we come to have the sense and comfort of the Lords not imputing our sins, but imputing righteous­ness unto us for Christs sake, and this will settle a divine peace in our Souls as it was with David in Psal: 32. the effect of this Righteousness, will be quietness, peace and assurance for ever, as in that Isa. 32. 17.

Quest. But how should we exercise Faith in Christ and his Righteousness, that we may find this blessed peace in our selves.

Answ. By a threefold act of Faith.

1. By denying our selves, and renoun­cing all concert of any righteousness of our own, as Paul said, Phil. 3. 9. Not having my own righteousness, he renounceth that, and Tit. 3. 5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, he throws them all away, as of no worth, of no use in the matter of our Justification before God: alwayes acknow­ledging our own sinfulness, guiltiness, un­worthiness, and unrighteousness in the sight of God; saying as the Church does, Isa. 64. 6. We are all as an unclean thing, and all our Righteousness are as filthy rags before thee. A­las they are so far from covering the naked­ness, [Page 80] that they increase the filthiness of our souls, they are an abomination to the holy God and should be as dung unto our selves, Phi. 3. 1. our confessions and pravers, and tears, and resolutions, and reformations, and all our duties of every kind, being all polluted with Sin, should be always abhorred by us, not having the least relyance upon any thing we have, are, or can do as the mat­ter of our righteousness before God.

2. As we must thus renounce our own righteousness, so we must Accept and re­ceive Christ and his Righteousness, as gi­ven, to us of God for this end, that we may be justified in his sight, for this is very observable; that Christ and his righteous­ness, is in the fifth Chapter to the Romans, and five times together called, either the gift of God, or the gift of Grace, or the free gift, as you may see in ver. 15, 16, 17, 18. and ver. 19. by his Obedience we are made righteous. That is, Jesus Christ having performed all that active and pas­sive Obedience, which was necessary on our behalf, God accepted of it, and gives it by Imputation to all penitent Believers for their use & good in the matter of our Justification before God: Only as its gi­ven [Page 81] on Gods part, so it must be received on our part (for giving and receiving are Re­latives, that one cannot be without the o­ther) if it be not received, it is but a meer offer; therefore I say it must be received on our part, and so says the Apostle, Rom. 5. 11. We have received the Atonement through Jesus Christ, and verse 17. We receive the gift of righteousness by Jesus Christ.

Here then lyes the great work of Faith, in causing the Soul to go out of it self to Jesus Christ, accepting of him, and receiving him and his Righteousness as the gift of Gods free Grace for our Justification and Salvation. For He is made of God righteous­ness unto us, 1 Cor. 1. 30. and He is the Lord our Righteousness, Jer. 23. 6. therefore it is the Person of Christ himself, cloathed with the Office of our Mediator, which is the first object of our 'Faith, that must be receiv­ed by us; For that Righteousness whereby we must be justified, it was performed by him, and is inherent in him; His active and passive Obedience was a transient thing ac­complished by him in the fulness of time, but the infinite worthiness, value, and virtue of that Obedience of his is permanent for ever, and inherent in the person of our Lord [Page 82] Jesus Christ; therefore our great business is, by an unfeigned Faith, and with a sincere heart to receive Christ himself as he is offer­ed in the Gospel; for then Christ becomes ours and we are his, and his righteousness is ours for our Justification in the sight of God. And this was the reason of that most significant expression of the Apostle which is as it were the Motto of every sincere Christian, Phil. 3. 8, 9. That I may win Christ, and be found in him, having his Righteousness, &c.

3. We must not only receive, but continu­ally make use of Christ and his Righteous­ness; and this was part of Pauls meaning in that forementioned expression; that I may be found in Christ, not only found in Christ at the day of Judgment, but every day of our lives, and in all the actions of our whole Conversation; especially in all our Addresses to God in all our prayers, and all acts of di­vine worship; that we may appear before God, not in our own, but in the Righteous­ness of Christ, being covered and cloathed with it as with a Garment, our own filthy garment being taken from us, the long and large Robe of Christs Righteousness being put upon us, as in Zech. 3. 4, 5. by this means alone we shall find our sins covered and pardoned, [Page 83] our persons accepted, and our prayers heard in heaven, and all for the sake of Christ and his Righteousness made ours. So likewise when we observe our many sins and failings in our daily course, and in our holy duties, that there is a mixture of sinning in our be­lieving, and repenting, and praying, and in all that we do: Yet still have recourse to Jesus Christ the Righteous One, as our Advocate with the Father, and the Propitiation for our sins, 1 John 2. 1, 2. finding it sensibly and fee­lingly by our own experience every day of our lives, that our own righteousness is but filthy rags, but Christ and his Righteousness is that only Foundation that we rest upon, for pardon, and peace, and acceptation with God.

2. The Second Cause of our Peace con: current with the former, is the grace of Christ communicated to us in our Sanctifi­cation; this is included in that Apostolical Salutation and Benediction so often used by Paul in his Epistles to the Churches; Grace and Peace unto you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, wherein he wish­es and prays for Grace as the cause of peace, and peace as the effect of Grace; 'tis true indeed, grace in its latitude comprehends the [Page 84] the effects of the free favour of God in Christ, but in a special manner that work of grace in us whereby we are sanctified and qualifyed with inherent holiness dwelling in us, as Heb. 13. 9. It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, and 2 Pet. 3. last. we are exhorted to grow in grace. Hence it is Christ is said to be made of God sanctifica­tion unto us, 1 Cor. 1. 30. He is made Righ­teousness to us, by the imputation of his own Righteousness to us for our Justification; but is made Sanctification to us, by the Commu­nication of some kind of grace and holiness to us, that is in himself: both are necessary as con current causes of that peace which Christ gives unto His, for that is the only true peace which ariseth from the being and the seeing of the work of sanctifying grace dwelling in our hearts, and expressed in our lives, as that proper effect of our Justification.

Quest. How may we get this grace of San­ctification?

Answ. By Faith in Jesus Christ, for as we are justified by Faith, so we are sanctified by Faith, Acts 26. 18. amongst them which are sanctified by Faith which are in me; for the fulness of all sanctifying grace is in the man [Page 85] Christ, He is the first subject of all grace since the Fall of Man, John 1. 14. He is full of grace and truth, and verse 16. from his ful­ness have all we received grace for grace, there is a fulness of all kinds, and of all degrees of grace in him, for this end that He may com­municate the same to us, and we may re­ceive it from him.

Quest. But how shall we exercise Faith in Christ, that we may receive it from him.

Answ. 1. Be always humbled under the sense of the great evil and danger of the cor­ruption of nature that is in us; that we are naturally empty of grace, and full of Sin, as Paul complained of it, Rom. 7. 18. I know that in me, that is in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing, and Eccles. 9. 3. the heart of man is full of evil; there is not only a privation of that goodness that should be in the facul­ties of our Souls, but a succession of the con­trary vitious qualities that indispose us to good, and encline us unto evil; and there are in all some natural habitual corruptions wherein Original Sin vents it self more than in others, and when God hath made a man to know himself, he will find this true in his own Soul, it must and will be perpetual mat­ter [Page 86] of Humiliation and Mortification to us all our days, even as Paul complained of it, Rom. 7. 24. O miserable man that I am, who shall deliver me from this Body of Sin and Death.

3. Be always going out of our selves to Jesus Christ, receiving him and closing with him for this end, that we may receive grace and holiness from that fulness of grace that is in him. For John 1. 16. From his fulness we receive grace for grace, implying that Christ out of his own fulness gives unto all true believers, the very same kind of grace and holiness that is in himself in that manner and measure as he sees fit; for unto every one of you is given grace according to the mea­sure of the gift of Christ, Eph. 4. 7. and that even the particular graces of Sanctification, such as humility, sincerity, meekness, the fear of God, love to God above all, and love to our brethren, are given out from himself unto us, and that we are made par­takers of these in a way of receiving. Here then lyes the great work of a Christian in the sense of our want of grace in our selves, and need of grace from Christ, we should exercise Faith in him, bring­ing our Souls to him, and leaving them [Page 87] with him, as empty vessels, to receive from him all those graces that are any ways need­ful to our Salvation. And then,

3. We must make Conscience of a conti­nual acting of the graces of Sanctification in the whole course of our lives; and this both in the way of Mortification, opposing the stirrings of any Corruption, not suffering the least Sin to have any peaceable possession in our Souls, Rom. 8 13. and also in the way of active and passive Obedience to the whole will of God; that we may please God, and live to God, in observing his rules and aiming at his ends in all. So as we may glorify God, and enjoy him both here, and for-ever in another world, as our last end, and chief good, wherein our true bles­sedness stands, Rim. 6. 11. reckon yourselves dead unto Sin, but alive unto God, and Gal. [...] 19. that I may live unto God. This is cer­tain, the grace of Sanctification is the prin­ciple of our Spiritual Life received from Christ, whereby we are enabled to live un­to God; the habit of grace is for the act of it; and life is for life actions, therefore by the Activity of the grace of Christ in us, we come to discern it, as the Apostle speaks of himself, 2 Cor. 1. 12. this is our rejoycing, [Page 88] the testimony of our Conscience, that in Simpli­city and godly Sincerity we have our Conversa­ion in the world by the grace of God, and so by discerning the grace of Christ in our selves, we come to have peace also, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. The third Cause of true Peace in us: the Spirit of Adoption:

For this Divine Peace which Christ gives unto His, is the very same which is called Peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, Rom. 14. 17. be­cause the Holy Ghost sent down from the Father, and the Son is the immediate worker of it in the hearts of the faithful, and there­fore at the same time, when our Saviour made this promise of Peace to his Disciples, He promised to send unto them the Holy Spirit, the Comforter to dwell in them, and to abide with them for ever, as in ver. 16, 27, 29. of this Chapter. And for the same reason, the A­postle sayes unto Believers, Rom. 8. 15, 16. You have received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we cry Abba Father, ehe Spirit himself bear­ing witness with our Spirits, that we are the Children of God. The same Spirit, who as a Spirit of bondage works Humiliation, and [Page 89] as a Spirit of Faith, works Faith in us to re­ceive Christ, and keeps the Soul at work in making our peace with God, by a continual exercise of Faith and Repentance: it is the same spirit that (after believing) becomes a Spirit of Adoption, causing us to discern the gracious work He hath wrought in us, and so witnesseth with our spirits sanctifyed, that we are not only in a state of Reconciliation and Peace with God, but in a state of adop­tion and Sonship, that we are not only the Friends but the children of God, and that He is our God and Father in Christ. In which way of the Spirits witnessing with our Spirits, He lets in the sense and sweetness of the love of God in Christ into our souls, whereby our peace is established, and our souls are comforted in that manner and mea­sure as He sees fit, Rom. 5. 5. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given to us, and Gal. 5. 22. The fruits of the Spirit are Love, Joy, and Peace, &c.

Quest. How may we obtain the Spirit of Adoption?

Ans. By Faith in Jesus Christ, Eph. 1. 13. After ye believed in Christ, ye were sealed with the holy spirit of promise, i. e. the Spirit pro­mised [Page 90] by our Saviour in this 14th of John, to be sent as a Comforter to dwell in the souls of true Believers. For the regenerating work of the spirit causing the Soul to believe in Christ, and receive him as our Lord and Saviour; this goes before Faith, and is the efficient cause of the grace of Faith in us, as John 3. 5. & 1. 12, 13. but after the Souls beleiving and living in the exercise of Faith on Christ, the Lord fulfills this promise in his own good time and way, and gives his Spirit as a Comforter, and so we come to be ac­quainted with the witnessing, sealing, and comforting work of his holy Spirit, for the establishing of our peace.

Quest. How should we exercise our Faith in Christ, for the obtaining of the Spirit of Adop­tion?

I Answer in three Directions:

Ans. 1. By humbling our selves for our many sins against the Spirit of God. For though Gods Elect are preserved, so as never to fall into that unpardonable Sin against the Holy Ghost; yet alas, there are many other sins against the Spirit, which those that are true Believers (for the main) are too often [Page 91] guilty of, which greatly obstruct the consola­tions of the Holy Ghost. For the Spirit of God and Christ, is the immediate worker of all Grace or Peace in our Souls; Hence, when we grieve the Spirit by doing that which is contrary to his will: and when we quench the Spirit in his holy Motions in our Souls; this causeth the withdrawing of his witnessing and comforting operations in our hearts; and therefore the Apostle gives that direction, Grieve not the Holy Spirit whereby you are sealed unto the day of Redemption, Eph. 4. 30. and Quench not the Spirit, 1 Thess 5. 19. And therefore we should observe all the times and cases wherein we have grieved and quenched the Holy Spirit: we should mourn and grieve with godly sorrow for the same, begging pardon in the blood of Christ for our sins, against the Spirit, as well as any other sins.

