and grieve his Holy Spirit;k come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts; have their hearts hardened,m and their consciences wounded; hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.p 1. CHAP. XVIII.-Of Assurance of Grace and Salvation. ALTHOUGH hypocrites, and other unregenerate men, may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favour of God and estate of salvation;a which hope of theirs shall perish; yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavouring to walk in all good conscience before him, may in this life be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace,c and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. Ver. 9. Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people. 2 Sam. xi. 27. And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. k Eph. iv. 30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 1 Ps. li. 8. Make me to hear joy and glad ness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Ver. 10. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Ver. 12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit. Rev. ii. 4. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Cant. v. 2. I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. Ver. 3. I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? Ver. 4. My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. Ver. 6. I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. m Isa. lxiii. 17. O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance. Mark vi. 52. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened. Mark xvi. 14. After ward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. n Ps. xxxii. 3. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old, through my roaring all the day long: Ver. 4. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Ps. li. 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. • 2 Sam. xii. 14. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. p Ps. lxxxix. 31. If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Ver. 32. Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. 1 Cor. xi. 32. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. I. a Job viii. 13. So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish: Ver 14. Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web. Micah iii. 11. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, 1s not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us. Deut. xxix. 19. And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst. John viii. 41. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. b Matt. vii. 22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? Ver. 23. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 1 John ii. 3. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 1 John iii. 14. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren: he that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Ver. 18. My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed, and in truth. Ver. 19. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. Ver 21. Beloved, is and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God; which hope shall never make them ashamed.d II. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion, grounded upon a fallible hope;e but an infallible assurance of faith, founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation," the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God:h which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption.i III. This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties, before he be partaker of it:k yet, being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given him of God, he may, without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of ordinary means, attain thereunto.1 And therefore it is the duty of every one to give our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God, Ver. 24. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him: and hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. 1 John v. 13. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. d Rom. v. 2. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Ver. 5. And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. II. e Heb. vi. 11. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence, to the full assurance of hope unto the end. Ver. 19. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the vail. Heb. vi. 17. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath; Ver. 18. That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have filed for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. 8 2 Pet. i. 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Ver. 5. And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge. Ver. 10. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your call ing and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: Ver. 11. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 1 John ii. 3. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 1 John iii. 14. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren: he that loveth not his brother abideth in death. 2 Cor. 1 12. For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sin cerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you. ward. h Rom. viii. 15. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Ver. 16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. 1 Eph. i. 18. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Ver. 14. Which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Eph. iv. 30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 2 Cor. i. 21. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Ver. 22. Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. III. k 1 John v. 13. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. Isa. 1. 10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. Mark ix. 24. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. [See PB. lxxxviii. throughout. Ps. lxxvii. to the 12th verse.] 11 Cor. ii. 12. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 1 John iv. 13. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. Heb. vi. 11. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same dili gence, to the full assurance of hope unto the end: Ver. 12. That ye be not slothful, but all diligence to make his calling and election sure;m that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience,1 n the proper fruits of this assurance: so far is it from inclin ing men to looseness. IV. True believers may have the assurance of their salvation divers ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted; as, by negligence in preserving of it; by falling into some special sin, which woundeth the conscience, and grieveth the Spirit; by some sudden or vehement temptation; by God's withdrawing the light of his countenance, and suffering even such as fear him to walk in darkness, and to have no light:P yet are they never utterly destitute of that seed of God, and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart and conscience of duty, out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Eph. iii. 17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, Ver. 18. May be able to compre hend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; Ver. 19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. m 2 Pet. i. 10. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. n Rom. v. 1. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ: Ver. 2. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Ver. 5. And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. Rom. xiv. 17. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Rom. xv. 13. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Eph. i. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Ver. 4. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Ps. iv. 6. There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Ver. 7. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. Ps. cxix. 32. I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart. 01 John ii. 1. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: Ver. 2. And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Rom. vi. 1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? Ver. 2. God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Tit. i. 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Ver. 12. Teaching us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. Ver. 14. Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, realous of good works. 2 Cor. vii. 1. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Rom. viii. 1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Ver. 12. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 1 John ili. 2. Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. Ver. 3. And every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Ps. cxxx. 4. But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. 1 John i. 6. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: Ver. 7. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. IV. P Cant. v. 2. I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. Ver. 3. I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? Ver. 6. I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave no answer. Ps. ll. 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may re joice. Ver. 12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit. Ver. 14. Deliver me from blood this assurance may in due time be revived, and by the which, in the mean time, they are supported from utter despair.r 1. G CHAP. XIX. Of the Law of God. OD gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which he bound him, and all his posterity, to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience; promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it; and endued him with power and ability to keep it.a guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation; and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. Eph. iv. 30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Ver. 31. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. Ps. Ixxvii. 1. I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me. Ver. 2. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be com forted. Ver. 3. I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. Ver. 4. Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. Ver. 5. I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. Ver. 6. I call to remembrance my song in the night I commune with mine own heart; and my spirit made diligent search. Ver. 7. Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Ver. 8. Is his mercy clean gone for ever doth his promise fail for evermore? Ver. 9. Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. *Ver. 10. And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. Matt. xxvi. 69. Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. Ver. 70. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. Ver. 71. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. Ver. 72. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. Ps. xxxi. 22. For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. [Ps. lxxxviii. throughout.] Isa. 1. 10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. q 1 John iii. 9. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. Luke xxii. 32. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Job xiii, 15. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. Ps. lxxiii. 15. If I say, I will speak thus; behold I should offend against the generation of thy children. Ps. li. 8, 12. [See letter p immediately before.] Isa. 1.10. [See letter p immediately foregoing.] r Micah vii. 7. Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Ver. 8. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. Ver. 9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. Jer. xxxii. 40. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Isa. liv. 7. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. Ver. 8. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. Ver. 9. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. Ver. 10. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. Ps. xxii. 1. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? [Ps. lxxxviii. throughout.] I. a Gen. i. 26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Ver. 27. So God created man in his own image: in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. With Gen. ii. 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Rom. i 14. For when the Gentiles, which have not II. This law, after his fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness; and, as such, was delivered by God upon mount Sinai in ten commandments, and written in two tables;b the first four commandments containing our duty towards God, and the other six our duty to man.c III. Besides this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a church under age, ceremonial laws containing several typical ordinances; partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, his graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits;d and partly holding forth divers instructions of moral duties. All which ceremonial laws are now abrogated under the New Testament." the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Ver. 15. Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another. Rom. x. 5. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. Rom. v. 12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Ver. 19. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners; so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Gal. iii. 10. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. Ver. 12. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Eccl. vii. 29. Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. Job xxviii. 28. And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. II. b James i. 25. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed. in his deed. James ii. 8. If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well. Ver. 10. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Ver. 11. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now, if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. Ver. 12. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. Rom. xiii. 8. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. Ver. 9. For this, Thou shalt not commit adul tery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Deut. v. 32. Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Deut. x. 4. And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me. Exod.xxxiv. 1. And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first; and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. c Matt. xxii. 37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Ver. 38. This is the first and great commandment. Ver. 39. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Ver. 40. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. III. [Heb. Chapter ix.] Heb. x. 1. For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices, which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. Gal. iv. 1. Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; Ver. 2. But is under tutors and governors, until the time appointed of the father. Ver. 3. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. Col. ii. 17. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. e 1 Cor. v. 7. Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. 2 Cor. vi. 17. Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. Jude, ver. 23. And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. f Col. ii. 14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. Ver. 16. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holiday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath-days; Ver. 17. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Dan. ix. 27. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abo E |