2. Pray much for the Spirit of God to be sent from the Father and the Son, as the Spirit of Adoption, and as our Comforter, accor­ding to the promise made, and so often re­peated by our Saviour, in his last and dying words, as Job. 14. 16. I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; and ver. 17, 26. [Page 92] & Chap. 15. 26. I will send unto you from the Father, the spirit of truth, the Comforter: and to the same purpose again, in Joh. 16. 7, 8, &c. We should not let these promises lie by un­improved; but exercise Faith in Christ the Maker of them, believing the truth and re­ality of them as the true savings of God and trusting to his ability and fidelity for the performance of them; we should pray and plead with him to make them good unto out Souls. We should ask the Father daily in the name of Christ, that he would make us acquainted with the witnessing, sealing and comforting work of his Holy Spirit: and put our blessed Saviour in mind of these pro­mises of his; and what need we have of the performance of them on his part, and that without the immediate work of the Spirit of Adoption, as our Comforter, we cannot en­joy the good of that Legacy of his Peace, which he hath left unto us. Our Lord Jesus, hath given us great encouragement that our pray­ers for the gift of his Holy Spirit shall not be in vain, Luk. 11. 12. If ye that are evil know how to give good gifts to your Children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit unto them that ask him:

[Page 93] 3. Learn we to maintain communion and fellowship with the Holy Ghost. We read of the fellowship of the Spirit, Phil. 2. 1. and the communion of the Holy Ghost, 2. Cor. 13, 14. which doth imply, that as there is a commu­nication of any degree of Grace and Peace unto us from the Spirit of God on his part, so there should be suitable returns on our part; which is expressed in those Phrases of our living in the Spirit, Gal. 5. 25. and walking after the Spirit, Rom. 8. 2. & 14. that is now; by our continual beleiving in, and trusting to the Spirit, as our sanctifier and comforter; by giving divine Worship to the Holy Ghost, together with the Father and the Son; by waiting for the breathings of the Spirit in every Ordinance of the Gospel; also by yielding Obedience to his holy Motions in, and by his Word, and in a continual exercise of the Graces of the Spirit in our daily course. Now in this way of keeping our communion with the holy Spirit, we shall be preserved from grieving his Person, and quenching his operations; and by this means we shall grow to be spiritually minded, and so we shall have life and peace, as the Apostle tells us, Rom. 8. 6. For to be spiritually minded is life and peace: and then He will not fail to make us acquainted with his witnessing, [Page 94] sealing and comforting work in our Souls whereby we shall have peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, as Rom. 14. 17. nay, this is the way to be filled with all joy and peace in belie­ving, and to abound in hope, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as the Apostle tells us, Rom. 15. 13.

And so I have done with the second Exhortation and Direction; shewing how the causes of Soul-trouble may be removed, and how the causes of Soul-peace may be procured and settled in our selves. What remains but that we be diligent in the pra­ctise of the forenamed Directions, which do shew unto us the way of peace revealed in the Gospel of Peace.

I proceed now to a third Exhortation.

3. To all penitent obedient Believers such as Christs Disciples were, to whom the peace of Christ belongs: You are to be Exhorted to accept of this divine peace, as the Legacy of Jesus Christ given unto you. For so we are to look upon these words in the Text, [Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you] as the Legacy given by our Saviour Christ in his last Will and Testament, the night before he died.

[Page 95] And therefore it is the unquestionable duty of all the faithful with all thankful­ness to receive this gift of Christs peace as worthy of all acceptation, containing delive­rance from all real evil, and the summe of all saving good, in the enjoyment of which we shall be truly blessed, both here and for ever in another world. And for this end you must do as those that have a rich Lega­cy bequeathed to them, if they meet with any difficulty they put their case in Suit, they sue for their own at the Court, and they do these three things,

1. They prove their Title to such a Legacy.

2. They plead for the possession of it.

3. They wait upon the business until they obtain it.

So must you and I if we are in good ear­nest for this Divine Peace, we must apply our selves to the Throne of Grace, and sue for it in the Court of Heaven.

1. And first, we must prove our Title to [Page 96] it, that we are the very persons intended by our Saviour Christ in the gift and grant of his Peace, i. e. that we are indeed true pe­nitent believers, such as Christs Disciples were, to whom his Promise in the Text, was immediately made, as Gal. 6. 7. Let e­very man prove his own work, i. e. the work of saving grace which God hath wrought in his heart, aud then shall He have rejoycing is himself, i. e. he shall have matter and cause of rejoycing arising from the sight and sense of saving grace in his own Soul, and conse­quently that He is a true Disciple of Christ, a sincere penitent Obedient Believer, accor­ding to the Gospel of Peace, and therefore that the peace of Jesus Christ doth belong to him.

Here then we see the benefit of Self-Exa­mination, and the great need of the Spirits Assistance therein, to help us in discerning the infallible signs of Faith and Repentance in our selves; and so from Conscience and Experience, to conclude that we have a just and right title to the peace of Christ and all the good contained therein. For we know that we are of God, 1 John 5. 19. and this is our rejoycing the testimony of our Conscience, that in Simplicity and godly Sincerity we have [Page 97] our Conversation in the world by the grace of God, 2 Cor. 1. 12. And the Spirit himself wit­nesseth with our Spirits, that we are the chil­dren of God.

2. We must plead for the Possession and Fruition of this Peace; I say, we must plead for this at the Throne of Grace, that this inward spiritual and heavenly peace, may be given into our hearts, that we may find and feel the sweet and good of it in our own Souls.

For if the condition of the promise be wrought in us, then the spiritual good of the promise belongs to us, and then we may and ought to lay claim to it as our own, and plead for the sensible communication of it unto our selves; and that by a vigorous ex­ercise of faith in fervent prayer, as the Psalmist did, in Psal. 143. 1. Hear my pray­er O Lord, and give ear to my Supplication, in thy faithfulness answer me and in thy Righ­teousness, and verse 6. I stretch forth my hands to thee, my Soul thirsteth for thee as the thirsty land, and verse 7. Hear me speedily O Lord, my spirit faileth, hide not thy face from me, cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the mor­ning, and for thy Name sake quicken me; &c. [Page 98] In this way of pleading with the Lord we shall be sure to obtain, because He hath en­gaged himself in his faithfulness, Psal. 83. 33. I will not suffer my faithfulness to fail and therefore blessed are these that believe, for there shall be performance of those things that are promised by the Lord, Luke 1. 45.

3. Unto our pleading we must add wait­ing upon the Lord Jesus, until our Souls be satisfied with the good promise, i. e. until we do sensibly enjoy this divine and heaven­ly peace in our selves. Thus our Saviour after He had made this promise of Peace to his Disciples, and after He was dead and ri­sen again, a little before He ascended into Heaven, He commanded them to wait for the Promise of the Spirit which (saith he) you have heard of me, Acts 1. 4. which relates to the Promise of sending the Spirit as a Comforter to fill their hearts with comfort peace and joy which he often repeated in the 14th, 15th, 26th. Chapter of John. Now at his parting from them by his Ascension to Heaven, He commanded them to wait for the performance of this Promise. Accor­dingly it is said, verse 14. they continued together with one accord in Prayer and Suppli­cation; and the issue was, that after some [Page 99] time of waiting in that way, they were filled with the Holy Ghost, Acts 25. which though it includes something extraordinary and pe­culiar to the Apostles, yet it certainly in­tends the pouring out of the Spirit of God pro­mised to all believers, verse 16. to 22. the immediate effect of which was they were filled with joy and peace in believing by the power of the Holy Ghost, Rom. 15. 13. and therefore this is affirmed not only of the Apostles, but of the generality of the Pri­mitive Christians of those times, they walk­ed in the Fear of God, and in the Comforts of the holy Ghost, Acts 9. 31.

So that we are clearly directed to take the same course that they did, viz. to wait upon the Lord Jesus in the way of his Command­ments and Ordinances, both publick and private, and to continue in believing, and pleading with him, in a patient and earnest expectation of the fulfilling of his promises of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, which He will undoubtedly perform.

1. For our Lord Jesus Christ lives in the Heavens to be the executor of his own Will, and to see that his Legacy of peace be given to all those that come to him, plead [Page 100] with him, and wait upon him for the same.

2. It is with him to Create this Peace, Isa. 57. 19. as in the first Creation God said, let there be light, and it was so, even so when he please He can say to any penitent believing Soul, let there be peace in that Soul, and it shall be so.

He can easily bless either Publick Mini­stry, or Private Counsel, or the word read remembred and meditated on to be a means of sending home to the hearts of his people that inward and spiritual peace by the holy Spirit the Comforter as shall make their Souls rejoice and be glad all their days.

3. And as He can, so he will do this for all his people sooner or later, in some degree or other, Psal. 85. 8. The Lord will speak peace to his people, to illustrate this by one remar­kable instance, Luke 7. verse 37, to 48. there was a Woman in the City that was a Sinner, i. e. a notorious and scandalous Sinner; she came to Christ with her eyes full of tears, and her heart full of sorrow, in a repenting, and mourning way for her many Sins, she comes also in a believing way with her heart [Page 101] full of Supplications for the forgiveness of her Sins, and for peace with God through Christ; she came also in a way of love to Jesus Christ, her whole behaviour did speak in the language of the Spouse to Christ, O thou whom my Soul loves! and so she lyes down at his feet for a gracious answer. What the issue was may be seen in verse 48. and 50, our blessed Saviour said unto the Wo­man; Thy sins are forgiven thee, thy Faith hath saved thee, go in peace; and no doubt but it was a creating word, filling her Soul with peace and joy, by the power of his Spirit which He gave unto her as her Comforter to abide with her for ever.

Object. Now if any doubting, sincere heart shall say, Ay, if I could but hear such a word from Christ himself, speaking peace to me, (as that woman did) that would satisfie my soul indeed.

To which I answer,

Answ. Whatsoever thou art that hast such thoughts, let me tell thee in the Name of Christ, and from the Word of God; that if thou hast the same kind of Repentance, and Faith in Christ, and love to him, and [Page 102] waiting upon him, as was in Her, then thou shouldst accept of those words of our Savi­our as spoken to thee as well as to Her: thy Sins are forgiven thee, as well as hers, and he bids thee go in peace, and enjoy his peace, both here and for ever in another world.

Object But how shall I know that I have the same kind of Faith and Repentance that was in her; for Christ himself told her so, when he said, (thy Faith hath saved thee) but a­las, I am often doubting and fearing least I should be mistaken in that.

To which I answer.

Answ. Christ hath promised his Spirit with his word to supply the place of his bodily absence, nay, to be better to his Disciples than his bodily presence, (as di­vers times in these Chapters of the 14, 15, 16th of John) when therefore the Lord Jesus shall please to send his Spirit of Truth as a Comfortor to thy Soul, He will by the Word let in such a light of discovery, shewing thee both the truth of his grace in thy heart, and of his peace belonging to thee; that thou shalt feel the condition of the promise wrought in thee, and find the [Page 103] Spiritual good of the promise given in to thy Soul; that thou shalt be as well satisfi­ed, and thy peace established, as if thou hadst heard the Man Christ Jesus speaking peace to thee as that Woman did.

Here therefore lyes our great work, to be alwayes repenting, believing, and pray­ing, and waiting on the Lord in his own way, and then be assured of it, the Lord will speak peace to his people, though in de­sertion he withdraw, and for the tryal and exercise of our graces He may delay, yet for the thing it self [forgiveness of sins and peace to the penitent believer] it is most sure, that sooner or later they shall enjoy it, in such a manner and measure as shall be sufficient for our Consolation here, and Sal­vation for ever, Psal. 37. 37. Mark the per­fect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace; For Lam. 3. 25. The Lord is good to the Soul that seeks him, and waits upon him; Isa. 30. 18. The Lord waits to be gracious, blessed are those that wait for him. I conclude this with Isa 64. 4. com­pared with 1 Cor. 2. 9. Eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, nor can it enter into the heart of man to conceive, what things, what Peace, and Joy and Comfort both here and for ever [Page 104] God hath prepared for those that love him, and wait for him.

Exhortation 4. The last Exhortation is to all that enjoy this Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ in their own Souls; you are to be ex­horted to improve it as a sufficient remedy against the troubles and fears of the World. For so it is intended by our Saviour Christ, therefore after he had said to his Disciples, My peace I give unto you, he presently adds, Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid; as if he should have said, you shall find my Peace in your Souls, to be a soverain Cordial to remove the troubles of your hearts, and to preserve you from the venom and poyson of the troublesome and formidable things of the World, that they get not into your hearts: and so the Apostle informs us, Phil. 4. 7. That the Peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your minds and hearts in Christ Jesus; where the Peace which Christ gives unto his, is commended unto us in a four fold respect:

1. In regard of the excellent nature and virtue of it in himself, being the Peace of God, a divine, spiritual and heavenly peace, which passeth all understanding, i. e. it can­not [Page 105] be fully, either understood or expressed by us, until we come to Heaven.

2. In regard of the excellent effect of it in us; it supplies the place of a strong Ga­rison (as the Greek word signifies) to keep the principal Forts of the Soul from being surprized or annoyed, either from insurre­ction from within, or by Invasion from without.

3. In respect of the parts of the Soul, which are kept by this peace of God, they are the heart and mind; by heart is meant the Will and affections, and by the mind, the power of thinking and understanding: For this divine peace doth so fill the heart with joy and comfort in believing, that it keeps it from heart-aking, and heart-vexing griefs and fears; it also fills the mind with the ap­prehension of God's love and favour, keep­ing out the dominion of doubting and di­strustful thoughts, that the Soul is at rest; it rests secure in God, as the Psalmist said, Re­turn unto thy rest O my Soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountiful with me, Psal. 116. 7. And

4. In regard of the strength of this di­vine peace, whereby it keeps our minds and [Page 106] hearts, it is impregnable; for it is derived from the Grace and Strength of Christ, therefore it is said, it shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, i. e. through the power of Christs spirit which he hath pro­mised to give unto his People as their Keeper and Comforter, to dwell in them, and abide with them for ever.

And therefore in a way of subserviency to that comforting work of his Spirit, the Lord hath commanded his Ministers to comfort his people, Isai. 40. 1, 2. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, speak ye comfortably to my People, tell them their warfare is accomplished, their sins are pardoned, &c. He hath also commanded his people to comfort themselves and one ano­ther with his gracious promises which con­tain that sovereign good which is able to preserve our souls in peace and comfort in the midst of the worst things we may meet with on this side Heaven, 1 Thess. 4. 18. Com­fort ye one another with these words. What re­mains then, but that all penitent Believers, who have obtained this divine peace, and do enjoy it as our Saviours Legacy; we should comfort our selves in his grace and peace, and improve it unto this end for which he gives it; which he signifieth in these words [Page 107] [Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid] which is intended by our Saviour, not only as a word of command or direction but as a word of comfort and encourage­ment. Our Saviour did well know that his Disciples in the World should meet with ma­ny things that would be matter of trouble and fear; and through their own weakness their hearts would be subject to be too much trou­bled and afraid: therefore he would have us so to exercise Faith in himself and his promi­ses, that our comfort, peace and joy may out­bid and prevail over all our troubles and fears, as he said in John 15. 11. These things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. That this end may be attained, let me shew you the comforts which this Doctrine affords.

1. Against the troublesome, And

2. Against the formidable things of the World. For so they are distinguished by our Saviour in the Text.

1. Let not your heart be troubled.

Now the things which cause trouble to the hearts of the Saints while they are in this [Page 108] World, may be referred to three Heads, viz. the trouble that arises;

1. From Indwelling Sin.

2. From the tribulations of the World,

3. From the Churches troubles.

Let me speak something shortly and par­ticularly to these;

1. The trouble that ariseth to the Saints from the spiritual conflict they are engaged in against indwelling sin: for no sooner is the Soul at peace with God but it is at war with sin, For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these two are contrary, Gal. 5. 17. there is both Grace and Corruption in a regenerate man, and such a contrariety between these, that the spirit of Grace in the Soul is alwayes opposing the motions of sin that are stirring in the Soul, and seeking the destruction of them. Hence no small trouble ariseth to the Saints from this conflict, which they find in themselves, both how to manage it, and how to get a victory over their corruptions; as we may [Page 109] see in Paul Rom. 7. where he bitterly com­plains of it, that Sin was present with him, and dwelt in him, and that he found the law of Sin alwayes warring against the law of his mind, verse 20, 21. and 23: whence he cries out as in distress and trouble of Spirit, O mi­serable man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of Sin and Death, verse 24. And there are none of all the Saints but have experience of the same conflict in themselves; yet here is comfort against this trouble in three respects.

1. That an irreconcilable enmity against Indwelling Sin, is one of the clearest evi­dences of our peace with God, that when we observe any secret Corruption stirring in our hearts, we presently say as Paul did, Rom. 7. 13. I allow them not, I hate them, and verse 19. They are the evil that I would not; when we dare not entertain any terms of agreement, or any time of truce, but with a lively quick hatred, we seek for the destruction and not being of our most secret Sins; and then, not only cleaning our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit, but aiming at, and seeking of the perfection of holi­ness, 2. Cor. 7. 1. this is an infallible sign that our Souls are garrisoned with the peace [Page 110] of God keeping our minds and hearts in Christ Jesus, as good and faithful Souldiers unto him.

2. That we have and shall have the Assi­stance of Jesus Christ, and supply of his Spirit in maintaining this War to the last. Christ as the Captain of our Salvation has made many gracious promises of help in our times of need, Heb. 4. 15, 16. and we have as­surance given us, that we shall be more than conquerers at last through him that hath sa­ved us, Rom. 8. 37. besides the many encou­raging promises made and repeated seven times over by our blessed Saviour, in the se­cond and third Chapter of the Revelations, To him that overcomes will I give the white stone, and new name; and he shall not be hurt of the second death, &c. And then Thirdly,

3. Although this conflict be grievous to Flesh and Blood, yet it shall not last long; for when we come to dye then sin shall be abolished out of the Soul, and Grace shall be perfected in the Soul, then the spirit of the just shall be made perfect, Heb. 12. 23. and whatever disturbance of our peace we have met with before, yet then there will be none, Isai. 57. 2. The upright walkers enter into peace, [Page 111] i. e. into a place and state of everlasting and perfect peace. We shall then enjoy per­fection of Holiness and perfection of peace together in the highest Heavens.

2. The second kind of trouble in our hearts, is that which is caused by the tribula­tions of the world, of which our Saviour said to his Disciples in John 16. last, In the world yeu shall have tribulation, which includes all kind of afflictions, but especially Perse­cution for Christ and his Gospel sake; and they are called Tribulations, because they are as it were threshing afflictions, such as are driven in as with a flayl upon the Spirits of men, and cause troubles in their hearts; yet here is Comfort against this trouble also, in divers respects.

1. That these tribulations of the world are but outward things, they reach but to the outward man▪ the soul and inward man of a true believer is preserved from the hurt and mischief of them by that inward and heavenly peace that keeps their minds and hearts in Christ Jesus; therefore at the same time when He told his Disciples that in the world you shall have tribulation, he also in­formed them that in and from himself they [Page 112] should have peace, and that peace will pre­serve you from the malignity of all the trou­bles of the world, John 16 upon this ground the Apostle said, 2 Cor. 4. 16, 17. For this cause we faint not, for though our outward man is perishing, yet our inward man is renewed day by day; for our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding eternal weight of glory.

2. That all the tribulations of the world are ordered by the wisdom and love of Christ for his holy and good ends, as him­self said, Rev. 3. 19. as many as I love, I rebuke and chastize, and Heb. 12. 10, 11. He chastizeth us for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness, and though afflictions are not joyous but grievous to the flesh, yet af­ter we have been exercised therewith and are more mortifyed and sanctified thereby, they bring forth the quiet and peaceable fruits of righteousness; and therefore they are so far from hurting our peace, that they are a means to increase or establish it in our Souls.

For,

3. The greatest and sweetest joyes and comforts of the Holy Ghost are commonly bestowed most on his afflicted and suffering [Page 113] people, especially when they suffer for Christs and his Gospels sake. So the Apostle, Rom. 5. 1. having peace with God through Christ, we glory in Tribulation, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God, because Tribulation worketh Pati­ence, and Patience, Experience, &c. We have heard of Jacobs Troubles, of Davids Trou­bles, and of Pauls Troubles; none more af­flicted than those, none more comforted, es­pecially Paul, who tells us, 2 Cor. 4. 8. that he was troubled on every side, and his Suf­ferings for Christ are unparralelled as they are described, 2 Cor, 11. verse 23. to the end. Yet he tells us he was comforted in all his tribulations, 2 Cor: 14. and verse 5. As the Sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our Conso­lations abound by Jesus Christ. So true is that of our Saviour, and really made good unto all his true Disciples, John 16. last. In the world you shall have Tribulation, but in me ye shall have peace.

3. A Third Case wherein the hearts of the Saints are apt to be troubled, is in the time of Sions Troubles. When the Church and Cause of God are endangered in the Storms of Persecution; when it is a day of trouble, of rebuke and blasphemy, as Isa. 37. 3. when the Adversaries are very high, and [Page 114] the Church of Christ brought very low that in respect of man and means, it is a helpless case, and a hopeless time.

Yet in this case also there is matter of comfort to support the hearts of all that are truly godly.

1. For first, a sympathizing with, and a fellow-feeling of the Churches troubles and sufferings, is a good sign of Sincerity, and that we are living members of the Body of Christ, because it is the property of such to prefer Jerusalem above their chiefest joy, Psal. 137. 6. when the welfare and prospe­rity of the Church of God in the world is matter of rejoycing above all worldly joyes and the Calamities of the Church matter of mourning above all worldly sorrows. Eli [...] heart trembled for the Ark of God; and Nehemiah though in a good condition himself, yet when he heard of the great affliction of the people of God at Jeru­salem, he mourned and wept, and fasted and prayed in their behalf, and his countenance was changed from the sorrow of his heart as we read in the first and second chap­ters of Nehemiah; and Paul tells us that all his other Sufferings were but as things [Page 115] without, but the care of the Churches welfare lay nearest to his heart, 2 Cor. 11. 28. if thou art so afflicted, it is a sign of the same grace and peace in thee that was in them.

2. Let not your heart be over-much trou­bled, for God is in the midst of Sion, it shall not be moved, for God shall help her, and that right early, Psal. 46. 5. Nothing befalls the Church of God but his permission. When Rome and Hell, when men and Devils con­spire against the Church of God, they can go no further than God will suffer them; as our Saviour said unto Pilate, Thou couldst have no power against me, except it were given thee from above. It should calm our Spirits that it is the will of God to suffer his Church and People to be in such troubles for a time, for his holy ends; this consideration quieted the hearts of Job, Eli, David, and Hezekiah that God had a holy hand in bringing and ordering those afflicting changes udon them and theirs: It is the Lord that hath done this; that was enough to them; and why should it not be so to us.

If the Lord will have Sion plowed as a field, and all the pleasant things thereof be laid wast, if it be his will that there be a [Page 116] day of trouble, of perplexity, and treading down in the valley of vision, that the way of the wicked shall prosper, and they shall devour the men that are more righteous than themselves; and if it be his pleasure tha Anti-christ shall scatter the power of the holy people; who are we that we should contest with God; we should rather admire and adore the infinite wisdom and good pleasure of God, who suffers and orders all these things, as our Saviour told Peter, Job. 13. 7. What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter; but the Lord him­self knowest what He is doing, and when he hath performed his whole work upon Mount Si­on, Hos. 10. 12. then it will appear that [...] is wonderful in Counsel, and excellent in Working, i. e. in working all about for his own secret and glorious Ends.

3. For Thirdly, it is most certain, That though the Church and Cause of God in the World should seem dead for a time, yet it shall arise and live again. As sure as Christ the Head of his Church arose from the Dead, so surely shall the Church the Body of Christ arise out of all its troubles, and flourish again. The Bush burning not consum­ed, Exod. 3. hath been a lively Emblem of [Page 117] the Churches condition in all generations; the deliverance of Israel from their Egyptian Bondage, and Babilonian Captivity were great Examples of it, in those ancient times, and since the time of our Saviour Christ, the experience of all the ages before us for almost 1700. years, hath confirmed the same, the Christian Church and Cause hath suffered either under the Heathenish, or the Arian, or the Anti christian Persecutions; and the design of Satan and his Instruments (many a time) hath been to extinguish the light of the Gospel, and root out the Church of Christ from the face of the earth, and yet it hath been wonderfully preserved, sup­ported and delivered out of all its troubles un­to this day: And the blood of the Martyrs hath been the Seed of the Church; and is it not as dear to God as ever, is he not as able and willing to save it now as formerly, and therefore we may conclude with Morde­cai, That deliverance shall come, though we know not how, nor from whence, yet the Lord knows, and can and will do it in his ap­pointed time, for the Scriptures must and shall be fulfilled, Rev. 11. chapt. and that should be enough for us.

[Page 118] 2. Let not your heart be afraid:

In which words our Saviour doth not for­bid that natural fear which is planted in the nature of man, viz. an affection of the mind arising from the apprehension of approach­ing evils, there is no man made like the Le­viathan without fear: This natural fear was in a sinless manner in the Man Christ Jesus himself, Heb. 5. 7. he was heard in that which he feared. Nor yet doth he forbid a fear of Caution, in a prudent way to foresee, and by lawful means to prevent approaching e­vils, such was Jacobs fear, Gen. 32. 7, 13. & Prov. 22. 3. a Wise man foreseeth the evil and hides himself.

The fear that is here forbidden, is that tyrannical passion of Fear, and perturbation of the mind, which is wont to invade and be predominant in the hearts of men in times and cases of danger; distracting and distrustful fears, which do both weaken mens Spirits, unfit them for duty, and drive men upon unlawful means: This is a ser­vile and a sinful fear, very unsuitable to [Page 119] Christians who have the peace of God ru­ling in their hearts. This is the Fear that is forbiden here by our Saviour Christ: He would have the minds and hearts of all his Disciples to be so garrisoned with his peace, and so comforted and encouraged with his gracious promises, that whatever the case be, their hearts should not be afraid with any amazement, as 1 Pet. 3. 6.

Now the Objects or Causes of their Fear may be referred unto three Heads.

1. The fear of danger.

2. The fear of man,

3. The fear of Death.

1. The fear of danger, when there is a common distraction of mens minds, in re­gard of a dismal appearance of threatning dangers; and a doubtful expectation of men know not what afflicting changes of Providence are coming upon them, when as in Luke 21. 11. there have been fearful sights, and Ominous Signs from Heaven; and verse 25. upon the Earth, distress of Nations, [Page 120] with perplexity, the Sea and the Waves thereof roaring, and then it follows, verse 26. mens hearts failing them for fear, and for looking af­ter the things that are coming upon the earth; therefore Luke 21. 9. our Saviour said to his Disciples. When you shall hear of Commo­tions, and Wars, and Rumors of Wars, see that you be not terrified: though Paul himself tells us, that he found sometimes when there were fightings without, there was fears within, 2 Cor. 7. 5. therefore it is no wonder if o­thers of the servants of God are afflicted with such fears in such times.

But from the Doctrine delivered, here is comfort against these Fears in three Re­spects.

1. That all the formidable things in the World are but outward things, they reach but to the outward man: and indeed, they are but possible things (as yet) many of them may never be: sometimes Christians find af­terward they have been more afraid than hurt: but suppose the worst that can befal a child of God in this World, it reacheth not to the inward man, it cannot hurt the Soul, which is secured and safe in the hands of Christ, upon this ground the Psalmist said, [Page 121] Psal. 49. 5. Why should I fear in the evil day, for God will redeem my soul, ver. 15. & Psal. 46. 1, 2, 3. God is our refuge and strength, a very pre­sent help in trouble, therefore we will not fear though the Earth be removed, and the Mountains be carried into the midst of the Sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the Mountains shake at the swelling thereof.

2. That all things are in the hands of God, He reigns over all, determining, limit­ing, restraining the motions and events of all the Creatures, according to his good plea­sure, for his own holy and glorious ends: this is often mentioned in the Psalms as a quieting and comforting consideration to the people of God in the most tumultuous times, that the Lord reigns, Psal. 93. 1. & 99. 1. & 146. ult. especially in Psal. 97. 1. The Lord reigns let the Earth rejoyce, Clouds and darkness are round about him; justice and judgment are the habitation of His Throne. And its yet more comfortable to consider that this God who rules all the World is my God and Fa­ther in Christ, and therefore nothing shall come to pass but what shall be for his own Glory, and for the true spiritual and eternal good of all his people, Rom. 8. 28. upon this ground David said, Psal. 27. 1. The Lord is my [Page 122] light, and my life, and my salvation, of whom, or what should I be afraid.

3. That the exercise of Faith in Christ, and trust in God and his promises will expell the malignity of these fears, and settle confi­dence in our Souls. This appears from the reproof given by our Saviour to his Disciples for their over fearfulness in a storm at Sea, Mat 8. 14. Why are ye so fearful O ye of little Faith, implying, had they exercised their Faith, it would have subdued their fears; therefore David said, Psal. 56. 3. What time I am afraid I will trust in thee. Now to trust in God is to commit our selves and all our concernments into his hands, relying and resting wholly upon his wisdom, power, goodness and faithfulness engaged to us in his promises, being contented to be disposed of in all things according to his good plea­sure; if we thus do sincerely betrust our All with God in Christ, we need not doubt but he will secure us in the most perilous times and cases, that all shall be well at last. Such a one shall not be afraid of evil tidings, because his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. And Isai. 26. 2. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because be trust­eth in thee.

[Page 123] 2. The second kind of fear, against which we ought to comfort our selves is the fear of man. When men, especially great men frown upon us, and breathe out threatnings against us; or a multitude of men rise up against us, intending and endeavouring our destruction. Of this the wise Man speaks, Prov. 20. 25. The fear of man bringeth a snare, whereby the Saints are subject to be discom­posed, discouraged and drawn too much from the fear of God, and to sinful compliances with men.

But against this also there is comfort in three respects:

1. That our Saviour Christ hath particu­larly warned his Disciples to beware of the fear of Man, as in Mat. 10. 28. Fear not them that can only kill the body, and when they have done that, they can do no more; which words are to be looked at, not only as a command, and therefore to be regarded for the authori­ty of the Speaker, but as an incouragement from our blessed Saviour to all his faithful Servants in the way of their duty to God, not to be afraid of men; because the most and worst they can do is but to kill the body, [Page 124] they cannot hurt our souls which are safe in his hands, and so the Apostle, Phil. 1. 28. Be not in any thing terrified by your Adversaries, be­cause they can do you no real harm. So likewise Isai. 51. 12, 13. I even I am be that comfort­eth thee, who art thou that shouldest be afraid of a man, that shall die, and the Son of man that shall be as the grass, and forgettest the Lord thy Maker, &c. We cannot fear man sinfully till we have forgotten God: did we remember who God is, and what he hath said, and what he hath done, and is able to do we should not be of such low Spirits, as to be afraid of sinful and mortal men.

2. The Exaltation of the fear of God will deliver us from the slavish fear of Man: therefore in Luk. 12. ver. 4. after he had bidden his Disciples that they should not fear men, then in ver. 5. he tells them, I will fore­warn you whom you shall fear; Fear God who hath power to cast into Hell, I say unto you fear him, implying that the fear of God will swal­low up the fear of man; a reverential awe and dread of God, so as to make it our great care to please him, and our great fear to of­fend him, this will extinguish the fear of the Creature, that it shall not have power upon us to draw us from our duty to God unto sin­ful [Page 125] compliances with men: so likewise, the Prophet Isaiah, in Chap. 8. when the minds of the people were greatly possessed with di­stracting and distrustful fears of their ene­mies coming against them, in ver. 12, 13. he prescribes the right remedy against those fears saying, Fear not their fear, but sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, let him be your fear, let him be your dread; as if he had said, be sure to get in with God, and keep in with him, that you enjoy the favour of God, and then you may set his wisdom, power and faith­fulness against all the power of your Adver­saries, you need not be afraid of them.

3. The exercise of our Faith in Christ, and trust in God and his promise will set us about the fear of man, and secure us in all dangers; for so the Prophet shews, Isa. 8. 13, 14. that if we fear God, and trust in him as the Lord of Hosts, relying upon him, and giving glory to him as God over all blessed for ever: And then He will be to us for a Sanctuary, He will sufficiently provide for our Safety, we should leave our selves with him; again, Micah 5. 5. This man shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall come into our land. The Assyrians and Babilonians, were the ancient enemies of the People of [Page 126] Israel, under their names is meant all the E­nemies of the Church of God in all gene­rations following; (by this Man is meant the Lord Jesus Christ, as is evident from the foregoing verses, the meaning is, that when at any time, in any place, God shall suffer the proud adversaries of his people (like the Assyrians) to come into the land, and do­mineer and bring great affliction upon the Church of God; that even then Christ Je­sus shall be our Peace, i. e. though outward peace may be taken away, there may be no peace to him that goes out or comes in, but great affliction and distress every where, yet then all the faithful shall have and enjoy an inward heavenly and divine peace, in and from Christ Jesus, and He will take care for the restoring of the outward peace and prosperity of his Church and people in his own good time, as he sees fit: So like­wise in Isa. 43. 1, 2, 3. the Lord speaks comfortably to the hearts of his people, Fear not I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by name, thou art mine, when thou passest thorow the fire, and thorow the water, I will be with thee; and again, verse 5. Fear not for I am with thee; the acting of Faith on such promises as these, will support and com­fort our hearts in times of trouble and fear; [Page 127] we may conclude as the Apostle doth, Rom. 8. 31. If God be for us, who can be against us, and as Heb. 13. 5. We may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man can do unto me.

In the third and last place.

3. The fear of Death is another thing which our blessed Saviour would have all his Servants comfort themselves against; for naturally all men are subject to bondage, thro' the fear of Death, Heb. 2. 14. there is indeed a natural fear of death planted in the nature of man as man; because Death is an ene­my to nature, as it makes a Separation be­tween the Soul and Body, which therefore Nature it self flyes from, and would avoid. This natural fear of Death was in the Man Christ Jesus, and is in all the Saints: But now there is a sinful and a slavish fear of Death, whereby men are affrighted and ter­rified at the approach of it, that they are ve­ry loth and unwilling to die; this is that which our Saviour forbids, He would not have any of His Disciples be afraid to die, and therefore He hath given sufficient com­fort to all His against the fear of Death.

[Page 128] 1. As first, That the death of the Saints is a harmless thing; though we read of the terrors of the shadow of death, Job. 24. 17. and death it self is called the King of Terrors, Joh. 18. 14. yet it is so only to the wicked, who have not made their peace with God; be­cause it reigns over such to eternal Death: but to the Saints it is not such a formidable thing, for our Saviour Christ hath said, they shall not be hurt of the second death, Rev. 2. 11. they having nothing to fear beyond the grave. It is true also, we read of the Sting of death, 1 Cor. 15. 55. but its only to such as die in their sins; as Christ said to the Jews, Joh. 8. 24. If you believe not in me, you shall die in your sins; if a man live and die in his sins, to such indeed their death will be of a sting­ing nature; it will strike them down to e­ternal death; but Christ having taken away the sins of all penitent Believers, he hath disarmed death, and taken away the Sting of it as to them: Death to the Saints is but as a Serpent without a Sting, it can do them no harm: therefore the man or woman to whom the Lord Jesus hath spoken Peace say­ing, thy sins are forgiven thee, they not only need not fear death, but they may and ought to triumph over it, as Paul did, 1. Cor. 15. 55. [Page 129] O Death where is thy Sting, O Grave where is thy victory, thanks be to God, that gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

2. Death is of great advantage to the Saints, as Paul affirmed it was to him, Phil. 1. 21. To me to dye is gain, for Christ is to me advantage both in life and death; 'tis true, Death in its nature is the same to all, but not in its end and use; for to the Saints the Commission of death is changed; to the wicked it is, Take him Jailor, carry him down to hell, but to the Godly it is, Take him, Porter, and give him entrance into Heaven, so that as the Apostle sayes, 1 Cor. 2. 21. if we are Christs, then death it self is ours, it is not against us, but for us, it is not an Enemy now, but a Friend and Servant; it is very serviceable to the Saints in two Respects.

1. In putting an end to all the evils of Sin and Sorrow, that the Saints have been conflicting with all their dayes: 'Tis true, Death is the end of all men in this world, but then it puts an end to the Indwelling of Sin, and to the temptations of Satan; to all bodily distempers, and to the various trou­bles and afflictions of this world. God shall [Page 130] wipe away all tears from our eyes, and therefore then the days of our mourning shall be ended.

2. In putting us into the possession of all the good and glory of Heaven. When the Saints dye, the time of their perfection is come, Heb. 12. 23. The Spirits of the Just are made perfect in Heaven, enjoying perfect holiness, and perfect peace, and joy, and rest for ever. In a word, the Saints depart­ed this life, do enjoy an eternal blessed life in immediate vision and fruition of God, Communion with Christ, and Fellowship with the glorified Saints and Angels in the Highest Heavens for ever. Well may it then be said, Blessed are the dead that dye is the Lord, Rev. 14. 13.

3. Last of all, by the exercise of Faith in Christ, and his promises, we shall not only overcome the Fear of Death, but be able to give it welcome entertainment when it comes; for he hath promised to all penitent believers, that they shall not see death, they shall not be hurt of the Second Death, they shall not dye eternally, they shall not perish, but have e­ternal life, John 8. 51. Rev. 2. 11. John. 11. 26. John 6. 40. and in John 14. 2. he tells his [Page 131] Disciples, I go to prepare a place for you in Heaven, and I will come and receive you to my Self, and you shall be with me in Heaven, when your time is ended in this World: Now then, if we believe in Christ as our All-suf­ficient Saviour, and trust unto his faithful­ness, in making good these his promises un­to us, this will not only free us from the fear of Death, but make us willing rather to be absent from the body, and present with the Lord, and to say with Paul, I desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better, Phil.1. 23. and with good old Simeon, Luke 2. 30. Now Lord, let thy Servant depart in peace, for nine eyes have seen thy Salvation.

IN mine ordinary course on the first Epistle of John, Chapter five. We have lately insisted on the Witnes­ses to this great Truth, That [Je­sus is the Christ, the Son of God, and Saviour of the World.] This is the summe [Page 134] and scope of the six first verses; and then verse 7. There are three that [...] record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and these Three are one; and verse 8. There are Three that bear Witness in Earth, the Spi­rit, the Water, and the Blood, and these three a­gree in one; that is, they all agree in this Testimony, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and Saviour of the World. At this time I shall speak a few words of the Two Witnesses here mentioned in the Text which I have now read unto you, because these al­so witness to you something. In the close of the last Sermon concerning the Three Wit­nesses upon Earth, it was one of the Exhor­tations then but briefly expressed; that we be sure to be found amongst the number of Christs Witnesses here upon the Earth. Now because of the great importance and con­cernment of this Truth, being so necessary and seasonable for us in these times: I shall therefore insist upon it a little more fully and particularly, from the words of this Text. And for Introduction, it will be suf­ficient if we observe, that this Chapter (ac­cording to the concurrent judgment of the generality of good interpreters) contains a Prophecy of the state of the Church of Christ, witnessing for Christ, and against [Page 135] Anti-christ, during the whole time of the reign of Anti christ. All the time that the holy City is trodden down by Anti-christian Gentiles, the Saints and People of God do bear witness for the Truths and Wayes of Christ, against all Antichristian Errors and Wayes.

I shall briefly shew you something of the meaning of the Text, answering a few Que­stions: And first,

Quest. 1. Who these Witnesses are?

Answ. First in general; all sincere Chri­stians; all that are Followers of the Lamb; are to be understood as Witnesses of Christ, for look as Rev. 13. 17. also the Followers of the Beast are said to receive his Mark or hit Name, or the number of his name; So in Rev. 14. 1. All the Followers of the Lamb are also said to be marked with his Fathers Name written in their foreheads, in respect of a sin­cere publick Profession, that they are for Je­sus Christ, his Truths and Wayes, and that in opposition to all Anti christian Wayes; but the verse after the Text, tells us more particularly who these Witnesses are▪ these are the Two Olive Trees, und the two Can­dlesticks [Page 136] standing before the God of the Earth, which is a manifest allusion to Zech. 4. in the third and eleven verses you read of Two Olive Trees, and in verse 24. these two Olive Trees are said to be the Two Anointed Ones, and by the course of the third and 4th Chapter it is evident by the Two Anoynted Ones is meant Joshua and Zerubbabel, the Magistrate and the Minister, both were A­nointed to stand before the Lord of the whole earth, as publick instruments under God, for the good of his Church and Peo­ple in the World. So that the Two Olive Trees are the Godly Magistrate, and the Godly Minister; but then what are the two Candlesticks? mentioned with the two Olive Trees in this Rev. 11. 4. we may observe, in Zech 5. there was but one Candlestick; noting the Jewish Church, which was but one; but in Rev. 1. There is a Vision of se­ven Candlesticks which are said to be the seven Churches, because the Christian Church is more than one, and at sometimes a multi­tude of Churches, which yet in Antichristi­an times are reduced unto a smaller number, as here, but Two Candlesticks, i. e. Two Churches, and Two Witnesses: So that if you put all these together, then by the Two Witnesses we are to understand, a godly. [Page 137] Magistracy and Ministry in Conjunction with the Churches of Christ and all sincere Christians.

Quest. Why are they called Witnesses?

Answ. Because it is their work and bui­siness to bear witness to the Truth and ways of Christ in opposition to the ways of An­tichrist; this is expressed in the Text by the word [Prophesying] which is a decla­ring and making known the mind and will of God out of his Word (as will appear by comparing Rev. 19. 10. and 22. 9.) So that this [Prophesying] and this [witness bear­ing] so as to carry on the Testimony of Christ in the world, against Antichrist, these are all one: and it it the work and bui­siness of all the Witnesses of Christ accor­ding to their several capacities.

Quest. 3. But why are they called Two Witnesses.

Ans. Because two are but few, and yet enough to bear witness; for God hath ordained, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established. (as in divers places both of the Old and New [Page 138] Testament) and the meaning is, that altho' at some time Christs Witnesses may be re­duced to a small number, yet the Lord Jesus will always preserve a sufficient number to bear witness to his Truth in the darkest times. Sometimes they are but as a Rem­nant left, but a few names in Sardis, as Rev. 3. 4. yet these shall be enough to bear wit­ness for Christ against Antichrist all the time of the Gentiles, treading under foot the holy City.

Quest. 4. What is meant by this, That they shall Prophesie in Sackcloth? Why in Sackcloth?

Answ. It signifies, the sad afflicted and mournful condition, that the Churches and Witnesses of Christ shall be in at several times, and in several places in the world, during the long time of Antichrists Reign.

When the Jews of old mourned and were afflicted, they put on Sackcloth, the Princes, the Priests, the People in great Calamities, put on Sackcloth (as might be showed in many Scriptures) so the Witnesses here are said to Prophecy in Sackcloth, what doth this mean but the afflicted and mournful [Page 139] condition of the Churches of Christ, and People of God in Antichristian-times.

For is it not a sad thing for the holy City to be trodden under foot by Antichristian Gentiles: Is it not a sad thing that the He­resies, Idolatries, and Superstitions of the Popish Religion should spread and prevail up and down in the world. Again, is it not a mournful thing that the Churches of Christ to be hidden and driven into cor­ners, for the Faithful Ministers and Ser­vants of Christ to be Persecuted, Imprison­ed, and killed all the day long, and count­ed but as Sheep for the Slaughter: Thus it hath been, thus it is, and thus it will be in Antichristian times; sincere Christians shall be in a sorrowful and suffering condition.

Qu. 5. What is meant by this; I will give power to my Witnesses, &c.

The word [Power] is not in the Origi­nal, for though the thing is included as one particular; yet that word Power is to nar­row to express the full meaning. The word in the Greek is [...] &c. and I will give to them; i. e. as if he had said;

1. I will give it to them as their duty to bear witness unto me.

[Page 140] 2. I will give them Grace to enable them to this Duty.

3. I give them Authority to do their duty, they have their Commission from me and my Word. And

4. I give it them as their great honour and priviledge both to do and to suffer as witnesses for me, thus in Phil. 1. 29. Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.

And then.

5. Further implies, that so long as he hath any work for any of His Witnesses, He will maintain, them, accept, them, and succeed them in their witness-bearing unto him, un­til he calls them away to himself; and then He will raise up others in their stead, until the time appointed that their witnessing in Sack cloth be expired.

Qu. 6. What is meant by the one thousand two hundred and threescore dayes, as the time of the Witnesses Prophecying in Sack cloth?

Ans. By the concurrent judgement of the [Page 141] Divines: these dayes do signify so many Years, a day being put for a year, as might be shewed from such Scriptures as mention the prophetical numbers of time, as Ezek. 4. 6. compared with other places. And these one thousand two hundred and threescore dayes of the Witnesses prophecying in Sack cloth, are the same number with the forty two moneths of the Beast, that is, Antichrists reigning and treading down the holy City, which doth seem to intimate, that when this one thou­sand two hundred and threescore dayes shall be finished, then Antichrists reign shall ex­pire, and the suffering time of the Church come to an end.

Qu. 7. The seventh and last Question may arise from the former; Some may desire to know (if it were possible) when did this time begin; and shall it end?

Ans. All I say in answer to this question is, as our Saviour Christ said unto his Disci­ples, Act. 1. 7. It is net for us to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. And the mistakes of such as have given their conjectures in this matter may deter us from being too inquisitive, and too positive therein: Only from the Text [Page 142] and Context, there are two things may safe­ly be concluded:

1. That there is a certain period of time determined by God, and known unto him, when these times shall come to an end. It is a day known to the Lord, Zech. 14. 7. and when the Prophecies are fulfilled, and the times expired, then they will clearly be understood by us, and known to us, but (it may be) not before.

2. That so long as Antichrists reign con­tinues in the World, so long the Witnesses and suffering time of the Church and Peo­ple of God must and shall continue; and it being very clear the time of Antichrist is not yet expired; it is as clear that the time of the Witnesses, Prophecying in Sack cloth is not yet at an end.

Thus I have shewed you (as briefly as might be) something our Saviours meaning in the words of this Text.

I might propound unto you this Doctrine, and enlarge upon it;

[Page 143] DOCTRINE,

That it is the indispensable duty, and great concernment of all Christi­ans in all places that live in the times before the destruction of Antichrist to be found amongst the number of the the Witnesses of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

But I shall wave the prosecution of such a Doctrine, and shall only re-assume, and re­inforce the Exhortation mentioned the last Lecture day.

O Brethren, let us all be moved and warned from the Lord, to look diligently to our selves, that we be found amongst the number of the Witnesses of Jesus Christ.

To set on this Exhortation, I shall set be­fore you,

1. Seven Motives to perswade you And then,

2. Seven Directions to gaid us, how and wherein we are to be Witnesses unto Christ.

[Page 144] In the first place,

1. Consider the excellency and glory of the cause we are called to bear witness unto. It is indeed the cause of our Lord Jesus Christ that he is the only Christ, the only Saviour the great Prophet, the high Priest, the Sove­rain Lord and King, of his Church; nay that He is the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, and of all the Kingdoms of the World: that his Gospel hath a right paramount, all rights to be received and subjected unto in every Nation of the World; and that the knee of Magistracy should bow at the Name of Jesus, confessing to the glory of God, that He is Lord of all.

Again, it is the cause of the one true Re­ligion, that all things in all the Churches of Christ throughout the World, both in Do­ctrine, Worship, Discipline and Manners should be according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ: and this in opposition to the mix­tures, inventions and additions of men, espe­cially in opposition to the damnable Heresies and vile Idolatries of the Popish Religion: this is that glorious cause we are called to bear witness to (All the particulars mentioned might be abundantly confirmed from the [Page 145] Scriptures, but that my designed brevity will not permit such enlargement.

2. Consider that all sincere Christians are appointed by our Saviour Christ to be wit­nesses unto Him; thus in Luke 24. after he had told his Disciples the substance of his Gospel, and commanded them to Preach Repentance and Remission of Sins in his Name unto all Nations, he adds verse 48. Ye are my Witnesses of these things; and in Acts 1. after he had fully instructed them in all things pertaining to the Kingdom of God, he tells them, verse 8. Ye shall be Wit­nesses unto the utmost parts of the earth; so so that if we be amongst the number of his true Disciples, we must look at our selves appointed by Him, to be Witnesses unto Him.

3. We are not alone, but have a great and honourable multitude of Witnesses gone before us, going along with us, and coming after us: as now,

1. The Three Witnesses in Heaven, the Father, the Word and the Spirit;

And 2. The Three Witnesses on Earth, the [Page 146] Spirit the Water and the Blood, 1 John 5. 7.

And 3: The Man Christ Jesus himself, when he was upon Earth, He witnessed a good Confession before Pilate, 1 Tim. 6. 13. when he professed saying, To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the Truth, John. 18. 17. and since he ascended into Heaven, in his Epistles to the seven Churches, Rev. 1. 5. he stiles himself the Faithful and True Witness, and we are to follow him as the Captain of our Salvation.

Again 4 All the Apostles and Christians and Martyrs of Jesus have carried on this work of witness bearing in all the ages be­fore us, and are to be followers of them as they have followed Christ.

And 5. There are in this Age, and at other places of the world, a great multitude of godly Ministers and Christians that an faithfully witnessing and suffering for Christ, and against Antichrist; therefore as the A­postle says, Heb. 12. 1, 2. Being compassed about with such a Cloud of Witnesses, let us run with Patience the Race that is set before [...] looking unto Jesus for his Example to guide [Page 147] us, and his Grace to enable us that we also may be found amongst the faithful Witnes­ses in this our age; and since it is the Will of God to appoint us our lot to live in a time when the People of God are generally called unto Witnessing and Suffering Work for Christ, let us not only be willing to it, but rejoice in it that we are counted worthy to be enrolled among such a blessed Com­pany of Witnesses unto Christ.

4. Let us also consider of it; that the Churches of Christ and People of God in New England are engaged by the special Providence of God, in this duty of bearing witness unto Christ against Antichrist, and that more than any people in the world that we know of.

For,

1. Our Fathers came into this Wilderness meerly and purely upon this account, viz. for their Testimony to Christ and his Gos­pel, and against Humane Inventions and additions in the Worship of God.

2. We their Children and Successors are engaged in the same cause, their Wit­nessing work is now devolved upon us and [Page 148] committed unto us; we that are now living are accountable to God for his Cause and Gospel in our time.

3. We have enjoyed a long time of the liberty and peace of the Gospel above these fifty years, and that more than most other people in the world, we have had liberty to be as good as we would be or as we should be, with many things to help us, and nothing to hinder us to this day.

4. Also there hath been amongst us a higher profession of a practical Reformati­on in all things relating to Religion then in most other places: insomuch that New-En­gland hath been in this respect as a City set upon a hill which cannot be hid: but hath been observed and eyed by all sorts of friends and enemies, and by the whole Popish Party, and therefore we had need look to our selves that we acquit our selves well, in this peri­lous hour of the Passion of the Gospel.

5. Let us further consider, that this work of witness bearing to Christ is not an indif­ferent thing, but absolutely necessary to our Salvation; when God calls a Christian there unto; as Rom. 10. 10. With the heart in an be­lieves [Page 149] unto righteousness, and with the mouth Confession is made unto Salvation; the first of these to believe with the heart is necessary at all times, and the second confession is also necessary at such times and in such ca­ses, when a man is called to confess Christ, and any of his Truths and Wayes in oppo­sition to Antichristian ways; therefore our Saviour Christ hath said, Mat. 10. Whosoever will Confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father which is in Heaven, and and ver. 33. Whosoever will deny me before men, him will I deny before my Father which is in Hea­ven, the like we find, Mark 8. 88.

6. This is the end why the Lord sends an hour of Temptation upon the world to try the sincerity of those that make profes­sion of the Truth, Rev. 3. 10. for He the great God changeth the times and seasons (ac­cording to his good pleasure, for his own holy and secret ends) from a time of peace to a time of trouble, from a time of liberty, to a time of restraint and Persecution for the Gospel sake; and commonly after a time of Profession, there comes a time of Temptation to try all the Professors of the Truth. Such an hour of Temptation is already upon the Churches and People of [Page 150] God in many other parts of the world; and if the Lord see fit [...] it upon us in New England also, we should not think strange of the fiery Tryal which is to try us as the Apostle speaks, 1 Pet. 4. 12. but look diligently to it, that we approve our selves as true and faithful witnesses unto Je­sus Christ and his Truths and Wayes, in opposition to all Antichristian Ways.

7. Last of all consider this, That either you must be amongst the witnesses of Christ, or else be Apostates from Christ, and be the branded Followers of Antichrist. For in the Christian world there are two Heads, Christ and Antichrist: and there are two Parties and sides of men, and whatever men seem to be in times of Peace and Pro­fession, yet when the hour of Temptation is come, and when searching tryals are long and strong, men must of necessity be, and appear to be, on the one side or on the o­ther, either on Christs side or on Anti­christs side; for so in this book of Revelati­ons (besides in other Scriptures) these two sorts are mentioned as in opposition one a­gainst another, as Rev. 13. 17. the follow­ers of Antichrist either have the mark of the Beast, or his name, or the number of his name [Page 151] and who are those but such as profess the Idolatries, Heresies and Superstitsons of the Popish Religion, and adhere to the Pope as Head of the Church: and this either in whole or in part. On the other side, Rev. 14. 1. The Followers of the Lamb the Lord Jesus, are marked with hss Fathers Name written in their foreheads; to signify their professed cleaving to Christ, onely as the Head of his Church, and his writ­ten word as the only Rule of all things that belong to the Christian Religion, and therefore witnessing against all Anti­christian ways, in the face of opposition, and in the face of the most threatning danger whatsoever.

Now then, as Moses said unto Israel, Exo: 22. 26. Who is on the Lords side? Who? So when God by his Providential dispensations in searching tryals, says, Who is on Christs Side? Who? Then if you fall off from Christ, his Truths and Ways, you will by degrees fall to and fall in with the Antichri­stian Party, so as either to bear the mark of the Beast, or his name, or the number of his name; by sinful compliances, contrary to your duty and fidelity to Jesus Christ: Now what Godly Soul cannot but fear [Page 152] and tremble at this, and say, Lord save me from being amongst the number of the Antichristians: Lord Jesus let me be on thy Side, and amongst the number of Sincere Christians that are thy faithful Witnesses, whatever be the issue, and what ever become of me in this world.

Now if the Question be demanded,

Quest. How and wherein should we approve our selves to be the true and faithful Witnesses of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Answ. I Answer in the seven following Directions;

1. Let us look to our selves, that we have that which is essential to the constitution of a Witness of Christ; and that is, by a pe­nitential and obediential Faith to receive the witness of God concerning Christ, and to have that witness in our selves. Thus in 1 Joh. Chap. 5. after the Apostle had enume­rated the Witnesses in Heaven, and on Earth to this great Truth (That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and Saviour of the World) ve. 6, 7, 8. he then applies it, ver. 9. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God [Page 153] is greater; and then he shews what the wit­ness of God concerning Christ is, ver. 10, 11, 12. That eternal Life is in Christ, and that who­soever believes in him shall have that eternal life. So that when by the effectual work of the Spirit and Word of Faith, we are ena­bled to receive this Witness of God.

And that,

1. With a firm Assent of our understand­ing, we believe the Gospel of Christ to be infallably true; resting on the supream Au­thority, Veracity and Fidelity of God the Witnesser: And also,

2. With a true consent of our Wille, and with the well pleased affections of our hearts we do receive the thing witnessed, that is, we do receive Christ himself, in all his Offices (as our chief good) with application to our selves, unto all the ends and uses for which God gives him.

Then it is, that we come to have the wit­ness in our selves, as ver. 10. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. For by this means the whole Soul comes to be fashioned and framed by the Truth and goodness of the Gospel; and Christ comes [Page 154] to be formed in us, to live, and dwell, and reign in our hearts and lives by Faith in him, Gal. 2. 20. Eph. 3. 17. and so we our selves are made witnesses unto Jesus Christ. Therefore we had all need to look diligently to this; for although many may seem to be amongst the number of Christs Witnesses in a time of the peace of the Gospel; yet when Persecution ariseth for the Gospel sake, and when searching trials come, experience hath often proved it already, and may do again, that the number of Professors come to be thinned, and but few in comparison that are found to be faithful witnesses of Christ: the reason is for want of a divine Faith, recei­ving Christ into the heart upon the witness of God in his Word; for that is it doth essen­tially constitute and make a man to be a sound Believer, and a sincere witness of Christ, accepted and approved of him: For of such, of all such, and only such he sayes, Act. 1. 8. Ye shall be witnesses unto me; and in the Text, They are my Witnesses, & Rev. 2. 13. Antipas my faithful Martyr.

Direction,

2. Rest not till we find these Properties in our selves whereby the Witnesses of Christ are described in this Book of the Revelation;

[Page 155] As to give instance in some of them,

1. They are called Chosen and Faithful, Rev. 17. 14. let us look to that then, that we be effectually called, that we have sincerely answered the call of God in his Gospel, and do still answer it by a continual exercise of Faith and Repentance; and that we be his chosen ones, having the special Grace of Gods Election, and the choice Graces of the Spirit, that accompany Salvation. And that we be faithful to Jesus Christ and his Go­spel, approving our selves so to be in all times and cases of trial.

2. They are such as have and keep the Faith of Jesus, Rev. 13. 10. & 14. 12. so must we keep the Doctrine of Faith uncor­rupted, and the grace of Faith alwayes in exercise; and we must keep it to our lives end.

3. They have the Testimony of Jesus, Rev. 19, 12, ult. which implies both the whole testimony that is given of Christ in the word of God in all things relating to him; and the Testimony which Christ himself gave, and for which he suffered, 1 Tim. 6. 13. Joh. [Page 156] 18. 36, 37. So we must have and hold forth, and carry on the same Testimony in our time.

4. They are such as keep the Command­ments of God, Rev. 14. 12. & 13. ult. So it must be with us; we must with evangelical sin­cerity keep the ten Commandments of Gods Law, as the way wherein we are to walk to the kingdom of Heaven; and as the rule of our lives and all our actions, and especially in matters of Religion, Mat. 28. ult. that the only reason why we cannot consent and com­ply with others in this or that, is, because we see not how they do agree with the com­mands of God.

5. They are without guile, Rev. 14. 5. In their mouth was found no guile, and they are without fault before the Throne of God To signifie the sincerity of the Witnesses of Christ in opposition to the Hipocrisie of the times wherein they lived; they did not dis­semble with God or men, nor counterfeit a Religion, but all their words and actions did convincingly evidence, they were truly and really such as they professed themselves to be­like to Nathanael, of whom it is said, Joh. 1. [...]. Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no [Page 157] guile, i. e. no prevailing guile: so it should be with us; our great care should be, to be sin­cere and without offence till the day of Christ, Phil. 1. 10.

6. They are such as have Christ and His Fathers Name written upon their foreheads, Rev 14. 1. as a mark of their avowed profession, signifying to whom they do belong, that they are for Christ and his Gospel in opposition to Antichrist, and all his wayes.

7. They follow the Lamb wheresoever he goes, Rev. 14. 4. which notes their firm adhe­rence to Christ himself and his Gospel what­ever be the issue: and that they acknowledge Christ alone to be their Leader and Com­mander following him, with their eyes and hearts towards him, to teach them by his Do­ctrine, to guid them by his Example, to ena­ble them by his Grace and Spirit unto all well doing, and well suffering for his Name sake taking their Lot with him for better or worse in this World as he shall dispose of them, looking for their great reward in Heaven with him; and so they persevere to the end of their dayes, as the sincere followers of Christ.

[Page 158] And these are some of the properties by which the Witnesses of Christ are described; and its certain, that you and I must have all these properties, or we shall not be accepted of our Lord Jesus Christ to be Witnesses un­to him.

Direction, 3.

The third Direction is concerning the things of Christ, wherein we are to bear witness unto him. We must care for the things of Christ, as Phil. 2. 21. Although Christ now in Heaven be invisible to us, and the blind World do not see his glory; they hear talk of one Jesus, but few believe him to be such a one as he is, yet the Saints of God that see and believe, and are sure that He is the Christ the Son of God and Savi­our of the World, and that He is their Lord and Saviour; having no other way now in this World to express our sincere affection to him, we must do it unto all those things of Christ which he hath left below here upon Earth, even whatsoever is owned by him, or doth any way stand in relation to him.

I shall briefly instance in ten Particulars.

[Page 159] We must bear Witness to;

1. The Image of Christ by expressing all the forementioned properties in our whole conversation; shewing that we do indeed bear the Image of Christ in the World, as 1 Cor. 15. 49. that we have Christ formed in us, and that we are anointed with his Spirit, and in our measure like unto him, walking as he walked and purifying our selves as he is pure, 1 Joh. 2. 6. & 3. 3. and so approving our selves to God and men that we are Christi­ans, not in name only, but indeed and in truth.

2. The Name of Christ, that a; God hath given him a name above every name, Phil. 2. 9. So we exalt the name of Christ above the names of all the Kings and Emperors in the World, that he is the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, and that he hath a King­dome over the Souls and Consciences of men, and that in all matters of Religion, we must be subject only to the supream authority of him who is head of his Church, and Lord over all, Isai 33. 22. The Lord is our Law­giver, the Lord is our Judge, he will save us.

[Page 160] 3. The Word of Christ, as Col: 3. 16. The word of Christ should dwell in us richly teaching and admonishing our selves and one another, that the written Word of God is the onely Rule of Faith and manners, and the only Judge of controversies, as Joh. 12. 40. therefore cleaving to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ as the words of Eternal Life, we should hold forth the same to all men upon all occasions, Phil. 2. 16.

4. The Doctrine of Christ, as its called Heb. 6. 1. that is, That all the Doctrines that are contained in the Written Word of God, these are of God, and are the Doctrine of Godliness, teaching us the way of living to God unto Eternal Life; and that all other Doctrines that are different from, or contrary to the Word of God, that these are not of God,

5. The Worship of God in Christ; both the inward Worship of God in Spirit and Truth; and the outward means of Worship the Ordinances of Christ, they must all be appointed by him in his Word; in all mat­ters of Divine Worship we must observe all and only what he hath commanded, Mat. [Page 161] 28. 20. and Deut. 12. last. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it, thou shalt not add thereunto, nor diminish there from, and Isa. 29. 13. and Mark 7. 7. in vain do they wor­ship me, teaching for Doctrines the Command­ments of men.

6. The day of Christ; the Lords day, as it is called, Rev. 1. 10. that it is to be ob­served as the Christian Sabbath, and kept unto God, with the highest strain of in­ward and outward holiness, according to the fourth Commandment, and that with­out the addition of any other holy days ap­pointed by men, as the Feast which Jerobo­am ordained and devised out of his own heart; 1 Kings 12. 33.

7. The Church and Churches of Christ, that is the Universal Visible Church which is the Kingdom of Christ in the World con­taining all that profess Christianity: and the Mystical Church of Christ consisting of all and only true believers, and sincere Christi­ans, contained in the Visible Church; as al­so particular Visible Churches, professing to walk in, and according to the order of the Gospel; over all which Christ alone is to be acknowledged as the Supream Head, Eph 5. [Page 162] 23. He is the Head of the Church, and Savi­our of his Body, Eph. 1. 22. He is Head over all things to his Church.

8. The Government and Discipline of Christ in his Church, for the Government of the Church appertains to him, Isa. 9. 6. as Head of his Church, to appoint his own Ordinances, and Officers to manage all the affairs of his Kingdome, and dispensing his Rewards and Punishments according to his Laws, Who is the only Law-giver, Jam. 4. 12

9. The Ministers of Christ, who are un­der him, and in his stead to dispense his ho­ly things, 1 Cor. 4. 1. they are to be account­ted as the Ministers of Christ, and as the Stewards of the Mysteries of God, and as the Lord solemnly charged it upon the people of Israel that they should not forsake the Levites all the days of their lives, Deut. 12. 19. So the Ministers of the Gospel should not be forsaken by the People of God, but owned especially then when they are called forth to answer and suffer for Christ and his Gospel sake, the injuries of men do not break the relation between a Minister and People, nor release them from the relative duties en­joyned by the Word of God, so far as is pos­sible [Page 163] for them to perform the same, Mat. 10. 40. shews that the receiving and own­ing, or the despising and forsaking them, Christ takes it as done to himself.

10. The People of God and Servants of Christ, for in the forecited place, Mat. 10. last. Our Saviour shews, what is done to a­ny Christian in the name of a Disciple, or because he belongs to Christ, as Mark 9. 41. he takes it as done to himself, also Mat. 25. 34. 42.

Thus you see in these Ten particulars, in what we are to bear witness unto Jesus Christ.

Direction. 4.

Concerning the duty of witness bearing it self, wherein it doth consist, and how it is to be performed by us, viz. in these following five particulars.

1. By our professed subjection to the Gos­pel of Christ in a practical way, as you read that expression of a professed subjection to the Gospel, 2 Cor. 13. which imports an open, free and publick profession of the true Chri­stian [Page 164] Religion according to the Gospel, in the whole circumference of it, and all things contained therein; Christians must not conceal and keep their Religion to them­selves, but make it known to the world, both by their words and actions that they are of the number of the resolved Follow­ers of Christ. Hence as Paul after his con­version joyned himself to the Church at Jeru­salem, Acts 9. 26. So all sincere Christians should even in perilous times joyn themselves to the Churches of Christ; and as it was said of those Primitive Christians, Acts 2. 42. they continued stedfastly together in the Apostles Doctrine, and Fellowship, and Break­ing of Bread, and Prayers; so there ought to be a stedfast continuance of Christians to­gether in Church-relation, and in observing all the Commandments of Christ in matters of Religion; and this profession ought to be adorned by suitable Conversation such as becomes the Gospel, Phil. 1. 22.

2. By witnessing a good confession; as our Saviour Christ did who is gone before us, and hath led us the way as the true and faithful witness, 1 Tim. 6. 13. how He did that, is shewed, John 18. 37. when he was called to it by Pilate the Roman Governour, [Page 165] he professedly Witnessed that He was a King, and had a Kingdom though not of this world, and said moreover, for this end I was born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth; and further, every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. So that when we are called to it by Authori­ty, if we be the sincere Followers of Christ, we also must own and bear witness to the truths and wayes of Christ, that belong to his heavenly Kingdom, whatever be the issue.

And in this confession of Christ we must remember the Example of John Baptist, John 1. 20. He confessed and denied not, but confessed, &c. that is, he did express himself both negatively and affirmatively without recanting or contradicting the witness that he gave in concerning Christ. So it should be with us in witness bearing to any of the things of Christ. Christians ought to ex­press themselves plainly and fully, so as to be understood, that we are the sincere Fol­lowers of Christ, not saying or doing any thing that may revoke or obscure our testi­mony of Jesus Christ, a faithful witness speaketh constantly, Prov. 21. 28.

[Page 166] 3. By our willingness and readiness to suffer for any of the truths and wayes of Christ, as in the Acts of the Apostles, the Christians then were called unto Sufferings which they willingly underwent for the name of Christ So it hath been ever since, although the Lord hath been wont to give some breathing times to his Church in the world, and hath sometimes priviledged some of his people in some places, with a longer enjoyment of the Gospel of Peace, and peace of the Gospel then others; yet in all ages hitherto, ever since the time of our Saviour Christ, it hath not been long before Christians have been called unto Sufferings for the Gospel sake, Rev. 13. 10. Here is the Patience of, and Faith of the Saints; and Rev. 14. 12. Here is the Patience of the Saints, here are they that keep the Commandments of God, and the Faith of Jesus, so that we see that Faith and Patience, keeping the com­mandments of God, and Patience go toge­ther. So that if we are resolved for the one, we must resolve upon the other; and choose patienly to endure any sufferings, rather than deny the Faith of Christ, or break any of the commands of God; those that cannot, or will not suffer for the truths [Page 167] and ways of Christ, they will not be found amongst the number of such as keep the commandments of God, and the Faith of Jesus.

4. We must also be companions with those that suffer for Christs sake, as the A­postle John professed himself to be, Rev. 1. 9. I John am your brother and companion in Tribulation, and in the Kingdom and Patience of Jesus Christ; and the Apostle in the He­brews, chap. 10. 33. acknowledged that they were not only Sufferers themselves, being made a gazing stock by reproaches and afflicti­ons, but they were companions of those that were so used for the Gospel sake. It is true in­deed, that all serious christians at all times should remember that of David, Psal. 119. 63. I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy Precepts; tho' in ordinary conversation a christian may have to do with those that are not such, yet the men of our choice and delight should be only such as fear the Lord: and then es­pecially when any such are called forth to witness and suffer for Christ and his Gospel sake, it is our duty to own them and their cause, to stand by them and be with them, to appear for them, yea, and to suffer with [Page 168] them, and for them, as we are called to it; the Apostle Paul complained, 2 Tim. 4. 16. that at his first answer no man stood with him, but all men forsook him; and this was at Rome where there was such a famous Church of Christians at that time; but this implies, it was their duty not to have forsaken him in the cause of Christ; and it was their Sin that they did not, therefore he prays God that it might not be laid to their charge: Where we may also observe in Pauls example, if any or all men should forsake us, and no man stand with us, we must be willing to stand alone, and suffer alone in a cause of Christ, being contented with this that the Lord stands with us, as he did with Paul, ver. 17, 18. not withstan­ding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear, and I was delivered out of the mouth of the Lyon; and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly Kingdom to whom be glory for Ever and for Ever AMEN.

5. In all that we say, or do or suffer in witness-bearing to Christ, be sure to keep close to the Word of God: hold forth that and hold fast that as contain­ing the matter and ground of our Testi­mony: [Page 169] Thus the Primitive Witnesses and Martys of Jesus are described and com­manded, Rev. 1. 9. John was in the Isle of Patmos for the Word of God, and for the Testimony of Jesus Christ, Rev. 3. 8. Thou hast kept my Word, and hast not denied [...] Name, and Rev. 6. 9. I saw under the Al­tar the Souls of them that were stain for the Word of God, and for the Testimony which they held, and Rev. 12. 11. They O­vercame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their Testimony, and they loved not their loves to the death; they lost their lives, but kept the Word of God, they lived and died upon that, and so should we, and if we be sincere Christians, it cannot but be so.

And this may be a great relief to the Spi­rits of Christians, who are not acquainted with, or not skilled in the controversies of Religion, or have not the ability of disputing for the Truth against Errors; or not know­ing before hand in what particulars we may be called to give our Testimony about: it is sufficient if we keep to the written Word of God; because all things pertaining to the true Christian Religion, are contained there­in, and Authorized thereby; if any thing be [Page 170] required or imposed that is different form or contrary to the Word of God, we ought not to accept of it, nor submit to it, but re­nounce it, and bear witness against it; as contrary to the Will and command of our Lord Jesus Christ the Head and King of his Church: It is enough for a Christian to say, this or that is not agreeable to the writ­ten Word of God, therefore I cannot, I dare not, I will not consent or yield there­unto, whatever I suffer, or whatever become of me in this world; this hath been the Spi­rit and Plea of the Confessors and Martyrs of Jesus Christ in all the ages before us, and must be ours, if indeed we would be found and accepted amongst the Witnesses of Jesus Christ.

Diriction 5.

The next Direction is, concerning the duty of Christians in relation to the civil Government and Magistracy we live under.

The Rule is this, in changeable times keep close to the unchangeable Rules of Gods Word, which guide us in the way of our duty, towards any Magistracy which God by his Providence sets over us: it is true [Page 171] indeed, if the Lord hath priviledged his peo­ple with such a Magistracy as he hath made to be Nursing Fathers to the Church of God and the true Christian Religion; there is no question of it, but we should highly prize it, and bless God for it, as an invaluable mercy, and use all means that are lawful for the continuance of such a blessing to our selves, and our posterity after us; but if it be the will of the great God (who changes the times and seasons, who removes Kings and sets up Kings, and gives the Kingdoms of the Earth to whomsoever he will, Dan. 2. 21. ver. 77.) I say if it be his pleasure, for his own holy and secret ends to bring upon us, such a change of the civil Government, that those that are in place of Authority, are not so friendly and fatherly affected to the Church of Christ, and the concernments of Religion as formerly; who are we that we should re­ply against God, and say, why hast thou done this? Is not he the Potter and we the clay? Shall we receive good from the hand of God and not evil? Job. 2. 10. ought we not to submit our selves to God, and be content to be at his dispose? James 4. 7, 10.

And then should we not also remember those unchangeable rules of direction in the [Page 172] Word of God concerning our duty to such Magistracy as God by his Providence hath set over us, and are not these three duties very plain in the Scripture?

1. Prayer for them, 1 Tim. 2 23. For Kings, and all that are in Authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godli­ness and honesty, fer this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour

2. Subjection to their Authority?

And,

3. Obedience to their Laws and Com­mands, Thes. 2. are joyned together in ma­ny Scriptures, as Rom. 13. 1. Let every soul be subject unto the Higher Powers; for there is no power but of God, the powers that be are or­dained of God, whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the Ordinance of God, &c. and ver. 5. You must needs be subject not only for wrath but also for Conscience sake, 1. Pet: 2. 13 14. Submit your selves to every Ordinance of man for the Lords sake, whether it be the King as Supream, or unto Governours sent by him &c. and ver. 15. for so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to Silence the ig­norance [Page 173] of foolish men, and ver. 17. Fear God and Honour the the King, Tit. 3. 1. put them in mind to be subject to Principalities and Powers to obey Magistrates, &c.

Now then, do not these Commands of God belong to us as well as Christians in for­mer ages? and is it not a part of our Chri­stianity and Obedience to Christ himself to observe these commands of his as well as any other?

Quest. If the Question be propounded, What is that obedience which God commands us to yield unto Magistrates?

Ans. It is obedience not in sinful but in lawful things, in things not contrary to the Word of God: for in all matters of Reli­gion, We must obey God rather than man, Act. 4. 19. Whether it be right in the sight of God, to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. And Acts 5. 29. We ought to obey God rather than men. If God command us one thing in his Word, and the Magistrate com­mand another thing, that is not consistent with our duty to God; there is no question of it, but we must obey God rather than men, and to chuse rather to suffer, than to [Page 174] sin as the primitive Christians did; as we read both in the acts of the Apostles, and in the history of the Church in all ages ever since: And as the three Worthies, Dan. 2. they chose rather to be cast into the fiery Furnace than to obey the Kings Command in Worshipping his Golden Image, And Daniel Chap. 6. chose rather to be cast into the Lions Den, than to omit Prayer to the true and living God, and to pray to a man instead of God blessed for ever: These great and good Examples of passive Obedience to Authority, when they could not yield ac­tive obedience to unlawful Commands) are left upon Record for our imitation; that in any case, or matter of Religion we must obey the commands of God, and not the commands of men, rather chusing to suffer from men, then sin against God: But that which we are to consider of is, that the Lord now seems by his providential dispensations to be recalling his people every where to the good old Principal of the godly Non-con­formists in the former ages; namely to yield subjection and obedience (either active or passive) to Magistrates, and that, for the Lords sake, that we may shew our selves to be the sincere Disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath commanded, saying, Ren­der [Page 175] unto Cesar the things that are Cesars, and unto God the things that are Gods. Which is the more to be noted, because in our Saviour Christs time, and in the time of the Apo­stles and primitive Christians, there were no other Cesars or Kings than such as Tiberius Claudius and Nero: and no other Gover­nours sent by them into the Roman Provinces, than such as Pilate, Festus, Foelix and Gallio; and yet then did our Saviour Christ, and his Apostles give the forementioned commands concerning the duty of Subjection and Obe­dience to Magistrates, and that for the Lords sake.

That it might appear that the Kingdom of Christ in his Church, is not of this world (though in this world) and that it may con­sist with any kind of civil Government, and Governours in the world; the being and well-being of the Church and true Religion depends not upon men, but upon him who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords who did preserve his Church for three hun­dred years in the time of the ten Persecuti­ons, under Heathen Magistrates; and hath preserved it ever since under such Magi­strates as for the most part gave up their po­wer [Page 176] to the Antichrist at Rome, for many hun­dred years, &c.

Object. But are there not many Promises and Prophesies that Kings shall be Nursing Fa­thers to the Church, Isa. 49. 23, & vers. 7. Kings and Princes shall worship the Holy One of Israel; and that Kings shall come to the bright­ness of the Churches rising, Isa. 60. 3; & verse 10. There Kings shall Minister unto thee, & verse 16. Thou shalt suck the breasts of Kings, & Rev. 21. 4. The Kings of the Earth shall bring their glory into the New Jerusalem, and that the Kingdoms of the World shall become the Kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ, Rev. 11. 15.

Answ. All this is true; but we must know that not the Prophesies but the Precepts of Scripture are the Rule of our Actions.

The Prophesies do shew what the Lord himself will do and bring about in his own time, by wayes and means known unto him, but unknown to us, but they are the Precepts of Scripture that shew unto us what is our duty of Subjection and Obedi­ence to Magistracy (as God's Ordinance) in that manner shewed before, Let us do [Page 177] what the Lord shews to be our duty in his Word, and let the Lord in the wayes of his Providence, do with us, with his Church and with the whole world as it pleaseth him. All Christians in these times must be brought unto that frame of Spirit that David was brought unto, in that great change of affli­cting Providence that came upon him, 2 Sam. 15. 25, 26. If I shall find favour in the sight of God, He will bring me again and shew me his Ark and his Habitation; but if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him. So if we shall find favour in the sight of God, he will either continue to us, or give to us, or restore to us such a Magistracy as shall be Nursing Fathers to his Church and Religion, but if he have no delight in us in that respect, let him do to us as seemeth good to him.

Direct. 6. The sixth Direction is, concerning the whole manner of our Christian Behaviour as Witnesses of Christ, and that in seven particu­lars:

We should behave our selves.

1. Wisely, This was the first counsel our [Page 178] Saviour gave his Disciples when he told them, that he sent them forth as Sheep among Wolves, therefore (says he) Be wise as Ser­pents, Mat. 10. 16. i. e. be wise to prevent and avoid such dangers as you lawfully may; therefore in the next words he adds, beware of men; the Apostle adviseth Christians to walk in wisdom towards those that are with­out, Col; 4. 5. and Eph. 5. 15. walk circum­spectly, not as fools but wise, neither on the one side by sinful compliances to be ensna­red, nor on the other side by inconsiderate rashness to provoke and exasperate the ene­mies of the Truth, but by the exercise of godly wisdom, to discern when God calls us to the duty of witnessing or suffering for his sake in any case: Hence its added in that Eph. 5. 17. Be ye not unwise; but under­standing what the will of the Lord is, Prov. 14 8. The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way. Those [...] the excellency of the wisdom which is from above, by comparing the Word and Providence, and all the Cir­cumstances of a case to find out, and con­clude this is Gods Will, and Gods Way, and my duty, and that now; to speak or do, or suffer [...] that for the Name of Christ, this godly wisdom will greatly adorn the profession of Christianity in the eyes of all [Page 179] men, as when David behaved himself wise­ly, those that were good, loved him, and those that were bad feared him; and in 1 Sam. 18. 15. When Saul saw that David be­haved himself wisely, he was afraid of him; we should earnestly beg this wisdom from the Lord who hath promised to give it unto them that ask him, James 1. 5.

2. Innocently; according to the counsel of our Saviour, Mat. 10. 16. when he had said in the first place, be wise as Serpents, he adds in the second place, be innocent as Doves; and as the Apostle expresses it in Phil. 2. 15. that you may be blameless, and harmless, as the Sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked Generation, amongst whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, being hurtful to none but doing good to all, as they have ability and opportunity; Christians should carry it with a dove-like simplicity, giving no offence nor occasion for any to speak evil of us or the ways and truths of Christ, which we profess; ever keeping in the ways of well-doing, and looking diligently to it, that we never suffer as evil-doers, as the Apostle gives a special direction concerning that, 1 Pet. 4. 15, 16, Let none of you suffer as an e­vil-doer, [Page 180] but if any suffer as a Christian, let him glorifie God in that behalf. Now to suffer as a Christian, is when the cause of our suf­fering is meerly for Christs sake, for righte­ousness sake, for any of the ways and truths of Christ contained in his Gospel, and be­cause we keep the Commandments of God, and dare not sin against him, this will be honourable to Christ, when we carry it so as Paul did, as to be able to say as he did, Acts 25. 8. Neither against the Law, nor a­gainst the Temple, nor against Cesar have I of­fended any thing: and as chap. 24. 14. but this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call Heresie, so worship I the God of my fa­thers, believing all things which are written in the law & the Prophets. So likewise it is said of Daniel, chap. 6. 3. there was an excellent Spirit found in him, that his adversaries tho' they sought occasion against him, yet they could find no error nor fault in him in the matter of the Kingdom, ver. 4. therefore ver. 5. They concluded that they should find no occasion a­gainst him, except it was concerning the law of his God. Now this is for the imitation of all Christians in these times, to be so inno­cent in all other respects, that the Adversa­ries may have nothing against us but what concerns our duty to God and Jesus Christ, [Page 181] for which we may and ought to suffer com­fortably, and upon a clear account for the Gospel sake, and nothing else.

3. In humility Paul did, Acts 20. 19. Ser­ving the Lord in all humility, in many tears and temptations, and so in lowliness of mind, we should walk humbly towards God, and be cloathed with humility amongst men, without any shew of pride, ostentation or vain glory: the same mind should be in us that was in Christ Jesus, Phil. 2. 5, 8. He humbled himself, and was obedient unto death for our sakes that he might redeem and save us; even so we also should humble our selves and be obedient unto the death for his sake, that we may testify our love, service, and thankfulness unto him.

4. In sincerity and Truth; whatever we say or do, or suffer, let it be in simplicity and godly sincerity, as Paul said of himself, 2 Cor. 1. 12. not with respect to any by or base ends, not out of stomack or stoutness of Spirit, but out of true love to Christ, and zeal for God, for the glory of his Name, the credit of his cause, the honour of his truth, the propagation of his Gospel, the encou­ragement of his friends, and conviction of [Page 182] his Enemies when our Spirits are fixed upon such high and holy ends, and our hearts mo­ved out of meer love to Jesus Christ, this will prove us to be the sincere followers of Christ, when we can truly say with Paul, 2 Cor. 2. last. as of Sincerity and as of God, and in the sight of God, so we speak and do and suf­fer in Christ, and for his sake.

3. With holy boldness and Christian con­fidence, for when a man knows that he hath a good God, a good cause, and a good conscience, why should he be ashamed? or of whom should he be afraid? fear and shame are great impediments to the Confession of Christ, these made Peter deny his Master, and Nicodemus to come to Christ by night; but when they had got more strength of grace, they were more couragious in the cause of Christ, as we see in the fourth of the Acts ver 8, &c. Then Peter filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye Rulers of the People, and Elders of Israel, be it known unto you, and to all the people of Israel, that by the Name of Jesus Christ crucified, we have done this Miracle, and there is no other name given under heaven, whereby we must be saved.

Now in verse thirteen it is said when the [Page 183] Council saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived they were ignorant and unlear­ned, they marvelled and took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.

Thus when Christs Witnesses do confess him, his truths and ways with undaunted and invincible courage, and with an holy mag­nanimity of Spirit, not fearing the faces of men, nor the worst they can do, this is greatly for the honour of God, for the en­couragement of the godly, and terror to their adversaries; as in the case of the three Worthies that professed their Faith in God before King Nebuchadnezzar, and their reso­lution not to bow to his Golden Image for fear of his fiery furnace, Dad. 3. Therefore Christians should pray much for this holy Courage, as Paul did, and desired also the prayers of others in his behalf, that he might bear witness unto Christ, that Christ might be magnified in him, either in life or death, Phil. 1. 19, 20. and all the Apostles joyn in the same prayer, Acts 4. 29. Now Lord behold their threatnings, and grant unto thy Servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word.

6. With meekness and fear; we should give a reason of our hope, or an account of our [Page 184] Faith with meekness and fear, 1 Pet. 3. 15. ult. with meekness, without animosity passion or bitterness of Spirit in us; for the wrath of man as it worketh not, so it witnesseth not the righteousness of God, James 1. 20. it doth not any thing, either advantage the cause, or adorn the profession of Christiani­ty, which meekness of Spirit doth: and then also with fear, i. e. with a holy fear of God, shewing that our fear of offending God, and our care of pleasing God is all that we aim at; and also with reverence to men, giving all due honour and respect to any that we have to do withal: making it appear to all men that we both fear God and regard man.

7. Lastly, With Constancy and Perseve­rance to the end, till we have finished our Te­stimony, as its said of the Witnesses, I have kept the Faith, 2 Tim. 4. 5. So should it be with us: We should remember how we have heard and received, and hold fast; and then speak, and do, and suffer all according to the Word of God, even to the end; For so our Saviour hath said, Mat. 24. 13. He that endu­reth to the end shall be saved And Rev. 2. 10. [Page 185] Be thou faithful to the death; and I will give thee the Crown of life.

Direction 7.

Last of all, In the practical observation of all the former Directions, we should take in all the encouragements and comforts which our Saviour Christ hath given to his faithful Witnesses, as they are contained, either in his last and dying words, in the 14, 15, 16, 17, Chapters of John, or in this Book of the Re­velation, or in any other gracious promises of his Gospel; I say, we should take them all as belonging to our selves, for our consolation, both in life and death; as also in relation to our eternal blessedness in another World: I refer you to your Bibles to find out these en­couragements. Consider what hath been said, and the Lord give unto you and me such understanding to apply all to our selves, that we may be found amongst the number of the true and faithful Witnesses of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom be Glory for ever, Amen.

SElf Examination, 1 Cor. 11. 28 2 Cor. 15. 5. is an enquiry into the inward Acts of one Souls; trying by the Word of God, whether [Page 188] we have the truth of Saving Grace in us or no? and accordingly judging of our spiri­tual Estates before God.

The things to be tried are;

Unfeigned Faith, Sound Repentance, and sincere Obedience; because these are saving Graces, viz. such as God in his Word hath made conditions of the Covenant of Grace; these do accompany Salvation, Heb. 6. 9. and to every one of these Salvation is ex­presly promised in the Word of God, John 12. 48. & 15. 7.

To Faith, Mark 16. 16. John 3. 16. Acts 16. 31. Luke 7. 50.

To Repentance, 2 Cor. 7. 10. Luke 24. 47. Acts 3. 16. & 5. 31.

To Obedience, Heb. 5. 9. Psal 50 ult. Rom 6. 7, 18, 22.

The principle Subject of these Graces is Will, Phil: 2: 13. Psal: 110: 3: Rev: 22: 17: Rom: 7: 18, 19.

Therefore we should try our selves, not by our knowledg, nor by passionate fits of affe­ction but by the main bent of the Will.